Episode 20 of the Japancasting Podcast with Prof Steve McCarty brings to you Bilingual Perspectives on Language Teaching: The View from the Goal. This is the soundtrack of an April 2023 conference presentation for the Japan Association for Language Teaching. Steve McCarty teaches Bilingualism and Intercultural Communication classes at Osaka Jogakuin University.

ABSTRACT: An attainable goal for language learners is to function in plural languages according to their own needs and purposes. A bilingual perspective starts from that realistic goal. Learners in Japan tend to overly idealize L2 (second or foreign language) mastery (or being bilingual), so it becomes other people’s business. Monolingual teachers tell students by their example, “go where I have not gone,” whereas a bilingual teacher says, “come to my state of functioning.” This presentation details a paradigm shift from the predominant monolingual second language acquisition (SLA) paradigm to a developmental bilingual perspective.

The slideshow is available to read while listening to the podcast, at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369825283

or to download from LINK

The presentation was also pre-recorded and posted as a video for YouTube users: https://youtu.be/F0zeEIPRIhw

Publications on Bilingualism: https://japanned.hcommons.org/bilingualism/

All podcasts and videos: https://japanned.hcommons.org/multimedia/

Episode 19: The Japanese and Foreign Languages

At Matsuyama Shinonome College in southwestern Japan, Steve McCarty was teaching an intensive course on Translation between Japanese and English. Two professors there, Kiyoshi Shioiri and Mima Saeki, agreed to be interviewed about the history of languages in Japan. For 16 minutes we discussed how the Japanese language formed thousands of years ago to the classical period (7th-11th Centuries), and foreign languages influencing Japan all the way to the present. Then we discussed the attitudes of Japanese people nowadays toward foreign languages, cultural factors why they have such difficulty acquiring English, how Japanese is very different from other languages, and getting the meaning across in translation and interpretation.

Osaka Jogakuin College students report on their visit to Chittagong, Bangladesh. It has a history of poverty and persecution of Burmese refugees. The college (Wilmina is its nickname) has contributed money to start and maintain a charitable hospital, including for children. The students speak bilingually, so it provides a lesson in either Japanese or English as a Foreign Language.

After the students’ 18-minute recorded presentation, one of the students is interviewed for 5 minutes. That script is below to read while listening:

Steve McCarty interviews Osaka Jogakuin College students about Bangladesh hospital

#1 What is the relationship between OJC and CHC? (her group’s PPT slide shows Wilmina Children's Hospital, supported by Osaka Jogakuin College, in the CHC hospital in Chittagong)

O.K. our relationship between OJC and CHC was started in 1992 when our senior graduates donated some money instead of using it for a graduation party and built a children’s hospital at CHC. Then, we students started to visit CHC since 1995.

#2 Bangladesh is mostly Islamic, but what are some minority groups?

Many Bengali people are Islamic, but in Chittagong, there are 13 tribal peoples and they immigrated from Burma. They are almost all Buddhist and some people are Christian.

#3 What will happen to Bangladesh with global warming?

It will flood and almost all the land will sink under the sea because Bangladesh is really low, so it can be easy to sink. Moreover, even now, floods often happen in Bangladesh.

#4 Some of the nurses don't look South Asian. They look more Southeast Asian. Who are they?

They are tribal people, not Bengali people. Because CHC accepts many minority people.

#5 What is the Community Health Program? (It looks interesting because they try to prevent health problems before people need to go to the hospital.)

It is one of the CHC’s activities. Their activities are vaccination for children, giving lectures on family planning, and so on. They do these activities outside of CHC such as at a tribal village.

#6 Are Bangladesh people so happy although they are so poor economically?

I think almost all Bangladesh people looked very happy. Because they always smiled when we said hello and we tried to talk. They try to live, although poor. And they have many troubles, not only economic problems.

#7 What did you learn about yourself in Bangladesh?

I learned many things. I learned our sense of values is not always the right things. The thing is that I thought I could understand, but I realized I could not understand. And I noticed that Bangladesh people are proud of their country despite their hard living conditions. This visit became a signal to enter these problems and be concerned with Bangladesh. In addition, I am able to make a chance to look at the problems around us over again. My feeling and learning cannot be expressed completely here.