What do sports, learning Japanese, and teaching English have in common? Sociocultural learning theories, that’s what

Abstract

An analogy is drawn between how sports in Japan are practiced, and how Japanese as a second language is taught. These two areas are examined through the frameworks of sociocultural and cultural learning theories which have led the author to reflect on and adjust his own English language teaching beliefs. These theories are then linked with Bourdieu’s concept of “cultural capital” in which students are socialized into certain educational practices and perceptions in order to succeed in a society. It is argued that when students move from the familiar practices and perceptions of school to the different ones of a university foreign language classroom, both they and their teachers, need to be given time and the means to adapt to new forms of cultural capital. 本論文は日本におけるスポーツ・トレーニングと日本語を外国人に教える方法との間に類似性を指摘する。この二つの分野の教授法を社会文化学習理論及び文化学習理論の枠組みから考察し、これにより著者はこれまでの自己の英語教育への信条を反省し、調整する。さらに社会文化学習理論をBourdieuの提唱するcultural capital概念、つまり学習者は社会で成功するために特定の教育慣行や認識に順応していくという考え方と連動させる。本論文は学習者が従来慣れ親しんできた学習法や認識を脱して大学の外国語授業へと移行できるまでには、学習者が、そしてまた教師が、新しい形のcultural capitalに適合できるだけの時間と手段が必要であることを提唱する。