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The Language Teacher | |
Many college students in Japan are curious about AIDS, yet they may not have accurate facts about the disease. Many do not know how it is transmitted, how to protect themselves from it, nor how and where to get information about AIDS. Even in the United States, where AIDS is "the leading killer of men aged 20 to 50 in New York City and San Francisco" (Jennings, 1988, p. 2), fear and misinformation abound. Despite extensive press and media coverage of AIDS for over a decade in the U.S., "extremely few individuals have a grasp of the essential facts. Moreover, even fewer individuals know how these facts relate to their well-being or degree of personal risk" (Jennings, 1988, p. vii). Education can be a powerful factor in lessening fear and hysteria, generating compassion for people with AIDS, and disseminating accurate information (Jennings, 1988, p. 151). In the foreign language classroom in Japan there are several pedagogical reasons for incorporating a student-centered project based on the theme of AIDS. First of all, content-based language instruction can increase student motivation, provide a focus on the message being conveyed rather than the form, and can give students opportunities to use language in a meaningful way (Snow, 1991, p. 3). Here content-based instruction is defined in its broad sense meaning to use "subject matter for language teaching purposes . . . [including] topics or themes selected for student interest or need" (Snow, 1991, p. 3). This methodology is in line with Krashen's (1984) theory of providing comprehensible input for learners and with Swain's (1985) position that students also need opportunities to produce meaningful language. The theme-based model of content-based instruction works particularly well in colleges and universities due to students' diverse interests and language backgrounds (Snow, 1991, p. 4). AIDS is an appropriate theme for a content-based lesson primarily because it is an issue of global import. Jennings describes it as a "disease that will affect, directly or indirectly, virtually every living person in the world. Beyond being a disease, AIDS is a social force of major historical importance. Worldwide, AIDS will leave its mark on law, education, medicine, science, and social behavior" (Jennings, 1988, p. vii). Global education "aims at enabling students to effectively acquire and use a foreign language while empowering them with the knowledge, skills and commitment required by world citizens for the solution of global problems" (Cates, 1995, p. 24). Thus, AIDS education can be a way to broaden students' language focus, kindle their enthusiasm for learning, and help develop problem solving and critical thinking skills. The ProjectEager to teach my students about an important subject, and interested myself in AIDS, I decided to do an AIDS project. I opted to follow the theme-based model of content language instruction in which the "ESL/EFL teacher extracts language activities which follow naturally from the content material" (Snow, 1991, p. 4). This project was broken down into several parts. a) First of all, I wrote the word AIDS on the board and described what each of the letters stood for (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). I did the same for HIV (Human Immunodefiency Virus). Other than that I did not define terms, preferring to let the students do research for themselves. b) The students then began brainstorming in small groups to formulate questions about AIDS. Such questions included:
c) Subsequently, a list of all of these questions was compiled and each group chose two questions to research. They had to go to the library and gather research on their own. Students were able to collect data from both Japanese and English sources, but their findings had to be presented in English. They were given some class time in which to accomplish this task. Pamphlets on AIDS acquired from a local health office and printed in both Japanese and English were also made available to the students as a starting point for their investigation. d) Upon completing their research, each group had to present a report to the class using a visual aid. Posters were created in this case, though the students were not limited to that. Each group took pride in making their posters and constructed them with care and ingenuity. The posters were later displayed on campus. Having such colorful and visually graphic posters on display generated further interest from other teachers and students alike. e) The presentations were videotaped in order to help the students become aware of and improve upon their presentation skills, such as making eye contact and speaking loudly and clearly. The presenters asked the audience (their classmates) questions to ensure that the students a) understood the material and b) were paying attention. This was not always a successful device as some students were worried about their own presentations or felt shy about answering a question with the video camera pointed at them. A good tactic here would be to turn the video camera off after the presentation and allow the students to interact