諸型式による指導 : 日本の大学における英作文教育の一方法

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(1)Title. 諸型式による指導 : 日本の大学における英作文教育の一方法. Author(s). ビーティ, ショーン. Citation. 北海道教育大学紀要. 第一部. C, 教育科学編, 37(1): 99-107. Issue Date. 1986-10. URL. http://s-ir.sap.hokkyodai.ac.jp/dspace/handle/123456789/5013. Rights. Hokkaido University of Education.

(2) Instruction in Expository Genre : One Approach to Teaching College-level English Composition in Japan. Shawn Beaty This essay will attempt to outline the method I use in teaching English composition on the college level in Japan. I used this approach during my two-year tenure at Wuhan University in China and am presently continuing to apply it in my class at Hokkaido University of Education-Asahikawa Branch. I would first like to state that this method is not at all new or revolutionary ; on the contrary, it is used in varying degrees and forms in colleges and universities all across the United States.1 The pur-. pose, then, in writing this essay is to offer my opinion that the method to be described here can be used effectively in any nation or culture where English composition is taught. Although I am far from an expert on how composition is currently taught in colleges in Japan, I have been led to believe that in many cases it is dealt with as largely a variety of grammar course, as yet another method of simply learning the fundamentals of the English language. The emphasis seems to be on sentence construction and syntax, grammatical and idiomatic usage, et cetera. Furthermore, I understand that English composition is often taught in the Japanese language, thereby necessitating some degree of translation work. Indeed, a perusal of the mass of sample composition texts sent from the various book com-. panics bears out the fact that at the least a large majority of the textbooks follow this pattern. Thus, as some composition instructors reluctantly admit, this can be a tedious course, while the overall results-i. e., how well the students truly understand the framework for the construction of a piece of English writing-are sometimes questionable. This is in no way to demean the fine job many. college composition instructors in Japan are doing ; I am simply stating that any method which may help contribute to the creative process of composition may be considered. Thus, I believe that a method which stresses composition, and not merely writing, is necessary. To form grammatically and semantically proper sentences in English is one thing ; to be able to produce coherent, elucidating prose, relevant to whatever task is at hand, is quite another. And it is this latter goal, I feel, which is the essential one for which to work when teaching English composition. I believe that it must be assumed that the students in a composition class can already write in English. Of course, to what degree this assumption may find its basis in reality varies greatly, thus necessitating adjustments in the level and speed of the instruction. Yet the basic assumption must hold true. Thus, the method one uses for teaching composition will not necessarily differ much in substance from those used in teaching native writers. The difference lies not in the overall aspect of the course, but simply in the degree or form of the application of certain of the principles. Certainly, one must never forget that English is not the students' native language, and that the cultural backgrounds and approach and attitude toward aspects of writing and learning in general may differ somewhat from those of a native language instructor or essayist. Yet these "barriers," I find, are less. obstacles per se. 99.

