Here is the schedule for this academic year in Excel format. Note that this year we have our final week of classes sandwiched between days of make-up classes. Also, please notice that while most workers in Japan will be enjoying Showa Day, Marine Day, Health & Sports Day, and the Emperor’s Birthday, we will be industriously occupied in classroom endeavors. To avoid any possible irony, “Labor Thanksgiving Day” will be a holiday for us.
Wifi Hotspots on the Aoyama Campus of AGU
Gradually, the university is increasing wireless Internet coverage on its Aoyama Campus. This map shows the buildings and areas of the campus where you can log on wirelessly using your laptop or tablet computer, or smart phone.
Special Lecture: Jason Chare / Tokyo English Life Line
The speaker, Jason Chare, is the Executive Officer and Director of Life Line Services at the Tokyo English Life Line (TELL). Although next year TELL will celebrate its 40th anniversary, there are many in Japan who have never heard of it, or, for that matter, the organization that served as its inspiration, “Inochi-no-Denwa,” the Japanese-language suicide prevention life line. In this talk, Mr. Chare will put Inochi-no-Denwa and TELL into perspective by talking about the purpose of life lines and the functions they serve.
Students in these teachers’ classes will be attending this lecture, but all others are also welcome:IE Seminars: Jerome Martin, Joyce Taniguchi, Joseph Dias
IE II Core: Terry Browning, George Okuhara-Caswell, Jeff Bruce, Graham Courtney
EVENT: IE Program Open Lecture Series
WHO: Mr. Jason Chare
TOPIC: Talk on the “Tokyo English Life Line”
WHEN: December 21th; 1:10 PM – 2:40 PM
WHERE: Sagamihara Campus, F-308
LANGUAGE: English
Jason Chare’s talk also will…
- report a bit on how TELL responded to the mental health demands of the multiple 3/11 disasters and its role coordinating efforts with other Life Lines and NGOs.
- give some practical advice about what teachers and students can do if they know someone who is under emotional distress.
- introduce some active listening skills employed by life line volunteers.
- allow students to practice some role plays and put some of those listening skills into action.
- inform students about volunteer and employment opportunities at TELL and at other NGOs.
Read this fascinating article about a recent film which suggests steps Japan might take to reduce cases of suicide or suicide attempts: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201212200011. This is a Website that presents information about the film: http://www.saving10000.com/.
Find out the wide variety of work that TELL is involved in by accessing this interview with Jason Chare, published on the Website of “Tokyo Expats by Tokyorelo.com”: https://tokyorelo.com/wordpress/tag/jason-chare/.
Read about the activities of TELL in this article published in The Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan: http://bccjacumen.com/issues/2011/04/lending-a-listening-ear/.
To better prepare for the lecture by getting exposure to some of the words and phrases that may come up, why not take the WB-DAT (Web Based Depression and Anxiety Test), “a clinically validated electronic screening program that asks you a series of questions about depression, anxiety and panic symptoms.”
Teachers Offices on the Shibuya Campus
It won’t be long before we make the transition to holding classes for freshmen and sophomores at the Shibuya Campus of AGU. So, we would like to start familiarizing teachers and students with the facilities there. A few spanking new teachers rooms were created to cope with the influx of teachers from next April.
One of them is in Building 8 (the building where kyomuka used to be; it’s now in Building 17), and the other is in Building 1 (located just to your left as you enter the main gate of the university on the promenade). Helpful secretaries, copy facilities, cubby holes for your teaching materials, and a few computers connected to printers are available in each of the rooms. Here are some photos of them, complete with punchy annotations:
This is the approach to the teachers’ room on the 1st floor of Building 8. Notice the West Gate in the distance under the watchful protection of a vigilant guard.
The attractive and well-organized teachers’ room in Building 8. [Notice the good lighting and shiny floors.]
The deceptively unpromising approach to the teachers’ office on the 1st floor of Building 1.
The cozy teachers’ room on the 1st floor of Building 1. What more could one ask for in a teachers’ room?
