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DISTINCTIVE TEACHING:

Comparative Cultures
Can film bridge cultures andreach students of mixed
proficiency? Case in point.

Charles Jannuzi,
Fukui Universityi'{ame of Course: Comparative
Cultures / Hikaku Bunka Time: 90minute classes, once a week. Average
Number of Students and Level: 25-

collda$uesi,nay have their doubs, I don't
think it is too much !o ask that someuniversity English classes (Hiicaku Bunka
being a sort ofcontent-based English
class) be taught mostly in English.
Students, afler all, who feel somehow
overwhelmed by the fact that there areother languages used for communication
outside ofJapanese and its regional
dialects can return to the Japanesespeaking world when class is over.
Second, I have found that most of theiexibooks that are supposed to support
cultural studies are not very useful formy purposes. In my opinion, many of
the texts on culture offered by both major

35 students, 2nd to 4th year Japanese
university studenB; a few older non-Japanese and western publishers arebanal. They are often an incoherenf,

traditional students (auditon). Actual

failed compromise between a textbook

English Level: Althoughmostly

English, Communications (Shakai Joho),
and other Education majors, assessed
levels range from near beginner to false

beginner to lower intermediate, with onlythat is supposed to deliver real content
and one thar is supposed to provide some
sort of luihguage learning or prirctice.
Moreover, the few interesting on€s arebeyond my students.

a few"advanoed proficiency students.

Traditionally, this course has been taught
one of two ways: (l) by Japanese
professors as a conventional (certainly theapproach is well-precedented) lecture andreading course, with acrosslingual andcrosscultural focus (i.e., the target

invariably F-nglish * only
languagemeans something if the teacher can render
it into Japanese, and the foreign culture ---most likely either America's or Britain's-- is only interesting so long as it deviates
significantly from Japan's. Or (2), by

foreign lerturers as a content-based EFL
cou{se (likely a mix of lectures, readings,
some video, and sorie group discussion
activities, with at least the foreign lecarer
communicatin g in Engiisir).

ir\

Third, even if I had liked the textbooks
available, after teaching the hilcaku bunkaclass for the first time three years ago, I
soon realized that though students had notstudied western culture or history" I was
expected to remediate this lack while
giving useful language practice in all of
15 weeks. Also, after one semester at

Fukui University, as a foreign English

t*rcher who had already been in Japan forover 5 years, I was soon weary of theidea that "comparative cuhures" should be

limited to (1) studying foreigners'viewsof Japan and why Japanese can't

Traditional Approaches

communicate with Americaas and (2)(mis)interpreting possibly insignificant,arbitrary cultural differences as revealingsomeir'ring very irupoirant ab"cut ei-rher
Japan or the West. I certainly don't care!o pontificate on such matters in either

First, I am not a Japanese professor

English'or tapanese in front of the class.

prepared to lecture extensively inJapanesg, Although some students andFinally, to experience a foreign culture,p"orq 3 sqEssnru ptl? ezqBrrrery {unnI l€qr $ullJxtsol aAU lmlas :urouBd
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range of facts, persgnages, conflicts,
issues, and themes appropriate to thecourse syllabus (a syllabus, I confesswith joy, that I was allowed to construct
on my own without any guidelines,
criticisms, or feedback from mydepartment). In case you are worried,
like some of my colleagues and students,that without overly difficult "reading"there is no learning, I also assign at€xtbook to supplement what hasbasically evolved into a film course.

Before Yiewiilg the Filna
I construct and distribute information
prints and conduct mini-lectures -- both inEnglish -- to introduce the background toeach film. I then set pre-viewing
questions that students are asked, either
individually or in small groups, tobrainstorm answers to. I mav or mav- notcollect results of this brainstorming
session for part of the classroom
participation grade, but I assess how
students are doing at this stage by having
them share responses with the class.
Discussion in English with an entire class
has never been very successful for meeven after over eight years of trying withJapanese EFL students, so I often ask
sfudents to write their answers on theboard. At this pre-viewing stage, I
should add, I always emphasize that I am
not looking for right or wrong answers.
Rather, I want to see what students think
and know about some of the film's
subject mar0er and themes and to help
them express and share some of it inEnglish with their classmates. Then we
wa!q! the film together as an entire class.