(3) Shawn Beaty than simply points which must be considered. My basic point stands : constructing and developing an English essay, theme, or paragraph is neither more nor less than the thoughtful, logical development of an idea, opinion, piece of description, et cetera. The topics will vary, the style will vary, the' ideas will certainly vary, yet the writing stands to be finally judged not on the basis of culture or ideology, nor on the basis or how well the writer has mastered English grammar and syntax, but on the basis of how clearly and effectively the ideas and images are put forth. In the introduction to Writing. in English : A Handbook, Donald K. Shults and Yasuo Hashiguchi explain the aim of their fine book in the following manner: Fine writing is the result of hard work in any language. If you are writing in a foreign language, of course there are more difficulties to overcome than if you are writing in your native tongue. However, these problems. can be surmounted, and it is the aim of this book to help you surmount them by showing you how to organize your thoughts and then to express those thoughts with clarity and force, the aims of writing in any language." This is a very sound evaluation of the major aim of composition. It must also be noted here that. although Shults and Hashiguchi's text is published by a Japanese company, it is written exclusively in English, thereby avoiding the "translation trap." The general method I use in teaching English composition is, as stated above, common in English-speaking countries. I have developed a few of my own personal techniques, added a few ideas and points, et cetera, yet in its essence the method to be described here is almost as old as the art of composition itself. This method involves instruction according to types, or genres, of composition. The categories of writing which I use vary, but generally I work with the standard forms : Narration, Description, Definition, Compare/Contrast, Process, Review, Persuasion, et cetera, More will be said about the individual genres momentarily. I divide each term or academic year into blocks of three week periods, or sections, with one week between each period set aside for a lecture on a specific problem or issue concerning compositipn. Each of the three-week periods is devoted to a study of one of the genres, or types, of writing. During the first week of each period I discuss in detail the basic principles of the genre to be considered : the nature of the genre, the various styles in constructing essays or paragraphs of this sort, techniques for organizing and drafting writings based on the particular type of exposition, reasons for learning and using the type of writing in question, et cetera. The lecture is interspersed with many examples of the genre being discussed. Then, at the end of the lecture, I provide the students with a list of sample topics which they may mull over while choosing a topic for the essay or theme which they will eventually be asked to produce. The second and third weeks are used. to study models of the type of writing which we are studying during the given three-week period. I may use essays by professional authors, and I sometimes give the students papers written by their peers (non-native college student writers), yet I find the best models for our purposes are those written by college students from English-speaking countries. On one hand, by using these models the students are not overwhelmed by the abilities of the profes-. sional English essayists, while on the other hand they may feel a kind of kinship with the amateur writers, young men and women of the s'apie age-bracket in a corresponding situation in another culture. Of course, I try to choose .good, solid assays ; they may be flawed in places, but this, I find, often works to the mutual advantage of both students and instructor during the course of the examination. 100.

(4) Instruction in Expository Genre and evaluation of the essays. While investigating these models, I point out techniques of organization, elements of style, word choice and idiomatic usage, et cetera, which form the bases of the essays themselves. We discuss these in class until I feel that the students have a good sense of what constitutes the genre, both in terms of reading and comprehension and of the process of creation or composition of the type of writing at hand. The third and final step belongs wholly to the students. After three weeks of immersion in one genre of composition, they are asked to produce a short piece (usually approximately 500 words), using the genre we studied. The choice of topics is their own, though I do provide samples and guidelines. After this final step is completed, I offer a specified lecture on some aspect of writing. The following week, we move on to the next category. At this point, I'd like to discuss several of the genres we use in my composition classes. Also ineluded here are some of the major points I stress when discussing the style and techniques applicable to the individual genres.. (A) NARRATION. Narration, in its simplest definition, is "a factual or fictional report of a sequence of events."5 Although, of course, the time scheme in a piece of narrative writing is not always directly chronological, I ask the students to concentrate on this approach for the time being ; I ask them to relate a simple story, an interesting event, a piece of personal history, an anecdote, et cetera, which has a distinct beginning, middle, and end, avoiding techniques such as flashbacks until they have adequately come to grips with properly relating events in the conventional time sequence. Indeed, some composition instructors insist that narration by definition follows a linear time pattern. Susan S. Johnston and Jean Zukowski-Faust, in Keys to Composition, write that "narration, as a method of development, organizes material in order of time, or chronology."6 This definition may be debated, yet the importance of stressing the linear time sequence with novice writers cannot be overstated. Some of the major points I stress in narrative writing include the importance of the topic sentence, the necessary use of transitional words and phrases, proper pacing, the creation of suspense through the development of a conflict, the presentation of an effective climax, and the necessity of avoiding a limp or repetitive conclusion.. (B) DESCRIPTION. There are an almost infinite number of descriptive techniques one can use in writing, yet for this assignment I emphasize the concrete, the physical. I tell the students that, in essence, they are to paint a picture with words ; their tool here is a pen, not a brush, yet the effect should be in one sense similar to that produced by the visual artist. I ask them to assume that their. readers initially cannot see the object or scene described, yet by the time they finish reading the essay the image should be clear in their minds. It should be noted here that visual images are not the only sort used in such descriptive writing, yet they are certainly the most predominant. In Barnet & Stubbs's Practical Guide to Writing the authors tell us that "description represents in words our sensory impressions caught in a moment of time. In much descriptive writing visual imagery dominates." Images which may be attributed to the. 101.

