How To Use Logic To Improve Your EFL Students' Writing by Liang Ye

by Liang Ye

Bio: Liang Ye is an accidental English teacher. Her previous professional experience was in public policy with the Singapore Government.

She holds a Bachelor of Social Science (double major in Sociology and Psychology), a Masters of Arts in Sociology, and also a Level 7 Diploma in TESOL.

She currently speaks four languages and is learning another two.

Now, she works as an English instructor in Kansai Soka High School in Osaka, Japan.

It all began with a Facebook post. Well, perhaps even before the Facebook post.

I have lived in Japan for a total of six years so far, and had only started teaching English in classrooms three years ago. Even before starting a formal career in teaching, I found myself correcting English essays from children of acquaintances and entertaining odd requests from time to time. Then, I started noticing something peculiar.

Occasionally, I would receive essays that were written in flawless English, but I had no idea what they were talking about.

How is that even possible? The grammar was perfect! But the sentences had no apparent logical link with each other, and the clauses were put together as if the author was talking in circles or even broken spirals. It reminded me of sample speech patterns of patients with schizophrenia or cognitive dissociation in psychology textbooks. How should I even begin to correct them?

Thus began my quest to help English learners straighten out their writing.

A couple of years ago, I joined a senior high school in Osaka as an ALT for the first time. Among my other classes, I was tasked with teaching 6 classes of about 25 students on how to write English essays, all by myself. I was anxious and excited at the prospect. The students had up to that point only learnt how to make sentences. The earlier encounters with “flawless but undecipherable” essays stood out in my mind.

How do I help students learn how to write clearly? Out of ideas and with no other recourse, I turned to Facebook.

One of my friends, upon reading my bewildered post, suggested that I give explicit instructions in the target logic (reason being that most students in Japan are not exposed to logic in their classes), and pointed me to some resources.

From there, I went on to build a 1-year writing course, through trial-and-error, with explicit instructions in logic built into the class. Inevitably, being a newly-minted ALT, I made mistakes and some activities fell flat on their faces. However, there were also elements that worked out very well. In fact, so well that towards the end of the academic year, I had students who reportedly passed Eiken level 2 as they got nearly full marks in the writing section, despite failing the Reading and Listening section. Back then, I had no idea that this hardly ever happens until I told my spouse (a JTE, or Japanese teacher of English, in another school). He had looked at me, his mouth agape, and said in wonder, “That has never happened before”.

Although I have only anecdotal evidence that incorporating logic into a writing course works, I suppose what I did is still worth sharing.

So for those who are interested, I have outlined four basic steps (with some sample activities thrown in as well) to help students learn how to build an argument in English writing.

Although there are many ways to build an argument, the most basic style of writing, when stripped down to its barest form, requires the writer to follow the “If A, then B. Therefore C.” pattern (also called Chain Reasoning).

The key aim here, therefore, is to use the concept of “cause and effect” as a foundation, and then use scaffolding activities to help students learn how to use chain reasoning to write coherently, while avoiding complicated meta-language or brain-twisting Aristotelian syllogisms.

These four steps can either be expanded into a full semester course with lots of practice and examples, or condensed into one lesson, depending on the level of the students and the aim of the writing course.

Teachers can also consider including higher-order thinking strategies such as inductive/deductive syllogisms, logical fallacies or introduce different types of evidence in advanced writing courses.

By teaching students how to build stronger arguments, we also teach students how to think more critically; and this, I believe, should be the cornerstone of a balanced curriculum.

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Step 1: Start with the importance of time sequence in cause and effect.

Example activity:

• Introduce the following two clauses:
• (A) The window was broken.
• (B) The boy threw a ball.

• Draw a timeline on the board and ask students to indicate whether A or B happens first.

• Then, show the following sentences:
• Sentence 1: The window was broken because the boy threw a ball at it.
• Sentence 2: The boy threw a ball at the window because it was broken.

• Emphasize that sentence 2 is incorrect due to the wrong order of cause and effect.

You can reiterate the time-sensitivity of cause and effect with several other (obvious) examples, depending on the level of your students. You may also consider using games or create worksheets to emphasize this.

