Established in 1964, Dokkyo University carries on the tradition of foreign language education and international exchange created by the Doitsu-gaku Kyōkai Gakkō (German Association School). It was founded in 1883 with the aim of nurturing individuals, enabling them to contribute to Japan's modernization and internationalization through the study of German culture and academic fields including law, politics and economics, medicine, and science.
With a founding philosophy of "A university is an institution where character is developed through learning,” Dokkyo University today has approximately 8,400 students enrolled. In its foreign language education, the university emphasizes three pillars: (1) developing practical language proficiency, (2) acquiring specialized knowledge of the relevant country or region, and (3) nurturing individuals with a global perspective through the combination of language skills and specialized knowledge.
We asked Takayuki Nagano, Professor of International Relations and the Dean of the Graduate School of Foreign Languages at Dokkyo, about how he uses Nikkei Asia in his classes and the benefits he gains from it.
— How did you come to subscribe to Nikkei Asia?
My speciality is in international relations, mostly Australian diplomacy, so I’ve been subscribing to Nikkei (the Japanese edition) when it comes to newspapers. This is because Nikkei is the only major Japanese newspaper with correspondents in Sydney. This is most important in gaining live, on-the-ground information. That led me to reading Nikkei Asia more often as it also has articles written by locally hired journalists. And eventually I took up a subscription a few years ago.
One cannot discuss Australia’s diplomacy and security without raising economic matters. The nation is rich in resources, and economic security is one important theme. Australia also has deep relationships with neighboring Asian nations. Because of that, information regarding Southeast Asia on Nikkei Asia has become very important for me.
— What are some topics you raise in your classes from Nikkei Asia?
In language courses I don’t limit the topics to Australia, and take on a wide variety of topics such as refugees in Asia or issues that relate to foreign students. We also tackle subjects like the environment and the use of nuclear energy. I generally look for an article to use in a class in the coming week, or two weeks ahead, and when I find something interesting, I distribute it to the students to work on. Separately, in an entry-level international relations class, I recommend that they read Nikkei Asia.
I’m more of an expert on economics, politics or diplomacy, and security matters so we do tend to get into those topics in classes more often. But students often react more to somewhat “softer” themes, like climate change or students studying abroad. Because I belong to the Department of Tourism and Transnational Studies (which is a part of the Faculty of Foreign Languages), tourism is another keyword. Students have a strong interest in movement of people, from tourism in Australia to issues regarding immigrants and refugees.
— How do you proceed with your classes using Nikkei Asia?
Usually, I would distribute a Nikkei Asia article to the class a week ahead and ask them to read through it. What’s different from the old days is that students won’t look up vocabulary in a dictionary and translate word for word. They won’t do that because we’re in an AI era. Instead, I take advantage of the situation and tell the students, “you can let an AI translate the story but please work to fully understand the content of it.” If there are translated words or topics they don’t understand, I will ask them to look them up, and if there are particular parts the students are interested in, I ask them to do some research on that as well.
Once the students are in this phase, we can then discuss more deeply and ask, “why was this article written?” or “what is this story trying to tell?” or even “what’s behind all this?” We add additional materials as we go along to explain the articles we pick up so we can read between the lines. It’s actually more fun to teach that way than to talk about the details of English grammar. I feel it is more beneficial for students to think about “why is this happening” or “why is this commentary being made?” We can thank AI for that.
— Why do you use Nikkei Asia in classes, and not other English news media?
It is easier to read. I feel that Nikkei Asia does not use too much complicated vocabulary. Also, I think there is an advantage in being able to look across a variety of themes around the globe. Published stories cover topics including society, economy, culture, and politics – so you can see that the problems are linked in an interdisciplinary way. I can then complement them by adding historical background and context. That really comes in handy.
Another reason is that, generally speaking, students who are willing to learn English aren’t always interested in Asia. They tend to look to Western nations. But I want them to have greater interest in Asia, because in reality, Asia is important. It is valuable that you can read detailed analysis with Asian perspectives which embrace the Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific.
Although I haven’t yet used it in class, I am looking forward to employing Nikkei Asia's text-to-speech function. For example, I can use that before I start explaining an article. I feel that, for language students, hearing the story out loud is also important.
* The titles in this article refer to positions held at the time of the interview.
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