ABSTRACT
I am at a loss for answers beeause world issues are not so much of a concern for my university students and homework is much neglected .... Many of my university students are unable to produce a professional looking assignment. Seldom do they read the newspaper or listen to the news to know what is going on in the world: Their concerns are limited to their personal interests and immediate environments. Their lack of enthusiasm to partieipate in controversial debates or discussions shows that young Japanese people are not weIl aware of challenging world issues such as environmental problems. At times, they remain quite oblivious to domestic issues as weIl. Further, they lack genuine interest about their future. Ambitions or dreams are limited to being finaneially comfortable .... Despite their diligent study prior to entering university, students have failed to develop effieient work habits. When a 20-year-old does not even care about producing a presentable one-page assignment for the teacher, I wonder if, in general, educators in Japan haven't been too lenient. (Leveille 1999:33)
Another colleague once stated that "A sure way to kill a eonversation with Japanese students is to ask them 'why?'" Another noted that "It is diffieult to talk to or strike up a eonversation with them beeause they are not informed about their own soeiety. They're not interested in anything." Another expressed similar sentiments: "If you dietate something to them, they take it down mechanically. They write everything you wrhe on the board, but don't see m to understand it. But onee you start asking them to relate or explain something, or give their own opinion, forget it. They just sit there. They won't do anything." Still another said that "In class, discussions are flat, there's an overabundance ofhesitation, they're diffident and apathetic." The following story, told by a non-Japanese professor, illustrates the degree of student apathy:
I onee asked a dass at a junior college what they did over the summer. When one student said she returned to her hometown of Gero, I got an idea of how to really get their attention and liven things up. Coineidentally, I had just spent two weeks there with a friend who Iives there. The town is small, and I spent days just wondering around, so I got to know the place pretty weIl. So I began to draw a map ofthe major landmarks on the board.
