パトリシアさんが、日本に来たきっかけを教えていただけますか?
パトリシア:There are many reasons why I chose to come and live in Japan. I was really attracted to the culture and saw a great potential to teach English here.
I already had a certificate in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in the U.K. so I was lucky enough to get a teaching job here fairly quickly.
TEFLを取得していたことで、日本ですぐに英語指導を始められたパトリシアさん。
子どもたちに英語を教える楽しみはどんなところにあったのでしょうか。
パトリシア:Children have so much energy and it is great to see the enjoyment on their faces as they learn new words and enjoy listening to stories, playing games, singing songs and making crafts.
It is good to see them try so hard to communicate with the language that they have learned.
確かに、子どもが持つエネルギーは、新しい言語を学ぶ時にも例外ではなく、大人の何倍もの威力を発揮しますね。
パトリシアさんから見て、日本の子どもが英語を学ぶ時に大切なことはなんだと思いますか?
パトリシア:To enjoy learning English! Not to worry about making mistakes and to try to communicate what you want to say using the words that you already know.
To be outgoing and to try to use English intonation and expression when speaking English as much as possible.
何でも楽しめることは子供の特技。英語も楽しみながら学んでほしいですね。たとえば、想像力を思う存分発揮してその世界に浸ることができる絵本は、外国語を学ぶ時も、母語を学ぶ時同様、子どもにとってすばらしい学習ツールです。
パトリシア:There are so many great points about using English picture books. Firstly, they stimulate the imagination of children which is fun and this helps with learning and introducing creative activities related to the story. Children gain confidence in English because they can understand a whole story without immediately understanding every word. The sound of the words, repetition, rhythm and flow in English picture books are also enjoyable and make it easy for children to repeat sentences and memorize stories.
The magical, cute or funny visual sense of the pictures also aids long-term memory.
パトリシアさんは、多くの英語絵本や紙芝居の制作に携われていますが、絵本制作について、どんなところが楽しいか、お話を聞かせていただけますか。
パトリシア:The challenge of thinking of a story that will have some kind of effect on the readers or listeners, something moving, amusing or imaginative. I love the excitement of suddenly getting a vision of a story that would be so much fun to write!
At the same time it is always interesting to work on the story, to make sure that the storyline is easy to follow or that the story includes lots of helpful vocabulary and expressions for children to learn.
中村麻里さんとの共著は今回で2冊目になりますが、2人で一つの作品を作り上げる喜びなど、教えていただけますか?
パトリシア:Mari and I have the same way of thinking regarding picture books and teaching so we work really well together. When we strike on a good idea we bounce ideas backwards and forwards between us and after writing the first draft of the story we work on each word again and again to polish the story and to be sure that the vocabulary and content fit the level the story is written for.
It is really great fun to collaborate in writing books with Mari.
パトリシアさんは、小金井高校でCLIL※なども取り入れた英語指導を行っているとのことですが、CLILのいいところはどこだと思いますか?
パトリシア:The CLIL concept is the natural way to learn a language. Children can learn and use vocabulary and phrases in context when learning something in addition to English e.g. when making something, studying a certain topic or taking part in a group activity.
They can also enjoy learning other skills or something new or being creative whilst using English.
最後に日本の好きなところを教えてください。
パトリシア:There are so many things that I love about Japan! I love Japanese food and outdoor hot springs, in particular. And not to forget the kindness of so many Japanese people that I have met over the years. I treasure my friends here. I have a number of close Japanese friends, as well as foreign friends who are long-term residents in Japan. Japan is an interesting country as each region -
from the snow in Hokkaido to tropical Okinawa - is completely different.
本日はたくさんのお話をありがとうございました。
これからも日本の子どもたちを、ハッピーな英語の世界へ連れていってくださることを楽しみにしています!
※CLIL・・・Content and Language Integrated Learning
社会や理科などの教科学習と言語学習(英語)を組み合わせた教育方法
大江パトリシア公式ホームページ
|