英語コミュニケーション学科教授のDavid Cozy先生による記事です。「難しい質問をすること」についての記事です。
In some English classes, students learn to ask questions like: What’s your favorite color? Do you have a pet? and Do you like ice cream? These kinds of questions are great for beginners, especially children. University students, though, are not children. They are young adults. That’s why, in the Department of English Language and Communication at Showa, we ask our students tougher questions. Because our students are adults, they enjoy thinking about these questions—and answering them.
We ask questions like: Does Japan have a duty to help poorer developing nations? And our students answer. For example, Ano, a second-year student, writes: “Japan should assist other countries by utilizing its own experiences and [the] perspectives which Japan acquired after World War II.”
When adults discuss these kinds of things they often disagree with each other. Our students do too. Ano’s classmate Yuna, for example, argues that: “The Japanese government prioritizes support to other countries too much.” “Japan,” she believes, “should prioritize solving [domestic] problems which include high education expenses, gender discrimination, and regional development.”
Talking about easy things like favorite colors, and pets, and ice cream is fun, and one reason it’s fun is that it’s easy. Communicating about easy topics, though, won’t do much to improve your English and won’t expand your knowledge of the world. Talking, writing, and reading about difficult topics, as we do in the Department of English Communication, will. Join us if you want to improve your English and expand your knowledge of the world.
Cozy先生の授業風景は、昨年度の学科PR動画からご覧いただきます。