(5) Shawn Beaty other four senses are rather difficult for the student writers to reproduce, thus I stress the visual in my beginning composition classes. I try to limit the topics to three general categories : a person, a locale or scene, or a specific object. The range of subjects may include an interesting-looking person whom the writer has seen or met, a member or his or her family, a person from a foreign or exotic culture, the writer's hometown, a park, a market, a busy shopping area, a bar, a theatre, a temple or shrine, an interesting or famous painting, a style of fashion, et cetera. Whereas one student may choose to describe, say, a company's logo, another will paint a vivid portrait of his or her grandfather. I do stress, however, that when describing a person the essential thing in this particular assignment is the physical detail: body type, facial features, style of dress, et cetera ; revealing the subject's personality or character may be important, yet this may be reserved for a later essay. (In any case, if the physical description is skillful enough, the subject's character will emerge from out of the material details.) I also emphasize in this section the importance of colorful, vivid, specific detail. "The old building" is hardly descriptive. Instead, something like "the ancient, cracked-marble edifice, weeds creeping mercilessly from its rust-colored cracks" captures at least some of the visual image of the object described. I also tell the students that, at least initially, overwriting is preferable to its opposite number. Not only is it much easier to cut down than to build up, it is also important that the students become comfortable with using language. Let their words and images flow ; the editing can come later. In terms of organizational technique, I tell the students simply to start at one "point" and to proceed logically from there : from top to bottom, from left to right, from the inside out, from large to small, from major to minor, et cetera. The method they choose depends, of course, upon the subject. of their description. (C) DEFINITION. First, I begin by making the standard distinction between simple (dictionary) definition and extended definition. Whereas a simple definition attempts to adequately explain what a word or term means in as few words as possible, an extended definition should serve to explain as fully as possible the ramifications, subtleties, elements of distinctiveness, et cetera, of the word or term defined. I break down the types of words or terms one can effectively use in such extended definitions into three basic categories : (1) abstract words or terms ; (2) general, unusual, or special terms which require elaboration ; and (3) new words, slang or idiom, or foreign words or terms which have no direct equivalent in English. Abstract terms (e. g., love, courage, humor, friendship, bigotry) often imply something quite different to each person. Thus, I ask the students to present their own "personal" definition of such a word or term. What, for example, is courage ? I often give the example of the Vietnam War resister who chose to spend several years in prison. Whereas one man might view this as cowardice, either an escape from personal danger or an unwillingness to make a sacrifice for one's country, another might deem the resister's act as the essence of courage-the insistence upon standing up for one's moral or ethical principles, no matter what price he might have to pay. I ask the students, then, to back up their definitions by using several solid examples, not merely to tell what the word or term means to them, but to show, to illustrate, its meaning through concrete situations. As regards the second category, I tell the students to simply provide what the dictionary cannot-. 102.

