The Three Helices of Language Learning and Teaching

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The Three HelicesofLanguage Learning and
Teaching

• Masayasu AOTANI
• The International Center
• Kyoto University

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Our Agenda

• Who is AOTANI?
• English Education in Japan and You
• Why is English important?
• Three Helices of Language Learning
• Digressions Merry Meet, Merry Part

The Internet ApproachSkate Boarder
Style nonlineardo it sideways
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????(AOTANI, Masayasu)?

• Born in Osaka in 1954 His father was a high
  school teacher and his grandfather was a Shinto
  priest.
• Faculty of Science, Kyoto University (Chemistry)
• Graduate School Faculty of Science, Kyoto
  University (Chemistry)

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Education continued

• University of Maryland Chemistry (79)
• Princeton University Physics
• CCNY of CUNY
• The City College of New York of the City
  University of New York Physics and Mathematics
• University of California at Berkeley
  Mathematics (99)

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Industry Experience

• Kumon Educational Institute New Jersey
  Manhattan
• Geoworks Silicon Valley (an operating system
  for handheld devices)

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Language Related Education

• A TESOL Certificate from Princeton
• Language Pedagogy graduate study at San
  Francisco State University
• TESOL Doctoral Program at Temple University Japan

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Teaching Experience

• English for Immigrants at Princeton
• Technical Japanese at MIT
• Intermediate and Advanced Japanese at the
  University of California at Berkeley
• English for international scholars at the
  University of California at Berkeley
• English at Kyoto University graduate and
  undergraduate

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My Proficiency in English

• TOEFL 620, ????(STEP)1? (1978)
• TOEFL 660, GRE Verbal 89 (1988)
• ??????(interpreter exam)2? (1999)
• TOEIC 990, TOEFL 300 (2002)

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Good, but not good enough.
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• A billion times the proficiency of a typical
  Kyoto University faculty

A billionth of typical native proficiency
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Teaching/Learning Philosophies and Principles

• Relentless pursuit of effectiveness and
  efficiency
• An Integrative Approach to develop all four
  skills simultaneously
• Focus on Implicit Abilities
• Automaticity

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GOD

• Good Overall Design
• The Double Helix of Knowledge
• The Triple Helix for Materials/Training
• The Quadruple Helix of Proficiency Development

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Studying English is

• a fad (a permanent fad?) in Japan.
• Every time people asked me how to develop
  communicative proficiency, I was giving a long
  lecture.
• But, I finally got sick of it.

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When one gets sick of

• repeating the same explanation, what does he do?

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My New Book

• ?????
• ?????????
• DHC?????
• 2005?10???

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(No Transcript)
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The Royalty is

• 0

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English Education in Japan

• Incompetent Teachers
• College Entrance Examination
• The Official Stance of the Ministry of Education
  (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
  and Technology)

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Incompetent Teachers

• As problematic as they are .
• A problem with the hiring practice
• Still above average in Japan
• Linguistic distance (For example, Japanese
  language teachers in the US are far less
  competent as I am. Their writing ability is
  nothing.)

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Highly Competent Teachers 1
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Highly Competent Teachers 2
Consider the following quadratic equation where c
is a real number.
Let the roots of the equation be a and ß. The
three points a, ß, and c2 form a triangle in the
complex plane, and the center of gravity of the
triangle is 0. What is c?
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Culture Gap

• Different Expectations and Abilities
• Different Emphases

Mutual respect, please.
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College Entrance Examination

• Problematic in terms of encouraging proper
  development of communicative fluency
• Views differ among college teachers and high
  school teachers though.
• High school teachers have no say in it.
• The Ministry of Education has no say in it.

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The Ministry of Education 1

• English abilities are important in terms of
  linking our country with the rest of the world,
  obtaining the worlds understanding and trust,
  enhancing our international presence and further
  developing our nation.

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The Ministry of Education 2

• At present, though, due to the lack of sufficient
  ability, many Japanese are restricted in their
  exchanges with foreigners and their ideas or
  opinions are not evaluated appropriately.

http//www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/03072801.htm
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The Ministry of Education 3

• These include improving teaching methods,
  improving the teaching ability of teachers,
  improving the selection system for school and
  university applicants as well as creating better
  curricula.

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And YOU

• You can only do what you can do.
• Only you can do what I want you to do.

