In any discussion concerning English language teaching/learning in Japan, it would be almost unthinkable to find arguments that make an outright denial of the value and significance of developing learners’ reading proficiency in this specific target language. What has very often been ignored or slighted here, on the other hand, is possible difficulties in defining the term “English reading proficiency,” whose meanings could depend totally on different contexts in which the language is taught/learned. For those who are teaching/learning the English language in Japan in this day and age, it would be relevant to ask, for instance, whose English reading proficiency is at stake, towards what aims this proficiency should be oriented, and how this proficiency could best be cultivated. The eleventh annual conference of JAILA included a symposium addressing this challenging topic, regarding which four panelists presented their views grounded on their educational experience in different contexts. This paper is the report of this meaningful event, with the presentations by three of the four panelists briefly summarised.

抄録全体を表示

This paper is an interim report of the group research on the use of videos at senior high school and college levels in Japan. The first half of this paper includes three reports of the actual classroom practices, which were presented at the 11th annual conference of the Society of English Studies on September 18,1993. TAKAHASHI discusses the aims and ways of using video materials in her literature course for the main purpose of giving the students a spurring incentive to read original literal works in English. FUJITA claims the 'top-down' listening activity to be vital for the facilitation of the students' listening comprehension. KAMEYAMA reports three different kinds of listening activities practiced by himself with an adequate consideration for maintaining the students' 'sense of security' in the classroom. The second half of this paper consists of another three reports on how we can make the utmost use of video materials in accordance with the recent theoretical and technological development of their related disciplines. HIRAKAWA, classifying video materials into three groups, discusses English teaching in relation to four language-skills as well as to culture learning, stating the merits and demerits of such teaching with some suggestions for improving the present English teaching in Japan. HOSODA delineates the 'schema theory' and its legitimate application to actual teaching practice utilizing video materials. ISHII speculates on the future development of audio-visual materials including their hardware, based on the existing state of affairs.

抄録全体を表示