Friday, May 16
ETS is now using the PhonePass technology to conduct speaking test using the telephone. See below.

Dear Colleague:

Looking for a convenient and reliable way to determine your students' English speaking skills? With the new TOEFL Academic Speaking Test (TAST) from ETS, you can test their ability 24/7 using the telephone!

TAST, the new speaking section of the next generation TOEFL test, integrates speaking with listening and reading to provide a more realistic measure of how well a student can communicate in an academic setting.

TAST can help you
    --build students・confidence in their speaking skills
    --assess student progress so that you can focus on improvement and determine academic readiness
    --save time and money on scoring

To learn more about TAST and to find out how you can save 20% on your order,
visit us today at: www.toefl.org/tast.

We look forward to serving you.

The English Language Learning Program
Educational Testing Service

Friday, February 28
The Ministry of Education is sponsoring a forum for the Strategic Plans to educate Japanese who can use English.  As you can see, I've been asked to give a presentation as well.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/15/02/030221.htm

Ken Yoshida

Wednesday, February 12
This is from Mr. Yamamoto (of another ML).  It looks like Kyoto Prefecture is going to require all English teachers to take the TOEFL--as a measure to see how much effect the new teacher training program will have on its teachers.

http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/K2003021002959.html

This is from Mr. Irinoda.  The Ministry is thinking of conducting summer and winter English immersion camps in several districts around the country for elementary school students.  One good thing is, the program does not necessarily have to be in English, but can also be in other languages which might be more relevant to the needs of the district.

http://www.mainichi.co.jp/news/article/200302/09m/032.html

Ken Yoshida

Friday, January 24
From Ken Yoshida

The COE program (what used to be called the Top Thirty) began last year, and is heading into its second year.  This is the Ministry of Education's incentive for universities to create international level academic programs at the graduate school level..

Now a new program will start.  This is called the COL (Center of Learning) which will focus on 'unique' undergraduate educational programs, which will be collected as 'model cases' for other institutions to emulate. This includes not only 4-year universities, but also junior colleges.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0124/004.html

Also, and interesting news item from the Ministry of Education shows an international comparison of educational factors (including government expenditure on education--lowest among OECD nations).  One thing to note is how much Japanese education owes to private institutions (expenditures).

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/15/01/030114.htm

Wednesday, January 22
From Ken Yoshida

This academic year's final ASTE meeting will be held on the 25th (this coming Saturday), from 3 pm to 5 pm in room 311 of Bldg. 6 of Sophia. It will basically be an open discussion about the recent developments in English educational policy in Japan.

In relation to the above, I have been working with professors Fujita, Watanabe, Mori and Ms. Suzuki and Ms. Osada (with the cooperation of the graduate students in our applied linguistics program) to create a questionnaire to find out about how English is currently being taught in junior and senior high schools in Japan.  This is a part of the research we are conducting for the Monkasho's "Eigo ga tsukaeru Nihonjin no ikusei ni kansuru Senryaku Koso."

The Monkasho will be sending out the questionnaires to randomly selected junior and senior high schools via the prefectural boards of education. Also, Benesse Cooperation has also offered to help out in distributing the teacher's questionnaire, and in creating with our committee a new CAN-DO questionnaire for the students to answer.

Although we hope to get a fair amount of data through these means, we would like the cooperation of as many teachers as possible (both public and private school teachers who are not included in the Monkasho list), and so have set up a WEB questionnaire at the following site (http://cgi.jrc.sophia.ac.jp/~tfujita/cgi-bin/questionnaire/).  Our job is to come up with concrete plans with which to 'change' the way English is taught in Japan, and we would like your cooperation in this matter.  If you know of other English teachers' mailing lists, we would appreciate it if you could pass this message on.

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Ken Yoshida

Wednesday, July 17
The official report of the Asahi Shimbun article I sent you yesterday is on the Ministry of Education and Science website.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shotou/020/sesaku/020702.htm

The content is  basically the same as that reported in the newspaper.

Monday, July 15

1) The Minister of Education and Science has announced a grandiose plan to improve English education in Japan.  All English teachers will be required to have at least a 550 on the TOEFL, or a 730 on the TOEIC,  60000 teachers will be given intensive in-service training in the next 5 years, the Center test will include a listening component from the year 2005,  the number of high school exchange students will be increased from the present 4000 to 10000, there will be full-time native speaker teachers of English in both junior and senior high schools, 1/3 of the elementary school English courses
will be taught by ALTs, and more.

http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/K2002071201557.html

Looks wonderful, but...we'll have to wait and see how much of this can be realized.

2) I sent you the Japanese article a while ago, but here's the English article from the Asahi.

http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002071300202.html

Ken Yoshida

3) The number of JETs for the coming year has been announced.  There's an increase of about 80 compared with last year.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shotou/020/sesaku/020701.htm

4) An interesting article about Global English.  What would your thoughts, as a non-native speaker of English, be to this issue?

