Fenster - What Can You See from the Window? | Ikumi Waragai, Assistant to the Dean / Professor, Faculty of Policy Management
2021.09.21
Language is like a "window." Just as a different window reveals a different view, learning a new language allows you to see landscapes you never knew existed. Even without reaching the C1 or B2 level (Note 1), just a little study can surprisingly broaden your horizons. The range of unfamiliar ways of thinking and perspectives expands dramatically.
The Language and Communication Courses offered at SFC cover 11 different languages. When you include the native languages of our international students, there are well over 20 languages spoken on campus. I believe the SFC campus, located in the Shonan area, is a microcosm of a multilingual and multicultural society. Since these courses are both compulsory and a requirement for advancing to the next grade, all students are required to take some form of language course.
Many people have probably had that "aha" moment while learning a foreign language: "Wow, so that's how they think in XX language." When languages differ, the thoughts and cultural backgrounds they represent naturally differ as well. To know (or learn) a language other than your native tongue is to understand another's perspective. I don't believe this will ever change, no matter how advanced AI-powered automatic translation becomes.
Come to think of it, project-based group work in class becomes a gathering of students, each with their own different "window." Through discussion, they become aware of the views from others' "windows" that they never knew. This fosters a recognition that "this kind of logic exists, too," leading them to relativize and reflect on their own "window." A plurilingual and pluricultural society is one where every individual can recognize such diversity. I believe a microcosm of this can be found right here on the SFC campus.
The online campus life brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has entered its second year. It is now commonplace to connect with research and educational institutions around the world for guest lectures without hesitation, and to attend international conferences and symposia with a single click. The multilingual society is expanding right before our eyes, sharing a common cyberspace. The problem-finding and problem-solving challenges that students will face are likely to become increasingly complex in the future.
The new semester is just around the corner. I hope everyone comes to recognize that taking the Language and Communication Courses can be the "window" that helps students cultivate a flexible and broad perspective.
Note 1) The evaluation criteria for foreign language proficiency defined by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment). Levels are divided into A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2, from beginner to advanced.
Figure 1: View from a window at the guesthouse of the University of Bonn, Germany (photo by the author).
Figure 2: View from a window of the Bauhaus building in Dessau, Germany (ibid.).
Figure 3: View from a window of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany (ibid.).