本文H22.5.indd

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "本文H22.5.indd"

なごみなかじゅく
5 years ago
Views:

2 Discovering Australia: A Course in Intercultural Communication Dr. Damian Lucantonio Based on the results of an annual survey conducted by the presenter, ignorance about Australia and its relationship with Japan still exists today amongst university students in Japan. The course, Discovering Australia, aims to address this issue by raising awareness of the intercultural similarities and differences between Australia and Japan. It also aims to develop skills of critical thinking by showing students how to give academic opinions based on the course topics, as well as to develop students presentation skills, which represents the main form of course assessment. The course topics are derived from a student needs analysis, which is negotiated between the teacher and the students. Class topics are identified from a broad list of intercultural issues affecting Australia and Japan, which are considered to be of interest and importance to university students. In the 2009 academic year, nine topics were selected, which were as follows: education and tourism; business and the environment; aboriginal

issues - land rights; aboriginal issues - assimilation; Australian icons - Ned Kelly; defense issues; sport and society; music and society; and whaling.

3 issues - land rights; aboriginal issues - assimilation; Australian icons - Ned Kelly; defense issues; sport and society; music and society; and whaling. What follows represents a summary of the main points covered in each topic, as well as feedback from the students based on their presentations. Education and tourism represent two of Australia s biggest industries. While data from the Australian tourism industry indicates that the number of tourists from Japan has fallen in recent years, Japanese tourists still represent one of Australia s biggest inbound groups. The critical question discussed by the students in this topic was: Why is Australia popular for Japanese tourists? Based on feedback from student presentations, the main reasons given were summarized as follows: unique nature, both flora and fauna; the size of the country; nice weather; relaxed lifestyle; beaches; water sports; similar time zone; English-speaking country; studying English; fairly inexpensive; and opposite seasons. Though education was not stressed, mention was also made of the many exchanges and relationships between Japanese and Australian schools, particularly in the area of home stay programs, as well as the fact that Australia currently has six universities in the world s top fifty. The topic of business and the environment focused on the interconnected issue of exporting coal (from Australia to Japan) and global warming. Students were asked to discuss the following critical question: Should Australia continue to export coal? Most students were unaware that Australia is one of the world s biggest exporters of coal, much of which is bought by Japan. It is also a contentious issue, as many scientists believe the use of coal as an energy source contributes to global warming. Following data supplied by the teacher, student opinions seem to be split fairly evenly about this issue. Students cited that Japan is in part dependent on this type of energy source, thus arguing that Australia should continue to export coal. However, others cited the effects on the environment, stating that the export of c o a l s h o u l d e i t h e r b e b a n n e d i n f a v o r o f a n a l t e r n a t i v e energy source, or at least be restricted. Topics on A b o r i g i n a l i s s u e s a r e u s u a l l y popular in the course. While students knowledge of Aboriginal issues is quite low, interest in them seems to be high. The first critical question discussed was: Should Australia give more land back to the Aboriginal people? Following some background information by the teacher, which focused on ancient Aboriginal history through to the first European settlement, through to the situation in Australia today, students analyzed a song from the 1980 s Australian rock band, Midnight Oil (the vocalist of which was Peter Garrett, the current Environment Minister). The song, Beds Are Burning, focuses on the issue of Aboriginal land rights. A comparison was then drawn between the Aboriginal land rights issue in Australia and the Ainu land rights issue in Japan, highlighting many similarities between the two groups, as well as other native people around the world. While many argued that it was too late, most students felt that the land was forcibly and illegally taken from the Aboriginals, and therefore more land should be given back, both to the Aboriginals in Australia and the Ainu in Japan. The second critical question to be discussed on Aboriginal issues concerned the Stolen Generation, when many Aboriginal children were forcibly removed by the Australian government from their Aboriginal parents, under the policy of assimilation. The question