MAGAZINES & JOURNALS

A glance at the spring issue of "ADFL Bulletin": Could global English mean the end of progress?

Global reliance on English has placed humankind at risk of "extinction-level boredom," so it's up to foreign-language professors to save the species, writes Michael Geisler, an associate dean of the faculty and a professor of German at Middlebury College. If English continues to dominate such forms of international communication as the Internet and the mass media, the world could be facing the end of innovation, progress, and evolution -- a "global freeze" -- according to Mr. Geisler.

English is becoming a greater force in international colleges and universities, while American students are becoming increasingly indifferent toward foreign languages. This "new intercultural illiteracy threatens to close off entire subdisciplines," he argues. Furthermore, a world debating in English is doing so at the "lowest common denominator" --  a meeting ground for those who do not share a primary language. This lowers the level of discourse, Mr. Geisler explains, because of the gap between the perceived and actual English skills of non-native speakers.

Language professors can offer some hope, however, if they "take seriously their role as not merely linguistic but also cultural mediators," he writes. "By reclaiming the cultural expertise we have ceded to other areas of the curriculum, foreign-language departments across the country can help prevent a global freeze and other gloomy forecasts."

The article is not online, but information about the journal is available at http://www.adfl.org/bulletin/ --
Roderick A. Jacobs, Ph.D. Tel: 404-378-7365
Author/Language Consultant
Formerly Dean of College of Languages, Linguistics, & Literature
Emeritus Professor of Linguistics & Second Language Studies
University of Hawai'i
225 East Ponce de Leon Ave, #523
Decatur, GA 30030

rjacobs@townesquare.net

Thursday, June 27
The summaries of all five breakfast meetings with the  Minister of Education is now available.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/f_020201.htm

Thursday, June 6
1) Sophia University Lectures  in Applied Linguistics
Sponsored by Center for the Teaching of Foreign Languages in General Education

Lecture title:  Reconceiving Argument in Academic Writing

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Kei Matsuda (Assistant Professor of Composition Studies, Department of English, University of New Hampshire)

Date: June 20, 2002  5:00pm-6:30pm Room: L-921

Free of charge
Language: English

For more information contact:
Rimiko Takamatsu at the Center for the Teaching of Foreign Languages in General Education
e-mail:rimiko-t@sophia.ac.jp
tel:03-3238-3997

2) Here's a Call for Proposals from TIRF (TESOL International Research Foundation).  You can apply for funding to do research in TEFL/TESL.  If you know of any teachers' organizations who might be interested, please pass it on.

Ken Yoshida

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Call for Research Proposals 2002-2003

The TESOL International Research Foundation (TIRF) invites proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Grants and Standard Research Grants in the field of applied linguistics/English language education.

For the first round of competitions (2002-2003), proposals are solicited for research directly related to the following research priority:

The relationship between the age at which English is introduced in public schools (as a second language, foreign language, and/or as a medium of instruction to speakers of other languages) and educational processes and outcomes.

Proposals are sought that examine such issues as the relationship between age, duration, intensity of instruction, and learning outcomes; the impact of policies regarding age of initial English instruction on teacher education; and the relationships among first language/literacy learning, English language/literacy learning, and age, either in English-dominant or non-English-dominant countries.

Grants will be in the range of US $5,000-$ 25,000 each, with $25,000 the maximum award. Doctoral Dissertation Grants of up to US $5000 per proposal are available.  For Standard Research Grants, priority will be given to proposals that involve partnerships between researchers in institutions in more than one country, ideally involving at least one partner in a non-English-dominant country.  Research involving multiple sites and multiple research methods (e.g., qualitative and quantitative approaches) is encouraged.

The application deadline (for receipt of proposals) is Friday, August 16, 2002. All  applications must be submitted electronically by email using Word attachments, with "TIRF Research Grant Application" in the Subject heading. Faxed or mailed applications will not be accepted.  Notification of results will be made by October 15, 2002. Please consult TIRF's website (http://www.tirfonline.org) for more information and for the required proposal format.

Short Announcement:

The TESOL International Research Foundation (TIRF) invites proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Grants and Standard Research Grants in the field of applied linguistics/English language education.

Proposals are solicited for research directly related to the following research priority:

The relationship between the age at which English is introduced in public schools (as a second language, foreign language, and/or as a medium of instruction to speakers of other languages) and educational processes and outcomes.

Proposals are sought that examine such issues as the relationship between age, duration, intensity of instruction, and learning outcomes; the impact of policies regarding age of initial English instruction on teacher education; and the relationships among first language/literacy learning, English language/literacy learning, and age, either in English-dominant or non-English-dominant countries.

