tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139116082024-03-13T13:13:42.595+09:00Jimbo's English Teaching in Japan BlogI am involved in English Teacher Education in Japan. I started this blog in 2005 and abandoned and returned to it a couple of times. Here, I write about things I have tried in class, my experience in teacher education in Japan and other places, and deep thoughts about the origin of the universe. This blog used to be anonymous but no longer. I try not to write anything that will get me fired. JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-57266797774833341882019-06-04T11:16:00.001+09:002019-06-04T15:31:48.540+09:00My Take on the JALT CALL Conference (June 1, 2019)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguMy1FCFYJ1US2aKyNZaeV0Wj1ufG22CSV-5bvYf7aqjKjkE88n-zOQg4wCm4YMrA_xHtS5V0azt3y3vb1Fy0518866y3E4urxA6EL67Hna09GjemqfWwR0NnYiihA9gOFW6Oz/s1600/JamiePresentation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguMy1FCFYJ1US2aKyNZaeV0Wj1ufG22CSV-5bvYf7aqjKjkE88n-zOQg4wCm4YMrA_xHtS5V0azt3y3vb1Fy0518866y3E4urxA6EL67Hna09GjemqfWwR0NnYiihA9gOFW6Oz/s320/JamiePresentation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I presented at the <a href="https://conference2019.jaltcall.org/" target="_blank">JALT CALL Conference</a> on June 1, 2019 with 4 teacher-colleagues from Bangkok. I presented how we customized Wordpress to serve as a <a href="https://pls.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/archives/2585" target="_blank">Lesson Study App and its positive and negative aspects. The APP is used to facilitate student-teacher development and knowledge generation of teaching methodology</a>. My colleagues presented about their experiences using the APP. We use this APP for a <a href="https://pls.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/archives/2388" target="_blank">teaching internship done by my university in Thailand</a>. <br />
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A grand total of two people 😞 attended our presentation. This was disappointing, but I understood the reason why. The majority of the presentations at JALT CALL seemed to be about online apps or activities that people could immediately make use of. I think that what I am doing is original, but only a wordpress expert would leave my presentation with something they could soon use. Perhaps, my presentation is best for the <a href="https://2019.haneda.wordcamp.org/session/developing-a-lesson-study-app-and-web/" target="_blank">WordPress conferences</a>.<br />
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Despite this, the conference itself and even the presentation were worthwhile. The presentation was a chance for me to consolidate everything my colleague (Simon) and I have done to convert Wordpress to a Lesson Study App. It was also a good chance for me to get on the same page with my colleagues from Thailand. I realize that it is now time to write up what we have done, I am hopeful that it will be useful to somebody and somewhere.<br />
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The conference exposed me to tons and tons of online tools for research and learning which I will summarize below. It was so exciting to know about all the options out there but overwhelming. Through experience, I have learned that adopting online education tools is a gradual process. First, you need to figure out what it can do, then you need to figure out whether the tools' features can help you accomplish your classroom learning objectives, lastly, you need to implement it. During the implementation stage, as my understanding of what the technology improves, both my teaching procedures and the way I use the tool change so that they begin to match each other. this process can last up to a year or more for me.<br />
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Having said all that, here are the exciting new tools I learned about at the conference. <br />
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<b>Research tools</b><br />
<a href="https://studio.youtube.com/" target="_blank">Youtube studio </a>can be used for free to transcribe interviews. I do not think it could be used for classroom interactions which has too much background noise, but the accuracy rate (which I cannot remember) seems to be equivalent to the software which costs money. If I had know about this when doing my PhD research, I probably could have saved a lot of time.<br />
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<b>Learning Management Systems (LMS)</b><br />
Before, I had primarily been familiar with Moodle, which is free, but an institution has to install it on their server, which requires time and money. <a href="https://classroom.google.com/" target="_blank">Google classroom </a><br />
and <a href="https://www.schoology.com/" target="_blank">Schoolology </a>are free and all the data is stored on their cloud so one does not have to worry about server management. However, to use Google classroom your institution has to register its domain with them, which could be challenging bureaucratically. It seems that with Schoolology, individual teachers can use it easily. Also, it seems to be designed for students to use on their phones, which means you do not need a computer room. Supposedly, Moodle now offers a <a href="https://moodlecloud.com/app/en/" target="_blank">cloud service. </a>I think these cloud services could potentially save time and money, but is it safe to entrust all your data to a third party? <br />