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And YOU

• English Language Education
• Internationalization

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Raising International Awareness

• Hands-on is the way to go
• Not much need for a theoretical framework unless
  you are conducting a research

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English Language EducationTwo-Pronged Approach

• Awareness and Motivation
• State of the English Language
• Develop communicative fluency
• Need a framework for teaching
• The three helices approach

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Why is English important?

• Military capability, Economic might, Ability to
  communicate and negotiate
• Quick decision making
• International mutual understanding
• Asia has the largest English speaking population

English is influential.
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Some Numbers

• The first language for 400 million people.
• The second language for 400 million people.
• An additional 800 million people speak English.
• One of every four people speaks English.
• English is an official language in 60 countries.

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History was on its side as well.
The Great Britain dominated the world in the 19th
century followed by the rise of the United States
in the 20th century. Two English speaking
countries dominated the world back to back.
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Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen
In as early as 1898, Bismarck was already saying
that English is the determining factor in the
20th century since the North Americans speak it.
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More Numbers

• English speaking countries account for 40 of the
  worlds GDP.
• 80 of the Web sites are in English.
• New words were created by poets in the Middle
  Ages. However, 60 of todays new words are in
  science and technology, and most of them are
  English words.

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Cultural Factors

• The global appeal of the American culture and
  society
• English as the international language of the
  masses replaced French, which was largely spoken
  by the elites for international communication in
  the 18th and the 19th century.
• Entertainment industry

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Summary

• The number and the diversity of English speakers
• A large number of nonnative speakers who use it
• It has become a global language.
• It is not a linguistic imperialism.

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The Dominance Continues

• Young peoples choice

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Global Common Sense

• Humans speak English.

There is no way out.
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English Proficiency of the Japanese

• The entire nation lacks English proficiency.
• All four skills are weak.
• Diplomats ability to write English has
  deteriorated.
• TOEFL score
• About average in Asia in the 60s
• About the worst in Asia now competing with North
  Korea, Thailand, and Mongolia

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• Japanese peoples ability to read and write
  English is out of the question, but their
  listening and speaking are even worse.

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• In 1898 Bismarck said
• The determining factor in the 20th century is
  English as the North Americans speak it.

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• On July 12th 2002, the Education Ministry
  established
• ??????????????????????(an Action Plan to
  Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities )

Japan was behind by over a century.
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The Three Helices

• The Double Helix of Knowledge
• The Quadruple Helix of Methods
• The Triple Helix of Material Selection
• The Triple Helix of Training Strategy

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The Double Helix of Knowledge(???????)

• Explicit/Declarative Knowledge
• (????????)
• Implicit/Procedural Knowledge
• (?????????)

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DeclarativeExplicit(??????)
Just like the knowledge of mathematical formulas

• Can explain in words
• the dictionary meaning of a word
• grammatical rules
• International Phonetic Alphabets

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• Solving a complex math problem
• Riding a bicycle

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ProceduralImplicit(??????)

• Can do, but cannot explain in words
• the real meaning, in context, of a word
• proper application of grammatical rules
• conversational fluency

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Patient H. M.

• Can learn how to solve a puzzle making progress
  like any normal adult
• Can never learn the name

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The Real Meaning of a Word

• How and in what kind of situation?
• Borrow a phone.
• We will not meet next week.
• How about appreciate?
• Do you think he will appreciate it?

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Application of Grammatical Rules

• I actually know this, but
• I bought a apple.
• I have seen it yesterday.

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The Most Important Types of Procedural Knowledge

• Different aspects of proficiency
• Listening comprehension (natural speed)
• Reading comprehension (no going back and forth)
• Composition (not translation)
• Conversational fluency

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The Problem

• Weak on Implicit/Procedural Knowledge
• Automaticity(???)
• Reliance on Explicit Knowledge
• slow processing
• unnatural English

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The Quadruple Helix

• Paul Nation (New Zealand)
• The Four Strands(????)
• Aotani version
• The Four Strands Plus One
• Plus One Interactive Language Use

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The Four Strands(????)

• Meaningful Input(??????????)
• Meaning-Focused Output(???????????)
• Focus-On-Form(????????)
• Fluency Development(??????)

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Meaningful Input(??????????)

