JAPANCASTING with Steve McCarty JapanCasting Podcast

Episode 20 of the Japancasting Podcast with Prof Steve McCarty brings to you Bilingual Perspectives on Language Teaching: The View from the Goal. This is the soundtrack of an April 2023 conference presentation for the Japan Association for Language Teaching. Steve McCarty teaches Bilingualism and Intercultural Communication classes at Osaka Jogakuin University.

ABSTRACT: An attainable goal for language learners is to function in plural languages according to their own needs and purposes. A bilingual perspective starts from that realistic goal. Learners in Japan tend to overly idealize L2 (second or foreign language) mastery (or being bilingual), so it becomes other people’s business. Monolingual teachers tell students by their example, “go where I have not gone,” whereas a bilingual teacher says, “come to my state of functioning.” This presentation details a paradigm shift from the predominant monolingual second language acquisition (SLA) paradigm to a developmental bilingual perspective.
 
The slideshow is available to read while listening to the podcast, at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369825283 
or to download from LINK
The presentation was also pre-recorded and posted as a video for YouTube users: https://youtu.be/F0zeEIPRIhw
Publications on Bilingualism: https://japanned.hcommons.org/bilingualism/
All podcasts and videos: https://japanned.hcommons.org/multimedia/

Episode 19: The Japanese and Foreign Languages

At Matsuyama Shinonome College in southwestern Japan, Steve McCarty was teaching an intensive course on Translation between Japanese and English. Two professors there, Kiyoshi Shioiri and Mima Saeki, agreed to be interviewed about the history of languages in Japan. For 16 minutes we discussed how the Japanese language formed thousands of years ago to the classical period (7th-11th Centuries), and foreign languages influencing Japan all the way to the present. Then we discussed the attitudes of Japanese people nowadays toward foreign languages, cultural factors why they have such difficulty acquiring English, how Japanese is very different from other languages, and getting the meaning across in translation and interpretation.

Osaka Jogakuin College students report on their visit to Chittagong, Bangladesh. It has a history of poverty and persecution of Burmese refugees. The college (Wilmina is its nickname) has contributed money to start and maintain a charitable hospital, including for children. The students speak bilingually, so it provides a lesson in either Japanese or English as a Foreign Language.
After the students’ 18-minute recorded presentation, one of the students is interviewed for 5 minutes. That script is below to read while listening:
 
Steve McCarty interviews Osaka Jogakuin College students about Bangladesh hospital
#1 What is the relationship between OJC and CHC? (her group’s PPT slide shows Wilmina Children's Hospital, supported by Osaka Jogakuin College, in the CHC hospital in Chittagong)
O.K. our relationship between OJC and CHC was started in 1992 when our senior graduates donated some money instead of using it for a graduation party and built a children’s hospital at CHC. Then, we students started to visit CHC since 1995.

#2 Bangladesh is mostly Islamic, but what are some minority groups?
Many Bengali people are Islamic, but in Chittagong, there are 13 tribal peoples and they immigrated from Burma. They are almost all Buddhist and some people are Christian. 

#3 What will happen to Bangladesh with global warming?
It will flood and almost all the land will sink under the sea because Bangladesh is really low, so it can be easy to sink. Moreover, even now, floods often happen in Bangladesh.

#4 Some of the nurses don't look South Asian. They look more Southeast Asian. Who are they?
They are tribal people, not Bengali people. Because CHC accepts many minority people.
 
#5 What is the Community Health Program? (It looks interesting because they try to prevent health problems before people need to go to the hospital.)
It is one of the CHC’s activities. Their activities are vaccination for children, giving lectures on family planning, and so on. They do these activities outside of CHC such as at a tribal village.

#6 Are Bangladesh people so happy although they are so poor economically?
I think almost all Bangladesh people looked very happy. Because they always smiled when we said hello and we tried to talk. They try to live, although poor. And they have many troubles, not only economic problems.

