Saturday, December the 1st, 2007

The term "trickle-down effect" has been often used as one which talks about the downfall of the price of a commodity: "The trickle-down effect is a marketing phenomenon that affects many consumer goods, including new technology and fashion. Initially a product may be so expensive that only the wealthy can afford it. Over time, however, the price will fall until it is inexpensive enough for the general public to purchase. One modern day example of the Trickle-Down effect would be the iPod. The iPod was priced at around 250 dollars in 1998 (the year it was introduced), over time dropped in price, and now that same model is worth about 37 dollars."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_effect)
Here I would like to use the term to indicate the phenomenon where reasonable commodities or services which have been spun off from expensive commodities or services diffuse to those with limited income.
To let spinoffs from the oversea study tour trickle down to other students than the participants of the tour, we have to work hard to develop the preparatory session more attractive and valuable so that its spinoffs would be even attractive and valuable to the non-participants as well. Though the educational resources high school teachers have are enough to have the participants get prepared, they are not sophisticated enough to produce spinoffs, to attract non-participants. The help from college scholars is critical.
I made some part of the end-term examination for the Seminar C classes. The part is something like the entrance examination of Doshisha University. Some months ago, I heard a lecture by an English teacher from Tohoku. He said that all the English teachers in his high school solve the entrance examination of Tokyo University. That guarantees them to have a certain competency to develop their students' readiness to study to prepare for the examination.
Some English teachers in our school talk about the shift of the number of the applicant students to private universities from national and public universities. The English teachers' competency related to the shift should be guaranteed either by solving all the entrance examinations related or by making it a rule to make some tests in the styles of Doshisha, Kan-dai, Kwan-gaku, or/and Ritsumei. Words must be followed by deeds.