Photo By Yoshie Makiyama | Participants pose for a commemorative photo at the end of the English Day Camp for...... read more read more
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Mutual understanding between two societies with different languages is not something that can be achieved overnight. Even small activities may require careful preparation, but even more so for longer and more complex activities.
The role of the community relations specialists is crucial, and over decades they have strived to build bridges and promote mutual understanding between the local communities and the Marine Corps.
An example of this was English Day Camp for elementary school children held at the Nago City Youth Center on Feb. 5 and 18. The event had been held annually for eight years until the spring of 2020, when all activities, both on and off base, were suspended due to the pandemic.
Launch of English Day Camp
According to Fumio Iha, community relations specialist for Camp Schwab, he and Marine Corps volunteers have been visiting local kindergartens since 2002 to teach the children the fun of coming into contact with everyday English, not textbook English. However, he was worried that they would forget what they learned after kindergarten.
“Even if the children became accustomed to English, once they entered elementary school, their next exposure to English would be in junior high school because the English class was not mandatory," said Iha. “The six-year gap was huge."
The first day camp was initiated in 2013 at the request of the Nago City Superintendent of Education, who asked Camp Schwab for the efforts to continue English activities, according to Iha.
The event was named the Nago City English Day Camp and scheduled for two separate days. It was first open to elementary and junior high school students living in Nago.
The Board of Education, English Education Development Organization, assistant language teachers, who are non-Japanese serve as assistant teachers in Japanese classrooms, and service members from Camp Schwab have worked together to create a place where students can become familiar with English.
This year's day camps
This year, about 40 students, from first to third grade, participated on Feb. 5, and 30 students, from fourth to sixth grade, participated on Feb. 18.
"One of the goals set by the Nago City Board of Education is to 'enable students to communicate actively on their own initiative’. It is important to give them opportunities to interact," said Shoko Chiba of the Board of Education.
At the Feb. 18 day camp, 10 service members from Camp Schwab and two ALTs volunteered as English speakers.
Icebreaker
The day camp started with individuals making their own name tags. Children in this age group can write their names in Roman characters with ease. The group with volunteers who participated in the day camp before took the initiative to introduce themselves in English. On the other hand, many of the volunteers, new to interacting with local children, were distant from the students at first and were supported by the Japanese, English-speaking volunteers.
“I like the idea of being an American representative. I love to immerse myself in their culture as much as I can," said Sgt. Justin A. Kirschner, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, who also attended the event on Feb. 5. “We (have) finally overcome the COVID barrier and are reestablishing and reconnecting those community relations."
The program was similar for both the younger and older grades, with games being adjusted to match the age of the children. First, Iha played the guitar to ease the tension of the participants. They formed a big circle and did various movements to the speed of the guitar. When Iha gave out numbers to the students in English and had participants make groups with the indicated number of people, the service members became more enthusiastic and the distance between the students and the volunteers seemed to naturally shorten.
English Learning Games
After the warm-up, the students played games under the direction of the ALTs. Each group was given points on each game to compete against each other, and all group members worked together. The games were all thoughtfully played using English that the students could understand. For this group, English was not an obstacle for the games, such as colors and numbers.
"When I tried using English, the Marine volunteers were very attentive and made me feel at ease. This event gave me confidence," said Haruno Tsuhako, a fourth grader at Nago City Omiya Elementary School. Upon arriving at the event, she was afraid of making mistakes in English, but at the same time, she was determined to overcome them and move on to the next step. “The imitation game, where we had to copy and reproduce what the ALTs had secretly made, was the most fun because we were learning 'right' and 'left' in class right now.”
Snow White
The afternoon started with a theatrical play of “Snow White” performed by EEDO members. Iha led the narration in a comedic way and the children watched the play intently.
"I do it (helping the event) because I love it. I like to see the way the children relax as time goes by," said Chiaki Unuma, who played the queen. However, with three years since the last English Day Camp, she observed a difference from before, saying that she feels it is more difficult for the participants to communicate with each other because they are wearing masks and cannot see each other's facial expressions. “They are happy, but hard to see.”
After watching the play, the students and volunteers were assigned to play the dwarfs who returned to Snow White after she ate the poisoned apple. Each group was to go on stage and introduce themselves in English, including the name and characteristics of the dwarf they were playing, as well as their own favorite things. The children and the volunteers all made their own arrangements and presented, and the day camp came to a close.
“When my daughter came out of the venue, she did not look tired despite the long day, and I could tell by the atmosphere that the children had enjoyed themselves,” said the mother of Tina Higa, a fourth grader at Nago Elementary School. Higa hoped that the children will expand their circle of friends as well as their knowledge of English by participating in the English Day Camp.
Lance Cpl. Carlos M. Cabrera of the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, who participated on both days, said that some people are afraid of language and cultural barriers, but there is no need to be afraid. We are all just human beings.
