tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89852177647232202052024-03-19T11:46:22.986+09:00Philosophical Investigations for Applied Linguisticskeywords:applied linguistics, communicative language ability, critical applied linguistics, alternative approaches to SLA, EFL/ESL, TEFL/TESL, Exploratory Practice, Arendt, Luhmann, Wittgenstein, media ecology, neuroscience, philosophy, postmodernism, martial artsYosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-30552274416406558852023-07-14T08:27:00.005+09:002023-07-14T08:29:44.264+09:00Growth Mindset Plus Healthy Life Habits and Step-by-step Training (Quote of the Week)<p style="text-align: center;"> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"Believing you're incapable or clumsy can create a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads people to disengage. To reframe these beliefs, think of your abilities as an experience rather than an identity."</span></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Uncoordinated? You Can Still Be an Athlete.</p><p style="text-align: center;">By Jenny Marder</p><p style="text-align: center;">July 6, 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/well/move/clumsiness-coordination-sports-exercise.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/well/move/clumsiness-coordination-sports-exercise.html</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>The article above presents an encouraging proposition that clumsy individuals have the potential to enhance their motor skills. Drawing parallels with stroke patients who can relearn to walk despite significant neuronal damage, the article proposes that clumsy people can undoubtedly improve their bodily coordination. However, this transformation should ideally follow three steps: adopting a new mindset, nurturing a healthy lifestyle, and following precise instructions.</p><p>First, the article encourages a critical shift in mindset. While it does not explicitly mention the terminology, the article essentially discusses changing from a 'fixed mindset' - the belief that one's capabilities are innate and unchangeable, to a 'growth mindset' - the view that one can evolve through experiential learning (see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1CHPnZfFmU" target="_blank">this video</a> for a brief explanation of the two concepts). The latter perspective views failures as stepping stones toward improvement. Thus, the first step involves emancipating oneself from the self-imposed belief that one cannot change. Apparently, altering long-held fixed beliefs may be challenging, but the subsequent steps can facilitate the transition toward a growth mindset.</p><p>The second component of this skill acquisition pertains to fostering a healthy lifestyle, particularly sound sleep and mental tranquility. Quality sleep and a serene mind are pivotal to motor coordination, as confirmed by numerous world-class athletes who disclose their techniques for rest and mental calm. Though a healthy lifestyle may appear blatantly obvious as a secret to success, its importance cannot be overstated.</p><p>Finally, the article advises an analytical approach. To master a skill, one needs explicit, step-by-step instructions. When detailed guidance is unavailable, one should actively observe, reflect, and discover the specifics of the skill. Unlike natural-born athletes, ordinary people cannot instantly mimic a complex feat. Analytical breakdown of the skill components is crucial for successful mastery.</p><p>Extending beyond the scope of the original article, I believe that the synergy of these three elements equally applies to cognitive development. After all, without self-confidence, how can one even start to act? When one is exhausted or stressed, efforts are likely to be wasted. When flying to the mountaintop is impossible, the rational strategy is to discover a feasible route and ascend, one step at a time. While these lessons might lack initial appeal at first glance, one's self-belief, self-care, and analytical approach to learning are crucial determinants of a fulfilled life.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-92062746555662352252023-07-07T08:27:00.010+09:002023-07-07T08:31:41.397+09:00 AI may be advancing "digital neoliberalism" (Quote of the Week)<p style="text-align: center;"> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">"Yet neoliberalism is far from dead. Worse, it has found an ally in A.G.I.-ism, which stands to reinforce and replicate its main biases: that private actors outperform public ones (the market bias), that adapting to reality beats transforming it (the adaptation bias) and that efficiency trumps social concerns (the efficiency bias)."</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Evgeny Morozov</p><p style="text-align: center;">June 30, 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;">The True Threat of Artificial Intelligence</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p>Neoliberalism persists robustly in the current socio-economic landscape. It is apparently bolstered by the burgeoning expectation in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The remarkable achievements of contemporary Artificial Intelligence, advancing towards AGI, seem to strengthen neoliberal ideology, amplifying its three tenets: market bias, adaptation bias, and efficiency bias.</p><p>The market bias implies an inherent superiority of private enterprises over public institutions. This position manifests itself when individuals involved in public matters innocently proclaim the superior problem-solving capabilities of AI. Undoubtedly, this is the case in many instances. However, an essential question to address is whether AI primarily serves the interests of the affluent alone. Vital public sectors, such as education and healthcare, must benefit all people. Therefore, the proponents of AI, including myself, need to critically examine whether they are unknowingly advocating for the neoliberal agenda of privatizing public affairs.</p><p>The adaptation bias constrains cognitive views to minute, incremental modifications, impeding the potential for revolutionary transformation. The allure of AI's gamification might engage a subset of students, but its success could deter educators from delving into the root causes of students' disinterest. The present trajectory of AI's advancements may yield a myopic perspective, leading us to mistake a single tree for the entire forest.</p><p>The efficiency bias, the final tenet, manifests in a societal fixation on quantitative data. This inclination is prevalent in a capitalist society where numerous social practices, including educational pursuits, are commodified. Most educators recognize that education's ultimate goal pertains to holistic human development. However, they frequently feel compelled to forgo discussions on the humanistic aspects of education due to the non-quantifiable nature of these aspects. The prevailing discourse, which praises objectivity and accountability, prioritizes efficiency metrics at the expense of social concern, typically conceptualized only in abstract manners.</p><p>AI technology may become the embodiment of "digital neoliberalism." The widespread enthusiasm for AI could be inadvertently disseminating the notion that public affairs ought to be relegated to AI applications that withstand rigorous market scrutiny because they mandate measurable changes. The implications of AI extend beyond mere technological considerations. It is vital to foster political awareness concerning the utilization of AI.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-33593324664056533662023-06-30T08:18:00.007+09:002023-06-30T08:24:26.042+09:00Navigating Incrementally in a Turbulant Era (Quote of the Week)<p style="text-align: center;"> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;">“There’s very little market for, ‘Well, AI has a lot of important pros and cons, and we have to incrementally navigate’,” he says. “But that’s probably where the wisdom is.”</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">AI is making Washington smarter</p><p style="text-align: center;">The Economist, Jun 29th 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/06/29/ai-is-making-washington-smarter" target="_blank">https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/06/29/ai-is-making-washington-smarter</a></p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>In the digital age, social networking platforms have increased the volume of the emotional pitch of debates. Standpoints often split into vehement advocates and adamant naysayers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no exception to such polarizing debates. It frequently hosts utopian dreamers and dystopian pessimists, often isolated within their respective echo chambers.</p><p>Presumably, the whispers of the AI doomsayers have reached the corridors of European policymaking. The European Union has proposed a sweeping array of AI regulations, potentially blocking the technology's widespread adoption in the region. In comparison, political initiatives aimed at reining AI companies in the United States seem more reactive than proactive, evolving only too slowly.</p><p>However, given the inherent unpredictability of technological advancements, an attentive and continuous regulatory strategy could be the most effective means of supervising the industry. Embracing pros and cons at the same time may be a sign of wisdom rather than a lack of understanding.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-72185215303005393142023-06-23T08:59:00.004+09:002023-06-23T09:01:33.712+09:00LLMs will Compound the Interplay of the Three Complex Systems: The Market System, Bureaucracy, and Electoral Democracy. (Quote of the Week)<p> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">“We eke out freedom by setting one against another, deploying bureaucracy to limit market excesses, democracy to hold bureaucrats accountable, and markets and bureaucracies to limit democracy’s monstrous tendencies. How will the newest shoggoth change the balance, and which politics might best direct it to the good? We need to start finding out. “</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Artificial intelligence is a familiar-looking monster, say Henry Farrell and Cosma Shalizi</p><p style="text-align: center;">June 21st, 2023. The Economist</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2023/06/21/artificial-intelligence-is-a-familiar-looking-monster-say-henry-farrell-and-cosma-shalizi" target="_blank">https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2023/06/21/artificial-intelligence-is-a-familiar-looking-monster-say-henry-farrell-and-cosma-shalizi</a></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p>Many computer scientists in Silicon Valley perceive Large Language Models (LLMs) as such an enigma that they liken them to the shoggoth, a fictional eerie octopus-like monster [1][2]. This comparison is shared by the authors of the featured article, Farrell and Shalizi, a professor of international affairs and democracy and a professor of statistics and machine learning, respectively. Yet, they posit that LLMs are not the first 'shoggoth' modern societies have faced: humans have been co-existing with similar incomprehensible entities for centuries: the market system, bureaucracy, and electoral democracy.</p><p>The market system, as Friedrich Hayek [3] explains, is too complex for any individual intellect or governmental body to predict its outcomes accurately. In the same vein, James Scott [4] argues that while bureaucracy is a massive information processor, making vast amounts of data visible to politicians and citizens, the mechanisms of its complex, multi-layered system remain elusive to any observer. Likewise, electoral democracy generates policies that no individual can entirely foresee. A myriad of representations and abstractions ensures that no single individual's plan fully materializes. Hence, these commonplace institutions for modern societies, the market system, bureaucracy, and electoral democracy, resemble 'shoggoths' in their complexity and their defying of any single person's comprehension.</p><p>Significantly, the present-day world is shaped by the interplay of these three gigantic and intricate systems. The introduction of LLMs will compound the current complexity of the world. The ensuing interactions promise to be more elaborate, widespread, and unpredictable than ever before. What is required from humans is not the unfeasible pursuit of knowledge to predict and control these monsters, but rather a depth of wisdom to navigate their complexities.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>[1] The Wisdom of Humanities in the Age of Technology (Quote of the Week) <a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-wisdom-of-humanities-in-age-of.html" target="_blank">http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-wisdom-of-humanities-in-age-of.html</a></p><p>[2] Google image search, "Shoggoth": <a href="https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1PWSB_jaJP967JP968&q=shoggoth&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjujq6CgNj_AhVOxWEKHUo3AakQ0pQJegQICBAB&biw=2327&bih=1179&dpr=1.1">https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1PWSB_jaJP967JP968&q=shoggoth&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjujq6CgNj_AhVOxWEKHUo3AakQ0pQJegQICBAB&biw=2327&bih=1179&dpr=1.1</a></p><p>[3] Wikipedia, "Friedrich Hayek": <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek</a></p><p>[4] Wikipedia, "James Scott": <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Scott" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Scott</a></p></blockquote>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-55054221160838198852023-06-16T12:24:00.001+09:002023-06-16T12:26:18.925+09:00India in the Multipolar World (Quote of the Week)<p> <span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;">"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"The relationship is therefore a test case for the messy alliance of democracies emerging in a multipolar world."</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Joe Biden and Narendra Modi are drawing their countries closer</p><p style="text-align: center;">Leaders: <i>The Economist</i>. Jun 15th 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/06/15/joe-biden-and-narendra-modi-are-drawing-their-countries-closer" target="_blank">https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/06/15/joe-biden-and-narendra-modi-are-drawing-their-countries-closer</a></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p>India is set to play a critical role in shaping the world's multipolar future. Its large population, high-standard higher education system, and abundance of English speakers mean it will significantly impact the global economy. However, India's values do not perfectly align with Western ones. While it is a democratic nation, some describe it as an "illiberal" democracy, as the article above does.</p><p>India's relationship with the United States will probably have far-reaching effects on global politics, as the article indicates, for it may establish stronger connections with Russia or China, if it fails.</p><p>Simultaneously, Indian English is becoming more prominent in English language teaching. We're moving past the times when it was okay to make fun of its accent. Meet an intelligent Indian English speaker below.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU-zhajzad4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU-zhajzad4</a></p><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xU-zhajzad4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-41438768702739142702023-06-02T08:25:00.011+09:002023-06-02T08:30:51.069+09:00The Wisdom of Humanities in the Age of Technology (Quote of the Week)<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"There is no time in our history in which the humanities, philosophy, ethics and art are more urgently necessary than in this time of technology's triumph," said Leon Wieseltier, the editor of Liberties, a humanistic journal. "Because we need to be able to think in nontechnological terms if we're going to figure out the good and the evil in all the technological innovations. Given society's craven worship of technology, are we going to trust the engineers and the capitalists to tell us what is right and wrong?"</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't Kill 'Frankenstein' With Real Frankensteins at Large</p><p style="text-align: center;">May 27, 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;">By Maureen Dowd</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/opinion/english-humanities-ai.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/opinion/english-humanities-ai.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p>Many computer scientists utilize the Shoggoth, a fictitious octopus-like creature, to illustrate the bizarre traits of generative AI. [1] I draw a parallel to the Monkey King [2] in an upcoming short essay for the special issue of English Language Education. [3]</p><p>My analogy also emphasizes that while generative AI can imitate human-like behavior extraordinarily well, it is, in essence, non-human. The understanding of its cognitive patterns remains unknown to even its creators. In the Japanese televised adaptations of the Monkey King tales, the monk Tang Sanzang squeezes a restraining band around the head the Monkey King when it abuses its supernatural abilities. Additionally, the Monkey King found it impossible to escape from Buddha's hand no matter how hard it tried. These two episodes suggest that the extraordinary powers produced by non-human entities need to be governed by profound wisdom, symbolized here by the monk and Buddha.</p><p>Recently, many experts and public figures have endorsed the Statement on AI Risk: "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war." [4] This concern underscores the significance of the quote above.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>[1] <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/technology/shoggoth-meme-ai.