情報社会と大学英語教育

Abstract

This essay is an attempt to search for ways to improve college English education in Japan. It first analyzes several popular fallacies concerning English education, by applying the common understandings extracted from the Hiraizumi-Watanabe debate of 1975. Second, it takes up the long-running argument specifically between the practical, communication-oriented school and the ‘liberal arts education’-oriented school to explore the possibilities for resolving the bitter divide that has haunted the history of English education in Japan. Lastly, the merits of the traditional translation method in English education are reevaluated and reaffirmed as a good way of pinpointing students’ weak points, having them get inside English texts, and expanding their mental and intellectual faculties. All these perspectives are discussed in view of the information society.