Humanising Language Teaching
Year 1; Issue 2; April 1999

Dear Editor,

In Issue 1 of Humanising Language Teaching, Professor Davis suggested a hard and fast distinction between teacher training and teacher development. Penny Ur made a same distinction in an article in , it seems to me, English Teaching Professional, sometime in l998. In his recent book, Ways of Doing, CUP, Professor Davis stresses this dichotomy one more time.

Isn't Davis perhaps in the manner of the "rebellious child "? Why should a teacher not genuinely develop by accepting training chosen by, offered by and even imposed by the employer? Davis seems to assume that all employers have interests diametrically opposed to those of their employees. Don't ship-owners and sailors have a mutual interest in keeping the ship above the waterline ?

Could it be that the so-called distinction between training and development is most strong in the minds of over-grown lads who find it comfortable to live in a world of us versus them draped in an armchair Marxism like that of the former Communist Party in my own country, Italy?

Yours sincerely,

Maria-Cristina Castelceruleo

Dear Mario,

I have just read the first issue of HUMANISING LANGUAGE TEACHING which I found a very stimulating read indeed - congratulations!

In response to your request for 'interaction', I am writing to you with two questions: the first practical, the second slightly more theoretical.

Let me start with the practical: I am currently looking for a TEFL post in Japan (I have spent nine years teaching EFL and I am currently lecturing in EFL at a Scottish University). However, as I am committed to 'humanist language teaching', I am finding it rather difficult to identify suitable employers. Do you know of any humanistic TEFL employers in Japan that I could contact (ideally by email)? I would also be interested in contacting individual EFL teachers (for example, I noticed that you mentioned a Vincent Broderick from Osaka in your 'Fishbowl' article). I would find it of great benefit to chat to anyone with experience teaching in Japan, not just to potential employers, as all the information I have on Japan has been written by people not particularly committed to the humanistic approach.

The second question I would like to ask is slightly more abstract: I have often come across statements such as "due to the nature of Japanese society it is impossible to use humanistic (or even communicative) TEFL techniques in Japan". I was trained as a social anthropologist and within anthropology there has been a long-standing debate on the extent to which 'humanism' is a western cultural construct which may not be appropriate to apply in societies with radically different cultural concepts of the "self". Do you know if there has been a similar debate regarding the extent to which 'humanistic language teaching' is a western cultural construct?

I would also be fascinated to learn of any experiences your other readers may have had trying to use humanistic techniques in Japan - perhaps such anecdotes could be used as the basis for a feature on "The Limits of Humanism"...

Many thanks

Best regards,

Craig Sisman