南山の先生

学部別インデックス

その他・外国語教育センター

CAPITIN-PRINCIPE,Abigail

職名 講師
専攻分野 Library and Information Science
主要著書・論文 Book Review: Foreign Language Leaning with Digital Technology, published in ACADEMIA, Journal of the Nanzan Academic Society, Literature and Language (111), January 2022, p. 359
将来的研究分野 I am interested in the development of technology use in second language learning.
担当の授業科目 英語オーラルコミュニケーション
英語コミュニケーションスキルズ
英語ディベート

Learning to Unlearn

I was born speaking two languages, Filipino and English. My parents understood and used both languages as native speakers. However, my mother was partial to speaking in English, while my father, would almost always prefer to speak in Filipino. So, imagine a typical conversation in my house, where my parents are having a normal, every day conversation, switching between two languages. So, when I was born, this was my environment. As I grew up, before I started school, I was speaking both languages, without really knowing that they were different languages. I understood my parents, and I spoke they way they spoke.
Then I started kindergarten, in a predominantly English-speaking school. It was then that I learned that there two languages being spoken at home, not one. In retrospect, it felt like I "unlearned" rather than learned something that day. At first, it was difficult, because I grew up mixing both languages, but slowly, I learned how to use both languages separately, and now, I am back to using both languages as much as I like, with more knowledge and a better understanding of each. It made me into a better bilingual language user.
Many Japanese students have "learned" that English is difficult, that it is removed from everyday life. What I would suggest is to "unlearn" these ideas, and take a look at English in a fresh light. English is a tool for communication, it is something that people use to express ideas, to share information, and to learn things. Having an open-minded approach to learning English, might mean unlearning pre-conceived notions like "I don't like English," or "English is hard." If students are able to set-aside their "learned" aversion toward English, and try to be open, and try to use English for communication, then it is possible to "unlearn" these ideas about English. This will help students become bilingual language users. Since English is used in more countries all over the world, being bilingual is a plus factor for everyone.