New ES Textbook Features And How To Use Them by Mikayla Govern

by Mikayla Govern

Bio: Mikayla Govern is from Midwest America. She completed her bachelor's degree in International Studies and has been working in the international sector ever since. She worked at one of the largest banking corporations in the world before finding her passion for teaching. Now, she works in the Saitama and Tokyo area as a lead ALT and helps develop training for ALTs and Japanese Teachers of English.

This is the second part of a series. Be sure to check out part one!

With the renewed effort of revamping the English national curriculum, MEXT has released 4 brand new textbooks last year (H.30-31/2018-2019). These new textbooks have obvious relations to the textbook that came before (Hi Friends!) and are made to help students not only retain more English but also develop interpersonal skills and promote self-development. These textbooks, are comprehensive and build on skills students learned in preceding chapters more than any other textbook to this point. This change is to help lessen the huge gap between middle school English and elementary school English as well as engage students from a younger age (in hopes of real language acquisition).

Let’s get acquainted with the new textbooks. They can be split into 2 categories by following how English language education is divided in elementary schools (see the previous article). The first set of textbooks are for the 3rd and 4th grades entitled, Let’s Try! (LT). They are designed to get students to expand their world view and try English in a no pressure, fun and engaging atmosphere. These are very comparable to the previous textbooks (Hi Friends!) in terms of how English is studied and what is expected of students. Here are all the units for the 2 Let’s Try! textbooks.

Let’s Try! 1

1. Hello! 挨拶をして友達になろう p. 2-5
2. How are you?　ごきげんいかが？ p. 6-9
(feelings)
3. How many?　数えてあそぼう P. 10-13
(Numbers, how many)
4. I like blue.　好きなものを伝えよう P. 14-17
(colors, food, sports)
5. What do you like?　何が好き？ P. 18-21
(food)
6. ALPHABET　アルファベットとなかよし P. 22-25
(Uppercase alphabet recognition)
7. This is for you　カードをおくろう P. 26-29
(shapes, colors)
8. What’s this?　これなあに？ P. 30-33
9. Who are you?　きみはだれ？ P. 34-40
(adjectives, animals)

Let’s Try! 2

1. Hello, world!　世界のいろいろな言葉で挨拶をしよう p. 2- 5
2. Let’s play cards.　好きな遊びをつたえよう。 p. 6-9
(weather, games, clothes)
3. I like Mondays.　好きな曜日は何かな？ p. 10-13
(days of the week)
4. What time is it?　今、何時？ p. 14-17
(time, daily actions)
5. Do you have a pen?　おすすめの文房具セットを作ろう p. 18-21
(school supplies)
6. Alphabet　アルファベットで文字遊びをしよう p. 22-25
(lowercase letter recognition)
7. What do you want?　ほしいものはなにかな？ p. 26-29
(food)
8. This is my favorite place. お気に入りの場所をしょうかいしよう。 p. 30-33
(school room names)
9. This is my day. ぼく・わたしの一日 p. 34-40
(Daily routine)

You may notice that both the textbooks for 3rd and 4th grade have units on the alphabet. These units are mainly to get students used to the alphabet and able to recognize and distinguish letters. For example, a 3rd grade student should look at a G and a Q and know the difference. A 4th grader should look at a p and q and know which is which. This means there is no phonics practice in 3rd and 4th grade, but rather a focus on letter names and shapes. Games that focus on differentiating letters from the alphabet and shapes are recommended.

As per the national curriculum, students from 3rd grade learn romaji (the English alphabet as it applies to writing Japanese words) in their Japanese class. There are 3 forms of romaji in Japanese kunreishiki, nihonshiki and hebonshiki. The one that applies to English is hebonshiki. This distinction is very important and has a direct impact on how we teach English. In the current curriculum, students learn to write, for example, いちかわしょうり　as Itikawa Syori (instead of Ichikawa Shori in hebonshiki). This is what they teach in class, so if you teach English and phonetics to younger kids it might confuse them and conflict with the other curriculum. There will be changes happening to the Japanese language curriculum coming up, so let’s hope they change to use hebonshiki in the future.

The second set of textbooks are titled We Can! (WC) and are designed to be used for 5th and 6th grade. These books are used to teach English as an official, graded subject so they are more extensive and have a lot more material to get through. The aim of these textbooks is to expand students’ willingness to use English and push the boundaries of how English is taught. They are accumulative, so they help students retain the English that they have already been taught. Much like the Let’s Try! textbooks, they are designed to be taught conversationally with an emphasis on speaking and listening. However rather than English being all fun and games, the students at this level are expected to produce and use the language, and also will have grades and evaluations in class (a new concept for elementary English). Here are all the units within the new textbooks:

We Can! 1

1. Hello, everyone. アルファベット・自己紹介 p. 2-9
(self-introduction)
2. When is your birthday?　行事・誕生日 p. 10-17
(Months, date)
3. What do you have on Monday?　学校生活・教科・職業 p. 18-25
(days of the week, school subjects, jobs)
4. What time do you get up?　一日生活 p. 26-33
(time, daily routines, adverbs of frequency)
5. She can run fast. He can jump high.　できること p. 34-40
(Can/ can’t, Pronouns [first exposure to 3rd person pronouns])
6. I want to go to Italy.　行ってみたい国や地域 p. 42-49
(Can/Can’t, want, countries)
7. Where is the treasure?　位置と場所 p. 50-57
(prepositions of location, buildings, objects)
8. What would you like?　料理・値段 p. 58-65
(Food, money)
9. Who is your hero？　あこがれの人 p. 66-73
(adjectives, can/can’t)

We Can! 2

1. This is me!　自己紹介 p. 2-9
(self-introduction)
2. Welcome to Japan.　日本の文化 p. 10-17
(Adjectives, Japanese culture)
3. He is famous. She is great. 人物紹介 p. 18-25
(Sentence structure [SVO])
4. I like my town. 自分たちの町・地域 p. 26-33
(buildings, have/want)
5. My summer vacation.　夏休みの思い出 p. 34-41
(irregular past tense verbs)
6. What do you want to watch?　オリンピック・パラリンピック p. 42-49
(sports/ Olympics)
7. My best memory　小学校生活・思い出 p. 50-57
(past tense verbs, life events)
8. What do you want to be?　将来の夢・職業 p. 58-65
(Jobs, want)
9. Junior High school life. 中学校生活・部活動 p. 66- 73
(clubs, school routines)

The new texts are designed to coincide with current the curriculum being taught in schools as well. Students may learn about a topic in another class and then have a similar lesson in their English class. This was designed to help students deepening their understanding of English while connecting to things outside of the English learning environment.