After
After we watch the film I have theshrdents complete very sffuctured
response journals to the film. These
consist of a series of questions about thecontent, theme, and possible viewers'
responses to the film. These response

journals accumulate over the term to form
porfolios, and these are then used todetermine grades (usually an A, B, or C,
as few students fail to tum in most of thework). After doing the first journal, mostsfudents are disabused ofthe idea that afilm is only for fun anci that they oniy
have to be there and watch.

Some Criticisms and Problems
First; there is the problem that many
university students only view movies asenlertainment, not education in general or
I eng'Jage st'Jd;,i practice speclfically.
Some o my colleagues, no doubt, feel
this way, too. I counter such objections
with the assertion that serious film can betackled as serious literature, history, andcultural studies (and it does not have to beexperimental film toqualify). The
response journals I assign foster a serious
but not pedantic reflection on the movie.

Film is more dfficult tointerpret and respond tothan a short story or novel.
In some wavs film is more difficult tointerpret anil respond to than a short story
or novel. It is more likely the viewer's
ability to make even immediaie sense of afilm can be overwhelmed by its pace,sound and visuals, and there is usually nowritten text to re-read and review (though
the amount of screenplays now out andscattered on the Web does holds thattantalizing possibility).
Second a critical reader rnight say that I
have pretty much overlooked FLL withthis course. i coun[er this by pointing outthat if;we always just read a text or watch
and listen to a film or program because"targeto language is the goal, then nocommunication in English takes place;and it isjust this attitude that makes EFL
in Japan yet another moribund and-.: ri:.
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DISTINCTIVE TEACHING:

Shatl We Chansu?
Weekend immersion.

Jonathan B, Britten,
Nakamura Gakuen University
In the popular recent movie Shnll We Dansu?
an inhibited Japanese salaryman finds
personal freedom in the arms of his dance
instructor. On the studio floor. he is utterlv'
lransformed by dancing. Good English
language instructrors are always tryihg tocreate similar, albeit less dramatic,
tramsformations in their inhibited learners.
I .ike the dancing salaryman, most language
learners want to be freed from deeply
ingrained habits: .reticence, embarrassment,
and fear of failure.
The big problem in Japanese universities
today, unfortunately, is the classroom. The
tcacher stands up front and the students srt
clustered together at their little desks withyears of grammar rules and vocabulary rules
locked up in their heads. How unlike the'dancing salaryman these students are! He

has found freedom in dance. Studying
English in theirwell-practiced role asstudents, most young men and women inuniversi4r will never have such a chance.

The analogy holds up to blose examination.

By maslering the necessary dance steps -- inthis analogy, the gmnrmar, vocabulary, andsyntax of dance the salaryman can mnve ina new way that liberates his soul. Studyin.e a
new set oi rules leads to freedom on th6
dance floor. Conversely, Enslish languasestudents in Japan have iiasterEa stepsjUuinever have a chance to dance to the music.

-

Thousands of college students I have met
over the-pqst seven years have been acutely
aware of this. They know they have nevCr

had enough opportunities to practice speaking
the living language, and sum this up in aphrase: chansu ga rui. With the current

structure of langusge education in Japan" it isextremely difficult for any classroom
irrstructor to grve them thatchance.
Colleges and university administrators
seeking to improve their English language
curriculamust create new prograrns thatoffer
chances to use the living language. One
simple, effective way io improve English
lang,'ag6 education in universities is to offer
regular immersion sessions at universiry
seminar facilities. Such programs offered
regularly, as part of the overall curricuium,
would be a crucial supplement to classroom
study." Such classroom study currently
exposes learners to English for less than one
percent of their waking week. Obviously,
such limited srudy by itself is of liftle use. In
addition to mandarory, self-study timeoutside the classroom, regular, supervised
immersion sessions could significantly raise
the exposure time.

Programs offered as part ofthe overali curriculum would
be a crucial supplement toclassroom studv.
Moreover, zuch programs cnuld complement-- or even substitute for -- expe.nsive study

abroad progfims. These programs
especially summer vacation sessions
feauring limited classroom time and loe of
tourism and shopping -- are not very usefui
for lang"ags leaininf. And such prbgrams
are not affordable to many students. In any
case, educators can offer studenB wonderfulchances to leam without leaving Japan.

-

Suppose, for example, that university
English leachers work tegether to cr&te aseries of regular weekend workshops as wellasi even longer sessions during vacations.