(6) Instruction in Expository Genre a clear, detailed explanation of a general, unusual, or special word or term. Can a dictionary really tell us what "rugby" is ? Can it do much to help us understand the meaning of "Country and Western music ?" Hardly. Such terms as "surrealism," "black humor," and "epic" require more than a few words for the uninitiated to properly grasp their significance ; they require detailed explanations backed up by relevant examples. The third group should be self-explanatory. Many of us simply do not know what "nerd" means. Nor are we necessarily clear on the definitions of "up-tight, " "twilight zone," "Catch-22, " "junk food," "machismo," or "mensch." And the Japanese students may be of great service to the foreigner by carefully explaining to him the terms "omiai," "obon," or "karaoke." Extended definitions should serve to explain these terms to us. There are various methods which the writer may use in presenting an extended definition. He may use negation, defining the term by showing what it is not-by rejecting false ideas as to what the term means or by comparing and /or contrasting it to other, similar, words. He may use classification, which Randall E. Decker defines as analysis by types or degrees of the subject.u For example, "reliance," "confidence," and "faith" may be considered aspects of "trust." And there are certainly different types of love ; the love of one's parents is not at all the same as romantic love, and both are worlds apart from, say, the love of music or sport. One may also use the etymological approach, presenting the background of the word or term and tracing its development of meaning or application up to the present day. Or the writer may choose to use a stipulative definition ; this involves limiting the discussion to one specific meaning of a word, while nevertheless assuring the reader that it is not its only definition. I've only touched on a few of the more important methods for offering up an extended definition. There are countless others. Ryoji Inoue and Mary A. Hussey, for example, list nine such techniques : "the addition of details, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, elimination, classification, analysis, examples, origin and history and uses."15. (D) PERSUASION. In short, a persuasion paper attempts to convince the writer's audience that his or her opinion, argument, or idea is valid and /or correct. The topic may concern an issue of great national or international importance, or it may simply involve something in the writer's everyday life.. The breadth of the topic is not particularly important; what is essential here is that the writer present his points clearly, rationally, and forcefully. I break down the general category of persuasion into four groups. The definitions of these subcategories are my own, and though they may give rise to to some disagreement on the part of teachers and scholars, I find that they work sufficiently well for my purposes. 1. Criticism. The writer simply criticizes something which he or she views as worthy of attack. Examples include smoking in public, the hardships of the present examination system, and the treatment of handicapped people in society. In a criticism, the writer must not necessarily present his reasons why the situation is wrong, bad, or unpleasant; he simply presents his "truth, " his opinions, his facts, and is free to leave it at that. 2. Argument. In an argument, however, the writer needs to go one step beyond mere criticism by providing reasons why he is correct in feeling as he does. For example, the handicapped are tre-. 103.

(7) Shawn Beaty. ated badly because : (1) many people are ignorant of the extent of their sufferings ; (2) society is generally unsympathetic to the plight of the disadvantaged ; and (3) the government is at present un-. willing or unable to effectively deal with the logistic problems which confront the handicapped. Whereas a criticism may simply point out that something is wrong, an argument such as the one outlined above tells why it is wrong (or right, as the case may be). 3. Proposal. A proposal advances the persuasive piece yet another step in that not only does the writer put forth his argued opinion, he is also responsible for proposing a solution to the problem, presenting a detailed plan of how a situation may be remedied, or offering new advice as to what can be done to improve a given condition. In reference to the above example, a proposal must put forward a plan of action to improve the lot of the handicapped in society. 4. Debate. A debate is essentially an argument with one major added dimension, that of providing the opposing side's views before countering with the writer's own. This is a very effective way of hitting one's arguments home-by first attacking those of the opposition. This method requires a great deal of thought and careful planning, yet the rewards are great if handled with skill and precision. In teaching the methods of organizing a persuasion paper, I stress the Aristotelian five-paragraph structure ; that is, a division of the essay into five units, each designated by a single paragraph. The first is the introduction and the fifth the conclusion, whereas paragraphs 2-4 each represent one persuasive point. Usually, three separate points are sufficient to provide the writer with a convincing argument. Of course, this structure is flexible ; if the writer wishes to make ten or fifteen points, so be it, while one or two very solid points may be enough. Three points, however, is the standard number, and this is what I ask the students to shoot for. Thus, a general paragraph outline of an argument. would read something like this : I. Introduction : The world's nuclear arms should be strictly limited. II. Point 1 : The alarming rate of production and growth of nuclear weaponry greatly threatens the peace, security, and well-being of all the peoples of the world. It is extremely dangerous.. III. Point 2 : The arms race is expensive. This money could be put to much better use-for example, for health, education, welfare, urban development, contributing to the elimination of world poverty and hunger, et cetera. IV. Point 3 : The arms race deepens the rift between nations, in many cases polarizing countries into the two "superpower" camps. This runs contrary to the true and proper aim of international relations, which is to promote friendship and cooperation between governments and their citizens. V. Conclusion : Therefore, for the reasons stated above, the nations of the world must work together not only to prevent the arms race from escalating, but also to drastically minimize-if not eliminate altogether-existing nuclear weaponry. There are, of course, other techniques for organizing a persuasive paper, one of which is quite common. As David A. Sohn and Edward Enger explain, this other method is "to give the reasons first and then build up to the opinion itself." This is, in a sense, the "flip side" of the technique I described above. Although this is certainly a valuable and effective method, I find that student writers in composition classes are perhaps better off at least beginning with "Side A.". 104.

