Resume blogging!

I have been always thinking that I have to resume the blog. I actually tried to write many times, but everytime I tried, I gave up writing up in the middle. I never finished even one entry.

I don't know why, but I could keep blogging when I was writing my PhD thesis in the UK (though I wrote it in Japanese). One possible reason is that I felt uneasy about my future - can I find a job after writing up the thesis? - and this uneasiness probably pushed (or forced) me into writing something to the (unknown) public.

Fortunately, I obtained a job at a university (even before I completed the PhD). I wasn't satisfied with that working condition, but soon I could move to the present university. I'm so enjoying the present job - truly I have nothing to complain. Probably, this sense of fulfillment made me away from blogging.

On the other hand, the present environment provides only a little opportunity for English writing. I never had this feeling in the UK, because writing (and reading) are a primary (and probably the only) job for most PhD students.

So, I had more necessity for improving my speaking skill in the UK. Speaking ability deteriorates very quickly. Not speaking even just for a couple of days makes me difficult to speak. At present, I have a couple of classes which I teach through English, so I try to maintain my speaking by, for example, talking to English speaking colleagues and self-study textbooks. These are something I continued to do for many years, so this is already a part of my everyday routine.

However, I haven't had such a system for writing!

During the semester, I cannot make a lot of time for researching, so the summer vacation is a very very important season to move my research forward. This summer I had a plan to write several papers, but as soon as I started the first line, I noticed the gap between what I imagined and what I could do at the time (so needless to say about the outcome this summer!).

I had a very clear idea of what I want to write, but the process of formulation was very slow and often clogged in the middle like an old drainpipe. Of course, the produced English was far from satisfying.

An obvious solution is to write every day! But how? Writing a paper every day is not realistic. Keep regular writing is something I should do, but what?

From my experience and my understanding of my area of study - task-based language teaching - I believe one of the key principles is to make the task (of writing in this case) have some sort of relationship with the real world. To meet this principle, blog is probably - as far as I know - the best tool. To be good at something, practice - repeating some kind of training - is indispensable, but simple repetition deprives of positive practice effects, and most importantly, I cannot continue it! To have relationship with the real world or giving authenticity to the practice may solve this problem.

Hope this attempt will work. Recent research on second language motivation tells that having a clear image of ideal future self is one of the key factors for maintaining motivation. If it is true, I think I can (I have a clear image of my future self!). So, I use myself as a subject participating the cutting-edge motivation research!