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dtpceg rep8a: Eusn lsor Neporu 1? FTaJJO'tqtp ,(vpung pun qsrlSuE ur se^lesueql
esJeurur pu? 'uorsses insaaqc e/^
IFI{S rog Suruele ,{ep}:g uo ur lcor{J pJnoo" 'sarlrllJq J"urtues Jo asn 8un1eu ,{g$uopnlsthe steps, but have never had a chance todance to music. We must change this, but
we still must have some ground rules forchnnsu sessions -- a kind of choreosraohv.
if you will. Instructors -- who aretransformed into facilitators, whose purpose
rs to help rather than to teach * wiil riarei'ullv
inform learners about the session rules well'in advance. For their part, learners must
understand their responsiUilities clearly.

Forexample, learners must agree to strictlv
limit Japar,ese conversation, ilnce speakini

Worldish is their purpose in attendiire.

Lsrners must arrive at rhe site equipfied withany necessary materials -- dictionaries,
Walkman-sfyle tape players, notebooks, andso on. Lqtmefti who won't dance to themusic and end up stepping on everyone's
toes will not be inviteilio ieturn-Once all the oughts and musts are out of theway -- these may be introduced in writins. in
the Japanese language
learners may at i-;t

could be playing. Special presentarions

Fing English-language tilnis linked tob,nglNtl-language closed-captioned videos
could introduce students tob wonderful andinexpensive technology many have never had

acnansu to use.

Facilitators could also introduce other media.
such as short-wave radio shows. The Voiceof America's special English series is one
useful examplC. NFtrK offers several
effective Eiliaiwa courses on television andon radio. Faciliators could offer handouts
listing the times of various lelevision andradio language study progr:rms. Learners
need 0o be aware of the wonderfullv wide
range of language learning materiali thatareavailable. By the end of a gcrld chansu
session, learners will havelncorporated manv
new learning stftrtegies. In othei words. theiwill have learned how to learn more. I canimagine them dancing all the way home.

-

be able to undergo a kind of transforination.

The challenge foi the facilitator is to create asense of excitement and fun while manaeinssimultaneously to promote learning. TfierE

CHECK OUTTHE CUE \YEBSITE!

are many ways a facilitator can help do this.

One effective ice-breaker is to give students
packets of self-adhesive labelsl Some would
have English words written on them: othen-would be blank. The snrdents would have togo about the facilities and affix printeA iiUefslo.their corresponding objects. Some of the -qnnted labels could be qriite challenging.
For example, a learner might stru*l"e to'ohce
the word reflection, and finally sEilte upin a<httpC/i nterseryer.miyazakimed.aG.ipl-6uet

l.html>(ALSO ACCTSSIBLF FROM JALT'S HOMIPAGO

mlrror in the bathroom. Still irrore
challenging would be hand-prinrine anallounent of blank labels, ani ideni'fying
some objects on one's own.

. CU['S MISSION STATEMENTS

Whenmeal times come around, learners
could be given menus in the target languase-. IINKs TO OFFICERS' E-MAIL ADDRTSSES. ARCHIVESOF ON CUT

and the oppornrnity to choose 6nv"erin""o ormore courses. During meals and at othertlmes, English-language background music-.

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euBoru lI saop tsq&t .'dsflqcertain age group or ability range. ESP
should be seen as an'approach'to teaching,or what Dudley-Evans describes as an

References
Dudley-Evans, T, (1998). Detelopmcnts in Englishfor
Specfu Purposes. Cambridge University Press.

'attitude of mind'.

Materials writers think about
learners' goals.

Hutchinson. T. & Waters, .4. {198?. Engli-th for Specijic
P ur po se s. Cambridge Universify Press_
Johns, A. M. & Dudley-Evans, T. (1991). Engtish forSpecific Purposes. TESOL QualteilJ 25:2, 297 -3 L4.

lf we agree with this definition, we begin !osee how broad ESP is. In fact, one asFs

