Naomi: David, we're both involved in teaching English to Japanese students. How come we never talk about it?

David: Maybe it's just that we don't come here to ^*talk shop. We come to drink coffee and socialize.

Naomi: And to solve the world's problems when we can.

David: Yes, that too. But what did you want to say about teaching English?

Naomi: I want to ask your opinion. Do you believe that native speakers are the best teachers?

David: No. Native speakers have the advantages of being able to speak naturally and knowing a lot of idioms. But these abilities are only useful for students who are already proficient and want to practice what they know.

Naomi: I’ve heard that opinion before, and it's often expressed by Japanese teachers of English who know the rules of grammar but are not fluent speakers. But I disagree. I think that students need to be exposed to natural English from the beginning, so that they become accustomed to the sounds and rhythms of native speech, even if they don't understand everything they hear.

David: That's how children learn. Children and even some teenagers have this wonderful ability to pick up the pronunciation, vocabulary and rules of grammar of a language without even trying. But sadly, adults are different. They have to learn the hard way, by having things explained to them logically. And who better to give these explanations than someone who has learned the language the hard way him-or herself?

Naomi: Ah, but you are wrong. Children's language learning instincts are never lost, they are just diminished. And they can still be tapped through exposure to natural speech.

David: Yes, to some extent. Actually, we're both right, because good teachers always combine exposure to the living language with grammatical explanations.

Naomi: Whether they're native speakers or not.

David: Exactly!

• talk shop 「仕事の話をする」

• 問1 Why does David mention the way children learn English? $\fbox{21}$
  • (a) To admire the rapidity with which they memorize English words.
  • (b) To contrast adults' way of learning English with children's one.
  • (c) To support the idea that children can speak English more fluently.
  • (d) To project the number of English-speaking people in the future.
• 問2 Which of the following is the most appropriate statement about this conversation? $\fbox{22}$
  • (a) The native speakers' natural English contributes to our appropriate understandings of their culture and thoughts.
  • (b) It's most effective for adult learners of English to get used to the sounds and rhythms of native speakers.
  • (c) As we grow up, our inborn ability to learn language, especially our ability to pronounce clearly, disappears entirely.
  • (d) It's important for adult learners not only to have exposure to natural English but to its systematic explanations.

• (1) $\fbox{23}$
  • ア. Our involvement is sometimes so powerful that we have toffee it, turning our heads away when we see someone get hurt in a movie.
  • イ. However, only quite recently has it been given a name.
  • ウ. There is no denying that the exceptional　interpersonal　understanding we humans show is by and large a product of our emotional responsiveness.
  • エ. Researchers hold that this capacity emerged long before humans evolved.
  • オ. A mere hundred years ago, the word “Empathy,” a combination of the Greek “in” (em-) and “feeling” (pathos), was coined by the British psychologist E. B. Titchener during his endeavor to translate the German Einfühlungsvermöglen(“the ability to feel into”).
  • カ. We are automatically affected by other people's feelings, even without explicit communication.
  • (a) ア-ウ-エ-イ-オ-カ
  • (b) ウ-カ-ア-エ-イ-オ
  • (c) オ-エ-イ-ウ-ア-カ
  • (d) カ-ウ-ア-イ-オ-エ
• (2) $\fbox{24}$
  • ア. For example, the Tamarin monkey has a brain size ratio about 2.3 and an average social group of size of about 5 members.
  • イ. Most famously, Dunbar suggested that given the human brain ratio we have an expected social group size of around 150 people, about the size of what Dunbar called a “clan.”
  • ウ. The relative size of the*neo-cortex rose as social groups became larger in order to maintain the complex set of relationships necessary for stable coexistence.
  • エ. From this work Dunbar put forward what is now known as the “social brain hypothesis.”
  • オ. In 1992 British scholar Robin Dunbar published an article showing that, in primates, the ratio of the size of the ^*neo-cortex to that of the rest of the brain consistently increases with increasing social group size.
  • カ. On the other hand, the Macaque monkey has a brain size ratio of around 3.8 but a very large average group size of about 40 members.
  Note:
  • neo-cortex 「(大脳の)新皮質」
  • (a) ウ-ア-カ-オ-エ-イ
  • (b) ウ-オ-ア-カ-エ-イ
  • (c) オ-ア-カ-エ-ウ-イ
  • (d) オ-イ-ア-カ-エ-ウ

In the privacy of our minds, we all talk to ourselves - an inner monologue that might seem rather pointless. As one scientific paper on self-talk asks: “What can we tell ourselves that we don't already know?” But as that study and others go on to show, $\fbox{25}$. Researchers have identified the most effective forms of self-talk, collected here-so that the next time you talk to yourself, you know exactly what you should say.

Self-talk isn't just motivational messages like “You can do it!” or “Almost there,” although this internal cheering section can give us confidence. A review of more than two dozen studies, published last year in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, found that $\fbox{26}$. This is the kind of running commentary we engage in when we are carrying out a difficult task, especially one that is unfamiliar to us. Think about when you were first learning to drive. Your self-talk might have gone something like this: “Foot on the gas pedal, hands on the wheel, slow down for the curve here, now put your blinker on.”

Over time, of course, giving yourself instructions becomes unnecessary - but while you are learning, it does three important things. First, it enhances our attention, focusing us on the important elements of the task and screening out distractions. Second, it helps us regulate our effort and make decisions about what to do, how to do it, and when. And third, $\fbox{27}$, steadying us so we stay on task.

In a recent study of students learning to throw darts in a gym class, Athanasios Kolovelonis and his colleagues at the University of Thessaly in Greece found that $\fbox{28}$. First comes forethought, when you set a goal for yourself and make a plan for how to get there. That is followed by performance, when you enact the plan to the best of your ability. Last comes self-reflection, when you carefully evaluate what you have done and adjust your plan for the next time.

Self-talk can play a key part in this cycle. During the forethought phase, consider carefully what you will say to yourself. You can even write out a script. Repeat these self-instructions during the performance phase. With practice, you may find that $\fbox{29}$; research has found that these so-called “cue words” can become powerful signals. In a study of elite sprinters, for example, the runners spoke certain words to themselves at certain times: “push” during the acceleration phase of the sprint, “heel” during the maximum-speed phase, and “claw” during the endurance phase. When they used these cue words, the athletes ran faster.

After the action is over, consider how $\fbox{30}$ -so that at the moment it matters, the right words are ringing in your ears.

• (a) self-talk allows us to control our cognitive and emotional reactions
• (b) you might change your self-talk to improve your performance next time
• (c) self-talk is most effective when incorporated into a cycle of thought and action
• (d) the act of giving ourselves mental messages can help us learn and perform at our best
• (e) your attitude may become positive if you act according to your self-instructions
• (f) there is another kind of mental message that is even more useful, called “instructional self-talk”
• (g) your self-instructions become shortened
• (h) self-talk is more encouraging than cheers from others