Let’s look at some of the features of the textbooks and how to use them. All of the textbooks have “Let’s Listen” (LT/WC) sections. These sections are to test listening comprehension. Students should be able to listen to the audio and complete a task (connect a line, choose a number, etc). A new section, however, expands listening comprehension to being able to listen to more complicated dialogues and understand the overall meaning without knowing all the grammar or vocabulary. This section is aptly called “Let’s Watch and Think.” Rather than the students being able to comprehend everything in the dialogue, these sections are made to deepen language learning more naturally. However, since the dialogue is much more complicated a lot of homeroom teachers will feel the need to translate for the students. Here are some tips to get around that:

• Tell the students to take notes on the vocabulary they know or think they know. I recommend letting them do this in Japanese.
• Have the teacher ask only questions (in Japanese or English) about the content.
• If there is something the students don’t understand, rather than translating it directly have students guess what they think it means based on the context.
• This more immersive version of listening helps students overcome the discomfort they feel when they don’t understand everything being said to them and helps build comprehension skills for better communication.

Another feature of the new textbooks is the “Let’s Chant” (LT/WC) feature. This feature is a carry-over from the “Hi Friends” texts. However, they have added a few more varieties of chants per chapter so you can match the level of your students. Since English is viewed as more of a musical language as compared to Japanese, adding rhythms helps many students remember dialogue. In addition to “Let’s Chant,” there is also a section called “Jingles” (WC). This section is for phonics practice and introduces kids to new vocabulary as well. The jingles are in the back of the We Can! textbooks and there are many ways to use them to further phonics understanding.

Yet another new feature of the textbooks is “Small Talk.” This feature, however, is not written into the textbooks. “Small Talk” is a way of introducing new target language and usually done within the first few lessons of the unit. Toward the beginning of the year, “Small Talk” can be used between the main teacher (T1) and the assisting teacher (T2), however, by the end of the year, students should be able to participate in the small talk with the teachers or even do small talk on their own. This part of the curriculum is mandated for We Can! but I have also very successfully used it in my 3rd and 4th grade classes. “Small Talk” is also a good chance to bring realia into the classroom and takes learning into the real world. “Small Talk” can seem intimidating for many elementary school teachers, but even if students don’t understand everything you are saying, it is possible to have students understand enough to make sense of what you are saying. Just like with the “Let’s Watch and Think” sections, this part is designed to help students further their language beyond the textbooks.

The skill required to practice “Small Talk” can be hard to develop when you first start out so here are a few tips and resources. Firstly, small talk doesn’t have to be a long speech. If it is just teacher talk time, I like to keep it between 1-2 minutes. If students are also involved in the small talk, then I expand the time up to 5 minutes. The new curriculum wants teachers to emphasize aizuchi as well. Aizuchi is the Japanese form of back-channeling. You might notice when you talk to a Japanese person, they tend to make a lot of sounds. This back-channeling shows interest in what the other person is saying. Although not normally present in everyday English, there are a few natural aizuchi that you can incorporate into your small talks. Things like, “Oh!” “I see...” “Oh no” “I gotcha” “Yeah” and other natural conversational back-channelings are important in the “Small Talk” section. The earlier students are exposed to these aspects of English the more likely they are to pick them up. If you are really struggling to come up with topics or scripts for your small talk, you can find examples of small talks as produced by MEXT at their YouTube site. 

Another feature of the new textbooks is a presentation feature. Although mainly focused on 5th and 6th grade, there are also presentation elements found in the Let’s Try! textbooks as well. This presentation feature is one of the main changes in how English is taught in schools. Now, English isn’t just about communication for elementary schools, there is now an expectation that students can think and relay their own thoughts in English. This undoubtedly is to help with speech contests and other challenges at the junior high school level. This can seem like a big hurdle for kids at this age. However, it is ok to start small. Not every presentation has to be a speech exactly either. I like to have a festival atmosphere where kids walk around and listen to each other speeches so they don’t feel the pressure of presenting in front of the whole class. This also gives them a way to practice the previously mentioned aizuchi. Students should always have some sort of tool during the presentation (a worksheet, a poster, etc.) and, at this stage, they are not meant to be memorized. This can also be a good way to incorporate writing into your lessons for the upper grades.