(8) Instruction in Expository Genre (E) OTHERS. In addition to the four genres of composition discussed above, I also offer instruction in several others during the course of the academic year. ComparisonlContrast, for example, enables the students to learn to point out the similarities in, and differences between, two items which belong in the same general category. The two basic methods for organizing this type of exposition are (1) point-by-point, in which the writer alternates between the two subjects discussed, and (2) parallel construction, in which subject "A" is first described in total, followed by a parallel description of subject"B".. The Process paper instructs the reader as to how to perform a particular task or series of actions. This may involve an explanation of how to repair a car engine, how to cook a certain dish, how perform a Japanese tea ceremony, et cetera. The point which I stress when teaching process writing is absolute clarity ; if one step along the way is vague or unclear to the uninitiated, the entire piece is rendered useless ; each step in the chain is dependent on the one before it, the one after it, or both.. While teaching the Review, I instruct the students in methods of analysing books, films, theatrical productions, record albums, et cetera. On its basic level, this is useful in everyday life as simply an. extended form of the recommendation. Shall I read this book ? Shall I see this movie ? A review is certainly an aid in making this sort of decision. More importantly, however, it prepares the students for future analyses of a more sophisticated variety, including the detailed and painstaking work they must put into their final college theses. 7 This, then, is a rough description of the genres of compostion which I use in my classroom. One important thing which must be noted here, however, is that these genres are in no way absolute or inflexible. There is a great deal of overlapping between them, and any given piece of writing may inelude several expository devices. A narrative, for example, may be highly descriptive, while definition may be used in order to persuade. I choose to use the genre approach for the simple purpose of. allowing the students to become familiar with the different types of writing, as each is very valuable after its own particular fashion. In my "inter-period" lectures, I concentrate on specific aspects of the preparation for, and creation of, the theme or essay. In a later essay I hope to detail these lectures, although at this point I. would like to briefly mention two of them. One involves the process of planning, organizing, drafting, and editing the essay itself. This ineludes choosing and limiting the topic, jotting down rough notes, forming an outline, working out the first draft, et cetera. In this, I detail a step-by-step plan or system for developing the piece of writing from its conception through the final product. Another of my lectures concerns the elements of an expository theme-things to look for when planning, writing, and evaluating a piece of writing. Whereas the two major elements are, of course, "content" and "form," I further break down form into the five "sub-categories" of language, style, organization, grammar and punctuation, and mechanics. During the course of the lecture I explain the significance of each, using various writing samples as my primary tool. In terms of "style," for example, I stress the need to vary sentence length and structure, avoiding both a style which is constantly "choppy," and one which is composed only of long, complex sentences full of strings of dependent clauses. In the United States, I often used a "workshop" format in my composition classes. Although I. 105.

