SGH【2016インタビューシリーズ5】レイ先生・水口先生(英語科)

『インタビューシリーズ』はSGHガイドブックチーム(詳細はこちら)が
2016年12月にインタビューした内容を記事にしたものです。

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「関西学院千里国際(SIS)のSGHって何だろう?」
この問いに答えるために、結成したSGHガイドブックチーム。
第5回目は英語科の水口先生、レイ先生(Mr. Ray)からお話を聞くことにしました。

To become good global leaders -open minded-
Koki: Hi. Ms. Minakuchi, Is there anything you do to make students to become good global leaders?

Ms. Minakuchi: In the case of G7 and 8 i Level Course, I recommend them to read a variety of newspapers and Internet articles. It is because I want them to open up their mind to the world and raise awareness about global issues. I also want them to gain deep thought to approach the issues. 





To become good global leaders -SOIS’s motto-

Koki: Is there anything you do to make students to become good global leaders, Mr. Ray?

Mr. Ray: A lot of courses, for example, MUN or Topics for today, deal with global issues. In those classes, we take a learner-centered approach where students are expected to come up with topics and to do analysis and to work together with partners or teams to create a presentation. These things require an amount of cooperation, flexibility, creativity, and resilience. For example, you have to communicate, or you have to deal with people who are absent.

Koki: I see.


Mr. Ray: We hope that by putting students in a situation where they have to solve problems and negotiate beyond the contents of the class, they develop independent problem-solving skills and resilience. This is related to the SIS English department's mission "Not just read well and write well but think well and communicate well." It has always been a goal of the English department even before SGH.


Importance of English -bilingual and bicultural-
Koki: Is English really important?

Mr. Ray: English is a shared language. We can see its importance in discussions where somebody from Japan and France get together and communicate in English.

Koki: I think it is not impossible to communicate without English. There are interpreters.

Mr. Ray: Sure, however, it slows everything down. And if you can’t speak English, the number of the places where you can play a role decreases, you have less control over communication and you don’t know if you are getting the information right.

Koki: I see.


Mr. Ray: English is a basic skill in the world. We use English to make things happen. Important keys to the goals behind SGH are not English. The keys are ways of thinking, attitudes about other countries and about how to get things done in the world. And I think the idea of resilience is more important.


Ms. Minakuchi: So we don’t say become bilingual to our students. We say become a bicultural person. The differences of culture and the behavior behind their language use stimulate our way of living.


Change -study abroad-

Ms. Minakuchi: Some SIS students haven’t got a chance to have an overseas experience. I hope they can get a chance to see the world outside Japan. There are new study abroad programs. For example, Tobitate gives financial support.

Mr. Ray: There has been a dramatic increase in the number of international programs. Partly, we are getting a new set of programs, and partly I think it’s the change in students over time. The number of students who need to start with the alphabet is decreasing.


Fumika: I think this is happening because students have more chance to interact with global community.


Ms. Minakuchi: I think so too.


Our English office is unique -collaboration-
Ms. Tsudaka: It is quite interesting that our school has native English teachers as well as Japanese teachers. Do you have any role taking by those teachers category?


Mr. Ray: The courses are divided in terms of contents and focus on form, but there is still a lot of overlap. So sometimes grammar topics come up in my class, even though my class is more focused on some other topic.


Ms. Tsudaka: You don’t really categorize people, but you try to collaborate.


Mr. Ray: That’s right. It happens because we’re all in the same room and we talk about students. If I have a class and students are having problems with some grammar issue, we discuss what to do.


Advice to SOIS students
Koki: If you were in SOIS in the age you were a high school student, what would your life be? If you have any advice to SOIS students, we want to know.


Ms. Minakuchi: Go out! Interact with lots of people in other countries as much as possible.


Mr. Ray: To people doing SGH, I think one really important thing is to think carefully about what you want to research because you're going to live with that topic for a long time.
And put enough work into it and make it really good because there's a possibility that research changes your life.


Fumika: I strongly feel that SGH changed my life when I finished taking SGH because I found my way to become the person I want to be through writing an essay.


Field study -reality of the world-
Ms. Tsudaka: Do you have any point that you want students to realize, out of the field study?


Ms. Minakuchi: I hope they will see the reality of the world. It is not always so wonderful, but we can’t tackle global issues without knowing it.

Fumika: I totally agree with your idea.

Koki: Thank you both for your kind cooperation!