4 to be discussed was: Was the policy of assimilation wrong? Following an explanation of the policy and the main pros and cons, including the issue of eugenics, students analyzed a segment from the critically acclaimed Australian movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, which deals with this issue. After this, comparisons between the Aboriginal situation and that of the Ainu were again drawn, highlighting many similarities on this issue between the two. Finally, the vast majority of students agreed the policy of assimilation was wrong, not just in Australia, but in Japan and other countries where it existed, and that the Australian government was right to apologize to the Aboriginal people. The next topic focused on raising an awareness of one of Australia s cultural icons. Ned Kelly was chosen partly because of his influence and popularity in Australian culture, and partly because he is not well known in Japan. In addition to this, the topic was chosen to expose students to an Australian movie, and to showcase some of Australia s most popular Hollywood stars. While actors such as Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts and Geoffrey Rush (the stars of the most recent movie of Ned Kelly) are well known internationally, as well as stars such as Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Mel Gibson, and Cate Blanchett, most students were not aware that they are all Australian. The critical question was: Was Ned Kelly a hero or murderer? After some background information was presented, the students watched and analyzed the movie over two lessons, assisted by Japanese subtitles. Based on student presentations, the majority thought Ned Kelly was a hero, and that he only acted in self defense or was forced into being an outlaw due to police harassment. On the topic of defense, most students were unaware that Australia and Japan have recently developed a joint military agreement, the first for Japan outside of its alliance with the USA, and that as democratic and developed countries, both play an important role in the stability and development of the Asia Pacific region. It was pointed out that Australia has always supported its traditional allies, such as Britain and the USA, with militarily support when it has been required. However Japan s assistance has been restricted to financial and humanitarian aid, due largely to its constitution. The critical question was then asked: Should Australia support its allies in foreign wars? Opinions on this issue seemed to be split, perhaps reflecting Japan s pacifist constitution. Some students felt that wars do not bring peace, and only create antagonism with Australia s neighbors, such as Indonesia, who come to view Australia as America s puppy dog in Asia. Others cited the threat of terrorism and the need to support its allies in the war on terrorism, some also citing that Japan should change its constitution and take a greater military role in the world today. Australia s recent inclusion in the Asian sporting zone boosted students interest in Australian sport. However, beyond the recent rivalry established in soccer, most students were unaware of traditional Australian sports and how they reflect Australian society. With this in mind, the critical question asked of students in this topic was: How does Australian sport reflect Australian society? To facilitate this, students were shown some popular Australian sports, which were compared to popular sports in Japan. Students were then asked to place the Australian sports into groups that illustrated their connection to Australian society. The four groups were as follows: English influence - rugby, cricket; Irish influence - Australian football (AFL); Immigrant / Multicultural influence - soccer; Weather and Lifestyles surfing, swimming, tennis, golf. This exercise illustrated how Australian sport is connected to Australian society. Based on student feedback, students enjoyed examining various unfamiliar Australian sports, such as cricket and Australian football, and discovering their relation to Australian history and culture. When asked, most students were not aware of any Australian pop music artists. Even though many of

5 the bands and singers such as ACDC, Jet and Kylie Minogue are well known internationally, students did not realize they are Australian. Initially, students were given a brief history of Australian popular music from the 1970s to the present. Students were then asked the critical question: How is Australian music connected to Australian society? Students watched a selection of internationally acclaimed Australian pop artists, and were then asked to group them according to the decade and their social influence. The task was as follows: 1970s - ACDC (Anti-social / rebels); 1980s - Midnight Oil, INXS (Hippie / drug culture & the environment); 1990s - Kylie Minogue, Savage Garden (Feel good, pro-american music); 2000s - Jet, Wolfmother (Garage rock and Australian identity). This exercise illustrated how Australian music is connected to Australian society. Students found the topic interesting and comments centered on how Australian pop music seemed more political than that of Japan. The last topic of the course dealt with the issue of whaling. Based on a class survey, most students indicated that they usually did not eat whale meat and, in general, did not particularly like it. Following this, some brief background to the issue was presented, including the main pros and cons to both commercial whaling and Japan s scientific whaling program, which Australia strongly opposes. Students then analyzed some segments from documentaries and TV news, highlighting the main pros and cons of scientific whaling. The students were then asked the critical question: Should Japan s scientific whaling program be stopped? Surprisingly, the vast majority of students argued that it should, in addition to commercial whaling, and that it was not necessary to kill whales for scientific research. Based on an end-of-course review, student feedback from the course was mostly positive. The comments revolved around the fact that most students knew very little about Australia. Most agreed that while there are many differences between Australia and Japan, there are also many similarities that they were previously unaware of. Most agreed that having some knowledge of Australia was not only useful for them, but also important for the future of Japan in the Asia Pacific

„h‹¤.05.07

„h‹¤.05.07 Japanese Civilian Control in the Cold War Era Takeo MIYAMOTO In European and American democratic countries, the predominance of politics over military, i.e. civilian control, has been assumed as an axiom.