Stevens, P. (1988). ESP after wenry years: A rcappraisal. In M. Tickoo {Ed), &SP.'Sraa oJthe art'What is the difference berween the ESp andgeneral English approach?' Hutchinson etal. (1987:53) answer this quite simplv, "intheory nothing, in practise a great d'eal;,. In
1987, of course, the last statement was cuitetrue. At the time, teachersof general Enrilishcourses, while acknowledging that stud6nts
had aspecific purpose for studying English,
would rarely conduct a needs analysis to findout what was n@essary to achieve it.
Teachers nowadays, h6wever, are much
more aware of the importancc of needs
analysis, and certainly materials writers thinkvery carefully about learners' goals at all
srages of materials production. Perhaps thisdemonstrates fhe influence that the ESP
approach has had on English teaching ingengral- The line between where general
English courses stop and ESP courses starthas become vague indeed. Ironically, while
many general English teachers can be
described as using an ESP approach, basine
syllabi on a learner needs antlvsis and theiiown specialist knowledge of rfuing English
Ior real commurucahon, manv so-called ESp
teachers us€ an approach furthest from that
described above. Instead of conductine
in8erviews wittr field specialists. analvijns
thelanguage requiredin the professi6n, oi
analyzing students' needs, many ESp
teacheru are slaves lo textbooks, unable toevaluate texts' suitability, and unwilline to do
the necessary analysis of diflicult speciilist
texts to verify their contents. If the ESp
community hopes to flourish, it is vital weunderstand what ESP actuallv represents. In
Japgn BSP is still in its infaniy e.ind so now is
the ideal time to form such a consensus.

(1-B), SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.

Steve Snyder
is looking for
GUE's rnembarchip ehair...

Hc isn't noi6y...

yOur E.t?!ailHe's tryring to srt up a rnrmberd [gt.,.

address,
Send yours

today:
tomobear@m.surf .ol.jp
10II
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EsP.' Brave New lilorld?
Dissenting opinion.

Neil McClelland
Considering the laborious narure of foreign
language learning, it is necessary to questlon
the-teaChing methods we routinely inflicton
students. While there is clemly a need toseek professional development throughexperimentation with alternative app'roaches,
it is equally important to carefully weigh thepros and cons of innovations before
idopting them into our classroom repertoires.
Due to the vogue for short, intensive

designer, the ESP approach can be shown tobe iriappropriate to 6fi forms of English
educaliirn in Japan, but most especially to theteaching of college students.

ln order to pertinently view the ESP-oriented
teacher from the standpoint of most Japanese
EFLlearners, itis important to consider thewider context of the typical employment
conditions prevailing in Japan. The majorityof professional staffhave little control overeven their geographical location, never mind
the nature of their work As a consequence,
incentives verge towards the extrinsic, and it
seems likely that many EFL learners areseeking diversion from their working lives
rather than some kind of incessantcontinuation. Even without regard to
tlrc crass insensitivity of teaching vocationallyplanguage c,ourses, it seems apgopriate_
evaTua6 the relevance of theinfluential E-SP
paradigm of the mid-80s with regard to thespecific context of EFI- learning in Japan.

specilic English to people who may havefailed to realise betterjobs, it appears
fallacious to assume that motivation will beenhanced through an occupation-restrictedfocus on language. The interpretation by
Hutchinson & Waters (1987), that course
design should be based on needs-analysis
questionnaires, proves equally unhe-lpful, as
it seems inevitable learners will opt for
conversation skills, leaving teachers back at
square-one teaching general English,

It is important to clarify exactly what is meantby the t€rm ESP (English for SpecificPurposes) which is often used as an antonym
to'general English'. At its most facetious
level, ESP appeals to assumed voeational
needs, and focuses exclusively on perceived
end-uses of foreign languages. This
interpretation prescribes; "American Medical
English" (AME) for doctors, "Car Mechanic
Englisho (ClnIE) for car mechanics, and"Station Master English' (SME) for station
masters. Such an Orwellian paradigm has
been criticised by Hulchinson & Waters(i987), who re-interpret ESP as a processrather than product approach to syllabus
design. In practical terms this involves
starting with initial needs-analysis, followedby negotiation of the syllabus and teaching
methodology as the course progresses.

