Mr. Blair has a unique and solid educational background. As an undergraduate at California Institute of Technology, his formal studies focused on science, economics, and history, supplemented by a deep extracurricular interest in legal issues, politics, and Japanese culture. He studied one year of Japanese language and Japanese history in Hawaii before coming to Nagoya and embarking on his career in English education in Japan.
Over the next 14 years he devoted himself to his teaching, accumulating a wealth of practical experience in pedagogy and educational administration. Only then did he continue on to graduate school at the University of Hawaii for his studies in applied linguistics. Despite Mr. Blair's relatively recent entry into the field of academic research, he has managed to present and publish papers on a broad range of interesting topics. Allow me to cite three examples:
Linguistic Crimes: Asian Language in the Docket
At the 3rd Pan-Asian Conference on English as an Asian Language (sponsored by JALT 2001) he presented and then published in the conference proceedings a thorough review of two federal court cases in America that repealed restrictions imposed on the use of Asian languages. His description of the legal process and the language issues involved is detailed, yet concise and clear. This largely neglected area of linguistics has important implications for the current situation of cultural conflict throughout the world.
Research and Process Writing on the Internet
He has also tackled the practical issues of teaching in a detailed article in the Junior College Faculty Journal explaining one of his classes--what he teaches and how he teaches, using advanced technology to enhance his lessons. He included in it information about Aichi Gakuin University, background on his teaching situation at the junior college, and a description of the class' transformation from low to high-tech methods. A version of the paper was subsequently presented at the national JALT conference (2003) and included in its proceedings.
High School Physics Revisited: Weight and Mass from a Linguistic Point of View
Perhaps his most unique paper to date combines his academic interests in history, math, science, and linguistics to clear up confusion in standard high school explanations of the difference between "weight" and "mass".
There is no doubt that Mr. Blair will make a positive contribution to the Division of General Education both in his teaching and his far-ranging research activities.
履歴書
name: ジェフリー・ブレアー (Richard Jeffrey Blair)
home address: 米国 (但し1983から日本での永住権あり)
birthdate age: 1951年5月30日 (56歳)
current address: 名古屋市熱田区西野町1-63-2
education
1996年12月: ハワイ大学, ESL (応用言語学) 修士号取得
1978年6月: カリフォルニア工科大学, 歴史学学士号取得
1976年9月-1977年5月: ハワイ大学, 日本語に関する単位取得
1974年9月-1975年5月: ハワイ大学, 日本歴史学に関する単位取得
employment
1996年4月-現在: 愛知学院大学短期大学部専任外国人教師
1993年1月-1995年5月: ハワイパシフィック大学 EFP (英語基礎講座) 非常勤教師
1985年4月-1992年3月: 名城大学理工学部非常勤教師
1978年4月-1992年8月: 名古屋YMCA英語専門学校専任教師
academic / social activities
賞罰
教育研究業績書
classes and teaching methods
薬学の英語: 2007年-現在 Students discuss assigned medical topics in small groups and list their discussion questions in a group report, which can then be used for review or quizzes.
ライテイング: 2006年-現在 Students learn to plan their writings and to rewrite them into a clear, simple, well-organized style.
セミナー: 2002年-現在 Students study several countries and write simple academic research papers on a topic of their choice concerning a foreign country.
英会話: 2002年-現在 Students sing popular English songs grouped by theme and discuss their understanding and interpretations of those songs.
スピーキング: 1996年-現在 Students discuss assigned topics in small groups and list their discussion questions in a group report, which can then be used for review or quizzes.
リーデイング: 1996年-現在 Students order their own readers and use printed materials until the readers arrive. They begin readings in class, finish the reading and write their thoughts about it outside of class, then discuss their their thoughts in small groups in class.
歯学の英語: 1996-2003年 Students discussed assigned medical topics in small groups and listed their discussion questions in a group report, which can then be used for review or quizzes.
your own textbooks and materials
I have an extensive website of educational materials, which I am constantly expanding and updating. These materials are gathered together in folders and linked to classes schedules, which are linked in turn to a top page that includes my teaching schedule.
http://www3.agu.ac.jp/~vicks62/jeffreyb/index.html
clubs and extracurricular activities
English Music Club advisor: 2002-2006年
TOEFL exam supervisor: 1992-1998年
Entrance Exam Committee: 1992-2006年 helped write and mark AGU JC entrance exams
guest lecturer: 2003年-現在 Mito High School, Kakamigahara High School, etc.).
教育研究の業績一覧
Publications and presentations
Limits on and Consequences of Human Population Growth 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第15号 [平成19年3月]
Using Images Posted on the World Wide Web 閑花集 [平成18年3月]
Approval Voting: A Simple Solution to the Third Party Spoiler Effect 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第14号 [平成18年3月]
Spoilers and the Two-Party Myth 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第13号 [平成17年3月]
Ordering and buying books. In Bamford, J. & Day, R. R. (Eds., 2004). Extensive Reading Activities for Teaching Language [言語教育のための多読活動] , Chap. 2.13. Cambridge: Cambridge 大学出版社, pp. 44-46 [平成16年]
High School Physics Revisited: Weight and Mass from a Linguistic Point of View 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第12号 [平成16年3月]
Internet Research in the EFL Classroom. 全国語学教育学会記録, pp. 638-644 [平成16年]
Internet Research in the EFL Classroom. 全国語学教育学会で発表 [静岡市 平成15年11月23日]
Research and Process Writing on the Internet 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第11号 [平成15年3月]
The Burden of Babel in Government 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第10号 [平成14年3月]
Linguistic Crimes: Asian Language in the Docket. 第3全アジア アジアの言語として英語 学会記録, pp. 571-578 [平成14年]
Language Crimes and Other Linguistic Misbehavior. 第3全アジア アジアの言語として英語 学会 (JALT, ThaiTESOL, KoreaTESOL, and ETA-ROC with FEELTA, TESOL, and IATEFL) で発表 [小倉市 平成13年11月23日]
Repressive Laws, Language Crimes, and Other Linguistic Misbehavior 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第9号 [平成13年3月]
Fighting the Japanese Internment in Federal Court: The A.C.L.U. During World War II 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第8号 [平成12年3月]
Judicial Language Policy in the United States and Choice of Language: A Review of Federal Case Law. 第12世界応用言語学学会で発表 [東京市 平成11年8月2日]
In Opposition to the Japanese Internment: The A.C.L.U. During World War II 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第7号 [平成11年3月]
Parsing as One Component of the L2 English Interlanguage System 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第6号 [平成10年3月]
The Role of English and Other Foreign Languages in Japanese Society 愛知学院大学短期大学研究紀要 第5号 [平成9年3月]