#7 What did you learn about yourself in Bangladesh?
I learned many things. I learned our sense of values is not always the right things. The thing is that I thought I could understand, but I realized I could not understand. And I noticed that Bangladesh people are proud of their country despite their hard living conditions. This visit became a signal to enter these problems and be concerned with Bangladesh. In addition, I am able to make a chance to look at the problems around us over again. My feeling and learning cannot be expressed completely here.

Peace Dialogue among Religions: Influence of Religions on Laws and Moral Values | Ep_17
This is a 7-minute stage play performed by four first-year students at a women's college in Japan. This peace dialogue shows how religions have influenced the laws and moral values of their societies. It could be useful for studying world religions, laws, values, or English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
All Japancasting Episodes are available here:
https://eklavyaparv.com/edusomedia/japancasting-podcast

 Moving ahead to understand Japan and the world of today, Steve McCarty is taking us into his own life and learning. His passion to explore the culture of Japan has been exceptional and he has always demonstrated the highest regard for the cultural richness of Japan.
As he moves ahead to get a book on his life, we get this opportunity to listen about his passion and learning, from him! This 23-minute presentation at the University of Hyogo in Kobe goes more deeply into the biography of Steve McCarty than appears in his long chapter in the new book A Passion for Japan. Formative influences discussed include Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Tibetan yoga, and Zen. Places include Boston, the Taos Pueblo area of New Mexico, San Francisco, Honolulu, Shikoku island, and Osaka. People encountered include Alan Watts, Ram Dass, Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Durkee (Lama Foundation founder), Edwin O. Reischauer; and in Japan: Donald Keene and the Dalai Lama. Then brief stories about life in Japan include Steve’s international family, playing baseball, English teaching innovations, and research discovering Asian religions syncretized in a mandala of mountains. Steve has thus been an active witness of history as Eastern thought influenced the West, aspiring to be one of those bridge persons.
The illustrated slideshow can be downloaded if desired from https://doi.org/10.17613/rbj8-w718 and the chapter “Discovering Japanese Fusion of Religions on the Pilgrimage Island of Shikoku” is available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361566172 or https://www.academia.edu/82383623 This episode is a recording of the presentation, hence, the quality of the audio is not in an HD format. Prof Steve speaks with clarity of expression as well as voice, so we expect a good learning experience for you.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Hubhopper, Gaana etc. 
 ---------------Japancasting Podcast is based on the content by Prof Steve McCarty.About Steve McCarty: born in Boston, a longtime Professor of English in Osaka, a Japanese government lecturer, and the World Association for Online Education President. Asian Studies specialist, fluent in Japanese, and highly cited author. The author’s homepage can be accessed here.

Questions from India about Japan | Japancasting Podcast | Ep_15 - BLOG LINK
Another half-hour like Episode 8 about what India and other countries can learn from Japan. Parveen Sharma says, “Today we are here to interview Prof Steve again and get his insightful, thought-provoking, and experienced observations on various questions… Prof Ramesh Sharma has been one of the founders of this project and… He has shared some questions and observations”:1.How does Japan maintain religious harmony? 2. What makes the Japanese so punctual in terms of time management? 3. What has made Japan a technology leader, as the society freely uses tech devices for daily life activities? 4. Japan is a great combo example of natural beauty and technology giant industries. How is this balance maintained? 5. Japan is a geriatric society. What values are the younger generations provided with that they respect their seniors? 6. Japan's education system focuses on "manners first before knowledge". How does the Japanese Education System build this character in its students? 7. What do you have to say about English Language Teaching and Learning in Japan... How do they see this language?
For much further information, the first and last answers refer to the popular new book A Passion for Japan: A Collection of Personal Narratives. Steve’s chapter "Discovering Japanese Fusion of Religions on the Pilgrimage Island of Shikoku" can be freely accessed at Academia.edu – embed link to: https://www.academia.edu/82383623 - or ResearchGate  – embed link to: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361566172