Doctoral Dissertation Grants of up to US $5,000 per proposal and Standard Research Grants of up to US$ 25,000 per proposal are available.  For Standard
Research Grants, research involving multiple sites and multiple research methods (e.g., qualitative and quantitative approaches) is encouraged.

The application deadline (for receipt of proposals) is Friday, August 16, 2002. All applications must be submitted electronically by email using Word attachments.   Notification of results will be made by October 15, 2002.

Please consult TIRF's website (http://www.tirfonline.org) for more information and for the required proposal format.

Ultra-short Announcement:

The TESOL International Research Foundation (TIRF) invites proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Grants (up to US $5,000 ) and Standard Research Grants (up to US $25,000) in the field of applied linguistics/English language education.

Proposals are solicited for research directly related to the following research priority:

The relationship between the age at which English is introduced in public schools (as a second language, foreign language, and/or as a medium of instruction to speakers of other languages) and educational processes and outcomes.

The application deadline (for receipt of proposals) is Friday, August 16, 2002.

Please consult TIRF's website (http://www.tirfonline.org) for more information and for the required proposal format.

Tuesday, May 21
1) Announcement from ETS about the new TOEFL.  Looks like things are beginning to move.

I talked with a person from CIEE yesterday, and she expressed her regrets about the ETS closing down so many CBT sites in Japan.  She told me the paper test will resume from the next TOEFL, but it seems that they are having difficulties getting institutions to allow th use of their facilities for the administration of the TOEFL.  If you can't find a test site near you, that seems to be the reason.  Hopefully, things will get better as time goes on.

I'm wondering, however, how the new generation TOEFL is going to be administered if everything is going back to the paper version...

By the way, don't forget, the next ASTE meeting is this coming Saturday, May 25th  (Rm. 310 from 3pm to 5pm).
Ken Yoshida

ETS has begun the first of a three-part launch of the next generation of TOEFL.  It will premier in 2004, TOEFL's 40th anniversary year, and will more closely reflect the speaking, listening, reading and writing  test takers need at the university level and in their professional careers.

The first phase begins September 2002, when ETS unveils LanguEdge・ Courseware, a CD-ROM instructional tool that will help build communicative skills in English and give teachers and their students a glimpse of the next generation of TOEFL.  The second phase  begins in 2003, when we will introduce a new TOEFL speaking test.  Then, in 2004, the next generation Internet-based TOEFL (iBT TOEFL) , with integrated skills, will be unveiled.

For additional information please view the press release at http://www.ets.org/news/04230201.html .  We also encourage you to check the ETS and TOEFL Web sites www.ets.org and www.toefl.org, where we will post updates and new developments.
TOEFL
EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE

2) There has been a lot of problems with computer viruses recently, but here's a site where the viruses are explained and advice given to teachers as well as students.

http://www.sophos.co.jp/virusinfo/explained/schools.html

Also an announcement from Kawaijuku to the effect that they are looking for contributions of used high school English textbooks to send to South Africa. (forwarded by Mr. Irinoda)

http://www.kawai-juku.ac.jp/kawaijuku/volunteer/volunteer-s.html

Thursday, May 16
1) The Tokyo Metropolitan board of education is planning an experiential college summer program for high school students. (in Japanese)

http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/INET/OSHIRASE/2002/05/20C5E600.HTM

Sophia was also asked by Tokyo Kokusai High School last year if it would be possible to have their students take some of our classes for credit last year.  Our department said okay, but there seem to be departments that are against the idea.  Don't ask me why.  So, I sometimes go to high schools to give lectures related to courses I give here at Sophia to high school students. I've personally found this to be a very interesting and rewarding experience.

2) Here's an interesting site (in Japanese) dealing with various problems Japanese mothers face in terms of educating their children in the U.S.

http://www.angelfire.com/sc3/schoolil/index.html

Wednesday, May 15
Looks like e-learning is taking off in the U.S.  There are still many issues to resolve, but this is an interesting study.

http://www.edweek.org/tc02/

Tuesday, May 14
1) Language Policy: Lessons from Global Models  has been published, and can be downloaded and read electronically from the following site.

http://www.miss.edu/news-pubs.html

My article is also included.

2) Below is an announcement of ALC's seminar for English teachers.  As you can see, I will be one of the speakers.

http://www.alc.co.jp/catc/bu/bu020616.html

Also,  TESOL International Research Foundation has just put out an announcement about it's new trustees.  Both Neil Anderson and I are among the newly elected.

1.  Go to www.tirfonline.org

2.  On the home page you'll see an item for "What's new?"  about the new Trustees.

Wednesday, May 8
This is an interesting story about the United States importing foreign teachers to teach in American Schools--mostly Spanish.  It's for three-years, and these teachers are being recruited as bilingual teachers.