Suggested grammar: “A because B”, and “A, so B”.

Step 2: Introduce and go through the following logical errors related to cause & effect.

1. Circular reasoning*
2. No relationship in cause and effect
3. Cause and effect are reversed
4. Insufficient explanation

Example activity:

• Use obvious examples and ask students what is wrong with the sentences. Here are some examples of sentences with their corresponding logical errors:

1. Fast food is unhealthy because fast food is bad for your health.
• (Circular reasoning)
2. The sakura trees are blooming because it is raining.
• (No relationship in cause and effect)
3. The students passed their Eiken test because the teacher is happy.
• (Cause and effect are reversed)
4. I am poor because I eat fast food.
• (Insufficient explanation; this can also fall under error 2 or even 3, but I’ll be using this as an example to introduce chain reasoning later in Step 4).

* Among the four types of errors, circular reasoning is a very common writing pattern among Japanese students, in part due to a lack of control and vocabulary in English. I found the following example (adapted from a student’s essay, and modified for dramatic and comic effect) to be very helpful in driving home what circular reasoning is:

I agree that it is important to learn a foreign language. First, if I learn a foreign language, I can speak a foreign language. If I can speak a foreign language, I can speak to foreigners. If I do not learn a foreign language, I cannot speak to foreigners. For example, because I speak a foreign language, I can speak to foreigners.

To help students recognize and avoid circular reasoning, I find it useful to ask students to think in very concrete terms, by using specific situations, rather than thinking with abstract concepts.

Step 3: Introduce hypothetical scenarios.

Example activity:

• Introduce the following two clauses:
• (A) The window will be broken.
• (B) The boy throws a ball.

• Draw a timeline on the board, this time with a mark in the middle indicating “now”. Ask students to indicate where on the timeline should A or B happen in the future.

• Then, show the following sentences:
• Sentence 1: If the boy throws a ball, the window will be broken.
• Sentence 2: If the window is broken, the boy will throw a ball.

• Emphasize that sentence 2 is incorrect due to the wrong order of cause and effect. 

Suggested grammar: “If A, (s) will B”.

Since “If A, then B. Therefore C.” is the most basic pattern in building an argument, using the grammar “If…, (s) will…” is probably the easiest way for students to string ideas together in an argumentative essay.

Step 4: Introduce chain reasoning.

Example activity:

• Introduce the following sentence and ask students why does the author think this way:
• I am poor because I eat fast food.

• Then, show the following paragraph:

Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday, it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.

Break down the paragraph in the following way:

• Pattern 1


• Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. (Link 1)

• If I eat fast food everyday, (Link 2)

• it will cost me a lot of money. (Link 3)

• Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday. (Conclusion)

Teachers may consider using a variety of examples, or introduce different grammar that follow the same thought pattern. Another pattern is to move the conclusion up in the paragraph and make it the topic sentence:

• Pattern 2
• I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday. (Topic sentence)

• This is because fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. (Link 1)

• If I eat fast food everyday, (Link 2)

• it will cost me a lot of money. (Link 3)

This second pattern is useful in writing courses where students are taught that topic sentences come at the top of paragraphs. Students can then practice building longer chains of supporting sentences into their paragraphs and work towards writing a full essay.

-          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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Tips For Teaching Japanese Teenagers And Young Adults by Lina Gordyshevskaya

by Lina Gordyshevskaya

Bio: Lina Gordyshevskaya graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2015 earning an MA with honors in Scandinavian Studies. She obtained a CELTA in 2016 and Delta Module 1 in 2018.

Throughout her career, she has taught YL (young learners), teenagers, and adults of various levels in different contexts, including conversational schools and universities. Currently, she is teaching Business English at an IT-company in Tokyo and loves her job. She writes regularly for her blog, Side Notes on ELT.

Think of a typical Japanese teenage learner. You have probably come across some of them. Quiet and unresponsive, they never look at you and seem uninterested in whatever is going on in the classroom. All your questions are met with deafening silence. Little by little, you start feeling like you are banging your head against a brick wall until one day you realise that you have had enough.