(9) Shawn Beaty have yet to make use of this method of instruction in Japan, I hope to do so in the near future. I would like at this point to say just a quick word about the "workshop" format. There are as many styles of writing workshops as there are instructors who use this general method to teach writing skills, yet I think that it is safe to say that each focuses on one major principle-that the instructor can best serve the student writer by evaluating his or her her work at various stages of its development. That is, the instructor and the student work together to form and develop the individual piece of writing. This can be done on an individual, tutorial, basis or in small groups, either in the context of the larger classroom or in addition'to it-or even, in some cases, in place of it. It can compose the entire format of the course, or it may be used as a supplementary exercise. In any case, I feel strongly that it is of real value to the students, that they can greatly benefit from having their work investigated and discussed as it progresses. There are no easy answers to the problems of teaching English composition on the college level. Various methods may be tried and retried, new approaches developed, all sorts of experiments undertaken in the quest for satisfactory results. The method described in this essay, I must stress again, is neither unique nor revolutionary ; I am convinced, however, that it can be applied well in-Japanese colleges and universities. The point to remember, whatever method one chooses, is that the more the instructor is able to get away from the idea that he or she is teaching an alien language, and the. more he or she is able to teach the principles of English composition to Japanese students just as if they had grown up with the language, the more the students will benefit from the instruction. It is primarily for this reason that I have continued to teach composition using the method I studied in America ; it is for this reason, too, that I recommend it to Japanese college and university instructors as one possibility for teaching English composition here in Japan.. (NOTES) 1 Of the three American universities at which I taught composition, two of them-The University of Mississippi and Denver University-used a general form of the method subsequently described for their Freshman Composition programs. 2 There are, of course, exceptions. Two worthy of mention are R. Inoue and Mary A. Hussey, Expository Writ-. ing (Tokyo : Eihosha, 1977) and D. K. Shults and Y. Hashiguchi, Writing in English : A Handbook (Tokyo : Eihosha, 1970). My apologies to others which I may have overlooked. 3 Shults and Hashiguchi, p. iii. 4 In Expository Writing, the authors use examples of writing by foreign, or non-native, writers of English. Although I would never question the success of this technique, I have found that offering samples produced by native-language student writers may provide greater inspiration and incentive for composition students in. countries where English is not the principal language. 5 R. E. Decker, Patterns of Exposition : 7 (Boston and Toronto : Little, Brown, 1980), p. 273. 6 S. S. Johnston and J. Zukowski-Faust, Keys to Composition (New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981), p. 22.. 7 S. Barnet and M. Stubbs, Barnet & Stubbs's Practical Gitide to Writing (Boston and Toronto : Little, Brown, 1980), p. 210. 8 For excellent examples of detailed descriptive pieces, see D. A. Sohn and Edward Enger, Writing by Doing (Lincolnwood, Illinois : National Textbook Company, 1983), pp. 78-87. 9 Refer to Barnett and Stubbs, p: 211 and Decker, p. 242.. 106.

(10) Instruction in Expository Genre 10 Barnett and Stubbs refer to these as "formal" and "longer" definitions, pp. 119-120.. 11 See Decker, p. 211. The author writes : "This simple process is similar to that used in most dictionaries ; either providing a synonym... or placing the word in a class and then showing how it differs from others of the same class," whereas "with many... abstract, unusual, or coined terms, typical readers are too limited by their own experiences and opinions... for the writer to expect understanding of the exact sense in which he uses the terms." 12 For another system of categorization, refer to Johnston and Zukowski-Faust, p. 63. Here the authors state that definition "is often used for purposes such as these ; a. introducing new terms to the reader b. showing the reader's knowledge and understanding of concepts (as in an essay test or class paper) c. explaining to the reader the writer's own particular and perhaps unusual definition of a term or concept." 13 Some texts devote entire chapters or sections of chapters to the use of examples. See Decker, Chapter 1 ;. Johnston and Zukowski-Faust, Unit 4 ; Shults and Hashiguchi, Lesson 7. Another text available in Japan which gives weight to the use of examples as an important expository device is M. Hashimoto, A Guide to Reading and Writing (Tokyo : Asahi, 1978). 14 Decker, p. 212. 15 Inoue and Hussey, p. 53. Patterns of Exposition : 7, pp. 212-3 also offers a comprehensive listing of techniques for organizing a definition essay. 16 Sohn and Enger, p. 110.. 17 Ibid., pp. 131-143. Writing by Doing is one of the few composition texts I have come across which devotes ample space-in this case one entire chapter-to a discussion of how to write a review. I strongly recommend. Chapter 15 in this text for this purpose. 18 The first chapter in Barnet & Stubbs's Practical Guide to Writing, "From Subject to Essay," is an excellent guide to the process of writing. Inoue and Hussey's Expository Writing includes a thorough, comprehensive. chapter on outlining (Chapter I). 19 These divisions are arbitrary. Johnston and Zukowski-Faust, for example, divide Keys to Composition into three parts : Rhetoric, Style, and Mechanics (which includes grammar and punctuation).. (Foreign Instructor, Asahikawa Branch). 107.

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