A little different, maybe, but it sounds somewhat similar to the JET program in Japan.

http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/392419p-3117360c.html

Friday, April 5
Here's some more information from TOEFL about the closing of CBT Centers.
-----------------
As follow up to the press release you received yesterday, additional information on the international testing center reorganization is available at:  http://www.ets.org/news/02040303.html.

The following announcement came from TOEFL.  There will be quite a lot of CBT testing sites which will close.  In Japan alone, the Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Okinawa CBT sites will be closed. Instead, applicants will be taking the paper test version.  See below for details.
-----------------
Yoshida Kensaku

Princeton, N.J. (April 4, 2002) -- Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced today that it will reorganize and refocus its international computer-based testing (CBT) operations to increase efficiency and improve access through multiple ways of testing.

Currently, ETS CBTs are offered to more than 1.5 million people worldwide through some 400 domestic centers and 195 international centers operated by Prometric. Over the next twelve months, ETS will phase out operations at 84 non-U.S. CBT test centers. To ensure continuity of service, ETS will establish paper-based testing centers at educational organizations such as colleges, universities, schools and advising centers in the affected areas. Less than 15 percent of international test takers are affected by the change. For a list of the centers being closed, check
http://www.ets.org/news/02040302.html.

(snip)

Saturday, March 30
This is the interim report concerning the subjects which will be included in the Center test from the year 2002.

http://www.dnc.ac.jp/18kyouka-chuukan.html

The ASTE Newsletter 46 is on the WEB

http://www.bun-eido.co.jp/aste/aste46.html

We sent the hard copies out yesterday as well.

One other piece of new:  The Sophia Seminar for High School Teachers of English will, unfortunately, be canceled this year.  In cooperation with UTS, we tried to get the necessary funding, but came up short this year.  We will try to get it back in business next year.

Saturday, March 9
1) Here are some possible examples of classes based on Monkasho's assessment Criteria. (Gumma Prefectural Board of Education)

http://www.pref.gunma.jp/kyoi/05/hyouka/index.htm

If you want to know what we talked about at our meeting with the Minister (in our session, the Minister could not come because of the problems in the Diet), here are some very topics we discussed.  Unfortunately, it's very skeletal.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/f_020201.htm

Also, you can read the newest issue of the Monbukagaku Jiho (bulletin of the Ministry of Education and Science) at the site below.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/kouhou/020228/01.htm

Saturday, March 2
The Monkasho has released a report on the Assessment Criteria for elementary and junior high school subjects.

http://www.nier.go.jp/kaihatsu/houkoku/saisyu.htm  (in Japanese)

Tuesday, February 26
1) The Ministry of Education and Science has released proposals by the Central Education Committee concerning teacher accreditation criteria.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/020202.htm

2) The Committee has also released its views on liberal arts education--there is mention of high schools in this documents as well.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/020203.htm

3) Another, completely different site which may be of interest is a site provided by the American Library of Congress.  It's called Portals to the World.  It's a good way to get to know about the world.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html

Saturday, February 2
1) Here's a report of a survey done with Japanese children.  It seems the percentage of elementary school children attending Jukus is on the increase.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/14/01/020122.htm

2) This is the newest issue of the Monkasho Newsletter.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/kouhou/020130/01.htm

3) At this ESL Listening Lab, you can download some very good listening comprehension materials.  Try them yourselves.

http://www.esl-lab.com/

Thursday, January 31
Here's an interesting article from the Boston Globe about a new way of assessment.  It gives examples of schools where electronic portfolios are now being used.  Something to think about in Japan as well?

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/025/metro/Click_on_progress+.shtml

Monday, January 28
1) If you have questions about the new study guidelines, here's site which answers some of those questions for you.

http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/youryou/111/020101.htm

2) Also, for anyone who wants to read the Tales of Genji in English, here's a good site.

http://webworld.unesco.org/genji/en/index.shtml

3) This is an announcement from our institute concerning Paul Hopper's lecture to be given at Sophia. It's on February 25th.

Speaker: Prof. Paul Hopper （Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University)
Date: Monday, February 25
Time: 3:00PM to 5:00PM
Place: Conference Room 6 (5th floor of Jochi Kaikan), Sophia University

Title: "The Fragmentary Nature of Linguistic Data"

I will discuss the implications of conversational data for the notion of a construction and for ideas about language change. The talk will include reference to the recent work of Sandra Thompson and myself concerning transitivity

The use of language: English
*Free admission

Wednesday, January 23
This is from another ML that I belong to.  The Minister of Education and Science is asking about 20 people to give their opinions concerning English education in Japan, and the first of 5 meetings (4 people each per month) was held today.  Two points mentioned in this report:  English should be taught in elementary schools and more subjects in universities should be taught in English. Sophia's president, Fr. Currie, was also at the meeting today.  I'm on next month.  We'll see what comes out of this.