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<b>Online Language Learning Tools</b><br />
The keynote speech by Dr. <a href="https://evgeny.chukharev.com/">Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen</a> was very entertaining. He introduced his own language learning program, <a href="https://moodlecloud.com/app/en/" target="_blank">Linguatorium, </a>which he says is supported by psycholinguistic research and empirically proven to work. However, it costs students a little bit of money. He had some interesting things to say about <a href="https://ja.duolingo.com/" target="_blank">Duolinguo,</a> which my son uses to study Chinese. I am also waiting for Duolingo to come out with the Thai or Burmese language. However, he said that Duolingo, to his knowledge, is neither based on the science of language learning nor has it been empirically tested. However, it remains very popular.<br />
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Dr. Hiroaki Ogata gave a plenary on <a href="http://eds.let.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/" target="_blank">Learning analytics</a>, discussing how software can be used to analyze and inform the teacher about a students' informal and formal classroom learning. The presentation was a little over my head, but the appeal of using technology to understand how each student is grasping with classroom learning is appealing.<br />
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Lastly, I saw Ms. Lorna Layantes Beduya present about using <a href="https://studio.gometa.io/landing" target="_blank">Metaverse </a>in language classes. Metaverse is hard to describe but it looks to me to be kind of like an interactive trivia application that students can make to teach each other about a topic. For example, in my international understanding class, I could probably use Metaverse for <a href="https://etm.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/pigs/2019/05/10/international-understanding-day-2-may-12/" target="_blank">students' country presentations</a>. JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-894642883064528332019-04-30T23:02:00.000+09:002019-04-30T23:02:05.053+09:00The Danger of Groupwork without FeedbackI was reading John Hattie's Visible Learning for Teachers, which is a readable summary of a meta-analysis on thousands of studies investigating effective teaching practices. I was struck by on thing in particular:<br />
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<a href="https://visible-learning.org/2015/02/infographic-feedback-for-learning/" target="_blank"><strong><em>“Most of the feedback that students receive about their classroom work is from other students – and much of that feedback is wrong.”</em></strong></a><br />
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One of the reasons I do groupwork in my classes is so that students will support eachother. Usually, students work in pairs or groups of four. In my teacher education classes, the class sizes range from 24 to 30 students. It is difficult to monitor 12 to 15 pairs or 6 to 8 groups but I always assumed that students would be able to support each other. After reading Hattie, though, I thought that I needed to do a better job of monitoring groups.<br />
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In my "English Teaching Methodology 3" (ETM 3) class, we were reading about "Practice Activities and Tasks" in the <a href="https://www.eltbooks.com/item_spec.php?item=881128&lang=ja" target="_blank">TKT Course Module 1,2,3</a>. I gave three questions to the class about the main ideas of the chapter and had them answer these questions in pairs. This time, though, in our Wordpress class blog, using WPDiscuz, I posted each question as a comment on <a href="https://dog.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/class-3-practicing-structures/" target="_blank">the lesson page for that day</a>. The groups then had to post their answers as replies to the comments (See below).<br />
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To my surprise, most of the pairs answered the below question incorrectly. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2.What is the difference between skill-based and language based
activities? Can you provide and example from the New Crown or Sunshine
textbook?</blockquote>
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I actually thought the concept of skill and language focused lessons would be easy for students to grasp. Because I could see students' comments, we could discuss the issue deeper: I could understand what many of the students were thinking and they could understand what I wanted the to learn. I saw one way that technology could be used as a means for the teacher to understand the extent to which students are grasping comments and make the appropriate intervention.</div>