The last section I’m going to talk about also applies only to the We Can! texts. A new feature called “Story Time” is designed to help develop reading skills. This section should not be taught as kids reading on their own however, they are not expected to stand up and read a sentence by themselves. A good way to teach these sections is to follow the 6 steps of second language reading guidelines. For those of you who don’t know, here are the 6 steps and how you can apply those steps to your class:

1. Read all the way to the end
2. Summarize what you understood
3. Read again-> reduce uncertainty
4. Ask questions
5. Check unknown words encountered
6. Reread

In the classroom, I tend to follow this outline for every reading we do. First, I have the students read on their own. I set a timer for about 2-3 minutes and let the kids read to themselves and see what they know on their own. If they come across a word they can’t read, I say to circle it and skip over it. Next, I ask what words they could read. Note, that this is not for checking comprehension yet, just to see what they could and couldn’t read on their own. The next step is to read as a class; you can use the digital textbooks if you have the option. The kids aren’t necessarily ready to read out loud quite yet, but using the digital textbooks’ underline feature, you can have the kids use their fingers to follow along. This part helps students get auditory input while reading, and helps kids figure out reading challenges on their own. This also helps reduce the uncertainty that they may have experienced the first read through. Next, I check for comprehension. This part doesn’t have to be done in English, but for an advanced class, I tend to have both Japanese and English comprehension questions prepared. If you really want to make an activity of this, you can have kids come up with their own context questions and ask each other quiz style. In the fifth step, I have the kids check the words they don’t know. We will write them on the board, sound them out, and then figure out the meaning. If you don’t want to resort to translation directly (good!), the best way to get kids to realize the meaning of the words is to give them different examples, not found in story time. For example, to get the kids to realize what a pine tree is you can draw a picture or even talk about it in a different context. The last step, reread, can easily be turned into a different activity such as the pointing game or a speed reading practice.

As with any section of the textbook, I personally recommend you match it to your teaching style. If you enjoy teaching it, the kids will enjoy learning it. The new textbooks overall are developed to not only give kids a strong foundation in vocabulary but also teach skills that they can use in English class and life in general. Hopefully, kids will gain more exposure to the world and English while feeling more confident to make mistakes and try things outside of their own comfort zone, a struggle that often occurs as they grow older. Although it may appear that the textbooks focus a lot on non-active aspects of English, like listening and reading, the power is entirely in the teacher’s hands. The textbooks are meant to be a lead into more active activities such as making a poster and presenting it or conversational games. As with any of the textbooks we use in Japan, We Can! and Let’s Try! are tools to help give structure to your lessons. Use them well and hopefully you will be able to see amazing growth within your students.

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up. 

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The Features Of Elementary Education by Mikayla Govern

by Mikayla Govern

Bio: Mikayla Govern is from Midwest America. She completed her bachelor's degree in International Studies and has been working in the international sector ever since. She worked at one of the largest banking corporations in the world before finding her passion for teaching. Now, she works in the Saitama and Tokyo area as a lead ALT and helps develop training for ALTs and Japanese Teachers of English.

This is the first part of a series. Be sure to check out part two!

As many veteran ALTs in the industry already know, the way lesson planning works in Japan is very paperwork heavy and full of bureaucracy. Without Japanese language skills it can be difficult to navigate for a beginner. This is a crash course for beginning teachers of elementary schools in how to navigate the new textbooks and maximize lesson plans based on Japan’s national MEXT plans and expectations.

By 2020, Japan’s planned lesson hours of English in schools across the country will be 70 hours for 5th and 6th grade and 35 hours for 3rd and 4th grade. Last year (H.30/2018) and this year (H.31/2019) are transitional years so the amount taught in schools will be decided by the local boards of education with a minimum of 15 hours for the lower grades and 50 hours for the upper grades. These numbers represent a few changes that affect ALTs in elementary schools across the country.

First, that the new textbooks are not expected to be finished in depth for any grade levels. Unless you are teaching in an English specialty zone, it is unlikely that your school will be aiming to complete the textbooks, as a general rule you might not have many teachers that know about the curriculum changes apart from knowing that they’re happening and the number of English classes will be increased over the next 2 year period.

Second, this push to have increased mandatory English from other grades means there will be an increased demand for elementary ALTs. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. The good includes a larger job market for experienced ALTs and a higher chance of working in just one school in the district and better job stability. The other side of the coin could mean increased workloads for ALTs as Elementary English is a new subject so it doesn’t have main English teachers that are working exclusively on English education.　※Elementary education differs from middle school education in how the lessons and workload are divided. In middle schools in Japan you will find that teachers specialize in a subject and then teaches that subject to different classes. However, in elementary education you will have one homeroom teacher who teaches multiple subjects to the same class. Depending on your school you might also have specialized teachers who are in charge of certain subjects but the first pattern is the most common.

With that in mind, some larger elementary schools might receive help from an English specialist (a middle school JTE) from the school district. This program is not yet planned to be carried out at every school in Japan and since it’s not mandated, it will be up to the local boards of education (BOEs) to decide whether to do it or not. Working with these specialists can present new challenges to ALTs who are used to more freedom in the elementary environment, but with good teamwork skills it should bring an overall benefit for the students and the homeroom teachers.

Finally, the amount of hours taught in elementary school means in a lot of cases by 2020, especially in the case of 5th and 6th grade classes, the homeroom teachers will be expected to teach English lessons on their own. Many BOEs are trying to get the teachers to be able to function completely without an ALT and some cities have already made the jump. However, with a lack of English training and ability in general, many teachers are unwilling or not ready for that change. To be honest, there is not a general plan to make this happen as it is up to local BOEs how they want their teachers to interact with the English language. All of this variation in city plans essentially means that the quality of English education will vary drastically from region to region, something to keep in mind when choosing to make a region change in the future.

So how will these teachers teach English? The current way Japanese teachers plan and think about English is that every class needs to cover certain aspects of language acquisition as mandated in the MEXT English subject guidebook. As many of you know there are actually 2 different types of English classes in elementary school gaikokugo-katsudou (外国語活動 - foreign language activities) and　gaikokugo-hen (外国語編 - foreign language education). Gaikokugo-katsudou is for grade 4 and below. Students are expected to have fun and gain exposure to the English language. (This is how the English language had been taught previously in elementary schools with the Hi Friends texts.) As such these students aren’t expected to read, write, or produce language without a lot of support from their teachers. The main point is having fun in these classes. Gaikokugo-hen, however, is a new subject within the elementary education system. The difference now is that it is, in fact, a subject. From this point on 5th and 6th grade students will need to learn to be comfortable with reading, writing, phonics, and language production on their own to have a basic mastery of English. This also means the students will start to be graded. For now, the grade is arbitrarily decided by the homeroom teacher but by 2020 there should be tests and homework for students. So far there is no mandatory testing or homework regiment or requirement so you will find that it varies from school to school.