New Academic Skills Materials
We are pleased to announce that two new units have been added to the Academic Skills course this year:
- Gricean Maxims, a lecture delivered by Prof. Eric McCready of our humble university
- Multiculturalism in Canada, a lecture given by Prof. Bob Courchene of the University of Ottawa
The first of the new AS units is a lecture about some maxims, or rules, of conversation that an English philosopher of language named H.P. Grice devised. These rules have become known as Grice’s Conversational Maxims, or Gricean Maxims. It can be said that Grice’s work formed the basis of the modern study of pragmatics.
Access the video by CLICKING HERE.
You can download the EXERCISES HERE
The new unit on “Multiculturalism in Canada” offers a Canadian perspective on cultural accommodation. It shows how multiculturalism can offer a way to respond to religious and cultural diversity. Access the video by CLICKING HERE.
Students can download the EXERCISES as well.
In the future, all new video materials for the Academic Skills course will be made available through video streaming on the video hosting site Vimeo. That will give students more control over the material and allow them to review videos at home.
The Academic Skills Textbook can be downloaded in either PDF or DOC format. The two new units have been added as chapters 7 (Gricean Maxims) and 8 (Multiculturalism in Canada).
Schedule for the 2013 academic year is out
The schedule for the 2013 (i.e., Heisei 25) academic year has been released. Download it as a PDF.
DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS YEAR’S CALENDAR BY CLICKING HERE.
Introducing Building 17 on the Aoyama Campus
We’re pleased to announce the opening of the new building on the Aoyama Campus, Building 17. When we make our move from the Sagamihara to the Aoyama Campus next year, I think you will be pleased with what the new building has to offer. Gregory Strong and I had an opportunity to explore the lower floors of the facility a few weeks ago. We were surprised by how many clubs and circles were already making the most of the spacious and comfortable rooms. There’s an expansive cafeteria on the first floor, and most of the administrative offices that were formerly scattered around the first and second floors of Building 8 have moved to one large room on the second floor of Building 17.
During the slightly earthquake-delayed construction process
Gregory Strong making a “white glove” inspection of one of the classrooms
An artist’s rendering of Building 17 and its soon-to-be-relandscaped environs.
The roomy and gleaming cafeteria on the 1st floor.
Interesting mix of retro blackboard and newfangled chalk dust vacuum…being tested by a mischievous Gregory Strong.
Map showing the location of Building 17, confusingly labeled as “20.” It is just to your left as you enter the main gate of the campus.
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IE Orientation Summary
Thanks to all the teachers who attended the 19th Orientation and Annual Faculty Development Symposium on University English Teaching, which was one of the most successful in terms of content and material. We are very grateful for the contributions of our presenters and panelists: Rachael Barat, Deborah Bollinger, James Broadbridge, Jeff Bruce, Paul Howl, Kazuko Namba, Ruby Ogawa, Andrew Reimann, Todd Rucynski, Nicole Takeda, and Will T. Zhanje. Among the highlights was the presentation of a new DVD, “Approaches to Teaching Reading” filmed, directed and edited by Todd Rucynski, written and edited by Joseph and Greg, and funded with a grant from the university Faculty Development Committee, with on camera contributions by Arno Fuhlendorf, Kazuko Namba, Rieko Okuno, and Yoshiho Satake, among others. Copies of this DVD are available for all teachers in the program.
1) Databases on the AGU library’s portal
Joseph made a short video on how to use the databases accessible from the library’s website and he uploaded it to YouTube. This will be useful for teacher professional development and for Academic Writing teachers who can demonstrate it to their students. We would like to encourage students in Core classes to use the databases to access news articles for their media exchanges, as well.
2) Academic Calendar
Also on the website is a downloadable PDF of AGU’s 2012 calendar.
3) IE Core and Writing booklets
These will be available from the bookstore this week. Teacher copies should be in your mail boxes later this week. The only change in the version this year is in IE Writing 3.
4) Resources for IE Core
Deborah Bollinger contributed various materials related to her presentation on using interviews as an optional task in Oral English or IE 3 courses. She made many files related to that task available on a page at the IE Website. Nicole Takeda presented on a website she created which offers materials related to IE 2 Core IE 3 Core, Oral English 2, and Academic Writing. Although some of the materials are related to her own classes, many of these excellent resources will be of general interest, including guidelines for blog writing and presentations.