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/technology/shoggoth-meme-ai.html</a></p><p>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_King" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_King</a></p><p>[3] <a href="https://www.taishukan.co.jp/book/b202193.html" target="_blank">https://www.taishukan.co.jp/book/b202193.html</a></p><p>[4] <a href="https://www.safe.ai/statement-on-ai-risk" target="_blank">https://www.safe.ai/statement-on-ai-risk</a></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-37000999446860751592023-05-26T09:34:00.009+09:002023-05-26T11:20:02.980+09:00Language learning for diversity and openness (Quote of the Week)<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"The rhetorical and linguistic preferences that North American professors honed into me were not just a different writing style or literacy practice, but a different way of knowing. They trained me to write a transparent prose with explicit language which left no room for ambiguity and made me take sole responsibility for conveying meanings to detached readers in a self-standing text. The text was thus treated as disembodied and autonomous."</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Decolonizing Academic Writing Pedagogies for Multilingual Students</p><p style="text-align: center;">21 May 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;">TESOL Quarterly.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3231" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3231</a></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p>Reflect on the quote above as it relates to the journey you're embarking on: writing in English. It involves learning to formulate and express thoughts in an entirely different medium from your mother tongue. Remember, writing encompasses more than merely following rules of spelling and grammar. It is a tool that compels you to structure your thoughts in a particular framework, often called "logic."</p><p>However, it's crucial to understand that "logic," in this broad sense, varies across cultures. What English speakers value as logical writing may come across as overly assertive to a Japanese audience. Conversely, a nuanced passage in Japanese, replete with care and consideration, could be misinterpreted as winding and lacking clarity by English readers. Therefore, writing in a foreign language necessitates a cognitive transformation rather than just a simple linguistic modification.</p><p>Learn to communicate effectively in English, as it can significantly expand your horizons. However, resist the notion that English writing is the universal standard. Instead, cherish the richness of cultural diversity, for it fosters tolerance and adaptability among us. Your journey of learning English should inspire openness, not narrow-mindedness.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-87781546547255795932023-05-20T09:58:00.003+09:002023-05-20T09:59:46.706+09:00 Achievement and accomplishment (Quote of the Week)<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"Achievement is the completion of the task imposed from outside -- the reward often being a path to the next achievement. Accomplishment is the end point of an engulfing activity we’ve chosen, whose reward is the sudden rush of fulfillment, the sense of happiness that rises uniquely from absorption in a thing outside ourselves."</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">What We Lose When We Push Our Kids to ‘Achieve’</p><p style="text-align: center;">May 15, 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;">By Adam Gopnik</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/opinion/youth-achievement-happiness.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/opinion/youth-achievement-happiness.html</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the prevalent approach in many schools is still the classic "carrot and stick" model. [1] A significant number of educators and school leaders firmly believe that students' behaviors should be manipulated through rewards and punishments. They maintain that clear goals should be set for students so that their "achievements" can be precisely measured.</p><p>However, pursuing higher achievements can often devolve into a stressful race for status, causing individuals to lose sight of the true purpose of their relentless competition. Too frequently, they lose a sense of personal agency in their own lives. Educators and administrators must recognize that intrinsic motivation--the internal drive of an individual--is more powerful and long-lasting than extrinsic motivation, which is externally driven.</p><p>When people engage in actions that they personally value, they experience the joy of "accomplishment." Distinct from achievement, accomplishment springs from within the individual. It does not require external rewards or acknowledgment; the individual becomes the authentic agent of their actions. Accomplishment should be the benchmark in the current education, which values diversity.</p><p>The unique values held by each person cannot be easily standardized or measured. Those who find satisfaction in controlling other persons depreciate the meaning of individual accomplishment. Nevertheless, education should not cater to such perspectives. Instead, students should prioritize personal accomplishment and the intrinsic joy it brings rather than seeking achievements dictated by external forces.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>[1] 動機づけに関するDan Pinkの動画</p><p><a href="http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.com/2018/04/dan-pink.html" target="_blank">http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.com/2018/04/dan-pink.html</a></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT and QuillBot]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-27878170654338455362023-05-12T08:09:00.014+09:002023-05-12T08:12:41.884+09:00Banality and Creativity (Quote of the Week)<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> "Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in the assignment reminder email to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"TV has always relied on formula, not necessarily in a bad way. It iterates, it churns out slight variations on a theme, it provides comfort. ... That’s also what could make them among the first candidates for A.I. screenwriting."</span></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">TV’s War With the Robots Is Already Here</p><p style="text-align: center;">By James Poniewozik</p><p style="text-align: center;">May 10, 2023</p><p></p><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/arts/television/writers-strike-artificial-intelligence.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/arts/television/writers-strike-artificial-intelligence.html</a></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In our everyday life, people usually find comfort in banality. Watching TV is a prime example, as the article above indicates. After a hard day, people often look forward to sitting in front of the TV to relax. They want a story that differs from their own life but only needs a little cognitive effort. That explains why TV shows offer too many familiar stories with just a few changes. People love these programs for their predictable banality. </p><p>Predictability is the bedrock of big data. The same patterns people keep creating are the basis of machine learning. Artificial Intelligence (AI) utilizes this data to create "new" texts that are only too familiar. As the article suggests, AI could start writing parts, or possibly all, of the scripts for some TV shows in the near future.</p><p>However, a life replete with predictability and banality is not worth living. People occasionally need surprises, challenges, and even disturbances. While AI excels in generating familiar products, it is not yet as creative as inventive humans. </p><p>Education should shift its emphasis from teaching conformity to developing individuality. It should encourage students to be original and innovative. People should leave routine tasks to AI and focus on being creative. If education changes too slowly, it is up to each individual to educate themselves anew.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT and QuillBot]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-8528118108590974912023-04-28T08:51:00.006+09:002023-04-28T08:54:29.798+09:00From Jerome Roos (2023) "We Don’t Know What Will Happen Next." (Quote of the Week)<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;">"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in my assignment reminder emails to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To truly grasp the complex nature of our current time, we need first of all to embrace its most terrifying aspect: its fundamental open-endedness. It is precisely this radical uncertainty -- not knowing where we are and what lies ahead -- that gives rise to such existential anxiety.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">We Don’t Know What Will Happen Next</p><p style="text-align: center;">April 18, 2023</p><p style="text-align: center;">By Jerome Roos</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/global-crisis-future.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/global-crisis-future.html</a></p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>People of a particular mindset crave certainty. They wish for a world where everything is predictable and accountable. For such individuals, the current era must be daunting, with global issues such as climate change, geopolitical tension, and the dramatic rise of artificial intelligence.</p><p>Those people tend to be drawn to one of the two opposing worldviews: a progressive narrative ("Everything will be okey") or a doomsday narrative ("Our days are numbered"). Both stances exhibit a one-sided perspective that sees history as a linear development, either ascending or descending.</p><p>Mr. Roos, an expert on the history of global crises, reminds us of the complexity and open-endedness of the world. The world is perpetually changing, sometimes subtly and occasionally drastically. Furthermore, nobody can predict the extent of the consequences, for changes are endless.</p><p>Liberal education emancipates individuals from their narrow-mindedness. Broaden your horizons and accept the complexity of the world. That is how you live a brave life.</p><p style="text-align: right;">[Written with ChatGPT and Bard]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-28217519794882293772023-04-14T07:49:00.002+09:002023-04-14T07:50:46.343+09:00From Sam Altman (2019) "How to be successful." (Quote of the Week)<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in my assignment reminder emails to my students.</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">***</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"One of the great joys in life is finding your purpose, excelling at it, and discovering that your impact matters to something larger than yourself."</span></p><p style="text-align: right;">Sam Altman (2019) "How to be successful." </p><p style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful" target="_blank">https://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful</a></p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Sam Altman's 2019 essay details the mindset that propelled him to become the CEO of OpenAI and earned him the title "ChatGPT King" (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/technology/sam-altman-open-ai-chatgpt.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/technology/sam-altman-open-ai-chatgpt.html</a>).</p><p>The quote above is from the section "Work Hard," one of the 13 principles for success outlined in his essay. </p><p><br /></p><p>He exemplifies what he says, particularly the following:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">"Getting good at communication --particularly written communication-- is an investment worth making. My best advice for communicating clearly is to first make sure your thinking is clear and then use plain, concise language."</span></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Altman's essay serves as a prime example of effective business communication. This essay will be beneficial for your personal and professional growth.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: right;">[I used ChatGPT and QuillBot for revising the text above.]</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-65551015754876475692021-10-01T07:53:00.000+09:002021-10-01T07:53:19.565+09:00Yanase (2020) The Distinct Epistemology of Practitioner Research: Complexity, Meaning, Plurality, and Empowerment<p> </p><p>I'm happy to announce that one of my academic papers is now publicly available.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Yanase (2020) </p><p style="text-align: center;">The Distinct Epistemology of Practitioner Research: </p><p style="text-align: center;">Complexity, Meaning, Plurality, and Empowerment</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">JACET Journal 2020 Volume 64 Pages 21-38</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://doi.org/10.32234/jacetjournal.64.0_21">https://doi.org/10.32234/jacetjournal.64.0_21</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Keywords: practitioner research, epistemology, Tojisha-Kenkyu, narrative</p><p><br /></p><p>Abstract</p><p>Practitioner research will continue to be regarded as second-class academic inquiry unless it distinguishes itself from standardized scientific research. This paper clarifies the epistemological concepts of complexity, meaning, plurality, and empowerment, among others, to show how the former type of research is different from the latter. It elaborates on the case of Tojisha-Kenkyu, a community-based study of mutual help for those who are concerned with personal difficulties, to demonstrate an example of practitioner research that embodies sufficient theoretical understanding of the four concepts. We argue that, with practitioner research, language teachers should return to the tradition of the humanities with a renewed awareness.</p></blockquote><p></p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-48425518506472007202021-09-30T16:32:00.001+09:002021-10-01T07:53:45.443+09:00Amazon Polly's synthesized voice to an article on improving listening skills<p> </p><p>My department's <a href="https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english">webpage</a> added a new bilingual article on improving listening skills for undergraduate students.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">How to Improve Your Listening Skills</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents#frame-324">https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents#frame-324</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">英語リスニング力を向上させるために</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents_jp#frame-322">https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents_jp#frame-322</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I added AI's synthesized readout of the article, using Amazon Polly for the first time. </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Audio of "Improving Your Listening Skills" </p><p style="text-align: center;">(The playback speed is adjustable on Chrome or Edge)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents#frame-472">https://www.i-arrc.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/tips/contents#frame-472</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The voice quality is quite reasonable. I hope this technology will stimulate people's creativity to learn English (or any other language).</p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-18496775580440152542021-06-03T13:20:00.006+09:002021-06-04T13:48:21.468+09:00Writing-Assisting AI Enables Learners to Think and Write with Their Passive Vocabulary and Develop it into Active Vocabulary<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">Writing-Assisting
AI Enables Learners to Think and Write with Their Passive Vocabulary and Develop
it into Active Vocabulary<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">AI is a tool that
one can use foolishly or wisely<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">AI is just a tool for humans.
Humans can misuse this new tool foolishly or utilize it wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">A foolish use of writing-assisting
AI (translation and rewriting apps) is to uncritically adopt the language output
of the AI (English in our argument). That immediate use can result in sentences
that deviate from the writer's intentions. It does not help their learning
English, either.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">AI can facilitate
the transformation of learners' comprehension vocabulary into presentation
vocabulary<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">A smart way to use AI is to utilize
it to learn English through its use (or use English while learning it). Users
should recognize that AI as an assisting tool only produces an imperfect draft.
However, they should also realize that AI's output expands their possibilities
for thought and expression in a foreign language. AI can both be a practical
and learning tool.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In other words, writing-assisting
AI should be used to provide English learners with opportunities to think and
express using their passive vocabulary rather than their active vocabulary in
the target language. AI can facilitate the use of their passive language and
change it to their means for presenting their thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In general, the number of active words
that people use at their disposal to express their thoughts is much smaller
than the number of passive words they use to understand the expressions of
others. For instance, many Japanese people enjoy reading the works of Soseki
Natsume, but few can write as Soseki.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">When it comes to foreign languages,
learners' active vocabulary is extremely limited. English classes in Japan
still do not provide enough training in English presentation, and therefore,
learners' resources for expression are highly restricted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">On the other hand, English language
learners preparing for university entrance exams are trained in reading
comprehension to a much higher level, and their comprehension vocabulary
increases in the process. The vocabulary acquired from rote memorization may
only produce an incomplete understanding of texts, though. However, in any
case, the passive lexicon of learners who study English for university entrance
exams outnumbers their active vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Learners are aware of this vast
difference between the vocabulary for comprehension and that for expressions.