freely in the question and answer period. Pedagogical ConsiderationsThis type of "content-enriched" approach (Snow, 1991, p. 4) dovetails nicely with cooperative learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1994, pp. 4-7) as can be seen in the following definition: "Formal cooperative learning is students working together, for one class period to several weeks, to achieve shared learning goals and jointly complete specific tasks and assignments" (Johnson & Johnson, 1994, p. 4). The cooperative learning environment tends to increase students' efforts to achieve, to foster more positive relationships among students, and to promote confidence and self-esteem. (Johnson & Johnson, 1994, pp. 6-7). Moreover, when dealing with a subject such as AIDS, which can be both controversial and sensitive, it can help students to develop tolerance for differing opinions and patience with one another. It is essential, however, to stress the necessity of a safe and nonthreatening learning environment for a topic such as AIDS which evokes "deep-seated images in almost anyone" (Ellison & Duesberg, 1994, p. v). As Stevick (1980) has pointed out, "The preservation of self-image is the first law of psychological survival" (p. 7). While many teachers enjoy teaching about global issues1 and as such do not avoid topics which can be seen as "too controversial" (Cates, 1994), the teacher should help the students focus on the positive nature of the task rather than the negatives (Moskowitz, 1978, p. 25). Although AIDS is a global issue, it can affect students on a personal level so sensitivity on the part of both the teacher and the students needs to be maintained. This can be done by setting down some ground rules in terms of how the groups will function. Moskowitz provides a few examples regarding the use of humanistic activities which could also be appropriate in this case, such as:
Moreover, the teacher can set the climate for positive interaction by modeling that which he or she wishes to convey (Moskowitz, 1978, p. 230) and by creating a climate of openness and trust. Teaching group communication skills such as discussion, problem-solving, and other tasks, and good group behaviors such as negotiating, disagreeing, clarifying, responding, and listening (Herreman, 1988, p. 9) can make the cooperative learning process much more effective. After all, there are many ways in which group work can go wrong (Johnson & Johnson, 1994, p. 5) and this can be heightened with a sensitive issue such as AIDS. Establishing a solid foundation for group work and cooperative learning by incorporating Johnson & Johnson's (1994, p. 6) five essential elements (positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, social skills, and group processing) prior to introducing this task would be a good idea. A teacher need not fear teaching about AIDS, however, as one learns by doing. As with any lesson plan, trial and error leads to improvement and a finer lesson. Student feedback is very helpful. Sharing information, techniques, and knowledge with other educators who are interested in the same subject can also be rewarding and beneficial. Having knowledge of the basic facts in addition to keeping abreast of developments in AIDS scientific research can increase confidence on the teacher's part.2 Follow-upThe goal of the project described herein was to help students discover for themselves facts about AIDS. While some of them came up with misinformation or they misinterpreted the facts, doing research on their own provided other rewards. For example, some students interviewed other students on campus to obtain survey results, as in the case of such questions as, "What should we do if our friend suffers from AIDS?" and "How would you treat someone with AIDS?" This provided a good opportunity to share information about AIDS with others and to find out what they thought about it. It also provided a venue for bringing AIDS up for discussion outside of the classroom environment. As a result of this project, the students realized how difficult it is to get statistics on the number of AIDS cases and the number of AIDS victims in Japan. The excuse they were given was that the privacy of individuals with AIDS was being protected. The students recognized the fallacy of this argument immediately because they were not asking for individual names nor did they want to expose anyone publicly. This led them to a new problem: access to information and how that information should be disseminated when public health is the issue. Thus, the students' language and critical thinking skills were being developed while they discussed meaningful issues (Krashen, 1987). In the end, embarking upon such a project, while challenging, has rewards encompassing improved linguistic and presentation skills, a better rapport with one another, and a greater understanding of an issue of global and personal significance. It is hoped that all those involved were able to keep an open mind and to increase their sense of compassion. The film, We Bring a Quilt, about a display of the AIDS quilt in Washington DC, was shown as a follow-up to this project.
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