It seems inevitable learners
will opt for conversation

skills, leaving teachers backat square-one teaching
general English.
In the same way that most Japanese comPany
employees are rypically faced with Hobson's
choice, college students have only very
limited options regarding their major on
matriculation, and parallels are inescapable.
Further, students' expectations are naturally
molded by realities of future work. For thevast majority, this means induction into a

Unfortunately, like so many other goodideas, the practice of ESP is often far
removed from the theory, a prognosis that
seems particularly ineviable in the context ofJapan. Whether viewed from the perspectiveof the learners, the teacher, or tlte syllabus

company'and allocation of an occupation with

12

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c€uses the most signilicant comprehension
problems for second language speakers.
Thus it again becomes clear that ESP
methodology can only have the single

Internationalizing
Teacher Connections

outcome of emphasizing thal everydav
conversalional English is best, a conclusion
no less true for college students. while theabove discussion separates the viewpoints ofleamers, teachers, and syllabus designers, it
must be remembered that the interests ofthese three groups are united by the single
goal of facilitating effective language
learning. Analysis of the realities of thesituation, however, shows that such a goal is
not necessarily facilitated by the coining ofacronyms such as EST (English for Scienceand Technology), which may be
counterproductive to good EFL practice.

Musings on fians-organizationai &trans-national links.

Greg Matheson,
Soonchunhyang University,
Korea[futitorial rcte: This fall a nwnber of JALT
rnembers sailed or flew across the Japan
Sea to participate in thz annual conferenceof KATESOL. Greg Matlrcson, conference
organizer, comments on thc upshot of suchcrossfertilization. J

Indeed the generally held, but rather absurd,notion that ENSP (English for No SpecificPurpose) is some kind of impropriety, canonly lead us to question the priorities of an
impoverished profession. Surely it is thevery gtunmar, idiom, and literature which
the ESP paradigm seeks to eliminate, that
represents the true value and interest oflearning a foreign language. From a social,intellectual, and communicative perspective,
the restriction of language to occupational
criteria can only be seen as a disservice tn
Iearners. The irony behind original use of thephrase uthe brave-new world oT ESP"i was asked to share a few words oninternational connections among EFL/LSL
organizations representing teachers aroundthe world and I think this means critiquing
the activities of the small number of people inthese organizations who are trying to bring
the groups together. What can I say? The
words "walking on water" are the first whichcome to rnind. With or without a constituency
these leaders represent their groupsinternationally, and their acts are miraculous.
The only response possible is laughter orincredulity. It's not whether things are done
well or not, but that people make the effort
despite an apparently almost-complete lack ofinterest or support from most teachers.

(Hurchinson & Waters 1987:l) seems as
poignant and relevant today as ten years ago.

References

Like students in my classes who can't
understand what I'm doing, we may scoff.

Anderson & Lynch (1988). Listening, in C^N. Chandtin& H.G. Widdowson (eds), Ioryuage Teaching: A schame
Jor uacher e&&ation. Oxford: OUP.

This would be amistake. How do teachers
learn? The same way students do" from theirteachers. And snrdents are to teachers asteachers are to leaders of teachers'organizations. Our leaders are crying in thewilderness, perhaps, trylng to get teachers toCohen, A.D. , B. Glasman, P.R. Rosenbaum-Cohen, J.
Fen-ara & J. Fre (1979). Reading English forSpecialized huposes: discowse analysis and the useof studont irformants, TESOLQuarrcr$ 13, 551{4.

communicaie, but just as students must lookoutward, so must teachers stmt to thinkglobally. The world is getting smaller and theglobal village is at hand.

Hutchinson & Waters (l9fl7) English Jor Specifu
Purposes. Cambridge: CUP.

t4

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55let's Make ajoined at the press conference by otherforeign teachers atthe university who
have contracts similar to those of
their Japanese colleagues, except for adiseriminatory flree-year limi t on
theirterm of employmenl This article
will provideabrief accountof the
on-going negotiations. It is perhaps

Discrimination-free
Town!ot
Progress repofi on a campaign byforeign teachers at Prefectural
University of Kumam.oto.

unavoidably partisan as the writpr
participated on the side of the union. At
the November 7 session, the union was
representedby Mr. Tadashi Okabe
from The National Union of Generai
Workers, the seven Foreign T,eachen
who are members of the pnion executive,
and by foreigr colleagues on three-year
contxacts who acted as advisers. The',

Farrell Cleary[The aatlnr is a foreign teacher at thePrefectural University of Kumamotoand member of the Kumamoto General

Union,' affiliated with the Natiotnl iUnion af GeneraL Workcrs. This article
is a personal account and slnuld not betuken as an expression of the views of
the union, much less those of tlu

University/hefecture was represented
by two senior professors, forrr senior
members of the University
Administration and one official from thePrefectural Office. Univenity neggti4tors
arrived without an interpreter, as ihey hadon October 3; They were well aware thatin0erpretation would benecessqry if there.
was to be satisfactory communication
between the parties.