The ASTE Meeting is this coming Saturday (January 26th), from 3-5 pm, room 311 of the no. 6 building of Sophia.  This is the final meeting for the 2001 academic year.

See you then.

Ken Yoshida

Tuesday, January 22
Some of you might know this site already, but with the Monkasho beginning to create rubrics for the criterion-based assessment it has decided to implement, the following Council of Europe scales as well as a free web-test might be of interest.  You can take tests in 14 different languages if you want to try.

http://www.dialang.org/english/index.html

Thursday, January 17
A very interesting and useful site to get materials for the Course in General Studies (Sogotekina-gakushu no jikan)

http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/sougou/main14_a2.htm

Friday, January 4
Happy New year to you all!

An interesting article in the Yomiuri (couldn't find it in English) says that ALTs will have a chance to become full-fledged lecturers in Japanese junior and senior high schools.  The ministry is also contemplating changing the teacher accreditation procedures--opening doors to those who have teaching licenses from their home countries, and also providing in-service opportunities (5-10 years) in Japan as well whereby the emphasis will be placed on actual teaching and interviews.  These are really good signs.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/01/20020101i501.htm

*****************************************************************************************

Sunday, December 23
The Japanese TOEFL average score is now 504- -3 points better than the last time.
 http://www.cieej.or.jp/toefl/toeflsemi/mailmaga4/toefl-data.html
(These are data from CIEE)

Thursday, December 20
Interested in Japanglish?  Here's an interesting web site.

http://www.jun-gifts.com/others/japanglish/japanglish.htm

Saturday, December 15
The monthly Monbu Kagaku Koho has been released.  Articles on the JET program report, as well as an announcement for a position opening for International director of the the Japanese school in San Paulo is on the last page.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/kouhou/011212/01.htm

Thursday, December 6
Some of you have probably read newspaper reports about the Japanese high school students' high achievement in math, science and reading comprehension in comparison with students in other parts of the world.  Here's the report (there's an English version as well).

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/001/index28.htm

Tuesday, December 4
From Mr. Irinoda.  Mr. Akashi proposes need for half year study abroad and half year international volunteer activities for all college students.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/07/20011129wm06.htm

Wednesday, November 28
1) The Monkasho News 14 has been released.  Interesting article about the increase in foreign students in Japan.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/kouhou/011121/02.htm

Tuesday, November 27
1) The following was sent to the CALPS ML.  It talks about the lack of Japanese language teachers in Korea.  They're making German and French teachers take 1 year training courses in becoming Japanese language teachers

http://www.asahi.com/international/jk/011125a.html

2) Here is another very interesting article about American high school students' applications to take part in exchange programs rising, as a result of the September 11th incident. As Mr. Sasaki asks,  what's happening in Japan???  Has there been any positive changes in the mentality of the Japanese youth as a result of the incident?
Exchange Student Applications Surge  From: Daisuke Sasaki <daisuke@e-mail.ne.jp>

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011124/us/exchange_students_1.html

3) The following is a report on the state of Japanese youth, conducted by the government.

http://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/kenkyu/seikatu2th/top.html

Friday, November 23
1) CIEE (Council) has an interesting table showing how many prefectures are now using TOEFL scores as criteria for hiring new teachers.

http://www.cieej.or.jp/toefl/toefl/kyouikuiinkai.html

2) The following is a review of the JET program conducted by the Monkasho.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/13/11/011121.htm

Thursday, November 22
1) The following is an announcement from Prof. Tamura of our Dept. of Electrical Engineering.  It's about a session on the use of computers in language teaching.  If you're interested,  you might want to look it up.

http://www.elc.or.jp/

2) If anyone is interested in learning about "TOEIC Junior," here's an interview and an introduction of it referred to me by Mr. Irinoda

http://www.toeic.or.jp/bridge/01/index.html
http://www.asahi.com/english/weekly/study/toeic.html

Wednesday, November 21
Hakuhodo has released the results of an international comparison in the way young people think and behave.

http://www.hakuhodo.co.jp/news/20011116.html   (in Japanese)

Friday, November 16
If you want to read Japanese folktales in English, here's a good site.  You can also use it for your classes.

http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/folk.html

Thursday, November 15
This site be of interest to you.  You'll find a lot of very practical lessons you might be able to use in your teaching.
----------------------
Yoshida Kensaku

Dear JACET Teacher,

As a fellow member of JACET, I would like to introduce you to English To Go
http://www.english-to-go.com/English/index.cfm?referer_id=115

Each week, we create Photocopiable Lesson Plans for English Teachers that are based on current Reuters News stories.  We create 5 levels of Lessons to suit the needs of your students, ranging from Beginner (Eiken Class Three) to Advanced (Eiken Class 1).  Currently, we have more than 20,000 teachers in over 100 countries using our materials each week, and we're now beginning to expand our efforts here in Japan. In addition to these Instant Lessons, we also have other weekly Teaching Resources available on our website ranging from Grammar and Vocabulary information to Classroom Warm Up Exercises.  Over the coming weeks, we'll also be adding a Japanese language section to our site, Japanese Translations of some lower-level Lessons, and a special area highlighting Lessons based on news from Japan.

