Posts published in “Japan”

Victoria Thomas, University of Shimane

This semester has been a new and bewildering experience for students, staff, and faculty at the University of Shimane. Not only are classes online, but also social events are cancelled, employees are allowed to work from home, and people are maintaining social distance. This situation is stressful for students, staff, and faculty alike. As a teacher, I will explain the situation from my perspective.

My teaching adaptations for COVID-19 actually began at my previous teaching post in America. At me previous institution, we were in winter term from January to March, so we had to make sudden changes to our classes near the end of the term. The administration tried to avoid disrupting our schedules, but in the end, instructors were given four days’ notice to move final exams completely online. The situation was chaotic for everyone, but we adapted and finished the term.

I then moved to Japan to start my position at the University of Shimane. At the end of my two weeks of quarantine, I emerged to find a relatively calm situation. Some people were saying that classes would be in person; others claimed that they would be moved online. The starting date of the semester was extended twice, over a month in total, and we were officially informed at the beginning of May that classes would be online, starting May 11th.

My Intermediate English/Paragraph Writing course was not too difficult to move online, as I have previously taught online writing courses. In video classes, I give short lectures on PowerPoint, and we work on writing exercises together. If the students cannot attend the day’s lecture due to technology problems, they can read the PowerPoint on Moodle and the pages from the textbook, and I answer questions by email or Zoom. The homework for each week is listed in the syllabus and organized by week on Moodle, so my students can find their assignments for the week without having to contact me.

My Communication classes are also partially accessible on Moodle; however, they require more creativity for speaking and listening. The English teachers had to find ways to lead in-class speaking activities online, giving all students as much time as possible to speak English and engage in listening activities. After exploring the technology options with Steve Henneberry, Melissa Huntley organized several technology workshops for the new faculty to help us understand Moodle and Zoom so that we could use them effectively in our classes. Due to coronavirus, some students are not on campus, so even Extensive Reading had to be moved online; this project was organized by Eleanor Kane.

The other difficulty in Communication courses was to avoid giving students too much work. Since video classes are unstable for some students due to their internet situation, I moved some listening and vocabulary activities outside of class time (onto Moodle) so that students had more flexibility and control over their work, but due to that same internet instability, speaking and listening activities take much more time. This is my latest challenge to resolve: how to reduce student workload.

by Claire Kaku, University of Shimane

Before joining the English teaching family at The University of Shimane, I was a teacher who had taught online very little. At the beginning of April, I was excited to meet my students in person.

Later on, when all the classes were switched to online ones, I have to admit that I felt upset and helpless for some time. Luckily, I have been fully supported by the English teaching family. Steve kindly spared time for Moodle orientation for me. Mariko designed a fun and helpful workshop about Zoom and provides ongoing professional advice for my concerns.

Melissa selflessly offered to answer my ‘silly’ questions and organized workshops on Zoom and Moodle. Thanks to these workshops, my confidence grew. Eleanor always responds timely to my ER questions. Teamwork provides me with great strength to be a better online teacher. Fresh ideas spark when I am surrounded with excellent colleagues. 

I’ve thought a lot about what my online classroom should offer to students. Before each class, I remind myself of these two principles: provide meaningful support to my online learners and convey positivity that the students can succeed.

I believe online students are typically working by themselves during Covid-19. They can’t ask for clarification when they first encounter instructions like they do in physical classrooms. Therefore, for their Moodle assignments, I write down the directions as if we were having a face-to-face conversation.

Students don’t need to guess what I want them to do because they can always study my examples to see my expectations. Many of them are motivated to do better on their assignments. Therefore, to encourage them to commit themselves continuously, I always play the role of my students’ biggest fan and spare time to praise their successful outcomes. I enjoy seeing their sweet smiles and laughter after receiving my positive feedback.

   As online learners, students write more English emails than they usually do. However, I found they were failing to write as politely as they do in Japanese: not using greetings and being very direct when asking questions.

Pragmatic errors can be more disastrous than grammatical ones. Pointing out their impoliteness did not seem to help. To demonstrate caring for our busy online learners, I provided them with a model to follow. They quickly made use of it, and now their emails are more polite.

As weeks passed by, another problem emerged. From students’ emails, I realized online learning has caused them to communicate less with people, and some of them have begun to have time management problems.