Probably, some learners are reluctant to engage in English presentation
activities because they can only express themselves at a humiliatingly low
level, far below the level of their intelligence. If that is the case, one of
the challenges for English education in Japan is to develop learners'
comprehension vocabulary into presentation vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">What I do in my classes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Suppose students have an assignment
to write in English -- A writing assignment requiring extended reflective
writing, not an impromptu speaking assignment. (My assumption is that AI is
adequate for writing instruction but not for teaching speaking). To make my
point clearer, I tentatively define a "writing assignment" as one
that demands a long piece of writing in which students have to express their
thoughts on a relatively complex topic accurately. To be specific, think of it
as the level of a university writing class.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">When learners have to express their
thoughts in their foreign language (English), they are only allowed to think
and write with their limited active vocabulary of English from start to finish.
That process can be an exercise in utilizing the potentiality of their
restricted resources. However, the vocabulary limit narrows the range of topics
they can address. Even if they choose a challenging subject, the quality of
their thoughts and drafts will diminish significantly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Here I would like to share my
teaching experiences. My university requires students to complete an English
academic essay of more than 1,000 words in the second semester of their first
year. One year, a student of mine said he wanted to write about the potential
dangers of Genetically Modified Food. As I listened, he presented his argument
for a few minutes, describing the risks in detail. I marveled at his expertise
and encouraged him to write a high-quality essay.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">However, when I assigned my
students to write an outline in English in the next class, I found that that
student’s thesis statement (i.e., the sentence at the end of the introduction
that concretely declares the essay's claim) was only "GM Food is bad. "
When students think and write in their active vocabulary in English, the
products are often crude or, to be blunt, miserable. Knowing his high
intelligence in Japanese, I felt troubled by the grave gap between his
intellect and English. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In the following year, I decided to
introduce machine translation (MT) in the last five weeks of my second-semester
classes. In the first ten weeks, students write short passages in English
without the help of AI, producing numerous mistakes. My role as a teacher is to
share the policy that "the school is where learners can make mistakes
without worry and learn from them." I avoid negative evaluation of
mistakes and encourage students to learn specific English expressions from
errors that we share in class.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">At the same time, students go
through brainstorming and outlining, gradually preparing a 3,000-word Japanese
essay (as a rough draft of their final 1,000-word English paper). As the
instructor, I offer feedback on the completed Japanese texts to ensure
reasonable quality. Classmates comment on the products mutually, too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">For the remainder of the semester,
students critically read and rewrite the English output from MT (post-editing.)
Students revise MT’s English after checking if it expresses their intentions
accurately, if the grammar (especially articles, singular/plural, pronouns, and
tense) is consistent, and if some stylistic improvement is necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In one class, students' essay
topics changed noticeably after the introduction of MT. Topics included
intellectual ones such as "Time from the Viewpoint of the Special and General
Theory of Relativity," "Free-Will as a Fictional Concept,"
"The Data Revolution in American Baseball," "The Reasons Behind Improved
Performance in Track and Field," and "The Restraint of Emotional Expression
in Haiku."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Later, I conducted a questionnaire
in that class. In response to the prompt statement, "If I had had to write
in English from the beginning instead of writing in Japanese first and then
using MT, I probably would have chosen a simpler topic," 40% (6 students)
answered, "Yes," and 33% (5 students) answered "Somewhat yes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The quality of the Japanese essays
in that class was remarkably high, in general. The post-editing goal for the
last five weeks was to make the English translation match that high quality.
Unfortunately, due to my lack of instructional competence, the final revision
was not satisfactory. Improvement of teaching skills is necessary, considering
that in the questionnaire, 73% (11 students) answered "yes" and 20%
(3 students) answered "somewhat yes" to the prompt "I would like
to use MT for various occasions in the future actively.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Although there are still issues to
be addressed, I believe that the introduction of machine translation will
increase the quality of writing instruction, such as academic essay writing of
1,000 English words or more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I can summarize the above
discussion in the following six points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"></span></p><blockquote><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) AI allows learners to continue
to think while writing drafts in their native language at their intellectual
level, rather than in the active vocabulary of a foreign language, which vastly
underrepresents their intelligence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) AI increases opportunities in
which learners can write about topics at a level appropriate to their
intellectual interests. Those changes probably have a positive impact on
learners' self-esteem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(3) The AI expresses what learners
intended, albeit imperfectly, at their foreign language comprehension
vocabulary level. In other words, those expressions offer learners an
opportunity to think and write on a level far higher than their current level
of active vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(4) If the English output of the AI
is beyond learners' comprehension, learners cannot benefit from the AI's
English. However, if their vocabulary level is adequate for understanding the
output, learners can discover that many specific expressions that the AI presents
can become part of their productive capacity. AI’s English becomes a unique learning
material for reading and writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(5) If the students learn to read
the English output of the AI critically and can revise AI’s English from their
critical assessment, they will gain an in-depth understanding of their comprehension
vocabulary. In addition, they will learn ways to apply their comprehension
vocabulary to express their ideas. Their English writing skills will increase
simultaneously with their reading abilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(6) In summary, writing-assistant
AI enables learners to think and express themselves using their passive
vocabulary instead of their active vocabulary in the target language (English).
It also promotes the transformation of words for understanding into words for
expression. </span></p></blockquote><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">For these reasons, I believe that
instructors can wisely introduce AI in writing classes where learners need to
express their complex thoughts in a long essay precisely. AI can benefit
learners both in terms of their use of English and their English learning.
However, learners need critical reading literacy to understand English that
expresses topics at their intellectual level. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lastly, <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I wrote this essay rather
impulsively, inspired by a conversation I had yesterday with my colleagues.
Since my mind was not sufficiently organized for the topic, I had to draft fast,
scan I, and rewrite to think coherently. Therefore, my language choice was my
native language Japanese, my best thinking tool. It took about an hour and a
half to complete the Japanese version.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I input my Japanese text into
DeepL, copied its English output into Grammarly, and revised the English on the
Grammarly screen. When the expression seemed dull, I explored the possibility
of rewriting it in Wordtune. I used DeepL again for translating my revised
English into Japanese to check if it might contain ambiguous expressions. I rewrote
this way because I wanted to share my thoughts with my native English-speaking
colleagues in the best way I can. It took about two hours and a half to produce
the English translation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Without AI, I would have given up
on English translation because it would have taken too much time. Also, if I
had written this essay in English initially, my thoughts would have been more
confused than they are now, and my expression would have been much weaker.
However, AI empowered me to express my thoughts fast and communicate them to my
colleagues in English. During the revision process, I also learned more about
English expression.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">From experiences in my classrooms
and workplace, I believe that AI can effectively promote students' use and
learning of English. AI can empower students and make them more autonomous.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Of course, one can use any tool
foolishly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-4534860418816053172021-05-21T09:45:00.017+09:002021-05-21T12:40:52.955+09:00A Report on the Future of University English Education in Light of the Development of AI<p> </p><p>Presented below is an English translation of the <a href="https://yanase-yosuke.blogspot.com/2021/05/7000ai.html">Japanese text</a> that I prepared for my lecture at ELPA on June 19, 2021.</p><p><br /></p><p>The translation process was as follows.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>(1) I inputted the Japanese text with no particular pre-editing into DeepL. </p><p>(2) I post-edited the English output from DeepL by myself. </p><p>(3) I copied the revised English to Grammarly and edited it slightly more, following some of its suggestions.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The user experience was pleasant. Post-editing did not take much time because DeepL's output was satisfactory in most cases from my point of view. I saved a massive amount of time, which I would have needed without AI. Furthermore, I did not consult native English speakers. The experience may demonstrate that non-native English users benefit significantly from AI if they use it adequately, as I indicate below. AI may empower non-native English users to be more autonomous.</p><p>The PDF file is downloadable from <a href="https://app.box.com/s/jcm82u1j99wxycphp4gbbqkinrhkh066">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">****</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">A Report on the Future
of University English Education <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">in Light of the
Development of AI<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 5.0gd; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Analogy<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 5.0gd; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Adults use calculators and
spreadsheet apps to perform complex calculations.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Few adults, however, allow children
to use them from the start.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Children should develop a sense of
number before using such convenient tools.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 5.0gd; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Hypothetical
Question<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 52.5pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">What if calculators and
spreadsheet apps were only right, say, 95% of the time?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">0 Summary<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Despite
its remarkable progress, the current mainstream AI (Artificial Intelligence) has
structural and functional limitations: it can assist and extend the
intelligence of the individual who uses it, but it can never replace it.
Therefore, for the use of English by non-native speakers, users need to judge
the output of AI and make necessary corrections because AI is only a tool as an
auxiliary and extended intelligence. For the area where AI is not of sufficient
help, in particular, English language users must acquire English language skills
in their flesh and blood. Therefore, future university English education, which
must assume that graduates will use AI later in their career, should transform
qualitatively and focus on teaching English skills that AI cannot aid, extend,
or substitute human abilities. Universities should enable learners to use
English after graduation by exploiting AI as a tool that can successfully
assist and extend their physically embodied English skills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
current paper presents the author’s proposal for the future of university
English education (teaching academic English at a research-oriented university)
based on a theoretical review of AI. The author believes that the proposal
should be examined for its validity and feasibility by all those involved in
English education (beneficiaries, instructors, policymakers) and that reform of
English education, both drastic and cautious, should be undertaken.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">1 Theoretical Review of AI<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">1.1 Three principles for the
relationship between AI and humans<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">On
the basis of the structural and functional limitations of AI described below,
this paper argues that users should agree on the following three principles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Principle
1</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: AI
can assist and extend human intelligence, but it will not be a complete
replacement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Principle
2: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Humans
must judge and correct AI output when necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Principle
3: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Humans
must take the initiative and responsibility for the use of AI.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">1.2 Structural and functional limitations
of AI<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Structural Limitation<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) Lack of a biological body
filled with emotion</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
AI behavior is categorically different from human behavior that prioritizes
life; AI possesses no biological body that produces "emotion" to
sustain life and thrive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) Lack of sufficient world models</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Since AI has not gone
through the process of evolution and selection, it has not internalized working
models of the world for better chances of survival. Therefore, AI can only use
the architecture and data provided by the programmer. Consequently, it cannot utilize
models of the world to successfully learn and make inferences from a small
amount of data, as humans do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(3) Inability to understand
meanings and stories</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
AI's perceptions are restricted to very limited distinctions. Thus, it cannot infer
from its perception other diverse aspects of the object it recognizes (the
"actuality" of meaning) or the numerous potential connections that
the object could have (the "potentiality" of meaning), as humans do.
Even when AI can recognize multiple objects simultaneously, it does not understand
the mutual relationships they can possess. In other words, AI cannot understand
in the form of a "story," which is a coherent constellation of various
meanings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(4) Inability to create new values
and hypotheses</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
AI can only learn and reason about predetermined issues. AI cannot invent new and
significant viewpoints (values) and conceptions (hypotheses) beyond the domain
of those issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(5) No social communication</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: AI only learns as an
individual entity and cannot maintain contingent correspondences (i.e., communication)
with equal but different entities. It, therefore, does not experience unexpected
qualitative transformations, as humans do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Functional Limitation<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(6) Weakness in long-tail phenomena</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: AI is weak in learning
atypical and exceptional phenomena (i.e., cases that are few in number but exist
in many kinds in the real world). AI often err on rare items in big data, including
specialized knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(7) Mistakes that are unthinkable
for humans</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Because AI’s "understanding" is categorically different from human’s
understanding, AI produces mistakes that humans do not usually predict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(8) Only domain-specific learning
and reasoning with no analogical application</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Even when AI shows superhuman
ability in a limited task, it does not possess reasonable ability in related domains
other than that. AI is not flexible or versatile.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2 The Future of University English
Education<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.1 General Discussion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">From
the structural and functional limitations described above, we may formulate the
following guidelines for university English education in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) Emphasizing emotional
experiences through English</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Instructors should not reduce English learning to a mere formal manipulation of
signs. They should emphasize the emotions that arise in students through
English and the reactions they initiate from those emotions, for emotions are
the source of human cognition and behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) Learning about the world
through English</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Instructors should recognize again that learning English is about learning
about the world. They should choose English materials and learning tasks that
have strong connections to the real world. The relationship between language
and the world is one area in which AI is weak (AI processes language only as forms).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(3) Learning about the
possibilities of English expressions</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Learners should sufficiently understand
the potentiality of meaning that an English expression can have in addition to its
literal meaning (the limited meaning that even objective tests can determine).
Learners should also be proficient in understanding and expressing meaning in a
narrative form that integrates various meanings coherently. AI cannot constellate
different meanings coherently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(4) Emphasizing creative responses from
understanding English</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Even classes for receptive skills should not end with reading and listening; it
should begin with reading and listening. Even classes for reading and listening
should teach producing relevant responses that can result from that
comprehension. AI can only process what it is designed to process, unable to
respond creatively from that processing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(5) Developing the ability to
collaborate with multiple people in English</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Learners should use English
appropriately with numerous people with different backgrounds and understandings.