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<br /><strong><em></em></strong>JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-16547705499582590342019-04-20T22:22:00.002+09:002019-04-21T20:54:48.384+09:00Wordpress Multisite for Education, Server Requirements, GoDaddyThe past few years, I have been using ePortfolios in my English Teaching Methodology classes. I experienced one incredibly significant problem for almost three years but because of my own stubbornness continued to use wordpress multisites. Wordpress multisites are a network of blogs; there is a main site and then under that, a “subsites.” Each student had their own site for which to create and publish an ePortfolio detailing their development over the span of two years of taking English Teaching Methodology courses (I am an English teacher trainer).<br />
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To teach students how to write in their ePortfolios, I would hold a class in the computer room. What happened was after 8 students logged in, the remaining students would receive a “cannot connect to server error.” This error is shown in the first picture below in Japanese. In order for students to be able to properly write into their ePortfolios, they need a good hour to work independently and receive help from friends or their instructor when they are in trouble. If they have this chance, they will understand how to use wordpress. However, when I experienced this “cannot connect to server” problem, I would have to ask students to write into their ePortfolios by themselves at home. Of course, some students just cannot figure it out by themselves, so a lot of students would have to meet with me individually, which took 10 times more of the time it would have taken if all the students would have been able to log in and edit their ePortfolios at once. Also, there were always some students who did not seek me out for help so they never learned to write into their ePortfolios </div>
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correctly. If I could have conducted one class where everyone could edit their own site at once, I would not have had these problems.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOs-JLOZ3DdMAoQNYdVq8Gu49fXGQw7Zd_3ykWOGXVbJ1kEDe5ZJHeCmBKF5h-y4HtqXJ1m4eY5YB42RGgG4bX4tlIN5ZAMSkVmuB6I0DvHdoYpZrgRHvgAasTFILrhu68jJI/s1600/line_1549068708845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOs-JLOZ3DdMAoQNYdVq8Gu49fXGQw7Zd_3ykWOGXVbJ1kEDe5ZJHeCmBKF5h-y4HtqXJ1m4eY5YB42RGgG4bX4tlIN5ZAMSkVmuB6I0DvHdoYpZrgRHvgAasTFILrhu68jJI/s320/line_1549068708845.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The server provider, Godaddy, said that it was a university network problem. I pestered the university network technicians for a couple of years. At first, they were incredulous that it was a problem with the university network. At the same time, Godaddy seemed to be equally incredulous that is was a problem on their end. <b>This is an important point: for IT, we rely on different service providers and when there is a problem, they are likely to point their fingers at one another. It becomes the client’s job to provide enough evidence to one of the providers that the issue is likely with them. </b></div>
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I was able to confirm that the ePortfolio URLs were not being blocked by the university firewall. Additionally, the network administrator asked our network provider to come to the university and conduct tests. They confirmed that a signal was actually leaving the university network but not returning as it should. With this information, I called goDaddy support. The first time, the person on the phone said that he believed me but could not give me an answer why this problem was occurring. I called goDaddy support again about a week later, and the person on the phone said that I was on a shared server plan and the server cannot provide enough resources to have 30 people log in at once. BINGO. That was the issue we had been experiencing for over two years! Why did it take so long? Afterwards, I read “Wordpress for dummies” and it said that Wordpress Multisites will not work well on a shared server. </div>
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After this two year odyssey, I wonder why it took so long to get this answer from goDaddy. <b>Multisites should be hosted on Virtual Private Servers or Private Servers. </b>Luckily, my university has provided a Virtual Private Server for me and I have moved the site from goDaddy to there using a plugin called <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/" target="_blank">All-in-one-WP-Migration</a><b> . </b>In fact, this plugin did a much better migration than the technician at goDaddy did when they had moved the site previously.<br />
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The morals of this story are<br />
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<ol>
<li>If you want to do a wordpress multisite, for heavens sake, use a virtual private server!</li>