Another new feature of gaikokugo-hen is the increased need for students to work on skills of deduction and reasoning. Previously, with the Hi-Friends texts, the subject matter was not accumulative. Students would focus on one main grammar structure and practice just that structure. Now, with We Can and Let’s Try, things are much more accumulative which will hopefully lead to more retention of the language. Students will also be exposed to language that they haven’t encountered before within the textbooks. This is to promote self-growth and deductive reasoning in students. With Hi Friends, the listening exercises were mostly based on what students already were taught in class. Now the listening exercises are designed to broaden students’ language boundaries while making them use new deductive reasoning skills learned through-out their new English language education. The problem with this, however, can be the desire for teachers (especially Japanese homeroom teachers) to translate the content into Japanese for their students rather than helping them develop productive, deductive skills that are essential to second language learning acquisition. ※For tips on how to avoid this pitfall, see the next part to this article about the features of the new textbooks.

So with these two main categories of English, how do the Japanese teachers plan for the new lessons? In Japan, previously and currently, there are three main points in English education. These are the same for both gaikokugo-katsudou as well as gaikokugo-hen. The objectives for English education are covered by kitzuku, (気づく - discovery), communication, and nareru (慣れる - acclimatization). These three points should be present in any given unit of your lesson plans. Let’s have some examples of each.

Discovery is very simple; it’s about students being exposed to non-Japanese ways of thinking. For example, in the Let’s Try 1 textbook unit for counting, the textbook exposes students to different languages’ way of counting and rock-paper-scissors. Another example would be if an ALT gave a presentation about a custom from another country (such as a Christmas presentation or a presentation about schools across the world). Discovery can also be a goal of an activity. For example, if you have students look for letters from the alphabet in the classroom, the goal of such an activity could be for students to discover the plethora of English in their surroundings. As an ALT, it is important not only to teach students English but also to broaden their world view. Exposing students to new ideas and customs is a great way to cultivate interest in learning English as well as provide context and motivation for second language acquisition.

Communication is pretty self-explanatory, but a necessary feature of language learning is the ability to convey one’s thoughts and receive information from ones speaking partner(s). Without a doubt this is one feature that Japanese tend to struggle with no matter the age grouping. Communication doesn’t have to be conversation. Any communication using the target language counts. So for example, using a listening practice exercise from the textbook and eliciting the target language and vocabulary from students counts as conversation. Obviously, it would be ideal to have students practice in a free-form way to use as much language as possible, but many students lack the confidence to do so. All communication has to accomplish is transferring an idea from one person to another so games tend to take on this feature most prominently. As the whole point of English education is communication of some sort, I wouldn’t worry too much as undoubtedly all of your lesson plans will include some aspect of communication.

Lastly, acclimatization is the process of becoming accustomed to another language. You might consider this the hardware of your classes. This would include vocabulary drilling and grammar points. This is the explanation point of any given lesson, deepening the understanding of English and allowing students the time to practice new words and phrases before the communication stage. Anytime you play a game with no grammar or conversational context it would fall under this category. The point of acclimatization is to help students build confidence and strength with the basic building blocks of English before they apply them to the communication feature. Some examples of this would be criss-cross game, Pictionary, bingo etc. In my experience a successful ALT incorporates both types of activities in their lessons so the students have the proper scaffolding to produce language and convey things they actually want to say to others.

Apart from the 3 main features of English lessons: discovery, communication, and acclimatization, the new English curriculum has expanded into focus on different skills sets of language performance. These skill sets are applied unequally across gaikokugo-katsudou and gaikokugo-hen. There are 5 skills that are thought to be necessary to develop in the new foreign language curriculum. These skills are listening, speaking (conversationally), presentation, reading, and, finally, writing. Only the first two skills are applied for gaikokugo-katsudou and all five skills must be worked on for the upper grades. Of course there is a little cross over to help kids make the transition between gaikokugo-katsudou and gaikokugo-hen but the main idea of how these classes are taught will follow these principles. ※For more information about these skills and how to develop them in your lesson plans see my article about lesson planning for the new curriculum

In conclusion, the increase in mandatory hours in elementary school means a number of challenges for the average school. However, with these challenges come new opportunities for English growth and the possibility for real change in the fluency for Japanese people. With the two different types of English in schools, there are better defined expectations of elementary school English as well as a better transition from elementary school to junior high school, reducing the stress of students. Using the three features of English education, discovery, communication, and acclimatization, Japanese students will develop a set of the 5 main skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and presentation. These skills and features will help students build confidence and knowledge in the English language and allow mastery on a new level. Of course this is just the first step of many changes to come but hopefully, this will mean true and meaningful language learning for the Japanese student.

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

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Can ES Teachers In Japan REALLY Teach English ALONE? by David L. Hayter

by David L. Hayter

Bio: David L. Hayter works as a Lead Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan. Although he primarily teaches junior high school, he has taught all the grades from kindergarten through ninth grade.

Aside from teaching classes in junior high school, his other duties include training and managing new ALTs, designing and delivering teacher training workshops, and performing other duties for his local Board of Education.

When he’s not teaching, he actively volunteers in his community, enjoys playing video games, loves to cook, trains hard, practices martial arts, podcasts, helps run the ALT Training Online blog and writes for his blog, Yokkaichi Connections.

So it's time to ask the question: Can elementary school teachers in Japan REALLY teach English Alone? The quick answer is, “YES, THEY CAN!” With a little extra help that is.

The MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology) in Japan has set the lofty, and some would dare say unrealistic, goal of having ES (elementary school) students study English from the 3rd grade in 2020. While this should definitely mean that future generations will have a better command of English, there is still a lot of work to be done to get the ES teachers ready for the task.