Instructors should stop basing lessons solely on the evaluation of
individual-based learning using uniform criteria. AI cannot perform social
communication, i.e., the coordination of relationships among multiple
individuals despite differences and contradictions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(6) Emphasizing expressions about
non-typical and exceptional matters</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Students should enhance the learning
of expressions that are “unusual” from the viewpoint of big data (e.g., technical
terms and Japanese idioms), where AI tends to err; AI is often wrong about such
long-tail phenomena.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(7) Learning about the mistakes
that AI can make</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Learners should learn to identify and correct unexpected mistakes that AI commits.
They should be free from a widespread myth that AI is accurate and fair because
it is a machine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(8) Learning to respond flexibly</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Learners should learn to
invent ad hoc expressions by which humans communicate without knowing precise
expressions. Humans should advance their flexible adaptability, which AI does
not possess.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.2 Writing<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In
Academic English writing, the following writing process will probably enhance non-native
English users’ writing skills through AI. Therefore, in university English
education, instructors should teach the writing strategies below. However,
instructors need advanced knowledge and skills in both Japanese and English.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) Writing in Japanese</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Learners can write the
manuscript in Japanese, which allows them to organize and express their
thoughts most precisely without losing concentration over a long time. However,
additional guidance may be necessary for learners whose mother tongue is not
Japanese.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) Pre-Editing: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">After learning conspicuous
differences between Japanese and English, learners should revise the Japanese
manuscript into machine-friendly Japanese to prevent errors in machine
translation as much as possible in advance. However, critical consideration may
be necessary about this kind of modification of Japanese into an English style
from the perspective of linguistic and cultural diversity and the domination of
English that suppresses it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(3) Post-editing</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Students need to
revise the English output that machine translation produced. The revision
requires a high level of English language ability to objectively read the
output English from a third-party perspective and evaluate it stylistically.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.3 Reading<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">As
mentioned above, advanced reading skills are essential for AI-based writing.
They are critical for learning the vocabulary necessary for listening and
speaking (i.e., acquiring detailed knowledge of the collocational
possibilities, which cannot be obtained by rote memorization of words). Reading
instruction in the future requires more than a rough translation for
approximate understanding, which machine translation achieves instantly.
Specifically, instructors can consider the following four policies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) Stylistically analytic reading</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Students should read carefully
selected English text, compare it with other possible expressions, and accurately
understand the English text’s meaning. Since AI cannot understand the subtle
possibilities of meaning, humans need to develop their skills in this stylistically
analytic reading. This intensive analysis is also necessary for post-editing in
writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) Psychosomatic expression in the
style of reading theatre</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Learners need to feel the sounds of the English text and the emotional
vibrations they generate in their bodies. They should also read the text aloud themselves,
resonating with their emotions in the manner of reading theatre. Since AI and
robots have no biological body like humans’ and cannot express themselves
emotionally, psychosomatic expression in the style of reading theatre may be crucial
for English learners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(3) Translation writing: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Instructors should
encourage students<b> </b>to write Japanese translations to know their
understanding of the high-quality English texts they selected. Translation
experience will help students gain a deeper and more accurate knowledge of both
Japanese and English. Translation writing is also critical for identifying and
correcting errors in AI translation in the post-editing process.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(4) Teaching with tasks and
projects</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
The real value of English comprehension in the real world depends on what
actions the reader can take from that comprehension. To make reading
instruction "begin with reading" rather than "end with
reading," instructors should integrate English reading into other
meaningful tasks or projects. The successful use of language to complete tasks or
projects is necessary for the development of the human capacity to connect
symbolic understanding to real-world actions. AI cannot render symbolic
processing into real-world actions because it only processes symbols as formal
notations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.4 Speaking<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Human
speaking is not just a production of linguistic signs; it is an expression that
involves the whole body's emotions. Humans express and understand each other
not only through linguistic signs. They also communicate through all paralinguistic
expressions (prosody, such as rhythm and intonation) and non-verbal expressions
(eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, movements, among others) that emerge
simultaneously. The AI/robot with no emotional body cannot perform this integrated
task. Therefore, with regard to speaking, humans cannot expect much assistance
or expansion from AI. Instructors must emphasize teaching speaking skills in
the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Even
when humans use AI to convey information that does not require much emotional
expression or understanding, AI cannot accurately represent long-tail items
such as genre-specific technical terms that academic English contains. Speaking
instruction in university English education should aim at developing learner’s
embodied speaking skills without the help of AI.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.5 Listening<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">AI
correctly recognizes suprasegmental sound changes (linking, reduction,
assimilation, among others), which are features that many Japanese learners
have not mastered. On the other hand, AI does not always successfully recognize
specialized expressions, which are well-known to specialists but belong to the
long tail in Big Data. Thus, while AI can help with teaching suprasegmental features,
it cannot entirely replace human listening skills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Listening
is not limited to the reception of linguistic signs, either. It also includes
the emotional responses that emerge in the listener’s body. The speaker observes
those emotional expressions to judge whether the listener understands
appropriately. Listening instructors must also attend to the listener's
emotional response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In
addition, the understanding and embodiment of the sound features of English is
critical are speaking. Speakers who acquired sound feature patterns can
reproduce them appropriately when they express themselves in speaking. Speech
with appropriate sound features definitely promotes better comprehension in
listeners. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Those
considerations above lead to the following two guiding principles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(1) Listening experience until the sound
features of English are embodied: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The<b> </b>goal of listening instruction should not be
limited to accurate recognitions of linguistic signs. It should include appropriate
emotional response and, ultimately, the embodiment of sound features of
English. The embodiment, in particular, requires analytical and conscious
training because they are distinct from Japanese features. With sound features
of English embodied, learners can express themselves far more effectively.
Also, in silent reading, learners understand more comfortably if they can appropriately
vocalize the printed text in their mind; silent reading is, after all, listening
comprehension of sounds rendered from letters on the text. Writing, too, is producing
texts that readers can comfortably vocalize in their minds. Therefore,
mastering the sound features of English through listening helps learners to
write better. Listening instruction should no longer be about receiving
information and determining its correctness through multiple-choice tests.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(2) Selecting listening materials on
the basis of individual learners' interests</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: The English subtitling function
of the Chrome browser automatically recognizes and transcribes English audio on
the Web. It converts English videos that most stimulate learners’ particular intellectual
interests into learning materials with subtitles. (Imperfections in the
subtitles need to be addressed, though.) Learners can turn the transcribing function
on and off and change the difficulty of listening so that they can train
themselves to improve their listening skills. Since learners are motivated by
the material they choose, they more accurately perceive the subtle nuances of
meaning expressed in its sound features. Students can repeat this meaningful
listening experience abundantly until learners embody the sound features of
English they hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">3 In Closing<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
direction of university English education described above obviously assumes
that learners have acquired a certain level of English ability before they
enter university. As an English instructor at university, it is difficult for
me to predict how English education in elementary, junior high, and high schools
will change with the development of AI. However, the review and analysis above
suggest that English teaching before university should maintain the principles
of "teaching and evaluating abilities students embody in their flesh and
blood" and "fostering human-specific abilities.” The challenge for
education in the future lies in developing human intelligence that coexists with
AI. Because English education at and before university is closely related, those
involved in university English education must continue to pay attention to the
state of English education in elementary, junior high, and high schools.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 26.25pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
current report theoretically reviewed AI to propose some possibilities of the
future English education at university (and below that level, briefly). As
mentioned at the beginning, this report merely reflects the author’s
consideration. The author hopes that this document will serve as a starting
point for a deeper discussion on the future of English education.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">瀧田寧・西島佑(編著)<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019) </span>『機械翻訳と未来社会』<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>社会評論社<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">藤本浩司・柴原一友<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019a) </span>『<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">AI</span>にできること、できないこと』<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>日本評論社<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">藤本浩司・柴原一友<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019b) </span>『続 <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">AI</span>にできること、できないこと』<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>日本評論社<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">松尾豊<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2015) </span>『人工知能は人間を超えるか<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span>ディープラーニングの先にあるもの』角川書店<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">松尾豊・塩野誠<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2016) </span>『人工知能はなぜ未来を変えるのか』角川書店<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">松尾豊<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019) </span>「深層学習と人工物工学」<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/oukan/2019/0/2019_F-5-2/_pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/oukan/2019/0/2019_F-5-2/_pdf</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">松尾豊<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2020) </span>「人工知能 ディープラーニングの新展開」、西山圭太・松尾豊・小林慶一郎<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> (2020) </span>『相対化する知性』日本評論社<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> (pp. 1-103)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">丸山宏<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019) </span>「高次元科学への誘い」<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://japan.cnet.com/blog/maruyama/2019/05/01/entry_30022958/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">https://japan.cnet.com/blog/maruyama/2019/05/01/entry_30022958/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">丸山宏<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(2019) </span>「人工知能研究者として私たちがすべきこと」<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://japan.cnet.com/blog/maruyama/2019/12/31/entry_30022985/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">https://japan.cnet.com/blog/maruyama/2019/12/31/entry_30022985/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;">ミッチェル<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">,
M. </span>著、尼丁千津子訳<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> (2021) </span>『教養としての<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">AI</span>講義』日経<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">BP
(Mitchell, M. (2020) <i>Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans</i>.