University.l
On July 1.1, 1997, a group of foreign
English teachers at Prefectural

Universify of Kumamoto (PUIQ formed
the Kumamoto General Unio:r, affiliatedwith the National Union of General
Workers -- National Council. Several
days later, they submittedclaims to theuniversity asking for, among otherthings, an end to discrimination on thebasis of nationality. They also asked that

Knowledge of Japanese
has never beem ar e quir ement for for ei gnteacher s b eing eyltployedeither onregular qf,,. , .,irregular contracts.

the so.called'foreign teachers' at theuniversity be given contracts whichreflected their full-time jobs in place ofthe present, 'special, irregular, part-time'
one-year contracts. Negotiations basedon these claims began on October 3. No

The university's top administrator
repeated his assertion from October 3:

settlement was reached and they resumed
on NovemberT. In the meantime, on
October 2i, a group oi PUK teachers
held a press conference which led towide coverage of the claims both in
the iegional press and on lelevision.

This is Japan so negotiations should takeplace in Japanese.' (I..nowledge ofJapanese has neverbeen a requirement
for foreign teachers being employedeither on regular or irregular contracts
at the PUK and there are varied levels ofJapanese competence. It was precisely in

The initial group of foreign teachers were

16

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Aq ^sJaqlesl
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ur eJsld eTei plnoJ suoqerloSau 13q1 rep:o:,University: I don't remember clearly.
For 'native' teachers, 'listening' wasUnion: In fact he's Japanese

importanr Students resPonded to'naiives' differentlv. He admined that

University: Ah.

these ideas were ail suppositions and that
he had little idea of what actuallY

University 2: One can understan<i flrom
looking at himl that he's not raciallyJapanese. Finshuteki ni nihonjin de wa
nai to iu koto wakaru.l .... Logking at

happened in class. He was unable toexiiain how the imagined differences inpeilagogical practice j ustifi ed contractual

discrimination against the inatives'.

nl ali au oLin
h o*rrtD De
I- Y Lt l,L LlJ r 0.t t t ol.f atE t' lv E (., esomeone's appearance, can't anyone tellwhether a person is Japanese or not? ....
You can tell whether Mr. Cleary.is a\r/esterner or an Easterner.

nationality andThis conversation opened up vistas of'nativeness'.

racial interpretations of the title

The union explored the'foreign teacher'which were notexplored. The discussion culminatedwith the university team (a) denying thatnationalify was a faclorin hiring foreignteachers as irregulars and (b) admining no

Since the university was adamant that
employment oli foreign teachers had
nothing to do with nationalif, the union
explored the relationship between
nationality and 'nativeness'. When asked
about the nationaliry of the 'native'
teachers (those whose English is their'mother Eongue'), the university teamprovided glimpses into the minds behindthe contracts:

Japanese teachers were employed asirregulars since there had been nonecessity to do so.
Negotiations will continue on November
20. One can only wonder what could
make the university team recognize thatwhen they employed foreign teachers
they were employing teachers who
were indeed foreign; or what could
induce them to admit that there issomething strange about employing eightfull-time teachers (sennin kyouin) on
part-time (hijoukin) contracts; or how
they could be made toadmit that giving
teachers inferior contracts because ofaccents and teaching styles isjust as

Union; In this uruversitv. what
nationality do the'nativdi teachers have?
Universiry: I don't know what
nationality they have.

.:

Union: Are we Japanese?

University: Looking at you, it's obvious(..miru wakaru desu ne) .... We know bylooking at you that youte not Japanese.

offensive as giving inferior contracts on
the basis of nationality.

Union: When youlook atl,rrpzta

Meantime, a billboard erected oueide the
FYefechiral Office still prcclaims thePrefectural adminisfiation's fi ght against
discrimination: tll,et's make a 'discrimination-free town, a gentle

playerin the Japanese national soccer
teamJ, doyou know his nationality?

Universiw: Yes I do.

Kumamoto."

Union: What nationality is he?