The worst thing you can do in this case is to be quick to judge and give up on this whole situation. Yes, Japanese students are remarkably silent, but let us look at some reasons behind their silence.

Jim King (2014) stated in his research paper on social anxiety and silent behaviour of Japanese learners that the main reason is their cultural background. He wrote that in Japan, reserved behaviour is ‘culturally acceptable and positively regarded’ (p.234). Japan is a very high-context nation which means that one has to read between the lines. Less is said, but more is meant. The Japanese tend to place a higher positive value on silence in comparison to overt verbalisation (ibid).

Seiko Harumi (2001) added one more explanation. According to her, Japanese students’ use of silence is the result of the pedagogy of foreign language teaching including curriculum design and the methods used in teaching.

Indeed, Japanese classrooms are rather teacher-centred.

Foreign languages are taught starting with grammar and vocabulary, and the emphasis is put on receptive skills rather than productive.

In a country where an individual’s social status and position in the social hierarchy are important, students are seen as subordinates and their role is ‘to listen, observe, and learn’ (Atkinson, in Banks, 2016) and not to express their opinions. Of course, nowadays, this is changing but there is still a long way to go.

Taking into an account the abovementioned reasons, we can say that there are definitely quite a few challenges that foreign teachers are facing when teaching in Japan.

The question is what they can do about it. What can you do about it?

1. Problem: Your students avoid eye contact. When you speak, they often stare at their desks, but they will not look at you.

Comment: Surprisingly, it does not mean they are not listening. Of course, not all of them are paying attention, but many do. They avoid eye contact because, in their culture, the teacher is a superior, and one is not supposed to look openly at their superiors.

Solution: I would say that the only way is to accept it and take it calmly.

2. Problem: You asked your students if they understood your instructions / explanations. They all said yes or nodded but when you told them to start with the task it appeared that some of them did not understand what to do.

Comment: In Japanese culture, there is a concept of honne as opposed to tatemae. Honne is what an individual actually feels and thinks and tatemae is what they show to the public. It is very important that one keeps the face no matter what. Admitting out loud that there is something you did not understand is unacceptable and even humiliating from a Japanese person’s perspective.

Solution: Learn to read their faces. Many students will not say ‘no’ directly, but they will still look a bit confused. If this is the case (i.e. if you see some confused looks on their faces), give instructions / explanations once again but more slowly. You can also ask stronger students to translate your instructions into Japanese for those students who seem lost.

Another option is to learn some basic Japanese. Before starting with the task, those students who do not understand what to do will most likely whisper something like ‘What are we supposed to do? I didn’t understand’ to their neighbours, so you can act on this.

3. Problem: You ask them to share their opinion, and they freeze.

Comment: They want to give the right answer, but they do not know which is right. Giving a wrong answer means to lose your face, so instead of taking a risk they prefer to keep silence and avoid a potentially embarrassing situation. Another reason is that they are not used to expressing their opinions because they have hardly ever been asked to do that before.
Another reason could be that they are afraid of making errors, e.g. using wrong grammar, or they simply cannot find the right words. Many Japanese people have an erroneous belief that they should either speak perfect English or not speak it at all.

Solution: Instead of making them answer your questions directly, ask them to discuss the questions in pairs. You can walk around and comment on some interesting ideas you hear.

After a while when your students get used to this kind of interaction start asking them to report their ideas back to you. At first, they will struggle, but it is easier to repeat something you have already said rather than coming up with an idea on the spot.

After some time you will notice that they need less time before reporting. It took my students roughly seven weeks to get used to it, but eventually, they could do it easily and with little hesitation.

Make sure that you explain clearly that mistakes are okay and that the main idea of communication is mutual understanding rather than linguistic perfection (even if you yourself somewhat disagree with this).

4. Problem: A variation of the previous one, but a more severe one where your students do not want to communicate with each other either.

Solution: Instead of making them speak, why not ask them to write their answers down? Give each student a small whiteboard and a marker and see if it works. After all, communication does not necessarily have to be oral. After a while, when they get used to you and your classes, you can try encouraging them to become more verbal.

5. Problem: Your students smile all the time and seem to be positive, but one day, you overhear that some of them were complaining about your classes.