From my experience, different ES teachers have different levels of enthusiasm when it comes to teaching English.

They also have varying skill levels. Some love the subject and jump at the chance to have conversations with ALTs and other English speakers. Other teachers who are less enthusiastic about English may do the minimum amount of instruction required to satisfy the requirements of the curriculum.

Keeping this in mind, this post covers some things Japanese teachers can do to become better teachers of English elementary schools. A lot of the info applies to ALTs as well. Many of the following practices are being promoted by a local BoE (Board of Education) in my area and the good people who work there.

Practice using picture books

ES students, especially the younger crowd, love picture books. However, there is a lot more to using a picture book effectively than just reading the words on the page.

When reading a picture book, make sure all the students can see the book

(I’m a genius, I know).

If you can add in different voices for characters and sound effects, the students really get a kick out of it.

The students will be zoned in on you and your reactions to the story. If you have fun with it, they’ll have fun with it. Don’t be afraid to act really surprised, happy, sad, or scared. It really helps reinforce the meaning of the story!

Lastly, you can also use the book for comprehension questions. You can ask questions like:

• What’s this?
• How many ~ do you see?
• Do you like ~?
• What color is this?

There are a lot of creative ways to get the most out of your picture books. Give it a shot!

Use more digital resources

The world is becoming more digital day by day. The same is true for Japan (although at a much, much slower pace). Despite the slow adoption of new technology in Japan, Japanese children are growing up on tablets and smart-phones.

Using digital resources in the classroom do a lot more to retain the students' attention.

For example, I’ve done a Halloween presentation more than a few times over the years. I first had a presentation with a lot of pictures on the slides. It was interesting for the students, but there were still some who seemed a little checked out.

Later, I added in more animations and transitions. After a while, I put in more GIFs and links to YouTube videos. The content was the same, but it was more engaging for the students.

Even if the students don’t like English, they’ll at least dig the crazy stuff that pops up on the screen.

The new textbooks for ES, We Can and Let’s Try, have some digital materials that can be used with the book. If teachers can combine the digital materials for the book with their own, it’ll make the class more interesting and relevant for their digital-native students.

Make communicative, context based lessons

One idea I’ve picked up over the last year is CBL (Context Based Learning). It may sound like a fancy word off the bat, but it’s pretty simple when you think about it.

When teaching an English class, the students will get more out of the lesson if there is a “context,” or real-world situation, behind the lesson (what a concept!).

The days of drilling grammar and vocabulary in order to translate it and get the right answers for a test do little to produce students who can use English in real-world situations.

Games can be fun but if students don’t get some context with them, it’s kind of like just having fun for nothing.

Many teachers may be intimidated by CBL, but if they can see that it’s not too difficult and can be a lot of fun, I think more teachers will come around to it.

Here are some ways you can give lessons context:

Asking “Wh-” questions

• Write a letter to a student in another country asking about their life
• Interview a famous person
• Find a criminal by interviewing witnesses
• Ask about someone’s hometown

There are a lot of different ways to give lessons context. In the end, simple lessons that get the students up, moving around, and talking with each other tend to go over well.

Become a conversation partner for the students

As teachers in ES begin to teach more on their own (without ALTs), they will naturally have to speak more English in the class (genius - again, I know). That means that the ES teachers will be speaking a lot more with their students.

One of the best ways to do this is to have short, simple, and unscripted conversations with students. 

The goal isn’t to reproduce a passage from a book. Rather, the goal is to build skills and confidence in the students (and sometimes teachers).

The MEXT calls this “small talk,” I call it “just speaking English.”

Here’s an example:

Teacher: Yesterday, we learned about food. Now I have a question. What food do you like? Any volunteers? Yes!

Student 1: I like pizza.

Teacher: Oh, you like pizza? Me too! How about you? Do you like pizza?

Student 2: No. I like sushi.

Teacher: I see. You like sushi. I like sushi, but I don’t like wasabi. How about you? Do you like wasabi?

(And so on, and so forth - I think you get the idea)

From this example, we can see that the conversations aren’t too in depth and the content pretty easy to handle.

These phrases and expressions are the very basic building blocks of language.

There are some things to note from the above example:

1. The conversation is between the teacher and the students
• As the students become better, they should be able to do this with each other.
2. The questions are very simple.
3. There is no right answer (the students get to give their opinion).
4. The teacher repeats the student’s answer.
• This checks for understanding while stating the answer again for other students to hear.
5. “How about you?” is a magic question.
• It makes it more into a back and forth conversation.
• It’s not the usual type of interrogation.
6. The students practice social skills and thinking on their feet
• Some students struggle with this in Japanese, let alone English

Time will tell

The practices listed above are some of the new ideas that are being promoted by BoEs around Japan. We’ll have to see if these ideas end up being effective as time goes on.

I’m fairly hopeful that if teachers begin to incorporate these ideas into their classes, then the English speaking ability of Japanese students should increase over time (fingers crossed).

Although the ALT will remain a valuable resource for teachers and students, incorporating these ideas will move Japan away from an educational system where the ALT primarily has been seen as the model of an English speaker to one where the ES teacher also becomes a model of an English speaker with the ALT (team-teaching, anyone?).

So the answer to my first question again is "YES, THEY CAN!" But, the rest is up to them. Let’s do what we can to make it happen!

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

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7 Reasons Why English Only Classes Alone Won't Fix Japan's English Problems by David L. Hayter

by David L. Hayter

Bio: David L. Hayter works as a Lead Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan. Although he primarily teaches junior high school, he has taught all the grades from kindergarten through ninth grade.

Aside from teaching classes in junior high school, his other duties include training and managing new ALTs, designing and delivering teacher training workshops, and performing other duties for his local Board of Education (BOE).