Pelican.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -21pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p></div>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-15826740161696810632020-10-01T19:10:00.011+09:002020-10-01T19:26:03.403+09:00Afterthoughts on the Symposium Presentation in the 34th General Meeting of the Phonetic Society of Japan<p> </p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">I
enjoyed my joint presentation on Zoom with Professor William Acton (Trinity
Western University) and Mr. Hiroyuki Watanabe (Labo Party) in the 34th General
Meeting of the Phonetic Society of Japan on September 26, 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><blockquote><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Application
of haptic research to instruction in phonetics and classroom pronunciation
teaching<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.psj.gr.jp/jpn/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/psj2020conf-program.pdf">http://www.psj.gr.jp/jpn/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/psj2020conf-program.pdf</a></span></p></blockquote><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">I thank
them, Coordinator Noriko Yamane (Hiroshima University), and other symposium
members, for providing excellent opportunities to exchange ideas. Below are my
afterthoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US">***</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The
afternoon session (the general lecture and the symposium) offered three
examples of pronunciation learning: the analytical method by ATR (<a href="http://www.atr-lt.jp/index.html">http://www.atr-lt.jp/index.html</a>), the natural and non-instructive approach by Labo Party (<a href="https://www.labo-party.jp/">https://www.labo-party.jp/</a>), and the eclectic method by Professor Acton, where intentional instructions from the
teacher and intrinsic feelings in the learner converge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The Acton method is presumably a synthesis of providing programmed instructions (represented
by ATR) and creating a natural learning environment (exemplified by Labo Party.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">However,
it is critical to notice that the analytical/programmed method (ATR) and the
natural or eclectic procedures (Labo Party and the Acton Method) hold different
views on the body and meaning. I argue that while the ATR method assumes a mechanical idea of the body and an objective view of meaning, Labo Party and
the Acton methods recognize the body as self-production and embrace a subjective
notion of meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Below
are the explanations of these contrasting views. Implications for pronunciation
instructions are indicated with arrow marks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US">BODY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US">A
Mechanical View of the Body</span></b><span lang="EN-US">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The body
is an anatomical structure that the mind controls. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">=>The
mechanical view suggests that pronunciation instructions are about conscious
manipulation of the vocal organ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US">A Self-production
View of the Body</span></b><span lang="EN-US">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">The body
is the source of emotion and meaning from which the mind emerges, thus creating
a self as the integration of the body and the mind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">=>The
self-production view indicates that pronunciation instructions should incite
emotion and meaning in the learner's body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US">MEANING<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US">An
Objective View of Meaning</span></b><span lang="EN-US">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Meaning
is a cognitive/linguistic idea that the mind recognizes as an object. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">=>The
objective view does not generally acknowledge the senses or feelings that one
cannot precisely articulate as legitimate meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US">A
Subjective View of Meaning</span></b><span lang="EN-US">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Meaning
is a complex flow of emotions that directs the mind to a particular
perspective. Meaning thus endows the mind with the capacity as the subject/agent of
the action that the body actualizes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">=>The
subjective view includes non-cognitive/non-linguistic senses or feelings as
genuine meaning because they produce some prospects within the human. According
to this view, the haptic sensations in the Acton method generate meaning in
learners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">To sum
up, the ATR method and other analytical approaches teach learners to control
their vocal organs according to the findings of phonetics. In contrast, Labo
Party focuses on embedding learners in meaningful linguistic experiences,
expecting appropriate pronunciation skills to
emerge gradually. The Acton method, as a sort of blended approach, teaches pronunciation
intentionally by emphasizing the sensation and meaning in learners' body to
integrate the articulation knowledge into their living mind-body.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US">***<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">If you
are interested in my presentation slides and proceeding manuscript, visit my
Japanese blog where they are presented in English.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://yanase-yosuke.blogspot.com/2020/09/20202-34.html"></a></span></p><blockquote><a href="https://yanase-yosuke.blogspot.com/2020/09/20202-34.html">https://yanase-yosuke.blogspot.com/2020/09/20202-34.html</a></blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US">Visit
Professor Acton’s blog.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://hipoeces.blogspot.com/2020/09/new-v50-haptic-pronunciation-teaching.html"></a></span></p><blockquote><a href="https://hipoeces.blogspot.com/2020/09/new-v50-haptic-pronunciation-teaching.html">https://hipoeces.blogspot.com/2020/09/new-v50-haptic-pronunciation-teaching.html</a></blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-54961791097321297012020-10-01T18:43:00.000+09:002020-10-01T18:43:06.685+09:00Working at Kyoto University in Japan<p>Dear readers,</p><p>Here is a much-belated announcement of the changes in my workplace.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Professor at ILAS, Kyoto University</b></p><p>From April 1, 2019, I started working as a full-time professor at the International Academic Research and Resource Center for Language Education (i-ARRC) at the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (ILAS) at Kyoto University. I teach academic writing classes.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies</b></p><p>From April 1, 2020, I became an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies. (Field of Language Education Research and Development, Course of Foreign Language Acquisition and Education, Department of Human Coexistence). I'm responsible for teaching one course a year and supervising some graduate students.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The English Education Division Manager</b></p><p>From May 27, 2020, I became the manager of the English Education Division at i-ARRC in ILAS. Under the supervision of the English Department at ILAS, I coordinate the activities of the Division with those of the English Program, a unit for implementing English classes in the general education at Kyoto University.</p><p><br /></p><p>I receive emails from outside the university at my personal email address: yosuke.yanase [AT] gmail.com.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yosuke YANASE, Ph. D.</p><p>ILAS, Kyoto University,</p><p>Yoshida-Nihonmatsu, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto</p><p>606-8501, Japan</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-14623838219918838992018-10-12T15:19:00.003+09:002018-10-12T15:25:30.776+09:00Damasio (2018) "The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures”<br />
I enjoyed reading Antonio Damasio's new book, "The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures.”<br />
<br />
Below are my summary of the main argument of the book and explanations of some of the key terms in it. Italicized words in the summary are explicated in the explanations.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><i>The Strange Order of Things: </i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><i>Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">by Antonio Damasio (2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><b>A SUMMARY OF THE MAIN
ARGUMENT </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Feelings</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"> inform us of the current
state of the life regulation in our body, which is called <i>homeostasis</i>. Homeostasis operates not just for the current survival
of the body but also for its future flourishment, and drives evolution, both
biological and cultural. Biological and cultural evolutions constitute the <i>human condition</i>, the foundation upon
which we make what (and who) we are. Feelings are realized in the interplay
between the body and the <i>nervous system</i>,
and accompany <i>images</i> that the nervous
system creates in the neural circuits. Images are elements of <i>consciousness</i> in which we have the sense
of <i>subjectivity</i>. We subjectively use <i>memories</i>, or recalled images, to think,
judge and use symbols. Symbols are grammatically combined to make languages,
and languages are the major means of narrating and communicating. Narrative and
communication enable us to socially share with other individuals the knowledge
and wisdom an individual has subjectively acquired, thus starting the creative
processes of <i>cultures</i> and <i>civilizations</i>. We should not forget that
underneath the activities of the mind(s) such as cultures, civilizations, narratives,
communication, languages, thinking, consciousness, subjectivity, memories and
images among other things, are feelings that are based on homeostasis of the
body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><b>EXPLANATIONS OF KEY TERMS</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">HOMEOSTASIS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Homeostasis
is a nonconscious physiological control that automatically maintains the
dynamic stability of the bodily functions. It maintains, for example, body
temperature, fluid balance or blood sugar level, within a certain range. It is
the fundamental set of operations at the core of life to make the life not just
survive but also flourish. It drives biological evolution through natural
selection and cultural evolution through cultural selection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">NERVOUS SYSTEM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">The
nervous system coordinates the whole body by signaling to and from various
parts of the body. It includes the brain, the spinal cord, and nerves among
other things. Although unicellular organisms do not need any nervous systems to
maintain homeostasis, multicellular organisms need them to manage the
complexity of their lives. Nervous systems emerged as servants to the rest of
the organisms, and to a certain extent remain as such today as well. This point
is missing from the traditional brain-centric accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">There
are two directions of signaling in the nervous system. One is from the central
nervous system (CNS) to the peripheral nervous system (PNS) through <i>motor</i> or <i>efferent nerves</i>, which, for example, contract muscles or secret
chemical molecules. The other signaling is from the PNS to the CNS through <i>sensory</i> or <i>afferent nerves</i>, which informs the brain of the states of the body.
Signaling in these two directions in the nervous systems form the basis of the
mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">It
is recently recognized that the<i> enteric
nervous system</i> in the gastrointestinal tract is a significant nervous
system that communicates with the CNS, although the flow of information is
mostly to the CNS, that is recognized as ‘gut feelings.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">IMAGE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Images
are the mental representations of objects and events in both the <i>exterior world</i> (the world around the
body) and the <i>interior world</i> (the
world inside the body). For example, sitting in a garden, you may have a clear
image of a cat approaching to you and recognize some images arising within you that
are associated with warmth and tenderness. Images in consciousness are
accompanied by feelings. Images are the elements of the mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Images
improves homeostasis and movements of the body by letting consciousness know
more about the interior and exterior world. Image recall<i> </i>opens additional possibilities for the life because recalled
images can assist reasoning or thinking. For example, a cat that flees from a
man who once abused it should be using image recall. In humans, images can be further
converted into various kinds of symbols and languages, which make communication
among different individuals highly sophisticated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">FEELING<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 2.0; text-indent: 24.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Feelings
are the subjective experience of the state of life. In other words, they are mental
deputies of homeostasis. Feelings work as monitors of the life process and as
motives (drives and motivations). They are the result of a cooperative
partnership of the brain and the body, not an independent fabrication of the
brain. They are neither purely neural nor purely bodily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Feelings
are imbued with <i>valence</i>, the value of
the condition of life from good to bad. Feelings announce the valence to its
owner. Unlike non-feeling representations that are only sensed or perceived, feelings
are representations that are felt by us and affect us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Feelings
are categorized into two: spontaneous feelings and provoked feelings. <i>Spontaneous feelings</i> originate the
conditions of visceral components in the body (<i>visceroception</i>). <i>Provoked
feelings</i> arise from musculoskeletal frames of the body (<i>interoception</i> other than visceroception)
and/or from the perception of objects and events outside the body (<i>exteroception</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">CONSCIOUSNESS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Consciousness is the process of experiencing various
images imbued with feelings in an integrated way from one's own private
perspective. What makes consciousness more than collection of images is that it
has subjectivity (with its unique perspective and feelings) and is an
integrated experience. Images in my consciousness are different from images
stored on a hard disk drive in that they are united as my private experience
with my own meaningful feelings; they are not impersonal pixels with no
feelings or meaning attached. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">SUBJECTIVITY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Subjectivity
is a process that are based on the unique perspective and feelings of its own. Subjectivity
is established by the relationship between particular images in focus and the
images in background that we experience in consciousness. All conspicuous
images emerge in consciousness accompanying provoked feelings against the background
images accompanying spontaneous feelings. This contrast constitutes the framework
of our conscious experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">MEMORY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Memories,
or recalled images in consciousness, are not just concerned with the past but
also with the anticipated future, as they help us to envision the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Culture
and civilization, which are accumulated collection of social practices, are
means to educate people to have better homeostasis in the long run. They develop
and spread by the positive feelings that they produce in humans. They are under
the pressure of cultural selection driven by feelings that people share.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">HUMAN CONDITIONS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">Human
conditions, or the basis upon which we live as humans, are created by natural
selection and cultural selection. Both selections are ultimately affected by
feelings, the subjective experience of homeostasis. Humans first evolved
through natural selection, not necessarily conscious, and then turbo-charged the
evolution through sharing cultures and civilizations consciously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-char-indent-count: 1.5; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;">However,
feelings are basically functions within a single organism and are not often shared
by fragmented heterogeneous groups that do not communication with each other. In
order for heterogeneous groups to share cultures and civilizations, they need
to be educated to feel the positive valence of cultures and civilizations. They
need to learn to feel more or less the same way through communication. In other
words, spontaneous feelings of homeostasis are not sufficient to spread
cultures and civilizations. People need provoked feelings from communication to
learn the virtue of cultures and civilizations. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/Strange-Order-Things-Feeling-Cultures/dp/0307908755/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1539324446&sr=8-1&linkCode=li3&tag=allmor-22&linkId=18c6d8c798048c7f73faa0c67df7ebf1&language=ja_JP" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-fe.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0307908755&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=JP&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=allmor-22&language=ja_JP" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-jp.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=allmor-22&language=ja_JP&l=li3&o=9&a=0307908755" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Related articles</b>:<br />
Damasio (2018) "The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures”<br />
<a href="https://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2018/10/damasio-2018-strange-order-of-things.html">https://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2018/10/damasio-2018-strange-order-of-things.html</a><br />
Emotions and Feelings according to Damasio (2003) "Looking for Spinoza"<br />
<a href="https://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2012/12/emotions-and-feelings-according-to.html">https://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2012/12/emotions-and-feelings-according-to.html</a><br />
A summary of Damasio’s “Self Comes to Mind”<br />
<a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2011/09/summary-of-damasios-self-comes-to-mind.html">http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2011/09/summary-of-damasios-self-comes-to-mind.html</a><br />
'Feeling' of language as a sign of autopoiesis<br />
<a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2011/09/feeling-of-language-as-sign-of.html">http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2011/09/feeling-of-language-as-sign-of.html</a><br />
Damasio (2000) The Feeling of What Happens<br />
<a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/02/damasio-2000-feeling-of-what-happens.html">http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/02/damasio-2000-feeling-of-what-happens.html</a><br />
Another short summary of Damasio's argument on consciousness and self<br />
<a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/06/another-short-summary-of-damasios.html">http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/06/another-short-summary-of-damasios.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-35347036444437387012017-07-11T10:43:00.002+09:002017-07-11T10:43:33.664+09:00Open Dialogue in teacher education in Japan (Asia TEFL 2017 in Indonesia)<br />
Here are the slides and the handout that I'm going to use at the <a href="http://www.asiatefl.org/main/main.php?main=2" target="_blank">Asia TEFL 2017 conference in Indonesia</a>.<br />
<br />
My presentation is from 13:45 to 14:15 on Saturday, July 15 at Pemandengan 1, Royal Ambarrukmo Hotel.<br />
<br />
I regret that, because of the time limitation in this oral presentation, I cannot really compare Open Dialogue and Exploratory Practice or discuss much about complexity (Luhmann 2012, 2013) and pluratity (Arendt 1998), as I promised in the abstract below.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" msallowfullscreen="" src="https://app.box.com/embed/s/a221huimana5yhg5gewyvp44v5plo8ax" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Handout</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://app.box.com/s/liswhfp9h354luq7qac4n1f67ytpp5cj" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://app.box.com/s/liswhfp9h354luq7qac4n1f67ytpp5cj</span></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>Open Dialogue in teacher education in Japan</b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US">Yosuke
YANASE, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US">Hiroshima
University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">1
INTRODUCTION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Why Open Dialogue?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Need to regain agency against the repressive culture of teacher
education in Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">What is Open Dialogue?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>A psychotherapeutic approach: Family therapy, Bakhtin and
postmodernism in the background<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Open: No important decision is made outside the dialogic
community<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Dialogue: Verbalization of the problem, which is accepted and
responded to by other members<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>The clients regain agency by speaking with their authentic
emotions, voices and words, and being reasonably heard and responded to by
other members.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Five important features of Open Dialogue<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">1 Tolerance of <i>uncertainty</i>
with no single authority: No one knows the truth in a complex situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">2 <i>Dialogism </i>between equal
persons with different backgrounds: We need different perspectives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">3 <i>Polyphony</i> and joint
understanding: All voices must be heard
to complement each other<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">4 <i>Emotional attunement</i>
from authentic voices: The sense of
acceptance is recognized through emotions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">5 <i>Agency</i> of every
participant: Everyone has a right to adapt and invent his or her own way in a
new situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Research Question<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Does Open Dialogue develop
agency in teacher education in Japan?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">‘Open Dialogue’: an adapted one for the purpose of teacher education<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">‘Agency’: the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting
power<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">2
METHOD<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Time and Place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>A teacher education course of eight sessions at a municipal
education center in Japan from June 2016 to February 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>However, Open Dialogue was only implicitly introduced and
implemented. The main purpose of the course was the enhancement of students’
motivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Participants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Eleven teachers of either an elementary or junior high school
with different school subject specialty. The participation was not voluntary.