言葉の違う二つの社会の相互理解は、一朝一夕でできるものではない。小さな活動においても、時には入念な準備が必要だが、長時間の、より複雑な活動においてはなおさらである。
そのような中での基地渉外官の役割は重要で、長年にわたり、相互理解の促進を促そうと、彼らは地元社会と海兵隊との架け橋になろうと努めてきた。
その活動の一つが、２月５日と18日に、沖縄県立名護青少年の家で行われた小学生英語体験学習だ。このイベントは２０１３年から、コロナ禍で全ての活動が基地内外問わず禁止される２０２０年春までの８年間、名護市教育委員会を中心に毎年行われていた。
名護市英語体験デイキャンプ発足
在沖海兵隊キャンプ・シュワブの伊波文雄渉外官は、２００２年以来、海兵隊ボランティアと共に、地域の幼稚園を訪れ、園児に英語に触れることの楽しさを伝えてきた。しかし、卒園と共にそのような機会が無くなり、学んだことを忘れてしまうのではないかと懸念していた。
「当初はまだ英語の授業は必修ではなかったので、折角、英語に慣れたとしても、小学校に入れば、次に英語に触れるのは中学生になります。６年間の空白は大きい。」
伊波渉外官によると、体験学習は、名護市教育長からキャンプ・シュワブへ英語活動を継続するために尽力してほしいとの要請により、２０１３年に開始された。
立ち上がった企画は﹁名護市英語体験デイキャンプ」と命名され、２日間に分けて開催されることとなった。発足時は市内在住の小学生から中学生までを対象にしたものだった。
名護市教育委員会と、ＮＰＯ英語教育開発協会(ＥＥＤＯ)、市の外国語指導助手（ＡＬＴ）、キャンプ・シュワブの海兵隊員らが協力して生徒達が英語に親しめる空間を作ってきた。
今年のデイキャンプ
今年は、２月５日に小学１年生から３年生までの約40名、18日に４年生から６年生、30名が参加。
﹁名護市教育員会が掲げる目標の一つに『自ら積極的にコミュニケーションをとることができる』というものがあります。交流の機会を与えることが大切です」と、市教育委員会の千葉晶子さんは話す。
小学４年生以上の部の18日は、英語を話すボランティアとして海兵隊からは10名、また教育委員会からはＡＬＴの２名が参加した。
雰囲気作り
デイキャンプは名札作りから始まった。小学４年生以上となると、自分の名前をローマ字で書くことなどお手のもの。３年生以下のデイキャンプにも参加した隊員ボランティアがいるグループは自主的に自己紹介を自国語で試みる光景が見られた。一方、実際に地元の子どもたちと接するのが初めてのボランティアは、最初は子どもたちと距離があり、日本人通訳ボランティアによってサポートがなされていた。
「私は自分が一米国人の代表であるという考えが好きです。できるだけ地元の文化に浸りたいのです」と話すのは、５日の低学年の部にも参加した第３偵察中隊ジャスティン・カーシュナー三等軍曹。「私たちはようやくコロナの壁を乗り越え、そうした地域との関係を再構築し、再び結びつけようとしているのです。」
プログラムは基本、３年生以下の部も４年生以上の部も両日同じ。ゲーム等の内容が児童の年に合わせレベルアップすることはある。まずは、伊波渉外官がギターを弾き、参加者の緊張をほぐす。参加者全員で大きな輪になり、ギターのテンポに合わせて様々に動きながら、渉外官の英語での指示に従ってグループを作る時は、隊員ボランティアがより白熱。自然と生徒と隊員らの距離が縮まっていくようだった。
英語学習ゲーム
ウォームアップの後は、ＡＬＴの指示のもとゲームに挑戦。グループ毎に得点が加算されるため、ここでも自ずとチームプレーが見られた。ゲームは全て生徒が理解できる英語を使った考えられた遊びだ。このグループにとって、ゲームで必要とされる色や数を表す英語は障害にはならない。
﹁（英語で会話を）やってみたら、（海兵隊ボランティアが）丁寧に教えてくれて安心しました。自信が付きました」と話すのは、名護市立大宮小学校４年生の津波古遥望さん。到着時、英語を間違えることを恐れていたが、同時にそれを克服して次への糧にすると意気込みを語ったいた。「ＡＬＴの先生が作ったものを見て、チームに持ち帰って再現するという模倣ゲームが、ちょうど授業で右や左を習っていたので一番楽しかったです」と話した。
白雪姫
午後の部はＥＥＤＯのメンバーによる劇、白雪姫でスタート。伊波渉外官が面白おかしくナレーションを進め、子供たちは真剣な眼差しで劇を鑑賞した。
劇で女王役の鵜沼千秋さんは「好きだから続けています。子供たちの緊張感が時間が経つにつれて和らいでいく様子を見るのが好きです」と言う。しかし、前回の開催から３年が経過し、「マスクをしているために表情が見えないので、コミュニケーションが取りづらくなっているように感じる」と、以前との違いを指摘。「喜んでいるけれども、見えづらい」と語った。
劇の鑑賞後、今度は子供たちとボランティアが、毒リンゴを食べた白雪姫のもとに戻ってきた小人たちを演じることになった。グループごとにステージに上がり、自身が演じる小人の名前や特徴、自分の好きなものなどを英語で自己紹介することがお題。子供たちも隊員、通訳ボランティアも思い思いにアレンジして発表し、最後の日程が終了した。
名護市立名護小学校の４年生、比嘉陽花さんの母親は、「娘が会場から出てきたとき、長い一日にもかかわらず疲れた様子もなく、楽しんでいるのが雰囲気でわかりました」と話し、英語体験学習に参加したことで、英語の知識だけでなく、友達の輪を広げてくれることも期待した。
言葉の壁や文化の壁を恐れる人がいるが、恐れる必要はない。皆同じただの人間なのだから、と体験学習に両日参加した第３海兵師団第４海兵連隊所属のカルロス・Ｍ・カブレラ上等兵は言う。
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2023 19:53 |
| Story ID: | 444714 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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