Comment: Smiling does not mean that they like you and enjoy the lesson. They are just being polite. They are not doing it on purpose - they just do not want to discomfort you. In Japan, people avoid being direct as this might offend other people. However, this does not mean they do not want to give feedback.

Solution: What you can do is to ask them to write down how they feel about today’s class, e.g. what they liked and what they found difficult. My students were quite keen on this and shared many difficulties they experienced. By knowing more about their feelings and learning issues I was able to assist them more effectively.

And once again, learn some Japanese to be able to understand their real attitude from what they say to their classmates.

While all of the above might alarm you, one thing you should know is that after several weeks, your students will get used to you and become more open and relaxed.

They might even start being honest about not understanding something and ask questions.

Just be patient and attentive to their needs, show them that you are sensitive to their fears and difficulties they experience and create a comfortable atmosphere.
Teaching is a rewarding profession, and teaching in Japan might be one of the best experiences in your life. You are the teacher, and everything is in your hands.

References:

Banks, S. (2016). Behind Japanese students’ silence in English classrooms. Accents Asia, 8 (2), pp. 54-57.

Harumi, S. (2001). The use of silence by Japanese EFL learners. JALT Conference proceedings.

King, J. (2014). Fear of true self: Social anxiety and the silent behaviour of Japanese learners of English. In K. Csizér & M. Magid (eds.), The impact of self-concept on language learning. Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.

-          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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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. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html

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.

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. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html

Harassment In Japan Experienced By ALTs by Farrah Hasnain

by Farrah Hasnain

Bio: Farrah Hasnain is currently in her fifth year of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme and is from Washington, DC. She is an Assistant Language Teacher at a senior high school in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Her research interests include the ethnography of immigrant and minority communities in Japan and the US as well as English team-teaching methodology in Japanese high schools.

A note from the editor, David Hayter:

The topic of this month's blog series is serious. The research conducted by Farrah Hasnain sheds light on some often unaddressed problems that have probably been going on for a long time. Harassment is a type of discrimination that can take on many forms.

Although some of the stories in this post have been edited for grammar and have had certain terms in them defined, the original stories of the teachers have been unchanged.

This blog post has two parts. Part 1 is about the survey/interview results. Part 2 has case studies and strategies for addressing harassment.

Introduction

Japan is known for its low crime rate, and it is a very safe country to live in. You can leave your laptop or wallet unattended at Starbucks and it would still be there when you’d come back.

However, as safe as the country may be, it is known that sexual harassment and power harassment still runs rampant in Japanese workplaces. This year alone, Japan’s Liberal Democratic MP (Member of Parliament), Kanji Kato, stated that women should bear more children, and that women who were single or childless did not deserve to be cared for in nursing homes. A councilwoman in Kumamoto who took her baby to work was heckled and kicked out of a meeting for having a cough drop. These phenomena are also becoming more prevalent in Japanese media. In 2016, Sanrio released a new character called “Aggressive Retsuko”. She is a single 25-year old red panda who works in the accounting department of a Japanese trading firm. At work, she constantly faces microaggressions from her coworkers and supervisors, and sings death metal at karaoke to release her stress and frustration.

Harassment is not only reserved for big Japanese corporations or parliament. Japanese schools and eikaiwas (English conversation schools) are also rampant with harassment cases, and ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) are also commonly affected. Whether you’re a JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) participant, an eikaiwa teacher, a dispatch company employee, or a private-hire ALT, you or your peers may experience various forms of harassment during your term.

ALTs and Harassment
As a 5th-year ALT in the JET Programme, I have heard of countless horror stories from ALTs and have personally experienced some forms of harassment throughout my term. The prevalence of this phenomenon was shocking to me at first, and it inspired me to survey and interview ALTs and eikaiwa teachers about their experiences. 374 people responded to the survey, and 42 people participated in a follow-up interview (39 via Skype and 3 in-person).