When he’s not teaching, he actively volunteers in his community, enjoys playing video games, loves to cook, trains hard, practices martial arts, podcasts, helps run the ALT Training Online blog and writes for his blog, Yokkaichi Connections.

Over the years, the Japanese government has placed a large emphasis on the need for “English only” classes and immersion in English education. Having studied Spanish and Japanese in the US before coming to Japan, I can say that these techniques are very effective for preparing students to communicate in real-world situations.

However, it seems that this type of education won’t be beneficial for the Japanese students who are learning English if the content they are studying and how they are being taught doesn’t change.

Let’s take a closer look at the current situation and examine the barriers to teaching “all English” classes.

Students are all grouped together regardless of level

As you may already know, students in Japan are all placed in the same class regardless of actual English ability. This is a stark contrast to language education in other countries where students must pass one level to move on to the next level; the idea being that they have to master the basics before they can move on to the more difficult material.

This means that you may have some students who know everything you’re about to teach them sitting next to other students who still haven’t mastered the basic sentence structures they learned earlier in the year.

Without classes tailored to the needs of individual students, this kind of instruction will be very challenging.

Lack of qualified teachers (especially in ES)

Most teachers in Japan teach English the way they were taught. In my experience, the best teachers are those who have studied abroad or lived in an English speaking country for an extended amount of time.

These teachers have first-hand experience with using English as a means of communication to express their own ideas and to get new information. Some of these teachers are able to transfer this to their classes and it helps give their lessons context and meaning.

Other teachers who may not have this experience tend to rely on the textbook and word-for-word translations when teaching. Their lessons lack context and don’t reflect real-world situations. It’s probably hard for them to break these old habits, especially since they are usually focused on getting their students ready to pass tests.

In this type of environment, it’s more like the students are studying the idea of English rather than actually learning to use English.

The materials have A LOT of Japanese

When I open my English textbook, the first thing I see is … wait for it ... Japanese! A lot of the texts and study materials have instructions in Japanese and this immediately breaks the immersive environment we’re trying to create. This may get better over time, but it’s a tough hurdle to get over at the moment.

Japan loves tests

Many students have the ultimate goal of learning English so they can do well on entrance exams. I can’t say that I blame them either.

If you think about it, what reward does a student get for speaking English well? What reward does a JTE get for using all English in the classroom? Is there any consequence for not doing so? Without any carrots or sticks beside intrinsic motivation, it’ll be hard to bring about change.

Until the tests are given entirely in English, it will be hard to change the classes

Getting good scores on an entrance exam gives a more concrete incentive for students to study English (even if they can’t speak it all that well). They can get into a good high school, then a good college, work for a prestigious company, and enjoy the rest of their life.

Lack of an “English environment”

As you may already know, students in Japan spend most of the day in their classroom as the teachers move around to different classes. While some schools do have dedicated classrooms for teaching English, this is not always the case.

When teaching English in a typical classroom, the students are surrounded by Japanese. This also breaks the immersive environment we’re trying to create.

Having classrooms for English allows the teachers to fill the room with English materials and helps students stay in the “English mode” for longer.

It's a good start but not a comprehensive strategy

If Japan was really serious about improving its English education, a lot more work will be needed aside from having their classes taught entirely in English. It's definitely something that the government should pursue, but there is still a long way to go in making the types of changes necessary to improve Japan's English ability.

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

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Going Beyond “Teaching English” In English Language Classrooms by Dr Jaroslaw Kriukow

by Dr Jaroslaw Kriukow

Bio: Dr Jaroslaw Kriukow is a researcher and academic tutor. He facilitates lectures and workshops on qualitative research and data analysis in NVivo, develops self-study courses and provides free academic support through his Qualitative Researcher Dr Kriukow website and Facebook.

He was awarded a PhD degree by the University of Edinburgh for his mixed methods research into Polish migrants' English Language Identity.

His research interests include: Non-native English speakers' self-concept and self-esteem in relation to English, the implications of English as a Lingua Franca research for Educational Psychology, post accession Polish migration to the UK, links between ELT (English language teaching) and language learners' self-perceptions as well as TESOL.

Forward by David L. Hayter,

ALTTO Community Media Manager

As ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) in Japan, I think a lot of us are often focused on the nuts and bolts of teaching lessons like creating fun activities for our classes and making quality materials. However, we may sometimes forget to investigate the finer nuances which drive our students’ attitudes towards learning, our JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English) attitudes towards teaching, and how they both perceive themselves in a global society.

Dr Kriukow’s work focuses on the concept of self-identity within social-science. Oxford Dictionary defines this self-identity as, “The perception or recognition of one's characteristics as a particular individual, especially in relation to social context”.

When thinking about this concept of self-identity as it relates to Japanese English students and teachers, we must take into account that if they are not actively shaping their own identities within an English speaking and global communication context, then an alternative, often negative, identity is being shaped for them. This “English Language Identity” that Dr Kriukow describes can have a dramatic effect on how students learn languages and how teachers expect them to perform.

From my experience, much of the confidence that Japanese students, and sometimes teachers, lack comes from a culture where they have been told that anything but perfection is not good enough and that the ultimate goal is to speak like a native speaker of English. This creates an environment where English is purely a measure of one’s academic ability and intelligence as opposed to a tool for people to use to communicate their ideas and gain new information.

Along with many of the changes prescribed by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for improving English education in Japan in 2020, the shaping of this “English Language Identity” must be addressed to effect long term change in the country’s attitude towards teaching and learning English.

As you read through Dr Kriukow’s work dealing with Polish migrants in the UK, try to keep your own students in mind and think about how we can support our students and teachers to shape a positive, realistic “English Language Identity”.

Going Beyond “Teaching English” In English Language Classrooms

In this blog post, based on research into English as a Lingua Franca, as well as research in Social Psychology and my own study of Polish migrants’ “English Language Identity”, I argue that, in an English language classroom, the students’ self-perceptions and beliefs about the language and its users are just as important an issue as the language itself. Subsequently, I make suggestions for classroom practice that would foster the development of desirable self-perceptions and conclude with a call for the current practitioners to conduct their own classroom-based research.