We focus on an elementary school teacher, <i>ET1</i>,
in this presentation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">ET1: Not confident about her teaching. Not perfectly well
psychologically. Had a trauma as a young teacher (as it turned out later).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Two teaching advisers in charge, including <i>TA2,</i> who we focus on, and a few other teaching advisers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">TA2: Concerned about the suppressive culture of teacher education. Interested
in OD, but was not sure if it can be successfully implemented in the education
center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Supervisor of the course (the current presenter), <i>Sv</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Data in this presentation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Personal Email correspondences (voluntary): (i) between TA2 and Sv,
(ii) between ET1 and Sv.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Video recording of interview between TA2 and ET1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">ç</span><i><span lang="EN-US"> No negative effects</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> of OD were observed in other members.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">ç</span><span lang="EN-US"> The original Japanese utterances were <i>translated and edited</i> by the current presenter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">3
RESULTS AND DISUCUSSION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">From personal Email correspondences<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Between Sv and TA2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Participants and teaching advisers accepted OD in a positive
way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>The success of OD was manifest in their bodily expressions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>The two teaching advisers in chief felt uneasy about this
success because it was so unconventional.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>The two teaching advisers realized the power and impact of what
they had been asking participants to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>TA2 thought that teacher educator themselves must be observed
and analyzed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Between Sv and ET1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">> A desire to say, be heard, understood and accepted grew from a comfortable
sense of safety.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Self-exposure becomes possible when each other's vulnerability
is respected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>ET1’s unsolicited story-telling of her trauma began as the OD
relationship developed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Telling her own traumatic experience was a necessary step to go
forward<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>ET1 likes the culture of OD but wonders if it can be introduced
in ordinary schools in Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">From interview video between TA2 and ET1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>In teacher education in Japan, teaching advisers often give
their own advice before the teacher finishes his or her own story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Teaching advisers should endure awkward silence while the
teacher is straggling with thoughts and words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Teaching advisers can "advise" in the form of
clarification questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">>Teacher education is a co-construction between the teacher and
the teaching adviser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">4
CONCLUSION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">1 <i>Uncertainty</i> that OD
brings about worries conventional teacher educators but it is the source of
creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">2 In terms of <i>dialogism</i>,
teacher educators must be educated in the style of OD.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">3 <i>Polyphony</i> can be
developed with a good sense of safety in a comfortable culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">4 The success of OD can be felt intuitively from the <i>emotional attunement</i> from authentic
voices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">5 Teachers agency can develop when teacher educators exert their <i>agency</i> in the style of OD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">REFERENCES<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Seikkula J & Olson ME. (2003) The Open Dialogue Approach to
Acute Psychosis: Its Poetics and Micropolitics. <i>Family Process</i>, 42(3):403-18.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 10.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 1.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US">Seikkula J and Trimble D. (2005) Healing elements of therapeutic
conversation: dialogue as an embodiment of love. <i>Family Process</i>, 44(4):461-75.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
*****</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
ABSTRACT (as submitted to Asia TEFL)<br />
Although the notion of reflective practice has established an undisputed recognition in teacher education for long now, many teachers still find it difficult to reflect, that is, to have a good dialogue with themselves or with their mentors. Part of the reason lies in our insufficient theoretical understanding of dialogue; we are not, in fact, exactly able to distinguish dialogue from (reciprocal) monologue, (analytical) discussion or (antagonistic) debate. This presentation reports the progress of a one-year project of incumbent teacher education for 10 primary or secondary public school teachers in Hiroshima, Japan. In this project, dialogue is theoretically understood in the general conceptual framework offered by a renowned physicist-philosopher, Bohm (1996), in which orientation for 'truth' and 'coherence' play an important part. In practice, dialogue is specifically promoted in a way inspired by the 'Open Dialogue' approach in the field of psychiatric care (Seikkula and Olson 2003, Seikkula and Trimble 2005). Despite the differences among mentors and teachers of different school subjects (including English, of course), all participants as equals are encouraged to talk polyphonically, with no obligation to reach a consensus or conclusion. This project involves radical changes in the concept of teacher education itself, and is expected to contribute to a better understanding of Exploratory Practice, whose similarities and differences with this Open Dialogue approach should be carefully examined. Epistemological discussion in terms of complexity (Luhmann 2012, 2013) and plurality (Arendt 1998) is also presented to deepen our understanding of practice in social contexts.<br />
<br />
KEYWORD:<br />
teacher education, reflective practice, dialogue<br />
<br />
BIO<br />
Yosuke Yanase is professor at Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University in Japan. He radically asks questions about fundamental concepts of language teaching in the spirit of “there is nothing so practical as a good theory,” although he is quite aware that “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-58152564714067113062016-04-19T14:14:00.006+09:002016-04-19T14:14:53.084+09:00"Current Issues and New Thoughts on Reflective Practice" is now available in the PDF format.<br />
"Current Issues and New Thoughts on Reflective Practice" is now available in the PDF format from the library of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://kobe-cufs.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_opensearch&index_id=500" target="_blank">https://kobe-cufs.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_opensearch&index_id=500</a></div>
<br />
This publication contains excellent articles, "What is reflective practice?" by Jo TRELFA, "Use of epistemological lenses on the ambiguity of reflective practice: What is it to reflect on experience?" by Ken TAMAI, "Reflection, emotion and knowledge of the self" by Mark MONAHAN, "Whatever happened to ‘reflective practice’ ?" by Jo TRELFA, "A reflective continuum: Development of reflection" by Atsuko WATANABE, "Exploring, reflecting, and taking action through forms of ‘practitioner research’ and why professional development through research is essential for teachers and teaching" by Ian NAKAMURA, and "How the intersubjectivity of teacher and learner reflections contributes to transformative learning experiences" by Joan M. KURODA.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-79887091899784303182014-12-22T15:02:00.000+09:002014-12-22T15:09:07.971+09:00Third person knowledge and the first person knowing<br />
<br />
What you find below is my two posts in<a href="http://loisholzman.org/2014/12/relections-on-an-online-wittgenstein-course/" target="_blank"> the online Wittgenstein course</a> that Lois Holzman of the East Side Institute (<a href="http://eastsideinstitute.org/" target="_blank">http://eastsideinstitute.org</a>/) in New York coordinated.<br />
<br />
<br />
You may find them interesting if you're interested in the issue of mind and body in our action.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>November 24, 2014</b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hi,
everyone. This is Yosuke in Hiroshima,
Japan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please
forgive me for making a new thread because I really don’t know which thread I
should choose. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
following is my (rather long, forgive me again) response after I read the first
four chapters of the <i>Overweight Brain </i>and
Monk’s essay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://loisholzman.org/books/latest-installment/the-overweight-brain-all-chapters/">http://loisholzman.org/books/latest-installment/the-overweight-brain-all-chapters/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/regulars/ray-monk-wittgenstein">http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/regulars/ray-monk-wittgenstein</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IMPROVISATIONAL
CONVERSATION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I'd
like to tell you first of all that I really love the method of improvisational
conversation that is summarized below.
This is what my mentors did and I'm always trying to conduct my classes
in university in this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fred's
questions were never about knowing. He didn't ask, "What do we know about
that?" He asked, "What did we see? What did we do? What can we build?
What can we create? What can we organize? How can we grow?" As a therapist,
he asked clients how he could be of help; he didn't-he couldn't possibly-know.
They'd have to create their helping relationship and the help. And so began an
improvisational conversation. As a teacher and trainer, he asked students how
he might be of help to them learning whatever they had come to learn; he
didn't-he couldn't possibly-know. They'd have to create the environment to
learn and the learning. And so began an improvisational conversation. As a
community and political organizer, he asked the community what they should do
in response to a specific situation; he didn't-he couldn't possibly-know.
They'd have to discover that together. And so began an improvisational
conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://loisholzman.org/2014/01/the-overweight-brain-chapter-1/" target="_blank">http://loisholzman.org/2014/01/the-overweight-brain-chapter-1/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
with this spirit of improvisational conversation, I'm going to write below my
thoughts that emerged, inspired by the first four chapters of the Overweight
Brain and Monk's essay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE THIRD PERSON
KNOWLEDGE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
concur with the critical stance that is expressed in the quotation below and in
Monk's essay on scientism, toward the (ab)use of 'scientific knowledge' in the
areas where its application is not appropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Knowledge
became “king” with the birth of the scientific era and it helped humankind
accomplish incredible things, many of which have been of invaluable benefit
(extending life, curing disease, advancing agriculture, sharing information,
discovering and preserving cultures…the list almost never ends). But the depth
and breadth of scientific and technological discovery has come with a price,
which is that “knowing” has become ideological. An ideology is a worldview, a
way of looking at things, a set of ideas that underlies beliefs and
understandings and guides actions --that’s become “how things are” so we’re
usually not even aware of it. The knowing ideology is simply this: human life
and growth, solutions to social problems, and world progress require and depend
on knowing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://loisholzman.org/books/latest-installment/" target="_blank">http://loisholzman.org/books/latest-installment/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
as I'll elaborate later, I'd like to retain the use of the words like 'to know'
and 'knowing.' What we need to abandon
is the ideological scientism, not the word 'to know' altogether. It is, then, a good idea probably to
distinguish different aspects of knowing.
In fact, Wittgenstein wrote in Section 78 of <i>Philosophical Investigation</i> as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Compare
<i>knowing</i> and <i>saying</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">how
many meters high Mont Blanc is –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">how
the word “game” is used –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 31.5pt; mso-para-margin-left: 3.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">how a
clarinet sounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Someone
who is surprised that one can know something and not be able to say it is
perhaps thinking of a case like the first.
Certainly not of one like the third.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’d
like to describe the aspect of knowing that is the target of the criticism of
scientism as the <i>third person knowledge</i>,
and distinguish it from the aspect of knowing that we use in our creative
behaviors, which I call the <i>first person
knowing</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE THIRD PERSON
KNOWLEDGE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
third person knowledge is a typical form of knowledge in science. This is ‘objective’ knowledge that is attained
and confirmed by the ‘neutral’ observers.
The ‘neutral’ or ‘objective’ observers are not real persons who are
embodied and contextualized in specific ways, but the ideal notion of the third
person that we conceptualize. They have
no body living in nowhere (They are indeed <i>nobody</i>
and <i>nowhere man</i>). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">However,
because of this idealization, the third person knowledge has abstract
generalizability and has the widest scope of application among types of
knowledge we have. It is not the truth,
though. The truth, as imagined in the
image of the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God, does not need to be
applied. It is just here, there and
everywhere. The knowledge of science is
not this ultimate truth. It has its
limited area of application (and margin of errors). Scientism, then, is probably a mistake to
regard the third person knowledge as truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
of the most useful features of the third person knowledge of science is its
claim of liner causality. The linear
causality is a great way of approximation to predict, plan or make things, and
the products of the approximation is generally hailed as the achievement of ‘science
and technology.’ Sure enough, science
and technology are not truth, and therefore things can ‘go wrong’,
contradicting our third person knowledge, but usually we comfortably leave our
lives on approximated safety of the gigantic structure that we call an airplane
in our flight. Our idealized conception
of the linear causality is great to that extent, at least.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
great thing that happened to the third person knowledge since the 20 century is
that it began to be applied to itself and became self-critical. One of the basic achievements of that
self-reference is the theory of complexity.
It is found that the linear causality can only be assumed when we limit
the system of operations. Only when we
conceptualize a very simple, bounded system in which things happen and interact,
do we predict according to the linear causality (and disregard the ‘aberration’
that discords with the linear causality).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the world we live in and are interested in is not that simple. It is an evolving complex system that keeps
changing. As Vygotsky says in Fred’s
play (see below), even when we tap dance, we’re not talking about a simple
system where the first move of the right foot causes another part of the
body. In tap dance (I’m not a dancer
myself. Please pardon me if I make a
stupid description), different parts of the body (including the brain) interact
with each other, and if you think you've picked up the part that moves first
among others, it is only because you've limited the area of attention and observation
(after all, our consciousness is not powerful enough to capture the multitude
of interactions in our body at one time).
And as you move, the interactions multiply and the dancing body
(including the brain, again) self-organizes itself (<i>autopoiesis</i>, as Luhmann call the process). (Incidentally, there’s no part of the body
that moves first in martial arts, either.
If you pick up one part and move it deliberately, the movement will be
unnatural, redundant and too slow to be called the movement of martial arts.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Vygotsky:
Aha! To me nothing moves first. Everything moves at once; the body -- not just
the feet --taps. Our obsession with stages --with what comes first-- distorts
history where there is no beginning and no end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://loisholzman.org/2014/10/the-overweight-brain-chapter-4/" target="_blank">http://loisholzman.org/2014/10/the-overweight-brain-chapter-4/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
let’s suppose there’s a super, super computer that identifies the billions of
interactions of your dance. It gives you
a (huge) report of what you did as you danced.