<li>GoDaddy in my opinion is not knowledgeable of WordPress multisites. In fact, there were other instances of terrible or downright incorrect advice they gave me about multisites that I did not write in this entry. My colleague was able to resolve the problems that they would have charged me a lot of money to handle. Some of these problems were caused by them when they migrated sites (This is another blog entry). I do not want anyone else to suffer like I did. If you want to do multisites, GoDaddy is, in my brutally honest opinion, close to useless. </li>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-5670159979266161062019-04-03T23:20:00.003+09:002019-04-03T23:20:55.961+09:00I am aliveGosh darn it has been a long time since my last post. The past four years I have finished my PhD, been continuing to work on various projects, and have been raising a family. I thought that writing a blog would take away from other things, but I am starting to realize that writing is a better way to learn something than just reading.<br />
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I have a new and improved home page here:
https://logos.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/jhoffice/james-m-halls-homepage/<br />
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That is all for now.<br />
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-81529860485231931602016-01-03T23:21:00.000+09:002016-01-03T23:22:38.153+09:00Taking a walk in Yangon on October 18, 2015<iframe height="400" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=z2kBakYEl-iA.kyqmO_4m79Bk" width="540"></iframe><br />
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I meant to write this in my blog a long time ago. First, it took hours for me to figure out how to trace my path on google maps. After that, I weas so burned out that I did not think about this for a couple of months!<br />
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Anyway, on a Sunday in mid-October I took a 6 hour walk in Yangon and thought people could learn from my experience. When I am in Yangon on non-working days, I am usually by myself and can only go so long without other human contact. Invariably I am approached by people in Yangon and end up striking up a conversation with them. When I am visiting a famous attraction, a polite and usually articulate person will approach me with the intention of extracting money from me in some manner. In countries like Thailand, I successfully avoid these people; I have read about the scams in Lonely Planet, 地球の歩き方, or the internet, and I am confident in identifying scammers. <br />
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Myanmar, though, is different. It is harder for me to understand the extent of people's sincerety. I really have no references in the guide books about what to do when people approach you at famous attractions so I basically go with my instinct. <br />
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So, let me talk about my walk. I started near Boyoge Market at the Point A at the bottom of the map and walked to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shwedagon_Pagoda" target="_blank">Shwedagon Pagoda</a>. It took a little over 30 minutes. Basically, I spent 90 minutes walking around extensive grounds surrounding the pagoda and absorbing the atmosphere. The central stupa has altars (fountains and a stand for burning incense) representing days of the week placed arounds its perimeter. People will go to the altar for the day of the week they were born and pray. I used the available wifi to look up the day of the week which I was born, Friday. I was too shy to pray though because I did not know how. As I was about to leave, an elderly man with an official tour guide badge caught me at the exit. After some small talk, he offered to show me how to make a prayer at the "Friday corner" (See below). My tour guide walked very slowly and I wondered how he could take someone on a tour of the whole premises.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrRkzyNs41srEERRKbq-LrUumHaAPOmq6ALDS2vEa9Hi_V2jPsfrddAryJj1CyasPbwXNTQZ66OUFa5vBW8X6B9UsYs3EQn0IDCpAhWFfNaIx1zeFaPeRmAiv2RJBGD7AlK_1/s1600/PA180179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrRkzyNs41srEERRKbq-LrUumHaAPOmq6ALDS2vEa9Hi_V2jPsfrddAryJj1CyasPbwXNTQZ66OUFa5vBW8X6B9UsYs3EQn0IDCpAhWFfNaIx1zeFaPeRmAiv2RJBGD7AlK_1/s320/PA180179.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Since nearly three months have passed, I have forgotten the exact order of procedures but I will recount what I remember. First, we prayed for my health and poured a cup of water over the head of the Buddha. After that we prayed for my success, love life, family, and something else followed by pouring water over the statue. The man was very erudite, and elderly. He guided me in a very gentle manner and he seemed to be very sincere and genuinely interested in teaching me something as well as looking out for my welfare. He said that he was a former history professor but that the government had denied his pension. He was making a living by acting as a tourguide. He told me he needed about 10,000 kyat (about 10 US dollars) to pay off work-permission fee to the pagoda. I gave it to him and said good bye. The man stayed behind at the Friday corner to pray some more.<br />
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Next, I walked from Shwedagon Pagoda towards Boyoge Park. Below is a picture of the street near the rotary on the map. The way to cross the street is to run to the median strip when you can and wait there for an opportunity to cross the other side of the street. I usually run when crossing the street in these situations because it is difficult for me to judge how fast the cars are going and they don't really slow down or brake for pedestrians.</div>