Research into English as a Lingua Franca

With the global spread of English and its use as a lingua franca, or a common means of communication between speakers of different first languages (Seidlhofer, 2011), as well as with Non-native English Speakers (NNESs) outnumbering Native English Speakers (NESs), the language no longer ‘belongs’ exclusively to the latter, but to everyone who speaks it. Early research into the structural aspects of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication revealed that the ways English is used are often at odds with those promoted by ELT practice, which views NES speech as a benchmark of achievement (Dewey, 2012). It also showcased the common structural aspects of NNES use of English that do not affect mutual intelligibility during communication, despite it differing from the ‘traditional’, ‘standard’ variety taught in the classroom and modelled by Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs). ELF researchers perceive many of these differences as proof of an adaptive nature of NNES’ use of linguistic resources during interaction and often as a tool for expressing identity and culture (e.g. Baker, 2012). They put forward the notion of multi-competence, or the “knowledge of more than one language, free from evaluation against an outside standard” (Cook 1999: 190), as a concept beneficial for NNES identity construction in light of the global use of ELF. Rather than viewing NESs as the benchmark for measuring their language proficiency, it has been argued that language learners should recognise their own potential of being multi-competent language users (Cervatiuc, 2009). Cook (1999) argued that, by continuously comparing their pronunciation with native models, NNESs are likely to perceive themselves as “deficient native speaker[s]”, or an “imitation of native speaker[s]” (ibid: 195), rather than thinking of themselves as being successful, multilingual speakers who are fully legitimate members of a global community of English users.

Language, Self-concept and Self-esteem

At the same time, an extensive body of research within Social and Educational Psychology suggests that a person’s self-concept, being the sum of “beliefs (…) about oneself” (Hamlyn, 1983: 241), as well as self-esteem, or the evaluation of that self-concept (Rubio, 2015), are factors that influence people’s behaviour and decision-making in their everyday life (Ryan and Irie, 2015). As it is through language that people first internally conceptualise, and then express, that sense of self to others (Park, 2007), language is believed to play a central role in both self-concept and self-esteem formation. It has also been suggested that NNESs develop their self-concept by comparing themselves to those whom they believe have expertise in a domain relevant to a particular communicative situation (Mercer, 2011). ELF research adds to this, by arguing that, at least with regard to English competence, NNESs tend to both view NESs as such ‘experts’ and measure their own achievement in terms of proximity to their unrealistic and irrelevant goal of achieving native-like pronunciation.

The study of Polish migrants’ English Language Identity (ELI)

I kept the above claims in mind when I conducted a study of Polish migrants’ English Language Identity (ELI) which I defined as the relationship between the English language and the migrants’ self-concept, or beliefs about themselves. The setting was Scotland, where Poles constitute the largest, and fastest growing, migrant community. A goal of the Scottish Government is to attract and retain these migrants in the country, not only to promote cultural diversity, but also to counter the issues of Scotland’s aging population and insufficient workforce. Research suggests, however, that Polish migrants tend to not integrate well with the local communities and to work below their education level and skill set (e.g. Bielewska, 2011). Suggested reasons include some migrants’ low English language skills, their willingness to apply for unskilled jobs because of a short-intended stay in the UK, or employers’ discrimination. However, my background as a Polish national living in Scotland and therefore frequent interactions with other Poles led me to believe that other factors are also likely to be at work. I believed that in their migrant experience in which they have been rapidly immersed in a new linguistic environment and the way they perceive themselves as users of English vis-à-vis NESs is likely to affect their sense of self. My impression was that their general understanding of English as an exclusive property of its native speakers brings about their low self-confidence in speaking the language. This, I believed, would lead to their low self-esteem in general and affect their understanding of what their skills are outside the language, which could result in them choosing jobs below their skill set.

The findings of this study revealed that, in fact, the participants’ beliefs about the English language and its speakers (including themselves) were, ultimately, the main factor influencing their ELI. Their understanding of the notion of “correct” English, for example, paired with, or arguably stemming from, their limited awareness of the variety of forms that English may take in light of its global spread, resulted in them perceiving themselves as having a limited English skill, as opposed to the “superior” and “expert” NESs. This ultimately led to feelings of frustration, stress and anxiety. In sum, it appeared that their overall beliefs about English and its speakers ultimately led to lowered self-esteem and affected their everyday decisions, including them avoiding socialisation as the site of communicative encounters, opting for less linguistically demanding jobs, or, in some cases, deciding whether or not to stay in Scotland.

For those who had been taught English in Poland, this educational setting appeared to have an influence on shaping their overall “language ideologies”. This was evident in the participants’ critical statements about their English learning experiences, which accorded with research on the ELT practices in Poland that revealed that British English and American English are often the only varieties students are exposed to, and the message conveyed to students in ELT classrooms is that these are the only ‘correct’ and ‘legitimate’ varieties (e.g. Janicka et al., 2005). The participants of my study criticised the English education in Poland for a lack of exposure to the different accents spoken worldwide, a lack of training in communication strategies, not enough opportunities to practice speaking and over-reliance on grammatical accuracy. They felt that having been taught in a “don’t say anything because you’ll sound like an idiot, because you won’t say it grammatically” (Ewa, Interview 1) manner, that conveyed the message that ‘Native English’ is the only inherently correct English, grammatical accuracy is the most important aspect of successful communication and the only varieties of English you may encounter abroad are British English and American English, they formed a set of unrealistic and irrelevant beliefs about English and its speakers. These beliefs further influenced their beliefs about English competence (e.g. what it means to be able to ‘speak English’) and their beliefs about people’s perceptions of migrants that were revolving around the migrants’ status of mostly being “failed” NESs (Jenkins 2011: 284). These negative assumptions negatively affected their ELI and resulted in behaviour and various decisions that would ultimately determine their whole migration experience. Furthermore, expecting to encounter only the “marked” versions of English (e.g. ‘British’ or ‘American’ English) on arriving in Scotland also contributed to their initial shock, resulting in their negative self-evaluated English competence and widening the distinction between themselves and the local community.