18

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JoJ :uoq"pueuuofag preueg (gralue uec ued€f ur sluoprus poqes qtql

Iooqls'uoqepueurrrocar relncgred

qEIH,sIrIC,{1rs.roa1u11

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qcua fq peuprualap,tilenpnpq)

IBuorlsuJolul nqsndx'pro;rapueA EqluBruES

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sluanue rqeruolne :o sesumlar Eupnlru!
pu) slrm4ua g!ru looqcs q8g ro3

sruuxfl oJusJlug
oEa1p3 ul qql8ufl IBrOE

short essays. For the departments such as
Science, Medicine and Education, theinterview examination is used in the GEE
as well to determine the applicants'

with the interview portion of theexamination, as well as understand its
purposes and consequences.

The Interview, Portion of thesuilabiliry for careers in such fields., , ,Some institutions also use rle interview
to try todetermine whetherthe applicants
will finish university in four years andnot prolong their stay.
,

Fvominofinn

In an attempt !o shed lighton the usuallyosecret" interview portion of theexamination, the National High School
Association for Career Counseling(NI-ISACC) produced an unprecedented
video this year. Most univemities' andjunior colleges usually do not give out
information regarding the interview
portion so this video, nThe Entranceinterview: Aims, Content and Evaluation
Points", provides applicants,,with a very
general ideaof what to focus on in their
preparation. In tlre video, university

Evaluation Criteria
Interviewers generally base their criteria
on areas that cannot be seen in acadeniic
results, such as:. personality. "genkisq" (enthusiasm, positiveness,outgoingness). mcitivation to attend th€ institution and 'study the subject. interest in and zuitability for the
department or subject'how much the applicant already knows
about the institution, deparftnent or

professors discuss 1) the purpose oftheinterview, 2) the criteria for evaluation,3)
the evaluation, and 4) often-asked
questions. What follows has been culledfrom this Japanese-,language videg,

subject )'i'. ability to understand what is being said

Purpose of the Interview
Examination

to them. ability to express what they want to sav

The REE is based on the principle that theevaluation and selection are not based onacademic ability. The purpose of theinterview is to get information that cannot
be derived from thg traditional, academic
written examinations. The interview is an
opporrunity to look at applicants'
personalify, non-academic skrlls andabilities, motivation for wanting to attend
that paidcular universiry or'study aparticular subject,'aspirations uponentering the department, plans for the
fuhrre" and ability !oexpress themselvesclearly and logically.

logicallyo eagerness

to communicale. content of their answers

Generally speaking, appli'cants who pass
the interview are able to look theinterviewers in the eyes and answer thequestions with determination, warmthand feeling using their own words; They
answer logically and explain thereasoning behind lheir answers.
Applicants who fail the interview are
generally unable to expiess themselvesclearly or they do not communicate well.

Having this type of entrance testwhich
does not focus on academic abiliry,

Evaluation

allows the university to diversify its
student population. Another reason for
conducting the iilerviews is to check theinformation on the applicants' application

Each institution has its own system forgrading applicants. One professor says,"We don't give detailed grades,like 3 outof 5 on the correctness of whatrthev aresayrng, or 4 out of 5 on how goodihey

and recommendation forms or in their

20

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examination is to determine applicants'
interest in and suitability forpursuing studies in the Foreign I-anguage
Department by having thern read a
passage out loud or read a passage andanswer questions about it from a native
speaker in English. This means,
basically, if the applicant can read theEnglish passage out loud, orcan read theEnglish passage and answer the native
speaker's questions about it in English,
then they are interested in and suitable forpursuing studies in the Foreign Language
Departmenr This implies some relation
between performance on this lest and the

Implications on English Language
Education in JapanThe use of oral English in the entrance
examination interviews does, however,seem to signal that this is the beginning of
the transition in university andjuniorcollege entrance examinations toward theevalr,ation of oral English ability. In order
to increase oral English abrlity in Japan,
and be responsive tochanges in the field(Gruba cited in McClean, i99t, an oral
English portion of the junior college anduniversity entrance examinations isnecessary, but not in the form of aninterview designed to det€rmine int€rcst

applicant's interest and suitability.

and suitability within a larger interview
which attempts to evaluate personalitv

However, many interviews do notcontain such a passage. In a survey I

andmotivation.

administered !o the Engtrish Departrnent
staff of universities and junior colleges(Vanderford, 1997, unpublished), I
found only seven out of tu;'enty-eight
institutions used passages or pictureswith questions regarding content. The
remaining institutions asked questions
about applicants' rnotivation for wanring
to enter that institution, plans for the
future, school life, hobbies and family.