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My goal was to walk to the reclining Buddha by taking some back roads. I had my iPad with me which seemed to show a way to take the backroads. However, I ended up getting lost on Ngar Ptit Gyi Pagoda Street. Below is a picture of the street.</div>
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To my interest, I ended up walking by a monastic school for disadvantaged youths. Little did I know that I would actually be visiting the school later in the day.</div>
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After walking for another 5 minutes, I realized that I was INCREDIBLY thirsty to the extent that I felt too weak to walk. Fortunately, I found a eating establishment on the side of the road and was able to get a glass bottle of pepsi. There is nothing like drinking cold soda out of a glass bottle in a tropical climate to wet a parched throat. After leaving the restaurant, some gentlemen on the side of the road told me I was going the wrong way. He said something and then pointed to a pathway. I wanted to go to <a href="https://www.renown-travel.com/burma/yangon/chaukhtatgyipagoda.html" target="_blank">Chauk Htat Gyi</a> or the reclining Buddha. However, I realized that I had absolutely know idea how to pronounce Chauk That Gyi so I hadn't the faintest clue what the man was directing me to. I decided that it must be the reclining Buddha so I took the small path. The picture below is the small path and is represented by the small black line on the map (To the right of the hospital).</div>
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The path seemed to zigzag quite a bit and I really had no idea where I was. Eventually, I ended up on what seemed to be Shwegadon Pagoda Road. The Reclining Buddha was supposed to be off this road so I was close. However, my iPad was no longer able to show me my location and I could not get my bearings. Also, by this time, I was really starting to feel hot and tired. I am not a tropical person. My brain stopped working and I ended up walking in the opposite direction of the reclining Buddha. Eventually, I realized the error of my ways, turned around, and located the hospital so I knew I was close. However, the entrance to the reclining Buddha was not very clear to me, and I walked passed it. I decided to give up on the reclining Buddha and instead went to the Five Story Buddha or <a href="https://www.renown-travel.com/burma/yangon/ngahtatgyipagoda.html" target="_blank">Nga That Gyi Pagoda</a> (the namesake of the street I have been traversing earlier). My path there is represented by the shorter black line on the map.</div>
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The five story Buddha was actually stunning. Not only the Buddha but the ornately carved wooden screen behind it had me captivated. I say on a bench for about three minutes in a kind of trance until another elderly gentleman sat next to me and tried to make small talk. I was exhausted and really wanted to be left alone to admire the Buddha. The man said he lived on the premises and invited me to visit the monastery where he lived. I thought eventually I would be required to make some kind of donation and I was not up to it. I politely refused but the man sat next to me looking kind of sad. I took out my iPad and pretended to read my guidebook. He sat next to me for a few minutes and then said it looked like I was busy so he would leave. With a sad look on his face he said to me, "Have a nice life," which made me feel kind of like a modernist jerk. </div>
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After a few more minutes of admiring the Buddha I stood up only to hear a voice behind me ask, "Where are you from?" The voice came from a fairly well-dressed man with almost impeccable English. He told me that he was an English teacher from a school and showed me the picture. It was actually the school I had walked by. He asked me if I would like to see the school and I said yes. I was wary that I would likely be asked for money, but because I am designing teaching materials for Myanmar elementary schools, I could not refuse the offer. As I walked out of the temple with the "teacher," the modest monk who I had been talking to before gave me a look like I had made the wrong choice. I had a brief tour of the school and was able to talk to some of the students, see a classroom, and learn about the kind of textbooks that they used. To be honest, I was not entirely convinced my guide was a teacher but he did have full access to the school, answered my questions, and introduced me to students. After my little tour, he asked for a donation. I gave him what I thought was a respectable sum for a mini-tour and to my surprise he asked me for more (This led me to doubt his credentials).</div>
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By this time, I had lost just about all my energy. I walked to the Clover Hotel near Boyoge Park and took a taxi to my hotel in downtown Yangon. It was around 2PM and I had left my hotel at 8AM. When I got back to the hotel, I went right to a restaurant which had western food and thus catered to a mostly foreign clientele. When I left the restaurant it was pouring rain and a girl who was about 10 was sitting on the sidewalk with nothing to cover her and begging for money. I went back to the hotel feeling depressed. Might my "generosity" (For example with the "school teacher" or see my <a href="http://discussenglish.blogspot.jp/2015/03/going-to-dala-myanmar.html" target="_blank">March post</a>) be misguided and doing more harm than good? Hopefully in the end I can say that I did some good in Myanmar.</div>
JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-78331755829753224152015-08-21T22:37:00.000+09:002015-08-21T22:38:41.061+09:00Foreign Language Education and Technology Conference at Harvard University<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgkVYUi2ph7SwQ03Se7pAjn2iLcgTaqiOio8rZfg4_tLctA3nGVgk8X3B6EXBpEFRDAgg8_szbUVo3DotIy0EA7beYtx2f0EcKijiP9dsG924IMbTzMB1x2LZZapiwgf_uZJY/s1600/P8150494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgkVYUi2ph7SwQ03Se7pAjn2iLcgTaqiOio8rZfg4_tLctA3nGVgk8X3B6EXBpEFRDAgg8_szbUVo3DotIy0EA7beYtx2f0EcKijiP9dsG924IMbTzMB1x2LZZapiwgf_uZJY/s320/P8150494.JPG" width="320" /></a>From August 11 to 15 I attended the <a href="http://fleat6.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do">Foreign Language Education and Technology Conference</a> (FLEAT) at Harvard University. To the left is a picture of me speaking. However, the highlight of the conference for me was not my sparsely attended presentation about <a href="http://www.englisheducation.iwate-u.ac.jp/ETM1.html">using ePortfolios in teacher education</a> but rather the abundance of presentations about the latest and greatest technological tools for enhancing student learning.<br />
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A lot of these tools are pretty exciting so I have decided to make a record of the ones I can remember on my blog. I am doing this so I do not completely forget every thing I learned last week. I also hope this might be useful to anyone who might be interested.<br />
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<b>Online multimedia creation tools</b><br />
These all come from <a href="http://bit.ly/iallt2015" target="_blank">Keah Cunningham's presentation</a>. If you click on her link, you can get directions on how to use the below programs:<br />
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<b><a href="http://keepvid.com/" target="_blank">Keep vid</a>: </b>You can download youtube videos on this website.<br />
<b><a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" target="_blank">VLC Media Player</a></b>: This application can be downloaded and used to extract media from a film on DVD. It's free.<br />
<b><a href="http://www.picmonkey.com/" target="_blank">Pic Monkey</a>: </b>You can edit images for free online<br />
<a href="https://twistedwave.com/" target="_blank">TwistedWave</a>: Online audio editing.<br />
<b><a href="https://jumpshare.com/" target="_blank">JumpShare</a></b>: An easy way to share files if you do not want to deal with Dropbox<br />
<a href="http://www.zamzar.com/" target="_blank">Zamzar</a>: Enables you to convert video, audio, document files to a variety of formats. Very good.<br />
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<b>Online courses</b><br />
<a href="https://www.duolingo.com/" target="_blank">Duolingo</a>: According to the dean of eLearning at Harvard this site is the future of online language learning. You can study foreign languages for free.<br />
<a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/shaping1landscape" target="_blank">Shaping the way we teach English</a>: A free online course for teaching English as a foreign language. It is run by professors at the University of Oregon but funded by the US government. Anyone can join.<br />
<a href="http://www.americanenglish.state.gov/" target="_blank">American English</a>: Tons of online resources for learning US English as well as culture.<br />
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<b>Really cool online tools which probably require a little time to learn and might cost a little money</b><br />
<a href="https://www.thinglink.com/" target="_blank">Thinglink</a>: It allows you to make interactive images. For example, you can show a map of your neighborhood and mark your favourite restaurants. When the users click on one of the restaurants, they can see a description, a picture you took of the food, a video of you eating there etc. I definitely want to use this someday. It would be good for project work.<br />
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<a href="http://voicethread.com/" target="_blank">Voicethread</a>: This allows you to make voiced over slide shows using multiple narrators. It looks cool but it also seems like it would take a while to learn.<br />
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<a href="https://padlet.com/" target="_blank">Padlet</a>: This allows you to create an online bulletin board, interactive image, or wall. When I saw the demonstration at FLEAT it seemed really cool but I cannot quite remember it now.<br />
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<b>ePortfolios</b><br />
I got some good ideas for other programs I can use for ePortfolios such as <a href="https://ja.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Wordpress </a>or <a href="http://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a>. I currently use <a href="https://mahara.org/" target="_blank">Mahara </a>but the new version runs incredibly slowly on my university server and I am considering switching to a more reliable and simpler program. Anyway, I will save that for another post.<br />
