Student-Centered Instruction and Its Implementation
Fumiko Nazikian, Hideki Hamada, and Shinji Sato
A. Keys for Learner Autonomy:
1. Learners’ individual differences
2. Engage in planning, monitoring, evaluating,and modifying their learning
3. Learning in and beyond classroom
4. Active and positive learning process
5. Teacher as a ‘facilitator’, ‘resource person’ and ‘manager’
B. Podcast Project (Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/columbiajp, Blog:
http://nyjapanesetime.blogspot.com/, and also available on iTunes)
Objectives:
1. Actively express opinions to a real Japanese audience by using Japanese language and other modalities
(tone of voice, body language, pictures, color, font, etc)
2. Consider first-hand how the big media operates and presents information
Procedure:
1. Form groups and brainstorm ideas
2. Discuss what constitutes a good podcast or TV program
3. Write proposals
4. Read classmates’ proposals and make critical comments
5. Revise proposals based on classmates’ comments
6. Write scripts
7. Practice reading the scripts
8. Videotape the podcast
9. Watch classmates’ podcasts and make comments
10. Correct and improve the scripts
11. Videotape for the second time
12. Watch podcasts, including their own, and evaluate
C. Social Issue Project (http://gungunninensei.blogspot.com/)
Objectives: By using Japanese, get involved in social and global issues
1. Gather information by reading, listening, or watching
2. State opinions, and
3. Interact with the (actual) world and society actively as well as critically
Procedure:
1. Choose a social issue that interests you and create a vocabulary list
2. Submit the outline and revise the outline based on the comments (individual meeting)
3. Create evaluation criteria (among the students and the instructor)
4. Submit a draft of the project two or more times (individual meetings)
5. Present the final project on the blog
6. Think about what you should do to make the target audience read/watch your project and execute the
action
7. Reading the blogs and exchange comments and opinions on the blog
8. Take actions to solve the problem
9. Final evaluation
Outline:
1. What is a social or global issue that interests you?
2. What is the relationship between the issue and you? Why are you interested in it? Why is it important for
you?
3. What messages would you like to convey? What is the significance of your conveying this message in
Japanese?
4. In order to convey your message, which media do you think would be effective? Why is the media you
choose suitable?
5. What do you think should be done in order to solve the social or global issue you chose? What are some of
the actions you could take by using Japanese?
Example 1: Ocean Pollution (Translated by Mao Nogawa)
Elizabeth:
Hello! My name is Elizabeth. I’m a student at the Japanese Department of Columbia University in New York. I grew up
on a farm. I’ve always liked animals a lot because my family had many dogs, cats, horses, and other animals.
Last year, I went to see an exhibition called “Water” at the Natural Science Museum. Before going to this exhibition, I
didn’t know anything about the sea pollution, but this special exhibition taught me how much we are hurting the Earth
by wasting water. After this exhibition, I became interested in the sea pollution problem. I made this video so that you
could also be interested in it! I hope you’ll like it!
Tomo (sea turtle):
Hello. My name is Tomo, and I am a sea turtle. I’m ten years-old; I’m still a child! Usually, we sea turtles live up to
eighty years, but recently, it has become difficult for us to live that long. We’ve been swimming in the ocean for one
hundred million years, but because of the human activities in recent years, the number of sea turtles declined by 80%.
Now, sea turtles are considered as creatures in danger of extinction!
Global warming made the Earth a difficult place to live. It’s not yet possible to fully understand the effects of global
warming, but this is probably one of the causes for the decline in the number of sea turtles. Humans put too much
fossil fuel into the atmosphere, and the fossil fuel absorb the heat from the Sun, making the Earth gradually warmer. If
there is an increase in the water temperature even a little bit, the ecosystem is disturbed, and it becomes harder for
creatures to find food. This means that it would eventually be harder for humans to find food too!
Another reason for the deaths of sea turtles is the fishing tools that humans use. The line fishery means that fishermen
put many fishing hooks into the ocean. These hooks are used to catch fish, but they could easily catch sea turtles as
well. If sea turtles get caught by these hooks, they would be suffocated to death.
The trawl net catches everything nearby including fish and sea turtles! Every year, the trawling fishery industry as a
whole catches more than 770 sea turtles. But it’s not just sea turtles...
Lena (dolphin):
The trawling fishery and the extended line fishery also kill dolphins!
My name is Lena and I am nine years-old. I hope I could live for a long time, but just like the sea turtles, our lives are
also in danger because of human activities.
I don’t think humans understand how much they have changed our lives. First of all, humans throw trash on the
beaches. The trash then reaches the ocean. Humans don’t think before throwing trash, but for me, getting my nose
stuck in a piece of trash could mean life or death. I have many friends who lost their lives because they ate pieces of
plastic that humans had thrown into the ocean as trash.
I have heard before that humans like to travel on cruise ships to relax and have fun. Even though it’s fun for the
humans, it could be dangerous for the creatures living in the ocean.