Survey Data

Participants' employment status

217 Current ALTs, 127 Former ALTs, 30 non-ALTs (NETs (Native English Teachers), eikaiwa instructors)

Participants listed by employer

130 JET Programme, 47 Private Hires by BOEs, 34 Interac, 5 ALTIA Central, 4 ECC, 2 AEON, over 20 worked for small eikaiwa (some worked for multiple employers over time)

Participants listed by gender identity

253 Female, 110 Male, 5 Genderfluid, 1 Nonbinary, 5 Preferred Not to Say

Type of harassment experienced by participants

Participants listed by location

Survey Findings:

Experiences with Harassment
Over 50% of the participants had experienced sexual harassment and racism, 39% power harassment (a kind of harassment that involves abuse of power/bullying against an employee’s subordinates), and 13.1% experienced sexual assault.

Other significant forms of harassment that the participants experienced included maternity harassment, stalking, microaggressions, xenophobia, and bullying.

The top two locations where they experienced harassment was at their schools (70%) and at Nomikai/Enkai (39.4%).

I also asked the participants about how they would address the issue if they experienced harassment. Multiple preferences were selectable.

The top 5 preferences were:

• Friends (over 80%)
• Spouses/Partners (37.2%)
• Senpai [expats/foreign residents who have stayed in Japan longer] (36.1%)
• Coworkers (31%)
• Family Members (30.2%)

Less than 25% would reach out to their employers or BOEs, and less than 10% would reach out to a licensed counselor.

Experiences of Harassment:

Survey & Interview Responses
245 survey participants wrote about their experiences with harassment in Japan. Here are a few that represent what a majority of the respondents shared. There were also certain instances of harassment that would occur more frequently with some demographics than others (black women, Japanese-passing women, women of color, younger employees).

Sexual Harassment
Female ALT:

Students

I've been cat-called by students ("Nice hamstrings! Nice ketsu(ass)!"), experienced them performing a pantomime of groping breasts in front of me (while making eye contact and saying 'momi momi'), and smirk and mutter 'sex' under their breath every time they see me.

In regards to the cat-calling and under-the-breath 'sex' muttering, I did not bring this event to anyone's attention nor did I confront the students in question. The reason for this is because while I could identify the voice of the 'ketsu' offender, he is a known troublemaker in the 3rd grade which I don't teach anymore. Reporting him would not have reaped any improvement, so I just ignored it. With the 'sex' mutterer, I simply ignored him until he gave up.
The student who pantomimed the act of groping me was a 1st year, so I came down hard on him. I confronted him immediately after confirming that he was indeed being that rude, ordered him to do it again and gave him a good yelling-at. The next day, I reported it to his homeroom teacher and the head teacher of the 1st year. Their response was absolutely lovely and they helped me to sit down and have a discussion with him about why he thought that was appropriate, why it's bad, and if there were other members of his club who'd encouraged him to do it. The club's teacher was informed of the results and took appropriate action with the other club members.

Muslim ALT:

Coworker/Supervisor

In one case, a drunken coworker at enkais or on train rides home from town on weekends routinely would try to tell me that sexual harassment was okay in the US, make lewd gestures, and ask to touch my breasts. In other cases, my supervisor would obviously favor the other ALTs over me in group settings (offering them tea or having family dress them up in kimonos but telling me to get my own tea or that kimono wouldn't look good on me if I asked) and made repeated racist comments towards me (such as in my culture it's okay to be lazy but it's time to be Japanese, on the less severe end).

He also lied to me about my contract terms regarding emergency sick leave, called my PA (Prefectural Advisor) after speaking to an ER doctor while I was in critical care to say I was trying to get out of working after vacation, called me daily while I was in hospital demanding I give him an answer about when I'd be back or he would hire a new ALT and terminate my contract, made racist remarks when I had to stop kyushoku due to my health and allergies (namely saying all Muslims needed to just eat like normal people, despite this having nothing to do with religion), telling me 'losing weight by eating your own food won't make you sexy enough to get away with being lazy,' threatening me with firing if I wasn't 'mentally stable' when I asked about counseling after a family death, ordering coworkers not to help me get to work when I broke my leg to prove I was 'faking it' (I had to walk 2 hours each way on crutches til I healed), repeatedly coming to my home to criticize my work, tell me about neighborhood complaints I was not responsible for, and make racist remarks…

He also refused to sign part of my transfer request paperwork so that it wasn't processed, then told me two months after he was supposed to that because of that, my request was denied, I was out of a job, the After JET conference and appeal deadline had passed, and so had prime hiring period, and then he told me he had done so and told my coworkers not to be references for me if I asked because he wanted 'people like' me out of Japan and he hoped no other company would hire me. I've also experienced groping and sexual comments from strangers at social gatherings on a few occasions.

