英語は教科でしょうか？：Is English one of the school- subjects?
2013.11.29(金)、上越タイムスに寄稿：Yoshy’s Contribution to Joetsu Times on November 29th (Fri), 2013
≪前書：Preface≫
ご存じの通り、12月13日(金)に、下村文部科学大臣が「英語教育改訂指針」を発表しました。「英語の仕組みと、必須語彙」中心の「従来型英語学習」から、「世界と意思疎通ができる国際人養成」を掲げて、1975年にLLシホヤ新井教室をこの地に開設しました。39年目にしてようやくヨッシーの理念に一歩近づいてきました。
As you already know, Mr. Minister Shimomura of MIXT announced “Renewed Guidelines for Education of English” last Friday, December 13rd. It is *taking one step closer to Yoshy’s idea of English Education. I am going to explain this in the near future after calling Professor Wright to confirm this issue. Blog is written almost every day in Japanese and English. Never miss it, please.
<MIXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology：文部科学省> <take one step close to～：～に一歩前進する>
「高校に、大学に入れる英語力でいいのです。」、「英検よりも学校英語の指導をして下さい。」、「なぜスピーチコンテストや英語劇をするのですか？」、「(中学の) 英語授業で教師より発音が良いとクラスで苛められますから。ですので、…」、…時には、こんなご意見を背に去って行かれた保護者様が…。40年経っても、お顔が走馬灯のように浮かんできます。
“Teach my son/daughter the skill of English only for winning the entrance exams.”, “My child doesn’t need the certificate of EIKEN, but only do school-English.”, “Why do you do SC?”, “My son was teased by his classmates, because his pronunciation was better than his English teacher at school, so…”, etc, etc. The year of 2014 is the 40th Anniversary of LL Shihoya Arai School. I have been in a few battlefields where those parents left me saying such words. I can see each flashing in front of me still now.
めげそうになったことも、ぶれそうにもなりました。そんな私を信じて高3まで学んでくれた生徒と、その保護者様、そして激励し続けておられる多くの恩師と私の家族のお陰です。
I have been depressed and close to wavering in my original purpose. Yoshy really thanks my present strength to those who have trusted and supported me. They are my LL students who learned here until their graduation from high schools, their parents, many respected teachers of mine and my family.
実際、LL卒業生の大半は、都会で、世界で、英語で活躍しておられます。最近流行りの「前向きなダウンシフト」：地元に戻って、起業して下さるLL卒業生が増えることを願いながら、私に健康と情熱がある限り、一人でも多くのLL生徒を育ててゆきます。
Most LL graduates are actually shining all over the world as well as in urban areas in Japan. I’d like believe “Positive Downshift” that is in currency nowadays; hoping lots of LL graduates would return their homes and start his/her own business in Myoko, I will keep running LL Shihoya Arai School to bring up many LL children as long as I am in sound condition and have these strong guts!
1月中旬から、第40期新入生募集が始まります。「体験レッスン」にご参加くださいますよう！
New recruitment of the 40th new students starts in the middle of January, 2014. Yoshy hopes you are visiting “Hands-on lessons”!
≪以下、寄稿文全文・和英：Contribution in J/E Below≫
私は、英語は教科ではなく、「意思疎通のための一つの手段」と捉えることが自然だと考えます。「国語力を高める」とは、他の教科の知識なくしては語れないと同様に、「ことばとしての英語力を高める」もまた、しかり。「英語を」ではなく、「英語で」、「数学、理科、社会…等の他の教科や社会常識」を、「聞き、話し、読み、書ける」ように子どもたちを育てたいと実践しています。
I believe that English is not a school-subject, but “just one way for our communications”, which seems to be natural. As “to improve proficiency of the language of Japanese” necessarily needs lots of knowledge of the other subjects, “to improve one of English as a language” also does them. Not “teaching English” to children, but we must teach them “such various subjects as math, science, social studies, and etc. including social common sense” “by English”. To have children be able to “listen to, tell, read and write” is the basis of the idea of LL Shihoya Arai School.
私が40年近く挑戦してきた事は、そしてこれからもし続けたい事は、「国が未だ手をつけ難かった事」です。現在では常識の教育手法や企画の数々：「フォニックス」、「イマージョンメソッド」、「外国人講師レッスン」、「英語劇」、「外国人講師と過ごすサマーキャンプ」、「スピーチコンテスト」等 …。そして、現在開発中の企画の一つは、「子どもディベーティングゲーム」です。
What I have been challenging and would like to do in my school is what “Japanese Government has not done yet”. E.g. such following new lots of methods and events at that time as “Phonics”, “Immersion Method”, … “Lessons with ALTs”, “English Plays”, “Summer Camps with ALTs”, “Speech Contests”, etc so long time. And now, one of new ideas I am developing is “Junior Debating Competition”.
ことばとしての英語を学ぶ今の子どもたちは、情報過多と便利なものに囲まれて、「伝えたい内容が見つからない！」思考力低下、そして工夫しなくても、便利で早いものが手に入りやすいご時勢の渦中にいます。
“I can’t find what I’d like to say the others at all!”, which has occurred very often these days; which might be coming from this current situation with too much information and too many convenient gears around the children. Therefore, recent children learning the language of English are decreasing their thinking power.
大人もしかり。例えば、「なぜ熊が命の危険を冒してまで出没するのでしょう？」赤蜻蛉も激減しています。…「在来線やバス路線を残せ！」と要求しながら、マイカー出勤。「中心市街地に活力を！」と言いながら、郊外でお買いもの。「地球温暖化」…大人たちは、子どもたちに標語や作文を書かせておきながら、範を示せないでいます。
We adults couldn’t laugh at these problems. E.g. “why do bears often appear before us or into town even putting their lives in danger?” … Red-dragonflies are decreasing. The other examples are … Though lots of people want surviving of local train-lines, saying “Leave train and bus local lines!”; many of them go to work by their own cars. Though some are crying, “Make the central area of our town improve and vibrant!”; many of them go shopping at “a roadside station” in the suburbs. Though we adults are insisting our children to write mottos or essays about prevention of “global warming”, we are apt to still ignore these contradictions in front of our next generations.
これらの課題は、今の子どもたちが、地球規模で解決せざるを得ない宿題となります。私は、彼らが社会人になった時、世界の友人たちと「英語で」意思疎通できるようになって欲しいのです。文科省には、「道徳」が教科であるなしの議論以前に、「良心の器」と位置付けて欲しいですし、「英語」も「意思疎通の道具として自分の考えを言えるように」取り組んで欲しいと願っています。
To be sad, these problems should be solved by our kids in this small planet. I hope, when they are grown up, they will be able to communicate “by using English” with their friends all over the world! Before the discussion whether “morals” is a subject or not, I want *MEXT to teach it as “a vessel of *conscience” and also to reform today’s way of English-education so that they could “say their own thoughts in English as a tool of Communication!”
<MEXT：文部科学省：Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology> <conscience：良心>
LLシホヤ新井教室代表：遠藤由明
President of LL Shihoya Arai School：Yoshy (Yoshiaki Endo)
最近の「ヨッシーの主張と哲学」に一時保存いたしました。過去記事などは、This article is temporarily put at the latest “Yoshy’s Opinions and Philosophy” in my site; you can see the past records as well as this by clicking：HERE:ここをクリックなさってください。