They’ve begun to oversleep, overeat, and delay their assignments. To explore deeper, I changed the topic of the assignment for that week to ‘My lifestyle during Covid-19’. I wanted to discover how students were arranging their lives and if they had found any problems. Time management is an important skill for one’s life. I hope I can help them with it, even a little.

Online-only classes are tiring, and thus not the best choice. But as a teacher, I try to make online classes an inviting and pleasant place to be.

by Ruura Fukunaga

     Fukuzawa Yukichi is known as the author of “Gakumonn no Susume,” [Introduction to Learning]. He contributed to creation of the Japanese modern education system. In 1860, Mr. Fukuzawa studied in the United States when he was 25 years old.

He was very surprised at American culture. For example, he was shocked to find there was no classes in the U.S. society. Then he studied abroad in the U.S. again when he was 31 years old. He wanted to tell Japanese people what foreign countries were like.

So, he wrote a book Western affairs. Many Japanese people read this book at that time. In 1868, he established Keio University. The university is one of the most famous universities in Japan and have produced many great graduates.

He was involved in founding other universities, too. In 1872, he published “Gakumonn no Susume.” This book says all human beings have liberty and equality. The ideas in the book made Japanese people surprised because at that time there were difference social classes in Japan.

So, they bought and read this book. Many Japanese people know about this book even now. Fukuzawa Yukichi passed away in 1901, but he ideas contributed greatly to modernizing the Japanese society.

by　Shouya Ajiki

Nobunaga Oda is a Japanese samurai who is well-known for his unifying Japanese lords during the period called Sengoku Era, which means “the era of battles.” He was born in 1534 and died in1582. He was a man who introduced new ways of battles and politics.

It is considered that he changed how warriors fought at wars in Japan. In 1575 a battle called “Battle of Nagashino” took place. At that time samurai soldiers on horsebacks used swords. However, in this battle, Nobunaga used guns and achieved an overwhelming victory against his enemy.

He also invented new ways to evaluate his men. He considered the talent of a man, not the birth of a man. For example, he appointed men of a lower social status to his close aids when he spotted talented people.

One of such examples is Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a son of a farmer, who rose up to the ruler of Japan after the death of his lord, Nobunaga. It was revolutionary to favor men of a low status family in the time influenced by the family background.

Nobunaga’s adventurous attitude of trying new things may be something the modern people should learn in this time of great social change.

by　Yoshihiro Hara

                Hayato Ikeda is the 58th, 59th and 60th Prime Ministers of Japan. He changed Japanese economy and society. His famous policy is Income Doubling Plan. This plan is　to double the gross domestic product within ten years and to promote economic growth centered on tax cut, social security and public investment.

In fact, the plan succeeded in the doubling gross domestic product in just four years, which greatly enriched the life of people. In addition, he decided change the Japanese economy to an open economic system. For example, he raised the trade liberalization rate from 42 percent to 93 percent, adapted IMF’s Article 8 and made Japan a member of the OECD.

These encouraged positive participation in Japan’s free trade system. The biggest international event that took place when he was prime minister was the Tokyo Olympic in 1964.

Along with that, the transportation network, cities and living environment were improved and people’s lives became more fulfilling. He is one of the most successful prime ministers of Japan.

He made major renovation to bring Japan into a member of the developed world. I want to work on new things without fear of failure like him. His policy then greatly developed the Japanese economy and society.

By Reina Yamane

This traditional umbrella was used to pray for rain in Tottori Prefecture in the Edo Period. This umbrella is called “shan-shan gasa’’ because of a lot of bells are attached on the umbrella and it sounds like ting-a-ring. At end of the Edo Period, villagers in the Tottori region experienced a record drought.

So, one man started to dance to pray for rain. His name was Gorosaku. This incident is believed to be the origin of the traditional umbrella. Being passed down to the current generation, this umbrella reminds the connection between gods and the people in Tottori Prefecture.

For example, children in Tottori Prefecture dance spinning this umbrella in summer. Children make their umbrellas themselves by using glue stick, paper, and wire. The umbrellas in the photo are made of bamboo and cardboard.

Once their decorative umbrellas are made, they dance for fun. There is a big festival, called Shan-Shan Festival, has been held every year in Tottori since 1965. The festival is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s biggest umbrella festival.

Photo by Reina Yamane