Power Harassment
ALT:

School Principal

The principal at my main school obviously had issues with me. She was a bully in general to the entire staff but I refused to go along with some of her more ridiculous demands so her attitude toward me changed. She would be condescending and call me out in front of staff. Made me so stressed that I almost wanted to quit and once it got so bad I almost left school in tears in the middle of the day. The fact that I am Asian (Chinese) and spoke Japanese definitely was a factor as I 'looked' Japanese but wasn't. Speaking to my colleagues confirmed this racial bias for me as my successor (non Asian) did not experience the same problems as me at all.

ALT:

Co-ALT, Older Coworkers

I felt that my ex-co-ALT used his position of relative superiority within the Japanese school system to belittle, dismiss, or undermine whatever I said to other JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English). For example, in front of me on a regular basis he would use Japanese to belittle or dismiss my ideas to Japanese colleagues. One of my JTEs is a retired and returned teacher who consistently uses low level power harassment to belittle me in front of a full class of students. IE, he will ask me grammar questions and if I do not respond exactly the way he expects then he will insult my ability to speak my native language to the students in Japanese, slamming doors in my face, etc.

ALT:

Supervisor, Older Teachers

The power harassment was from my immediate supervisor at my high school. It lasted 2 years, but the majority of the bullying occurred the first year because I was alone with her in an isolated office. It was a terrible experience. I was in touch with the JET who worked as ALT Coordinator at the BoE but he refused to help me. I had to lean on my boyfriend for emotional support and found that I was very depressed by the end of the year working with this person. She did so many mean and vindictive things to me.

After the first year working with her, I was able to get out of the office because a CIR at the BoE who I was friends with reported what I had told her about this woman to the BoE coordinator and he spoke with my vice principal and other teachers who immediately began helping me get out of the situation. They then watched to see what she would do and saw how vindictive and mean she was which supported my accusations. Honestly, the situation was dire from day one. But as soon as I moved things became immediately better for me. I found out also that she had a record of bullying at a previous school in her report. I just wish the JET ALT Coordinator had listened to me the first year instead of telling me I would just have to deal with harassment because that was the way this was handled. So terrible.

Please make certain the ALTs working in these positions are trained on how to deal with bullying of ALTs.

Male ALT:

Invasive Questions

I have been asked by senior teachers how big my penis is, how often I cheat on my wife, whether my children have big penises, whether being fat means I'm lazy, if all foreigners eventually get as fat as me, whether I'm ashamed of leaving work "so early" (ie. at the end of the workday), etc... Essentially, I have found my co-workers to often be extremely lacking in discretion when it comes to conversation, often resulting in racist statements, sexually inappropriate statements, or harassment based on my body size. I also find it extremely difficult to find many administrators or faculty who are willing to treat me or my fellow foreign teachers with professional respect despite often being more qualified and experienced than they are.

Male ALT:

Team Teaching

The teacher with whom I was working called me a baka gaijin in front of the students. The same guy also told the class my wife was ugly, while I was standing there. He seemed to think we were some kind of comedy double act where I was the fall guy for his jokes. I don't think he was being malicious. There is a common belief in schools in Japan that the foreigner in the class is going to be some kind of clown. That it's time to have fun and a bit of a laugh with the ALT/JET. I think he was just going along with that and got carried away. I let it go because, to tell the truth, he was the most approachable person in the school. And also, the school was still recovering from a former JET who had been a nightmare for the school (I met the guy and he was an absolute d**k). So, I didn't want to rock the boat. It never happened again with that guy. If it had of I would have done something about it.

