投　稿

TEACHING MASS MEDIA WRITING WITH INTERNET RESOURCES

インターネットを利用したマスメディア表現法教育について

アブストラクト

1. インターネット上のWebブラウザをいかに利用するかを学生に示す。
2. 全世界に散在しているニュースのWebサイトの探索を通して、マスメディアにおける表現法を学生に示す。
3. 事実に関する客観的な、あるいは社説、個人的なコラムなどの主観的な表現スタイルと、それらの間にある表現手法上の差異を教授する。
4. 学生の日常性の中にある行事などに関するレポートを提出させる。

1. Introduction

• show the students how to use a web browser on the Internet;
• introduce mass media writing style through exploration of newspaper websites around the world;
• teach the difference between objective and subjective writing for the mass media; and
• have the students report on events in their own communities in objective (news writing) as well as in subjective (editorial, personal column) styles.

2. Teaching Techniques

　Our first task was to assess the skill level of the students. At the time our course began, most students did not have computers in their homes and had never been exposed to computers at all. Since many of the students were also simultaneously being exposed to an all-English environment for the first time, we chose simple but fun exercises to introduce them to Internet navigation.

(2)Site restrictions

　Second, we took steps to ensure that the students would not be exposed to any area of the Internet that might bring embarrassment to Baiko University.

(3)Working in groups

　We discovered that students work best in groups as opposed to working alone. Teaching the Internet also works best initially when students work in groups. We found that some students are more skilled at computers, and others may know the English language better than others. This disparity makes group activity more conducive for sharing knowledge.

3. Using the Internet

　Internet terms such as "URL" and “hyperlinks" were explained with at least two classes. One class exercise led the students to an Internet glossary (www.squareonetech.com) where they could look up essential terms like WWW, http, html, home page, link, hyperlink, URL, and page. The students filled out worksheets with these definitions, which they could then take home and study.

(2)Search Engines

　The search engine is a quick way to access huge amounts of informational data available on the Internet. We did several drills to teach students how to find information on any topic on the Internet. In one exercise, the class was divided into teams, and each team chose a name for themselves, such as “The Koala Bears." We then had a contest to see which team could most quickly find specific bits of information, such as the birthplace of the American actor Brad Pitt, or the middle name of the American president, using only their search buttons. As each team finished a question, we handed the team's members the next question and then kept a running tally of team results on the blackboard. With a class size of more than forty students, we found that researching the Internet works quicker when all of the students are not at the same web site. So we began each team with a different question and then rotated the questions as the answers were handed in.

4. Peripheral Activities

　A big hit of the of the class was when we allowed each student to establish her own E-mail account. We chose Microsoft Hotmail accounts for our class. Although there are several free E-mail sites, we found that Hotmail was the simplest one for students to sign up for. Having their own E-mail accounts also permitted the students to communicate with us during the week if they had questions about their assignments. But they also enjoyed being able to communicate instantly with foreign friends around the world.

(2)Electronic greeting Cards

　Under the umbrella that greeting cards are a form of mass media, we taught the students how to send electronic greeting cards. This proved to be one of the most enjoyable exercises for them

5. Exposure to Mass Media Sites on the Net

　Numerous mass media web sites are available on the Internet. We have found that CNN seems to be the most comprehensive media site.
　In addition, we also showed students how to find any newspaper in the world, such as in London or Australia, as well as small newspaper sites. By comparing the organization of a small newspaper with that of a large corporation such as CNN, students could see the common elements of all mass media sites on the Internet: news, features, advertising, sports, editorials, etc.
　One of the benefits of introducing students to these newspaper sites was emphasized in the students' evaluation comments at the end of the course. Many of them said they had never regularly read a newspaper before, but they had now become interested in reading the newspaper daily. Others said that reading the newspapers in English had strengthened their command of English. Most were pleased that they now knew how to find news from any part of the world.

(2)Show business sites

　Since the students appeared to be interested in movies, we took them to several movie business sites where they could view articles on the latest movies and even upcoming movies. One of these sites was Disney(http://www.disney.com), which was of particular interest to students.

6. Learning to Write in a Journalistic Style

　Gradually the students grasped the concept that objective writing consists of facts only, whereas subjective writing includes opinions.
　After giving students preliminary instruction on the“5 W's"(Who, What, When, Where, Why and How Many) of newspaper writing, the students were sent to Cable News Network (http://cnn.com/) where they explored categories of world news, politics, health, environment, and show business. They each selected nine stories and then filled out worksheets to answer the “who, what, when, where, why, how many" of each story. This exercise made them quickly familiar with objective reporting and the inverted pyramid" (most important facts first) style of news writing.
　To underscore the meaning and importance of attribution in news stories, we used our instructional monitors and clicked to several news stories on the Internet, highlighting quotations with attribution. Students could soon grasp that attribution means naming the source, in forms such as “he said" or “according to."
　In their own writing exercises, which came only after the students had been thoroughly exposed to news stories at the websites of small, medium and large newspapers on the Internet, students were assigned to interview each other.
　The students also reported on cultural events in their hometowns during the year. Using a digital camera and instructional monitors placed between every two students, we “edited" their stories in front of them, just as an ditor would mark a reporter's copy. We had further exercises on tightening their writing into the streamlined style of mass media writing.

(2) Subjective Writing

　In teaching about subjective styles of writing, we led the students to the editorial pages and personal opinion columns of several newspaper websites. Thanks to the historical resources of the Internet, we could expose the students to some of the most famous editorials of all time, including the famed“Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus"editorial published in The New York Sun in 1897 (http://texnews.com/1998/opinion/santa1224.html). The students also looked at personal opinion columns at both small and large newspapers throughout the world.

7. Conclusion

　The year's final assignment was to report and write on “Coming of Age Day" in Japan both in objective and subjective styles. Thus, students had to write two articles about one event. Students had to demonstrate that they could objectively report a story (facts only), and that they could also write a personal column or editorial (opinion) about the same event. Most students successfully reported objective details of specific Coming of Age events at their respective city halls, telling how many people had attended, when and where the event had been held, who had spoken, any unusual circumstances, and interesting remarks quoted from spectators. The same students also wrote second subjective stories, most of them personal reminiscences about the meaning of Coming of Age Day in their own lives; some of them, however, editorialized against the loud and rude behavior of participants. By their successful completion of the two-part assignment, it was clear that most students understood the difference between objective and subjective reporting. The most important thing is that, by the end of the year, students were writing in a crisp, near-professional style, not too far removed from the web sites they had studied firsthand.
　In their evaluations of the class at the end of the year, most students admitted that the English-only atmosphere had been difficult in the beginning, but nearly all enthusiastically endorsed the approach by the end of the year. As one student, Yoko Sasaki, stated, “It was my first time to access the Internet, so learning it in English was harder than in Japanese. As a result, it was of great benefit to me. Because the Internet terms are always in English. So learning it in English helped me to understand them earlier. And now I can access the Internet by myself and get a lot of information."

(2)Ever-changing Media

　The world of Internet is an ever-changing media. It is not like a textbook that never changes with the passage of years. The Internet is a fluid textbook. A teacher must be up-to-date on each web site. Some of the sites we utilized during the beginning of our class are not in existence now or have changed their appearance. Careful research is required at the start of each class. We often had to make last-minute decisions on what to teach because of the quickness of changes to Media Web pages that we were utilizing. Also, what worked today may not work next week. We realize that last-minute preparations for mass media classes are often not easy, but that is just the nature of the Internet. Internet is a fast-paced world; and constant access time is a must for keeping abreast of the changes. One thing is certain, however: exposure to the Internet improves students' language and writing skills.