Job Discussion Forums

[Hoser]

Well of course we like talking about the war-we won!! If we had lost, perhaps our inclination to talk about it might be a little bit different.

[jotham]

Debate is a tool that sharpens the mind, forces you to say things clearly, and thus improves communication skills. It also strengthens the faculty of reason. If you want to bring up a controversial subject like the war in a non-provocative way, downplay personal opinions on it. Set up a debate and randomly place students on a pro and con team about, for example, whether atrocities were real or trumped up. That way, assertions won't be taken as personal, and many students will view things from different perspectives without having it forced down their throat. I think it's poor education to avoid real-world topics, which keeps everyone ignorant of them---and this because we aren't sure how to address them without offending anyone.

[sallycat]

[jotham]

[alexcase]

The overwhelming question in any teacher's mind has to be "Is there a language/ communication development reason for tackling exactly this point?" With most of the controvertial comments mentioned, I would find it very difficult to find one. For example, I am teaching my Japanese late-teen students to talk more frankly about relationships, AIDS, birth control etc. as these are topics that will come up with people their age when they go to the UK. War crimes is not likely to, I would guess, and neither are they likely to need the language that would come up talking about such a topic

[jotham]

I was only responding to the original poster's concern about avoiding war issues with Japanese, which I think is unnecessary. And so I merely suggested a venue that could be effective, and without negative fallout.
But to answer your question about the necessity of this topic, I would say that any topic that can be debated, no matter what, helps students express themselves in ways that will help them in the business or professional world.
You're concerned about which topics are and aren't relevant to your students' daily lives, which is looking at the micro picture of specific vocabulary. I'm not concerned about the topics, per se, or the emotional opinions attached to them, or the vocabulary to be gleaned from them; I'm looking at the bigger picture of effective and clear communication of concepts, whatever they be. Even if the object of debate is obviously irrelevant, petty, or otherwise ridiculous, any real communicative goals attained by arguing them pro and con will easily translate over to these lower levels of communication that you're concerned with.
Naturally, you can engineer the debates so that desired vocabulary and grammar patterns factor in.
But just because students are familiar with lots of vocabulary doesn't ensure they can talk fluently with them.

[cafebleu]

Anybody! Yes, there are open minded people in Japan who recognise the negative aspects of their own society and who know full well what Japan did before and during World War 2.

However, you have to really ask yourself when you are teaching in Japan - just how relevant is this to my teaching job? I would say that these kinds of discussions have no place in any teaching position in Japan unless the discussion is initiated by

1) All the students in a class
2) Your private student if you are teaching privates
3) The curriculum if you are working in a college or university where the objective is to discuss such issues.

However, these instances are not usual in Japan and I would say 1) and 2) are so rare as to be virtually non existent 99 percent of the time.

Yes, there are deep cultural differences that prevent the airing of opinions and debate in Japanese education and in society at large. Japan is not like the UK or US where students write essays and are brought up to debate topics in current events etc.

There is also the question of just how relevant it is to go on about Japan's admittedly cruel colonial history - yes, I know my country's was cruel but Britain did bestow benefits on its empire's members including a legal system that was and is still the fairest in the world, and rights including that which saw former empire members' citizens able to live in Britain with little red tape. The Japanese empire gave no such privileges to those it conquered.

How relevant is it to discuss Japan's bloody 20th century empire building? I really don't see the point. Would you like a Japanese language class that focused on Britain's colonial past or the US' track history of new colonialism including countries such as Vietnam or Iraq?

I don't think so.

[gaijinalways]

Depends on the class. I would concur that the majority of students won't feel comfortable talking about it, the war that is, but younger students sometimes have no knowledge of it. And then sadly, you have pseudo-intellectuals who follow the government line and can't seem to fathom why other nationalities don't buy into the Japanese Government view.

Teaching debate and discussion skills will depend on the level and the purposes of your students. Debating about history may not be one of them, but for small talk as a business person, you might need to be qt least aware of what might be viewed as a strange or highly controvesial view if you wish to be considered more reasonable/rational.

[David W]

If you've got older students who actually can remember the war (even if they were kids at the time) I'd encourage you to ask them about it. I've found a lot of students are more than willing to share their experiences and it can be some of the most interesting time you'll spend in the otherwise dull eikaiwa classroom. Just tread carefully. I'd avoid doing this for example.

[jotham]

[markle]

[jotham]

Let's put Markle on the pro-British-Empire team.

[markle]

Oh yes I love playing devils advocate.

[southofreality]

[cafebleu]

Ask Malaysian, Singaporean and Hong Kong people whose colonialism they preferred - Japan's or Britain's, and you might not be so snide.

But then again - what do I know? I am married to a Chinese man who has relatives all over Asia and in other places, I can speak some Mandarin and Cantonese, and I happen to have lived in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong at various times.

Do ask people there whose empire they preferred. Then you might not want to be so ready to air your knowledge.