• Listening and reading of easily manageable
  English (should be familiar with 95 to 98 of the
  running words)
• To get used to processing English input
• To learn native-like processing
• To develop Implicit/Procedural Knowledge of input
  processing as well as individual words and
  expressions

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Meaning-Focused Output(???????????)

• Write and speak to convey actual meaning in a
  natural context
• To get used to the linguistic processes involved
  in writing/speaking
• To learn native-like processing modes (z.B. no
  translation from Japanese)
• To notice ones weaknesses i.e. what one can not
  express foregrounding ones shortcomings
• To develop Implicit/Procedural Knowledge of
  English output

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Focus-On-Form(????????)

• Make a conscious effort to learn vocabulary,
  idioms, grammatical rules, pronunciation, etc.
• Acquire some parts of the linguistic knowledge,
  which infants can naturally absorb by being
  exposed to it long enough and repeatedly, as
  ExplicitDeclarative Knowledge

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Fluency Development(??????)

• Using what we know and doing what we can do
  smoothly across all four skills
• Adding Implicit/Procedural Knowledge to
  Explicit/Declarative Knowledge
• Strengthening and refining Implicit/Procedural
  Knowledge
• Becoming more comfortable with and faster and
  more competent in processing English

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• Automaticity
• (???)

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Meaningful Input

• 95 to 98 of the running words should be known
  already
• Should not use normal speed for listening
• Graded Readers are better
• To learn what input processing is all about
• To encounter words and expressions in their
  natural habitat

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Meaning-Focused Output

• Composition about a given topic(Ex. TOEFL Writing
  Topics)
• Pair Work
• Task-Based Approach
• Monologues talking to yourself aloud
• Occasional checking by a native speaker to
  prevent fossilization and expanded reproduction
  of mistakes

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Focus-On-Form

• Sufficient grammatical knowledge Gakkou Eigo is
  just about enough
• 10,000-word vocabulary
• Idiomatic expressions
• Learn the chunks

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2,000-Word Conversation Myth

• Native speakers need only about 2,000 words in
  daily conversation.
• Hence, we only need 2,000 words to speak English
  fluently.
• Not a chance!
• A strong linguistic sense of direction
• Well-developed and sophisticated vocabulary is a
  must.
• I know of no such example!

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English-English Dictionary Myth

• Ok to use to learn English
• Not a wise choice for vocabulary building(only
  for advanced learners and sparingly even then)
• cat feline mammal usually having thick soft fur
  and being unable to roar
• philosophy the rational investigation of
  questions about existence and knowledge and
  ethics

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Fluency Development

• Extensive reading, writing, listening, and
  speaking
• Speed reading (by Japanese standards)
• Listening comprehension for normal speed
  materials
• Quantity and Persistence
• Hard and Long and a Lot

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On Expertise

• Ichiro
• Tiger Woods
• Advanced nonnative speakers

Tens of thousands of hours of training is
required.
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How did it happen?

• Four-year Olds
• simply ignores the question
• Five-year Olds
• Stories after stories like a flood (adult-like
  storylines)

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• Our students goal, is to become a five-year old!

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A Sense of Direction in English

• Know what constitute good English implicitly and
  intuitively.

A good sense of what English language is all about
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The Triple Helix

• Intensive Extensive Dichotomy(??)
• Diversity, Comprehensiveness, and
  Integration(?????????)
• Optimization(???)

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Intensive vs. Extensive

• Detail-oriented intensive training
• Focus-On-Form
• Meaningful Input, Meaning-Focused Output
• Quantity-oriented extensive training
• Fluency Development
• Meaningful Input, Meaning-Focused Output

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Diversity, Comprehensiveness, Integration

• Diversity materials and training
• Seven (more?) intelligences
• Comprehensiveness aspects and usage
• Should cover the whole of English
• Integration links and anchoring
• A network of links and anchoring

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Optimization

• This is philosophical and attitudinal, rather
  than factual, regarding continuous improvement
  and quality control.
• For each skill, there is an optimal set of
  training methods.
• For each type of training, there is an optimal
  combination of materials.

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The Best Way to Become a Five-Year Old

• How do five-year olds become five years old?
• Do the same thing!

Five-year olds take five years to become five
years old.
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?????? ???????
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However much you learn, it will never be
enough. For, such is the nature of
learning.