Would this third person knowledge help you (or anybody else) dance
better? ‘It must!’ someone may say, ‘It
is scientific, objective descriptions of what you actually did. How can it NOT be helpful when it is
scientific and objective!?’ To counter-argue
with someone like this, I should probably have to introduce another term, the <i>first person knowing</i>, to explain how
what you know as you do something (as the first person) is qualitatively
different from what you know as you observe something (as the third person).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE FIRST PERSON
KNOWING<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
you do something, you apparently know something, or at least this is how we use
the words like ‘do’ and ‘know.’ But that
knowledge or knowing (to emphasize the difference, I say ‘knowing’ for the
knowledge of the first person, following the way Michael Polanyi used the term ‘tacit
knowing.’) is embodied in your body, unlike the third person knowledge that is
disembodied (and decontextualized). So
the talk of your first person knowledge must involve the conditions of your
body (emotions and feelings as well as all other things that happen in your
body), that are affected by the environment (context) in which your body live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
not just that your mind is not powerful enough to deal with a great amount of
information that the super, super computer gives you, but that the third person
knowledge of the super, super computer is disembodied and decontextualized, and
for that reason qualitatively different from your first person knowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
top of that, there is not a predetermined boundary of your action. You’re an evolving system that interacts with
your environment (including other people) and the environment (i.e., something
that is not you which affects you) will change as you act. The boundary of your action of the past may
temporarily be described as such, but you keep changing as long as you live. You’ll never know what you’ll do until you do
it, and you keep doing something new all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Take
the case of the description of language.
We have the third person knowledge of language in the form of school
grammar and scientific linguistics. But
it is decontextualized and disembodied knowledge, and it describes the idealized
concept of language (<i>Competence</i> or <i>I-language</i> for Chomsky, for example),
not the actual language you use in your body at a particular moment with
particular persons in a particular context.
School grammar or scientific linguistics is certainly a type of knowledge
(the third person knowledge), but it is not your first person knowledge. If we mean the first person knowing by the
expression ‘understanding’, the following Wittgensteinean passage from the <i>Overweight Brain</i> concurs with what I’m
trying to say in this essay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How
we understand what language is has everything to do with how we use language,
how we talk to ourselves and to one another, and --and this may surprise you--
how we think and what we think about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://loisholzman.org/2014/04/the-overweight-brain-chapter-3/" target="_blank">http://loisholzman.org/2014/04/the-overweight-brain-chapter-3/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">HOW CAN THE </span>THIRD<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> PERSON KNOWLEDGE HELP OUR ACTION?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Does
the third person knowledge NOT help us in our action at all? As a teacher-educator in the field of
teaching English as a foreign language, and a clumsy learner of martial arts,
this is a very crucial question. Our
common sense tells us that that the third person knowledge can be of some help
in a limited way, but if you begin to rely on it, it may be abused by your
belief of (a mild version of) scientism and harmful. It is important to realized the third person
knowledge in whatever form is not only qualitatively different from your first
person knowing, but also an extremely reduced version of knowledge in terms of
quantity, disembodiement and decontextualization. Knowing the limit of the third person
knowledge (which seems brilliant and indeed is very useful in dealing with
impersonal objects) is essential when you deal with the knowledge (or rather,
knowing) concerning your action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
should write in detail, but my time is running up, so let me just quote from
Dewey’s <i>Democracy and Education</i>, a
master piece written about one hundred years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dewey
who values thinking in experience is critical of knowledge and theory. For Dewey, thinking in experience is about
the future that is coming, whereas knowledge and theory is about the past that
is gone and fixed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hence
the deluge of half-observations, of verbal ideas, and unassimilated
"knowledge" which afflicts the world. An ounce of experience is
better than a ton of theory simply because it is only in experience that any
theory has vital and verifiable significance. An experience, a very humble
experience, is capable of generating and carrying any amount of theory (or
intellectual content), but a theory apart from an experience cannot be
definitely grasped even as theory. It tends to become a mere verbal formula, a
set of catchwords used to render thinking, or genuine theorizing, unnecessary
and impossible. Because of our education we use words, thinking they are ideas,
to dispose of questions, the disposal being in reality simply such an obscuring
of perception as prevents us from seeing any longer the difficulty. (Dewey,
1916. pp. 138-139)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.0pt; mso-para-margin-left: 2.0gd;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Knowledge
and theory, then, becomes useful only when it is regarded as a small hypothesis
that may potentially be relevant in a new situation. You may want to turn your (mostly unsayable)
first person knowledge into a kind of third person knowledge, but that may be
more harmful than helpful for future action of yours and others’, for the third
person knowledge is of the past and the future may be very different from the
past (and you may not be what you used to be).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
all thinking results in knowledge, ultimately the value of knowledge is
subordinate to its use in thinking. For we live not in a settled and finished
world, but in one which is going on, and where our main task is prospective,
and where retrospect -- and all knowledge as distinct from thought is
retrospect -- is of value in the solidity, security, and fertility it affords
our dealings with the future. (Dewey, 1916. pp. 145-146)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Probably
I should have finished this small essay not with Dewey’s passage that is not
very easy to read, but with Michael Polayni’s that is more readable. But I didn't have time to find the book in my
office or the time to write my original argument. Yet, as I said at the beginning, this is part
of my improvisational conversation, and I didn't mean it to be a piece of
writing that finishes all the arguments in the future (no one should be
arrogant to try to write such a thing).
So, unable to find a clever sentence to finish this essay, I just say,
that’s all for now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thank
you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yosuke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>November 25, 2014</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hi,
Steve, Jim, Yuji (or Moro-san, as we'd say in Japanese), and Paola<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thank
you for your comments which improvised my thoughts further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">AUTOPOIESIS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
understanding of autopoiesis is through Luhmann who expanded the theory of
Maturana and Varela. What the concept
amounts to, I'd say, is the claim that all you are, do, and experience is only
made by you, not by other things, which Luhmann describes as the<i> environment</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jim
said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Our senses function as they do in relation to
material reality and yet they do not transmit to us through our nervous systems
what we take to be actual reality. As best as I can determine (I'm not a
biologist) what we get is a bio-chemical response to reality, not reality
itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
you read this passage now, the understanding that you construct is based on
your prior denotations and connotations that you've associated with words,
phrases, ideas and whatever that come with this passage. The standardized
dictionaries may give you an idea that as long as the same words are shared
between you and me, the same ideas must be shared as well. Wittgenstein rejected this notion, and
Luhmann may say that because the words are not the 'input' (i.e., something
that comes straight to you as a material) but the 'perturbation' (i.e., something
that may trigger some reactions in you but does not have direct control of
you), the claim that the 'same ideas' will be reproduced in you as a reader is
most unlikely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
top of that, you experience a lot as you read.
The room may be rather cold, and you may be hungry, slightly irritated
by frequent phone calls, worrying about the meeting you’re to have in an
hour. All these things affect your
reading. It’s not surprising at all that
you react quite differently to the same text on different occasions. Your cognition and action cannot be separated
from the conditions of your history, body, context and other things that make
you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
this sense, my first person knowing could only be known by me in my body (including
the brain), my environment and my history. But I only say that it 'could be known'
because this knowing can only be theoretically assumed. As soon as I know what I know, that knowing
changes 'I', and the knowing becomes something of the past. The first person knowing, or maybe knowing in
general, is always in the process of recursion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So,
in terms of embodiment, embedding in time and space, history, and process in
me, my first person knowing is not accessible to anyone else either in the form
of the third person knowledge or in other forms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">HOW THE FIRST
KNOWING OF A MASTER AFFECTS THE DISCIPLES<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yuji's
question in this regard is very interesting for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
question is how first person knowledge is related to this socialness of
knowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Apparently
there is such a relationship as master/disciple or teacher/student, as distinct
from information transmitter/information receptor (as in machine). A master (or
a teacher) does influence the disciples (or students) and let them develop in a
way that is not conceivable without the master (or teacher). We assume that there's a 'social' relation
between the master and her disciples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
first of all, we have to remember that there's no direct transfer of knowledge
from the master to the disciple (or from a person to another, in general) because
we're autopoietic beings (autopoiesis systems).
What even the best master can do is to affect you, not mold you as he or
she wishes -- if you're a teacher or a parent, I assume you know what I mean. A disciple can only become what he can
become. As Dewey said, a teacher can
educate somebody only indirectly by means of the environment. What a teacher
can do is to arrange the environment (including the teacher him/herself) for
the students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet,
this does not mean that there's nothing a master can do to better influence the
disciples. In traditional settings, a
master and the disciples spend most of their time together, and the disciples
learn the way of life (or the form of life, as Wittgenstein would say) of the
master. At the same time, the master
learns how the disciples perceive, feel, think and act. They probably become more similar than before
by spending time together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
general principle (or tenet) a master gives occasionally to the disciple makes
the best advantage of the experience of living together and learning who they
are with each other. The master and
disciples probably become similar enough as to make communication between
without much trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
martial arts, occasional teaching from mouth to ear ('kuden' </span><span style="font-family: "MS 明朝","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">「口伝」</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">) is preferred
to systematic teaching of the third person knowledge. A master prefers to teach verbally only when
an appropriate occasion emerges for that teaching. The oral teaching is more effective than
teaching according to a predetermined curriculum because the embodiment, embedding
in time and place, histories and processes, all these elements that are
essential in the first person knowing, can become asymptotic (closer than anything
else, but not identical) between them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Teaching
the third person knowledge, typically through books, often disregards
embodiment, embedding in time and space, histories and processes -- if only for
brevity, I may describe them altogether as 'contingent elements'--. A lesson learned from a book can misguide a
reader because of the lack of similarities of the contingent elements. A lesson to be taught should be selected by a
teacher who is familiar with the contingent elements of the student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">CAN KNOWLEDGE BE
PRIVATE?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
I've written so far, I found Paola's comment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is
this "first person knowledge” then, as Yuji is describing it, a ‘private’
knowledge? In either case, how can ‘knowing’ be private if we are social
beings? I like the Russian offer better. Another example of how meaning changes
in different languages....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
Paola says in the last sentence, this is probably a matter of how different
persons use the same language differently.
But I may defend my use of the terms by saying that whereas the first
person knowing (I prefer 'knowing' to 'knowledge' for the first person knowing,
as I want to emphasize that it is more of a process than of a product) may be
'private' in that it is only accessible to the first person alone, the third
person knowledge is not private but public.
(Some of you may recall Wittgenstein's argument about 'private language'
here and you’re absolutely right).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
third person knowledge about objects can be transmitted quite easily and that
is why science and technology have drastically changed the surface of the earth
over the last few centuries. The third
person knowledge as a product can be transferred, stored, added, and combined
quite objectively. We test its validity
by experiments that are publicly observable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
if you want to apply the third person knowledge to your personal skills, you
need to adapt it as your contingent elements demand. This is where a good teacher comes in. A good teacher is someone who understands not
only the third person knowledge, but also the students (their style of the
first person knowing). But a good
teacher can only 'help.' In order to
acquire the first person knowing, the student must change him/herself to create
a new self that accommodates the first person knowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
change our perspective, let's think how we build the third person
knowledge. It was of course not given by
God once and for all. We all started
from our first person knowing.
Attempting to convey the first person knowing to other people, people
have invented ways of expressing the first knowing, sophisticated language use,
and increased its generalization and abstraction. The print culture which enabled communication
between people in different time and place promoted the generalization and
abstraction, and our verbal behavior changed so much as to produce a lot of the
third person knowledge, and it led the prosperity of science and technology of
modern times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
sum, the first person knowing is private, but, as Dewey says, it can be
communicated (but not directly transferred).
It may further turn into the third person knowledge when it achieves
sufficient generalization and abstraction, but then it becomes so remote from
the first person knowing. In other
words, the first person knowing can become social, although it is inherently
private. The first person knowing can be
socially communicated, but as it is inherently private, it cannot be directly
transmitted as in the case of the third person knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well,
that's all for now. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yosuke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-75971364512845839132014-09-20T15:32:00.001+09:002015-08-16T16:26:18.366+09:00Reconciling and finding harmony with the world through photography<br />
<br />
Photography for me is a way of reconciling and finding harmony with the world.
<br />
<br />
My emotions and feelings, often mixed and sometimes suppressed, find their place in the worlds that I find, which I express through the camera.
<br />
<br />
This non-verbal art may perhaps be more helpful for me than the verbal art for its subtler and yet more powerful expression.
<br />
<br />
I started a Flickr site where I can share with you the worlds that I find that I love.
<br />
<br />
If you're interested, please come.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
Flickr Yosuke Yanase<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/127153383@N03/" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/127153383@N03/</a>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-28685639926569367992014-08-07T21:10:00.003+09:002014-08-07T21:11:35.923+09:00Effects of written language (English/Japanese, private/published) on journal writing for teacher development
<br><br>
<br><br>
My poster presentation at AILA 2014 on the Mezzanine Level of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday August 15, 2014.
<br><br>
<br><br>
<div align="center">
<iframe src="https://app.box.com/embed_widget/s/23zqj1cgpcot11230g1z?theme=blue" width="500" height="400" frameborder="0"allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<br><br>
<br><br>
Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-75754249241450687712014-05-27T08:51:00.001+09:002014-05-27T08:51:59.706+09:00From monotheistic reductionsim to dialectic synthesis -- My thoughts on sociocognitive approach to SLA<br />
<br />
<a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2014/04/dwight-atkinson-lecture-at-hiroshima.html">Dwight Atkinson Lecture (May 23, 2014)</a> was a great success. We enjoyed the lecture, the open tea party style conversation, and, for those privileged few, the private party that followed.