I would like to invite you to become a Free Guest Member of English To Go to learn the many benefits that we can bring to your teaching.  And if you and your colleagues are interested in becoming paying members, we offer volume discounts for groups of 2 or more teachers.

If you have any questions or comments about English To Go and our efforts here in Japan, please feel free to email me at your convenience. Also, if our materials currently do not suit your teaching needs, I'd love to hear your feedback as to how we could improve.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Kind Regards,
Philip


Philip Sidel
General Manager
English To Go, Japan Representative Office
"For Teachers of the World"
www.english-to-go.com

Wednesday, November 14
1) The is from Prof. Yoshia: Here's a very useful site full of free references of all kinds compiled by the American Library Association.

http://www.ala.org/rusa/mars/best2001.html

Thursday, November 8
Children today watch more television than 10 years ago, don't want to go on to college as they used to, would like to stop going to school after junior high, but like to use the computer to study, etc., etc. Very interesting results, ranging from elementary school children to senior high students.

http://www.crn.or.jp/LIBRARY/GAKUSHU/

Yoshida Kensaku

Wednesday, October 31
Here's an article from the New York Times that Mr. Irinoda sent me. The situation is the same in Japan, too. I remember back during the Gulf War, Ms. Marie Nishimori, who was on our NHK English Conversation Program,was called on by many different television and radio stations to interpret Arabic for them. She was a graduate of the University of Cairo as well as the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, fluent in Japanese, English and Arabic (and I don't know how many other languages). It seems there just wasn't enough people who could do it then--and, most probably now also.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/27/opinion/27BARO.html?ex=1005202932&ei=1&en=

Yoshida Kensaku

Friday, October 19
1) Here's some interesting results of a survey conducted by the government concerning university education. For those of us involved, or interested, in the restructuring of the university, I think the results shown here are very interesting. (in Japanese)

http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/h13-daigaku/index.html 

2) An article in the Yomiuri shows that Japanese children are watching more television, are studying less, enjoy life less, and do not have high aspirations to attain social success when compared with children from three other countries. (in Japanese)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/00/20011018i301.htm 

Yoshida Kensaku

Monday, October 8
1) Here's an article saying that the Central Committee on Education (Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai) is recommending the sending of junior high school teachers to teach elementary school science and social studies.  The reason is because Japanese children are not doing as well in the sciences as they used to, and a need to have specialized teachers teach these subjects in elementary schools is being considered.

http://www.mainichi.co.jp/news/selection/archive/200110/08/20011008k0000m040124000c.html

They're also talking about doing the same thing with English teachers in the future as well.  What are your thoughts on this?
Yoshida Kensaku

2) Here's an online journal you can subscribe to for free.  Mr. Irinoda studying at Hawaii right now forwarded this information to me.

> From: llt@msu.edu
> Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 12:36:23 -1000
> To: cdoughty@hawaii.edu
> Subject: LLT volume 5 number 3 is now available!
>
We are happy to announce that Volume 5, Number 3 of Language Learning & Technology is now available at http://llt.msu.edu. This is a Special Issue on "Using Corpora in Language Teaching and Learning" and was guest edited by Chris Tribble and Michael Barlow. The contents are listed below.

Please visit the LLT Web site and be sure to enter your free subscription if you have not already done so. Also, we welcome your submissions of articles, reviews, and commentaries for future issues. Check our guidelines for submission at http://llt.msu.edu/contrib.html.

Sincerely,
Mark Warschauer and Dorothy Chun, Editors
Language Learning & Technology (http://llt.msu.edu)

***Feature Articles***

1 Genres, Registers, Text Types, Domain, and Style: Clarifying the Concepts and Navigating a Path Through the BNC Jungle (David Lee)
2 Text Categories and Corpus Users: A Response to David Lee (Commentary) (Guy Aston)
3 An Evaluation of Intermediate Students' Approaches to Corpus Investigation (Claire Kennedy and Tiziana Miceli)
4 Looking at Citations: Using Corpora in English for Academic Purposes (Paul Thompson and Chris Tribble)