The use of English to

determine motivation,
personality, interest, or
anything other than oral
English ability ts not fair,reliable or valid.

The views expressed in the video and thedata from my survey lead me to conclude
that the use of English in the form ofquestion / answer to determine
motivation, personality, inleresl oranything othertlan oral English ability is
not fair, reliable or valid. Asking
questions in English does not necessarily
provide information about the applicants'
motivation to study, their personality or
their interesl It tells us their English
ability and that is an academic skill. The
purpose of the interview (a non-academic
evaluation) and the method for carrying itout (using the academic skill of English)
are mismatched. nThis point is crucial
because language tests should measurelanguage abilities, and nothing elsen

Although taw (1995) has found that it
takes time for high school student andteacher study habits to change due to thestong entrance examination prepaxation
mind set, the effects of the greater
presence of listening portions on entrance
examinations are beginning to show inhigh school teaching and learning. Oralexaminations could potentially have aneven stronger and more positive
washback effect on high school shrdy. At
present, high school Oral Communicatron
A, B and C classes are 'fun', yet sfudents
often do not see the 'point'and some'resent doing class work which they see
as irrelevant to improving their test
(university entrance examinations)performancen (Gates, 199t.

(Nakamura, f995).
22

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loto pllnft n araql araillassessment The same issues Brown
raises regarding written exarns apply tothe entranee interview and use of oral
English in entrance exams: I'openness,t€st :development standards, professional
developntent and scrutiny, and the needfor much more research" (Brown, 1995).

English Textbooks and College EntanceExaminations. JALT Journal, 18, 81-95.

References

Law, G. (1995). Ideologies of English Language&lucation in laralr. JALI JourruI, 17,213-23.

Brindley, C. (lry7} Assessment and the language
Teacher: Trends md Transitions. The Ianrguage

McClean, J. (199t. Negotiating a Spoken-English

Kay, G.S. (1995). English Language Entrance
Examinations at Japanese Universities: lnterview
with James Dean Brown. The lttguage
Teacher, l9(1f), 7-11.

Scheme with Japanese Univenity Students. In
Brown, J. & Yamashita S. (Eds.), Language
Tesring in JaWn Ip.LT, l3Glzt8.

Teacher,2l(9), 39.
Brown, J.D. (f995a). English l-anguage Fntrance
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McNarnara" T. (199?. Measuring performance insecond language oxal tes8. Presentation at JALT97
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Brown, J.D., et ai. (1995b). Language Testing inIapan. lAljx Applied Materials, 5-tO.

Mnistry of &lucation. (1991). Koto gakko gekushu
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Brown, J.D. (1995c). A caijin Teacher's Guide to
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kyouiku kyokuchou rrutatsu- Daiepku nyuugakusha

Brown, J.D. & Yamashita, S.O. (f995). krglish
Language Entrance Eraminations at Japanese
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senbatsu jisshi youkou [Bureau of lligher Btucafion

Notification : Oudine on university enrance
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Joarna!, L7,'l-3O.
Gakkuen (f996). Daigaku juken annai 9rl. [Guide ro
College Exams'9/1. Tokyo: Gakushu Kenkyusha"

Nakamura. Y- (1995) Making Speaking Test Valid
Praclical Considerations in a Classroom Setting. In
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Gakkuen (f996). Daigaku naiyou shoukai f/.

Testiag in lapan" IAIJI, 126-133.

untroduction to Universities '9fl. Tokyo: Gakushu
Kentryusha-

National High School Association for C-areerCounseling (Zenkoku kotogakko shinro shido

Gates, S. (1995). Exploiting Washback fromkyogikai). (199rD. Video: Shingalsu mensetsu:
sono nerai to naiyo, hyouka no pointo ffhe
Enfance Interview; its aims, content and evaluation
pointsl. Tokyo: Jitsumu Kyoiku Shuppan.

Standardized Tests. In Brown, J. & yamashita, S.
(ms.\ Iat guge Testing in Jqa+ JALT, t0r-106.
Gorsuch, G.J. (lgEI). Test Purposes. The Latguage
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Simmons, T. (Ed.) (f996). Academic Debate on
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Gruba" P. (1993). Sadent asscssnent final report

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