<br />
<br />
Confucius said:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
學而時習之<br />
不亦説乎<br />
有朋自遠方来<br />
不亦楽乎<br />
人不知而不慍<br />
不亦君子乎<br />
<br />
<br />
Isn't it a delight<br />
to review what I learned?<br />
Isn't it a great joy<br />
to meet a friend from a far land!<br />
Isn't it a gentleman<br />
who doesn't resent those who don't understand him.
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
It was my great pleasure to meet a gentleman who is, I'm honored to say, my friend, both academically and personally, who came from far away to let us review what we learned from <a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/09/index-to-pages-about-alternative.html">a book that we chose as our course textbook</a>.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/0415549256/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=247&creative=7399&creativeASIN=0415549256&linkCode=as2&tag=allmor-22"><img border="0" src="http://ws-fe.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0415549256&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=JP&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=allmor-22" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-jp.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=allmor-22&l=as2&o=9&a=0415549256" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Below is my thought on the sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition (SLA) that I reviewed on this occasion.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Against monotheistic reductionism of the (computational) cognitivism</b>
<br />
<br />
One of the most important features of sociocogitive approach is the non-cognitivist stance, which invites us to see cognition not as an isolated computational process in the brain but as <i>adaptive intelligence</i> that enables our close and sensitive <i>alignment</i> to our ecosocial environment in which we survive.
<br />
<br />
However, sociocognitive approach does not entirely negate the (computational) cognitivist stance. The cognitive stance is a perspective that offers its unique findings. Yet, if it claims that it is the only one correct scientific view and degrades other stances, or if it claims that the knowledge it gains through its reductionism will ultimately explain all, someday, through deductive synthesis (the belief that Husserl (<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/husserl/">Stanford Encyclopedia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Husserl">Wikipedia</a>) criticized as an illusion of modern science), sociocognitive approach raises a voice of objection along with many others.
<br />
<br />
Reductionism is certainly an effective way to dissect the world to gain a collection of pieces of knowledge. But just as the episode of Humpty Dumpty shows, the pieces cannot re-constitute the world. The world is too complex and dynamic, we now know, to allow the naive belief in the Cartesian doctrine of clarity, analysis (division), synthesis (combination) and enumeration (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_on_the_Method"><i>Discourse on Method</i></a>).
<br />
<br />
So it is when reductionism takes on the tone of monotheism that the cognitivist approach should be strongly criticized. Sociocognitive approach detects the tone and takes that critical stance and offers an alternative approach to show that the cognitivist approach is not the only possible method.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Pluralistic endeavors of alternative approaches to SLA</b>
<br />
<br />
A consequence of the negation of monotheistic reductionism is pluralism, where different perspectives keep offering their own empirical findings in complementary ways for a better and diversified, but not ultimate and perfect, understanding of the world. I believe that sociocognitive approach as one of the alternative approaches to SLA offers a balanced stance which incorporates <a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2011/09/jp-lantolf-2011-sociocultural-approach.html">sociocultural Vygotskian conceptions</a> and <a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2013/07/gabriele-kasper-and-johannes-wagner.html">empirical methods of Conversational Analysis</a> along with critical assessment of philosophical perspectives from that of Descartes to that of Artificial Intelligence.
<br />
<br />
Alternative approaches are in one sense antitheses to the cognitivism, but as pluralistic endeavors, their aims are to be understood more than mere opposition. They are to be regarded, I believe, as attempts for <i>dialectic</i> synthesis (not simple addition) of pluralistic understandings, where no one or no single approach claims the eventual possession of the final conclusive knowledge.
<br />
<br />
It is in this kind of context that I understand sociocognitive approach.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Pedagogical Implications</b>
<br />
<br />
Socicognitive approach is not just significant in theoretical terms. As pedagogical implications, I believe it can offer empirical counter-evidence to the claim that teachers can be replaced by machines.
<br />
<br />
By 'machines' I mean all sorts of unidirectional devices ranging from textbooks, to television programs and web-applications. They may offer excellent information for knowledge transmission, but they do not respond to or interact with learners. Sociocognitive approach shows empirical data to demonstrate how responsive and interactive teachers can facilitate learner's development through coordinated actions.
<br />
<br />
Episodes shared by the proponents of excellent web-service tell that unidirectional transmission of information is not always enough. Most learners need embodied, emphatic understandings of caring teachers to get motivated. The subtle and minute actions that teachers conduct, most of which they may not be even aware of, are hard to detect, and those who do not have good understanding of realities of learning (including administrators of educational policies) may claim that machines for knowledge transmission may be a better replacement of human teachers. Of course there are some aspects where machines are better than humans. But human teachers, with mind for emphatic understanding and body for feeling and expressing it, have unique, perhaps indispensable, roles in education. Sociocognitive approach offers empirical evidence of how such emphatic understanding helps learners.
<br />
<br />
This evidence may benefit teacher education. There are at least two types of practical sessions that can be given for prospective teachers.
<br />
<br />
<b>(1) Comparison of sociocognitive actions</b>
<br />
<br />
Videos of experienced teachers and novice teachers can be compared from the sociocognitive perspective. Repeated viewing of videos makes it possible to be explicitly aware of subtle responsive actions and following interactions by experienced teachers that we only intuitively know. Its comparison with videos of novice teachers may highlight expertise of competent teachers with a lot of experience.
<br />
<br />
<b>(2) Comparison of sociocognitive observations</b>
<br />
<br />
The above activity may be conducted in a group. People differ a lot in their observational ability both in degrees and kinds. If prospective teachers are to compare their observations of the same video, they may learn a lot. (It would be an "education of attention.")
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Future task for qualitative research</b>
<br />
<br />
Sociocogntive approach is one type of qualitative research, and as such, it does not follow the practices prescribed by the epistemology of objectivism. Objectivist epistemology assumes disembodied third-person view and claims that it is so objective that all, including perhaps machines, will agree in understanding. However, human are embodied, and takes a second-person stance in interactive situations including teaching. Reading papers of qualitative research on interactive situations requires emphatic second-person understanding. It is true that readers are third-persons who are not in the immediate context and cannot interact with people that are described in qualitative research. Yet, I argue that when they read the descriptions, they take a (hypothetical) second-person stance to feel what was really going on. They may recall their experience either as teacher or learner to feel as if they were persons described.
<br />
<br />
This argument of mine may be justified by the fact that understanding of (or you may want to say 'interpretation' from) qualitative descriptions differ significantly depending upon the experiences of readers. This fact is not a scandal. Readers of the same novel or audience of the same performance of music will give all sorts of different opinions. But they are not random. Inexperienced readers or listeners may vary a lot in their opinions, but as they get more experienced, the range of their opinions shrinks and they come to agree in general judgment more or less. There remain (or even develop) differences in specific tastes among experienced ones, but that is, I believe, the realities of our pluralistic understanding that the complex world we dynamically experience requires.
<br />
<br />
To take another example, those who know baseball a lot will understand the descriptions of the games much better than those who don't. If somebody claims that such understanding is not "objective" and that our understanding of baseball should be measured in a scale that no one fails to agree with, he or she is proposing nonsense. One such measure would be the score of the game. All games with the score of 3-0 are the same, for example. This is a measure that indeed no one will fail to agree with, that is, even an idiot will understand that, but that understanding is outrageously unintelligent (baseball has much more than the score!). So if you want to make the standard of understanding experience-free, non-qualitatively "objective", you're degrading our understanding into that of idiots.
<br />
<br />
So qualitative research selects readers. Those who have no or little experience in the described field are to be, I'm afraid, excluded from proper judgment simply because they lack emphatic understanding that is necessary for reading. Also, those who takes a rigid "objective" stance as I described above ("objectivist" in other words) have to throw away that epistemology, for when you're reading qualitative research, you're playing a different game from the one you're playing when you're reading qualitative research. (I'm against the mutually exclusive dichotomy of "quantitative" versus "qualitative" research, though. But this is another story I should elaborate on some day.)
<br />
<br />
Then comes another question. What would be "objectivity" for qualitative research? To use a more provocative expression, what would be "objectivity" in understanding our subjectivity?
<br />
<br />
As I wrote on my Japanese blog (<a href="http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.jp/2014/05/blog-post.html">Part I</a> and <a href="http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.jp/2014/05/blog-post_17.html">Part II</a>), reading of Husserl's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crisis_of_European_Sciences_and_Transcendental_Phenomenology"><i>The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology</i></a> helps to deal with this issue. Does reading of Kant's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critique_of_Judgment"><i>Critique of Judgement</i></a> may help? -- This is another, another story.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpq_1_6m-MjOk2YXR6qHWU1Ylz91OJ7T_yN0GXoYJpTMpwkX5CV4EVHXrXSu2xJDKJUVM_t3aA3CJCjOQX02uIgpvkkNCr1tA7y6HYscXegLNYEsJkF8m-j82fHpo4HEk2-eTUHCEUoFfW/s1600/DSC_5599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpq_1_6m-MjOk2YXR6qHWU1Ylz91OJ7T_yN0GXoYJpTMpwkX5CV4EVHXrXSu2xJDKJUVM_t3aA3CJCjOQX02uIgpvkkNCr1tA7y6HYscXegLNYEsJkF8m-j82fHpo4HEk2-eTUHCEUoFfW/s1600/DSC_5599.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8985217764723220205.post-20652608284536970512014-04-15T10:03:00.002+09:002014-04-16T18:54:20.927+09:00Dwight Atkinson Lecture at Hiroshima University on May 23, 2014: Learning and Teaching Language from a Sociocognitive Viewpoint<br />
<br />
<br />
We're pleased to announce that <a href="http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/directory/index.aspx?p=Dwight_Atkinson">Dwight Atkinson (Purdue University)</a>, a pioneer in sociocognitive approach in SLA and the editor of <a href="http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.jp/2012/09/index-to-pages-about-alternative.html"><i>Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition</i></a> is to give a lecture at Hiroshima University on Friday, May 23, 2014.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b><b>DATE</b></b>: Friday, May 23, 2014
<br />
<br />
<b>VENUE</b>: Conference Room #1, Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University
(Please note that the venue is subject to change depending on the size of the audience)
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/top/access/index.html">Access to Hiroshima University</a>
<br />
<a href="http://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/add_html/access/ja/saijyo3.html">Location of Faculty of Education (Conference Room #1 is on the second floor of the building between Block A and Block C in the map)</a>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<b>FEE</b>: Free (except for the optional tea party, where you'll be kindly asked to pay 200 yen)
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<b><b>SCHEDULE</b></b>:
<br />
<blockquote>
16:30-17:20 Lecture
<br />
17:20-17:30 Break
<br />
17:30-18:10 Open Discussion<br />
18:10-18:20 Break
<br />
18:20-19:00 Tea Party (Optional: 200 yen for coffee and sweets)
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>LECTURER</b>: Dwight Atkinson (Purdue University)
<br />
<blockquote>
Dwight Atkinson teaches at Purdue University, where he is an associate professor of English. His academic interests are in second language learning and teaching, culture, and writing. He spent 12 years living and teaching in Japan, most recently at Temple University Japan. Living in Japan has been one of the most meaningful experiences in his life. He has also spent a year and a half doing research in India.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Title</b>: Learning and Teaching Language from a Sociocognitive Viewpoint
<br />
<br />
<b>ABSTRACT</b>:
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Second language acquisition has often been treated as a "lonely" cognitive process: input comes in, is processed, and results in output. The mind is a computer
in this view.
<br />
<br />
I present an alternative view of cognition and second language learning--as designed for and intimately tuned to social action. Like all nervous systems, the human nervous system is designed to enable us to adapt to our complex and ever-changing environments. For humans more than many other animals, this notably includes adapting to our conspecific--i.e., human--environments. That is, our existence-ensuring action-in-the-world is largely social action. This inter + action is thus what language is for, from a sociocognitive viewpoint, and therefore why--and how--we acquire it.
<br />
<br />
This theoretical viewpoint will be illustrated with video data, and possible implications for pedagogy will likewise be explored in this talk.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>APPLICATION</b>: Attendance is limited and prior application is necessary (register in the form below). When the number of the applicants meets the seating capacity of the room, all further applications will be denied. We recommend that you apply as soon as possible.
</blockquote>
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="800" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19oPzK9ofgHGf5E3eb4y3rIvRBe9xJxfkUM_Nps-cORE/viewform?embedded=true" width="760">Loading...</iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/0415549256/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=247&creative=7399&creativeASIN=0415549256&linkCode=as2&tag=allmor22-22"><img border="0" src="http://ws-fe.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0415549256&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=JP&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=allmor22-22" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-jp.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=allmor22-22&l=as2&o=9&a=0415549256" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Yosuke YANASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02148861299273079929noreply@blogger.com0