Racism/Prejudice
Black ALT

As a tall, black woman in Japan, I am sometimes treated like a rare specimen by people and that leads to surprise, unsolicited touching, from touching my hair--once in an onsen when I was showering which made me feel the need to wash my hair again--to suddenly standing hip to hip with me to compare leg length to, one time from my students, touching my earlobes. My reaction for strangers is usually to stay calm and roll with it, sometimes with humor in the cases of leg comparing; sometimes going through the motions due to shock, as in the onsen; and sometimes scolding when it's my students touching my hair.

There was one time, though, I was changing in a locker room when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone reaching to touch my pant-less leg. I internally freaked out and flinched out of the way. Turns out, the woman somehow didn't think I was black and asked how I stayed so evenly tan. I had to inform her that I am a black woman and it's my normal skin color. I dunno why she felt the need to try to touch me, but I didn't ask and tried to get out the fastest I could.

I know that I'm a rarity in Japan and that most people I run into will never get to interact with a foreigner, let alone a tall, black one, so I try not to let it get to me. The TV blackface always makes me angry, though…

East-Asian Canadian ALT

I look like a Japanese person and I know Japanese...I get why I’m treated like a Japanese teacher. I had to learn how to “read the air” and communicate in subtle Japanese ways with my coworkers every day. Communication here is less direct than back home and in my family’s culture. Oh, I was once yelled at for not using keigo (honorific Japanese) on the phone. I just said “hai” to my coworker. He was older than me so he wanted me to be more formal. If I am doing something “wrong” with how I dress or talk it’s direct, but if it’s something like lesson planning it’s never really direct for me.

I have a co-ALT who is white and we’re told conflicting things at work all the time...I have to dress more conservatively and use nenkyu (paid time off) less often than her. I can’t dye my hair either even though she can have highlights and get compliments on them. On the other side of the coin, I can defend myself. The other ALTs in my city don’t know the language so they can’t speak up for themselves or know the system. I also had to step in for other ALTs when they would report chikan or other things. Their supervisors are very hands-off with everything so they are stuck with finding someone to interpret for them or support them in-person.
I’m a totally invisible foreigner outside of work. I like blending in, but it’s nice to be a special snowflake sometimes too. I see Japanese people and my students get easily enchanted by my co-ALT all the time like a celebrity. I tried explaining how differently I’m treated to my co-ALT and other JETs but I get the “ESID” mantra. It’s not different? It’s a common issue that comes from history. I know of lots of people in Japan who are anti-Korean and Chinese too. In my jikoshoukai [self-introduction] I told the class my family immigrated from China and the students said anti-Chinese comments. This was before they knew I spoke Japanese. I pretended not to understand so I could hear their honest opinions about China. The JTE told me to talk about Canada instead when I confronted her after the lesson. We couldn’t have a civil conversation with the homeroom.

Japan is not a perfect country. Canada isn’t perfect, either. Perfect countries aren’t real.

People here can discriminate and have double-standards so I wish the “Japanese mindset” or “not breaking the ‘wa’” wasn’t put on such a freaking pedestal by other gaijin here.

Filipina ALT

My English level always has room for doubt with my JTEs. I am from the Philippines and, well, English is the official language. I am also a certified teacher back in my home country. They asked me to change my accent and sound American, because it is the real English. I was hurt by their remarks about me and had my breaking points. I always feel like they would be happier with an ALT from North America. At one party with my senseis, they compared me to women at a Filipino pub near the party and asked me if I worked there after school. I stopped going to the parties but I have lunch with my supervisor sometimes. She also does not get along with the JTEs who gave me comments, but she told me that they were in charge of the department.

I don’t want to ask for a transfer because I’m worried about my problems repeating again and I want to stay. My Filipina-American friend also had the same problems in her school in a different part of Japan and I was surprised! Being American can’t protect you either. JET is a very famous and competitive program and it’s very hard to get this job. I thought the teachers would be more professional with the JET ALTs but I heard it’s not always true. In the classroom I like teaching my students and they give me so much pride. They are full of life and they accept me more so. The income is good and I have a lot of friends in Japan. Maybe I just have to pray more and make do.

-          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. 

For upcoming blogs see the blogs tab here:  http://www.alttrainingonline.com/blog.html