Photo courtesy of Brant Hardgrave
5) IE Writing 3
As mentioned in the Orientation, in the student IE Core and Writing booklets, there are new exercises on summarizing and paraphrasing, pages 125-131.
6) Academic Skills
New lectures have been prepared on Linguistics (Grice’s Maxims) by Eric McCready and (Multiculturalism in Canada) Bob Courchéne. Some of these materials can be downloaded from the IE website.
7) Software Applications for the iPad
Among the resources mentioned by the presenters were the apps “Teacher Pal” and “Easy Grade Pro” for classroom management and attendance; “iGrade,” an app for the iPhone; “Flashcard Deluxe,” an app for making flashcards which can be played on mobile devices; and “Quizlet,” a site for creating flashcards and offering free downloadable flashcards for learning vocabulary, Japanese, paintings, or almost anything. Flashcard Deluxe is designed to use quizzes and flashcard sets created on Quizlet.
8) Drama Resources
Among the materials presented was a website for transcripts and scripts of popular films and TV shows (Drew’s Script-o-rama) and, for those planning a fieldtrip to see “The Wizard of Oz” (May 17th-20th), more information is available on the website of the Tokyo International Players.
9) Handing in reports
Yuuri Mano, the secretary at the English Department office in room B-520 on the Sagamihara Campus, noted that some teachers allow students to turn in homework at the English Dept. Office. She would like to remind you that, If you decide to do so, she wants to know about it in advance; that is, before you direct students to the office. Specify whether you would like Mano-san to receive the students’ assignments in person or if you want her to place a box or envelope near the door. This will avoid possible trouble which may affect the students’ grades.
Thanks again,
Gregory Strong & Joseph Dias
Databases on the AGU library’s portal
This video was created to help you navigate around the databases that are available on the AGU library’s website. Enjoy!
Here is the link to the AGU Portal’s login page: http://www.agulin.aoyama.ac.jp/mylibrary/.
Special Lecture by Linda Ohama
Speaker: Ms. Linda Ohama
Topic: Obachan’s Garden & The Kids Quilt Project
Location: Sagamihara Campus, Room E-104
Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Time: 1:10 PM to 2:40 PM (3rd period)
Ms. Linda Ohama is an award-winning Japanese-Canadian filmmaker who produced and directed the film Obachan’s Garden. She will speak about her experiences making the film with her 103-year old grandmother who came to Canada as a “picture bride” in the 1930s, but had to abandon her two daughters, whom she finds by the end of the film in a heart-warming scene. The speaker will tell us how the film helped her to rediscover her Japanese identity and how she got help in making it from none other than Clint Eastwood. You may view Obachan’s Garden in its entirety at the website of the National Film Board of Canada.
In the latter part of her talk, Ms. Ohama will speak briefly about the “Kids for Kids Quilt Project” which created a cloth letter to send to the young people of Tohoku. In this project, young people from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario created a “quilt letter” for the children of farming villages, towns, and cities in northern Japan after the March 11th Earthquake and Tsunami. The project has taken on a life of its own as children in Tohoku who received the cloth letters have produced some of their own for the children of Canada. Listen to Linda Ohama speak about the project on the radio program “North by NorthWest,” which was broadcast on March 11, 2012, the first anniversary of the tragedy. [The audio file requires Flash, so it will not play on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Access from a PC.]
To be even better prepared for the lecture, you may wish to download and read an article reviewing “Obachan’s Garden” that Gregory Strong contributed to the Daily Yomiuri. The article appeared on November 14, 2002, as the film was being screened throughout Japan for the first time. The article is followed by some skimming and scanning, and comprehension questions.
Finally, it would useful for students and teachers who plan to attend the lecture to do some background reading on the internment of Japanese by the Canadian government during the war. You can check out Wikipedia’s page on Japanese internment and an entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia about the history of the Japanese in Canada.
Here are some photographs of the Murakami Visitor center in Steveston, a small community near Vancouver that was once a Japanese fishing village and boat-building centre, Asayo Murakami’s home.