Incorporating ELF-awareness into English language teaching

The findings supported the previous claim that awareness of the global spread of English with its consequences, including the ways in which the language is used and the different forms it takes, the “fluid” notion of language correctness and the implications of this spread for the “status” and (self)identification of its various non-native users, who are in the majority and may exercise linguistic “power” equal to their native counterparts, could benefit learners’ self-esteem building. Most importantly, instruction that involves this kind of awareness raising, as proposed by various ELF scholars, could, ultimately, transform learners’ perceptions of the language, from seeing it as the “property” of expert NESs into a language that belongs to everyone who speaks it (Cogo, 2012). The feeling of ownership of English and awareness of it having different varieties could enable learners to value their own “version of English”, free them from pursuing the unattainable native accent and ease their future transition into an environment where a variety of English accents are spoken. It could also help them to address the view held by the participants of this study that they speak incorrect English and that they are constantly being evaluated by NESs.

There is a growing body of literature on how to incorporate an ‘ELF perspective’ into English language teaching. Raising awareness of ELF-related topics, for example, can be achieved through direct instruction about the global spread of English (Galloway, 2013), through increased exposure to English varieties (Hino and Oda, 2015; Galloway and Rose, 2013) or authentic encounters through ELF (Galloway and Rose, 2013; Hino and Oda, 2015). The topic of the global spread of English could be incorporated into listening and reading exercises, oral debates or written assignments that would encourage reflections on, and learning about, this topic. Exposure to ELF and various varieties of English, in turn, may be achieved by using materials that include encounters in English between speakers from different backgrounds and in various settings where English is used as a common lingua franca. This would not only prepare learners for the variety of accents and varieties of English they may encounter in the future, but also encourage them to reflect on the ambiguity of the notion of ‘correctness’ in, and, arguably, the ownership of, English. This could, potentially, encourage learners to reconsider their own English competence and their interlocutors’ status as “experts”, which has been shown to affect their ELI, as well as the notion of English as being “NESs’ language” that requires native-like fluency and grammatical correctness.

The importance of practitioner research

All of the above leads to a point that I would like to make. As English teachers, we need to be aware of our students’ needs, beliefs, goals and personalities. As I argued above, these various characteristics not only influence their language learning and performance but may also have a crucial role in their future experiences when using the language. Furthermore, as no teaching/learning context is the same, apart from being aware of the existing research, it is also important for the teachers to conduct their own research to minimize the long-existing gap between research and practice.

This does not have to involve publishing in peer-review journals (although I love to see this kind of papers coming from practitioners), but rather conducting small-scale, ‘local’ research for our own purposes. Conducting a needs analysis among students, using questionnaires to gather their evaluations and feedback, or conducting interviews are only a few methods that may help us understand our students’ needs and beliefs. Nobody understands the students better than the teachers themselves, and it is this teacher perspective that I feel has still not received enough attention in academic literature.

References

Baker, W. (2012). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66 (1), 62-70.

Bielewska, A. (2011). National identities of Poles in Manchester: Modern and postmodern geographies. Ethnicities, 12 (1), 86-105.

Cervatiuc, A. (2009). Identity, good language learning, and adult immigrants in Canada. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 8, 254-271.

Cogo, A. (2012). English as a Lingua Franca: concepts, use, and implications. ELT Journal, 66 (1), 97-105.

Cook, V. (1999). Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33 (2), 185-209.

Dewey, M. (2012). Towards a post-normative approach: learning the pedagogy of ELF. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 1 (1), 141-170.

Galloway, N. (2013). Global Englishes and English Language Teaching (ELT) – Bridging the gap between theory and practice in a Japanese context. System, 41 (3), 786 – 803.

Galloway, N. & Rose, H. (2015). Introducing Global Englishes. London: Routledge.

Hamlyn, D.W. (1983). Perception, learning and the self: Essays in the philosophy of Psychology. London: Routledge.

Hino, N. & Oda, S. (2015). Integrated practice in teaching English as an international language (IPTEIL): A classroom ELF pedagogy in Japan. In Y. Bayyurt & S. Akcan (Eds.), Current perspectives on pedagogy for English as a lingua franca (pp. 81-111). Berlin/Munich/Boston: Walter de Gruyter.

Janicka, K., Kul, M. & Weckwerth, J. (2005). Polish students’ attitudes to native English accents as models for EFL pronunciation. In K. Dziubalska-Kołaczyk & J. Przedlacka (Eds.), English pronunciation models: a changing scene. Bern: Peter Lang.

Jenkins, J. (2011). Accommodating (to) ELF in the international university. Journal of Pragmatics 43. 926-936.

Mercer, S. (2011). Towards an understanding of language learner self-concept. Dordrecht: Springer.

Park, J. (2007). Co-construction of nonnative speaker identity in cross-cultural interaction. Applied Linguistics, 28 (3), 339-360.

Rubio, F.D. (2015). Self-esteem and self-concept in foreign language learning. In S. Mercer and M. Williams (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 41-59). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Ryan, S. & Irie, K. (2015). Imagined and Possible Selves: Stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. In S. Mercer and M. Williams (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 109-126). Bristol, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters.

Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

-          A note from ALT training online’s David Hayter

If you have something 'ALT' to write about that hasn't been covered in these blogs, email me at alttoblog@gmail.com so we can work together and spread your story.

Don't have any ideas? We have a list of topics to write about that need a writer. Email in your interest to write and we can set you up. 

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