Every day, each cruise ship generates 640,000 liters of sewage, 56 liters of poisonous chemical, 7 tons of greasy
water and trash! They are very harmful to all the creatures living in the ocean. Despite the damage to the oceanic
creatures, cruise ships are still being made! There are many reasons why these ships are dangerous. My friend
Haruka, who is a sea otter, knows this from her own experience...
Haruka (sea otter):
Hello! I’m Haruka. You must think it’s fun to be a sea otter, don’t you? We are very cute and always playing around
and have lots of friends. It has been fun indeed, but recently, my life has become hard because the humans have
polluted the ocean. It has become so difficult for me and my friends to live.
The most dangerous thing for us is the leakage of oil. Ships and oil drilling facilities spill thousands of liters of oil into
the ocean. Since sea otters live in a very cold climate, without the fur, they would die of cold quickly. Oil leakage has
killed thousands of sea otters, and it will take many years to clean the ocean.
Offshore drilling of oil might reduce the price of oil, but the ecosystem in the ocean has been severely damaged by it
and killed thousands of innocent sea otters like me. In the future, humans would have to be more careful of not spilling
the dangerous chemicals into the ocean. Not only it is harmful to the creatures, it could also create many health
problems for the humans.
Tomo:
But there is some good news. You can save the ocean!
Lena:
We, dolphins, sea turtles, and sea otters, can’t speak, but you can ask the government on our behalves to limit the
sewage dumping of the cruise ships!
Moreover, next time you come to the ocean, please remember that we live here! Please respect our space and do not
throw trash in the ocean!
Haruka:
Most importantly, please save the energy and do not waste water. Please turn off the light when you don’t need it. If
you are using old electric appliances at home, maybe it’s time for you to discard them and switch to the new energyefficient appliances.
Another good solution is to become a vegetarian! For the preparation of one steak, it requires the wheat, water, and
energy that are sufficient to feed 15 vegetarians. If you all became vegetarians, we can save energy and reduce
pollution. And becoming a vegetarian means being kind to our friends!
Tomo:
Every one of us who live on Earth is connected to the ocean. The effort that each one of us makes will help prevent the
sea pollution. That’s why we should think about the sea pollution.
Tomo, Lena, Haruka:
For our future and your future!
Example 2: Puppy Mill (Translated by Mao Nogawa)
When you go to a pet shop, have you ever thought about where the puppies come from? There are so many kinds of
puppies at pet shops and they all look healthy, but actually, most of the puppies that you see there come from puppy
mills. A puppy mill is a place where a great number of puppies are raised all together. The puppies raised at puppy
mills tend to live in a low quality environment, and for this reason, many are born deformed or develop chronic
diseases. This is a critical issue for animal protection groups.
Originally, the history of puppy mills start from World War II. Reacting to the increased demand for dogs in the country,
farmers in the Mid-West region who had been looking for substitutions for agricultural products collaborated with the
Agricultural Department of a university and created the first kennel.
Puppy mills have a long history. And they have become a global issue. First of all, I would like to explain the function of
breeders. In order to raise healthy puppies, breeders consider the genes and the ages of the dogs prior to making the
puppies.
Puppy mills ignore the genes and the ages of the dogs, and sell the mixed breed puppies as pure breeds. On top of
this, puppy mills confine the puppies in an unsanitary and narrow space. Every time a female dog is in heat, she is
forced to give birth, so the female dog gives birth to fewer and fewer puppies as she gets older. This is an extremely
painful process for the female dogs. Puppies are supposed to be raised by the mother dog for about 8 to 10 weeks, but
the puppies from puppy mills are taken away from the mother dog much earlier. This is psychologically bad for the
puppies.
One solution to puppy mills is to adopt a dog from an animal shelter instead of buying it from a pet shop. If the pet
shops disappeared, there would be no need for the puppy mills. Finding a dog from an animal shelter is the best
method. I think what is the best is to boycott the puppy mills. Please spread the words by not buying dogs from pet
shops and choosing the dogs through the Internet.
My story:
When I was a child, I bought a puppy from a pet shop, because I didn’t know about the puppy mills. But I learnt about
the puppy mills for the first time in a class at my high school. Since then, I have never bought any dogs from pet shops.
I have also visited animal shelters and did some volunteer work. And I adopted a cat from there.
Because there are so many stray dogs and cats these days, I think we should adopt animals from animal shelters.
Please don’t make the same mistake that I made. Please read the following sites, adopt a pet, and make them happy!
Blogs about puppy mill in Japan:
http://nekoniyosete.com/6welfare_info/puppy_mill_top.htm
http://blog.livedoor.jp/doggylabo2002/archives/51403443.html
Websites about how to boycott puppy mill:
http://www.unitedagainstpuppymills.org/
http://stoppuppymills.org/
http://www.peta.org/
Animal shelter in Japan:
http://www.lifeboatjapan.org/
Animal shelter in the US:
http://www.petfinder.com/
Youtube video in English with Japanese subtitles
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*We would like to thank the colleagues who helped us create this reference, especially Miyuki Fukai and
Yuri Kumagai.