5 Lexical Behavior in Academic and Technical Corpora: Implications for ESP Development (Alejandro Curado Fuentes)
6 Teaching German Modal Particles: A Corpus-Based Approach (Martina Mollering)
7 The Emergence of Texture: An Analysis of the Functions of the Nominal Demonstratives in an English Interlanguage Corpus (Terry Murphy)
8 Exploring Parallel Concordancing in English and Chinese (Wang Lixun)
9 A Case for Using a Parallel Corpus and Concordancer for Beginners of a Foreign Language (Elke St. John)

***Columns***
From the Editors (Mark Warshauer,  Dorothy Chun, and Pamela DaGrossa)
From the Guest Editor (Christopher Tribble and Michael Barlow)
On the Net "Finding Song Lyrics Online" (Jean LeLoup and Robert Ponterio)
Emerging Technologies "Tools and Trends in Corpora Use for Teaching and Learning" (Robert Godwin-Jones)

***Reviews*** Edited by Jennifer Leeman
1 Multilingual Corpora in Teaching and Research by Botley, McEnery, & Wilson (Eds.) (reviewed by John Lawler)
2 Patterns and Meanings: Using Corpora for English Language Research and Teaching by Partington (reviewed by Jozsef Horvath)
3 Exploring Academic English: A Workbook for Student Essay Writing by Thurstun & Candlin (reviewed by Paul Thompson)
4 MonoConc Pro and WordSmith Tools (reviewed by Randi Reppen)

***Call for Papers***
Theme: Distance Learning
***Corpora Research Bibliography***

Friday, July 13
Here's an interesting site that tells you 'How to' do virtually everything--the American way? Good for thinking of topics and tasks for your classes, and teaching materials.

http://www.ehow.com/

Tuesday, July 3
If you're interested in the results of the 2000 Census,  visit the following site.  There are some very interesting figures.

http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2000/sokuhou/index.htm

Thursday, June 21
Our next ASTE meeting is this coming Saturday, June 23rd.  As always the meeting will be held in room 311 of building no. 6 of Sophia, and it will be from 3 pm to 5 pm.  This time we're having Professor Shinichi Izumi of our department of English Language and Studies give a lecture on Focus on Form and the teaching of grammar/form.  It should be interesting.  I'm not sure if he'll be using English or Japanese in his presentation, though.  I think all his classes are conducted in English.

Another announcement. I went to NHK again today to videotape another program on teaching English for the Kyoiku Today (Education Today) program.  Last time the topic was teaching English in the elementary schools.  This time, it is about teaching English in junior high schools.  I think it is scheduled to be broadcast on June 28th (Thursday) from 9 pm(?).

Also, Ms. Kashimura told me that on June 23rd,  she will briefly appear teaching her class in the English education debate program on BS NHK--from 11 pm(?).

I've been personally asked by Fr. Doyle about finding someone to teach at Koen Girls' High School, and by Mr. Matsura, Principal of Tokiwagi Gakuen (Sendai), for potential English teachers.  Please contact Fr. Doyle about the Koen position, and contact me if you're interested in going to Sendai.

Ken Yoshida

Friday, June 15
1) Yesterday I sent you an article from the Mainichi about the problems in Japanese usage by young Japanese.  Well, here's the original results compiled by the Culture Agency

http://www.bunka.go.jp/7/2/VII-2.html

Go the Heisei 12 for the latest results.  There are some other interesting data in the earlier results as well.

Yoshida Kensaku

2)Tokyo Shoseki has done an interesting survey about English education in elementary schools.

http://ten.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/english-el/ten00776/ten00776.htm

Yoshida Kensaku

Thursday, June 14
1) Do you remember the article about young Japanese not knowing how to use the honorific system?  Well, here's another article about Japanese not knowing the meanings of idiomatic (proverbial) expressions.  (again in Japanese)

http://www.mainichi.co.jp/news/selection/archive/200106/12/20010613k0000m040074000c.html

Yoshida Kensaku

2) The following is from Dr. Arena. At Sophia, our students had free use of GlobalEnglish last year.  You might want to take a look at it if you're interested.

Yoshida Kensaku

GlobalEnglish Corporation Receives Investment From Mitsubishi Corporation

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2001--

The Leading Online English Language Learning Service Receives Capital Investment to Broaden Existing Relationship with Mitsubishi Corporation

GlobalEnglish(TM) Corporation, the leading provider of online English language learning services for corporations and consumers, today announced a significant equity investment by Mitsubishi Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, MIC Capital LLC.

"We are excited about Mitsubishi Corporation's decision to deepen its relationship with GlobalEnglish through this investment," said Fred Grainger, president and CEO of GlobalEnglish. "And while Mitsubishi has already been a great partner for us, we believe that this expanded relationship will make us a more powerful force in the e-learning sector."

