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 The
education we provide here at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies is
aimed primarily at cultivating graduates eminently qualified to make
a positive contribution to a rapidly-globalizing society. In order to
do this, our students need two things: the first is the ability to acquire
wider and deeper knowledge from the languages, cultures and societies
of other countries, and to master the communication skills needed in
order to function fully in those societies. The second is to possess
knowledge and practical skills which enable them to make a positive contribution
to foreign societies: after all, meaningful dialog is only possible when
one party has information that is useful to the other. The first step
towards obtaining a real ability to perform in a cosmopolitan society,
it could be argued, is to take a deep interest in foreign countries,
and to re-evaluate the culture that has helped to form one's own identity.
Providing an education optimized to the abilities, disposition and ambitions
of the individual student is, I believe, of primary importance in any
educational endeavor. The abilities of our students are built on the
foundation of the Japanese language they now use every day, and the climate
and culture of the locality that is now their familiar home ground. In
order to learn foreign languages successfully, they need to raise their
own cultural awareness. The training needed to reinforce their native
capabilities and empower them to build on this foundation, amassing knowledge
that will be useful to others, begins in our Basic Seminar class.
The ability to use words with a sense of purpose is also vital. The linguistic
capacities acquired at this university by the time of graduation boil
down to the ability to debate, and the ability to spur on one's interlocutors.
On conventional language programs, students are not required to put their
own thoughts into words. Answering the teachers' questions is enough.
In the real world, however, this is not enough; it is vital that students
also have the courage to confront problems squarely, and the mettle to
be of real service to society. These qualities require self-confidence.
An excellent way to acquire self-confidence is by being active. With
this end in mind, our Power Up Tutorial program offers a firm grounding
in communication skills: students interact with people from other countries,
gaining an understanding of foreign cultures and experiencing the reality
of cross-cultural exchange and harmonious coexistence.
When it comes to re-evaluating one's own world-view, few experiences
can be more useful than that of venturing outside Japan into the wider
world. This is the thinking behind NUFS' plan to expand our study-abroad
program even further, extending the period of overseas study to two years.
We feel that conventional language teaching in Japan invariably places
too much emphasis on passive learning: a constructive attitude can never
thrive in such an environment. The proactive mind-set essential to anyone
truly useful to society will never be engendered through this approach.
However, we are confident that our new study-abroad program will produce
outgoing, articulate graduates, able to take the conversational initiative
and express their own ideas to the world at large. This new system represents
a pioneering move which NUFS is ideally placed to make.
Conversation is only possible when one reflects on one's life, empathizes
with others, and feels their pain. Otherwise real communication is impossible.
Bearing this in mind, NUFS is resolved to lavish even more careful effort
and spend even more time on each individual student. That way, we will
produce graduates capable of expressing themselves with conviction and
skill in the global community.
The practice of inviting foreign academics to teach
and learn at one's own institution is another important pillar of university
teaching and research. Here at NUFS, our 106 visiting professors collectively
make up 13% of our total staff. Giving our students the opportunity to
learn foreign languages and cultures at first hand (firsthand) from these
visiting professors is our starting point in terms of instilling the
wherewithal to cope with internationalization. To date, NUFS has drawn
up university exchange agreements with 45 partner institutions in 11
countries. Under these agreements, foreign students enter our Japanese
Language and Japanese Studies program, located principally at the Japanese
Language Institute. Featuring a wide range of educational activities,
this program treats each student as a unique individual; much care and
attention is taken in tailoring each student's course of studies to the
career he or she is planning to follow later in his or her home country.
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