The investment comes after Mitsubishi Corporation observed first-hand the widespread acceptance that the GlobalEnglish service has enjoyed in markets around the world. Human Link Corporation, the wholly owned subsidiary of the personnel department of Mitsubishi Corporation, has been selling the GlobalEnglish Corporate Learning Service throughout Japan with great success. In addition, Mitsubishi Corporation has recently adopted the GlobalEnglish Corporate Learning Service as part of its own employee training program.

"GlobalEnglish is the pioneer in the area of online English language training," said Mr. Yuji Komiya, General Manager of the Merchant Banking Business Unit at Mitsubishi Corporation. "The English language learning market is growing at a significant rate. We have seen many companies throughout the world that have begun to use English skills as criteria for hiring and promotion." According to Forrester Research of Cambridge, Mass., the worldwide online training market will jump to more than $25 billion by 2003--a 95 percent compounded annual growth rate.

Mr. Shunichi Maeda, President of MIC Capital LLC, added, "In this era of globalization, the ability to communicate in English is critical to success in business. The GlobalEnglish service is the most effective and efficient e-learning tool available, providing people around the world with the important opportunity to learn English and improve key language skills."

About GlobalEnglish

GlobalEnglish Corporation provides the leading online English language learning service for corporations and consumers. The service, available at www.GlobalEnglish.com and www.GlobalEnglish.com/corporate, is designed to meet the English language needs of non-native English speakers for work, travel and everyday purposes. With approximately 700 hours of coursework in both business English and general English, GlobalEnglish combines leading-edge technology with proven teaching methods for beginner to advanced learners. The company was established in 1997 by a team of educators and technologists who founded and managed five of the most successful educational technology companies in the U.S. and U.K. Headquartered in the U.S., GlobalEnglish has offices in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

GlobalEnglish Japan KKK is led by managing director Masatsugu Fujii, a former Mitsubishi executive with over 25 years of management experience in international companies. Mr. Fujii is a passionate teacher of the English language and, until recently, was a television instructor for NHK, Japan's national broadcasting corporation. Mr. Fujii hosted "Business World in English," a program watched by a million viewers throughout Japan.

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation is one of the largest trading and investment corporations in Japan, with diverse operating and investment activities throughout the world.

MIC Capital LLC is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi International Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation. The company is engaged in private equity investments in the Americas in the area of early- and later-stage ventures as well as LBO and buyout-stage companies.

Note to Editors: GlobalEnglish and GlobalEnglish.com are trademarks of GlobalEnglish Corporation. Other company and product names used herein are for identification purposes and may be trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: GlobalEnglish Corporation
Jim Mohan, 650/246-6114
jim.mohan@globalenglish.com

Wednesday, June 13
The announcement of the Sophia University Lectures in Applied Linguistics is at the following site:

http://pweb.sophia.ac.jp/~yosida-k/Linguist.PDF

Yoshida Kensaku

Tuesday, June 12
ALC Edunet has an interesting article on the use of picture books to teach English to young children.  (in Japanese, though)

http://www.alc.co.jp/edunet/kids/kids2001/kids63.html

Yoshida Kensaku

Monday, June 11
Here's an interesting internet debate about English education in Japan. Interesting data, too. (In Japanese)

http://www.nhk.or.jp/debate/top.htm 

Yoshida Kensaku

Friday, June 8
We're still accepting applications for the 28th Sophia UTS Seminar for High School Teachers of English.

http://pweb.cc.sophia.ac.jp/~yosida-k/28thseminar.PDF

Don't worry if you're a little late in applying.  If any of you or anyone you know is interested in attending, please let us know.

By the way, the two lecturers, Dr. Alastair Pennycook and Dr. Diana Slade, will be giving special lectures at Sophia on July 30th (3-6 pm, Rm. 812 of the Central Library Bldg.)   Dr. Pennycook will be speaking about World English's, and Dr. Slade will be talking about Analyzing Conversational English.  It's free of charge, so if you're interested, you're welcome to attend the lectures as well.
Yoshida Kensaku

Tuesday, May 29
Some of you might already have read this article, but it's very interesting. Children don't seem to know how to use the honorific system.  How would you interpret the results?  (Article in Japanese)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/04/20010528i101.htm
Ken Yoshida

Thursday, May 24
1) Lecture summaries of two familiar people are now on the STEP home page.
Guess who?

http://www.eiken.or.jp/eigo-joho/seminar2001/5-c/

Mr. Yanase and

http://www.eiken.or.jp/eigo-joho/seminar2001/6/

me.  (Sorry, but the lecture summaries are in Japanese)
Ken Yoshida
-----------------
Yoshida Kensaku
<yosida-k@sophia.ac.jp>
Prof. Dept. of English Studies
tel: +81-(0)3-3238-3719 fax: +81-(0)3-3238-3910
Dir., Center for Teaching Foreign Languages
tel/fax: +81-3238-3997
Sophia University