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<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-65177422573623641002015-05-25T23:19:00.002+09:002015-05-25T23:19:32.650+09:00Reading 日本人に相応しい英語教育 (Suitable English Education for Japanese)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I bought this book nearly two years ago and it had been sitting on my book shelf since. I decided that it was time for me to read it and I assigned it as reading for a graduate school seminar (for non-English majors) after we had read the book "<span style="line-height: 1.3;">英語教師のための第二言語習得論入門" (An Introduction to Second Language </span><span style="line-height: 20px;">Acquisition for English Instructors) which advocated a communicative approach to teaching English in Japan. </span><br />
日本人に相応しい英語教育 (Suitable English Education for Japanese) by Hajime Narita strongly advocates translation and explicit grammar instruction as an appropriate teaching methodology to use with Japanese students.<br />
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Admittedly, I am more in the CLT (Communicative language teaching) camp, but I thought some of the arguments in this book were compelling. Professor Narita emphasises that a communicative approach might be appropriate for students whose L1 is closer to English because their grammar systems (verb tense, article usage, word order) are similar. The "linguistic distance" between English and Japanese is significantly greater and thus learners will need more explicit instruction because they will be unable to pick up rules through just input or communication. This made me reflect on how challenging it has been for me to learn to speak acceptable Japanese. Language learning is not just fun, it is hard and sometimes tedious work. In my teacher education classes I advocate a "communicative approach" but I worry that I could be misleading student-teachers into thinking that learning English comes from carefree communication. I have written about this before but it seems that so many teachers teach classes with either too much incredibly boring instruction and monotonous drilling or too many poorly conducted "communicative activities" rather than a pragmatic balance of both. Classes need to have a balance with concise and clear instruction, active and challenging drills, and engaging communicative activities.<br />
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Next up on my reading list will be "Effective English Instruction Appropriate for Japanese Learners" written by three of my buddies. Maybe they can point me in a better direction.<br />
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<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-85802403577359269782015-03-30T02:35:00.000+09:002015-03-30T02:36:16.855+09:00Love being a "foreigner" in Myanmar, hate being one in Japan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friends I made at Mahabandoola Garden in Yangon</td></tr>
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I am 12 days into a long business trip to Yangon, Myanmar. I have been living in a hotel. On the weekdays I am in the company of my work colleagues but on the weekend I can find myself alone for over 24 hours. As a father of three young kids living in an overcrowded apartment in Japan, I am not used to having so much time alone. Although it can be nice to wake up at my leisure, as the day goes on I usually start to feel the need to talk to one. Near my hotel in Yangon is the Mahabandoola Garden, a very well maintained park in a city whose mouldy European colonial style buildings cry for maintenance. The reason why I do there is that I know that if I sit down on the grass, someone will likely come and talk to me. Today, I young man who I will call Stanley approached me and asked if he could practice his English. He wanted to attend a US university and said he was always looking for foreigners to talk to. With me, he got to practice his English and I got to ask him questions about Myanmar and his English learning experience. Stanley is from the Shan state, his father is Shan and his mother is Lahu. He spoke Lahu wit his mother and siblings but preferred to speak Burmese with his father rather than Shan. He now regrets this. Three of his friends joined us and I heard more interesting stories about the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual nature of Burmese identity. They also told me about their English education, which, given the nature of my mission here, is necessary information.<br />
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After talking to these wonderful young people, I started to think about similar experiences I have had in Japan: Japanese people I do not know or barely know approaching me to practice their English. I know that their intentions are the same as the Myanmar people I met in Mahabandoola Garden. I am always polite and cordial but not very friendly to people who do this. To be completely honest, I absolutely detest when people I do not know in Japan or acquaintances I do not know very well approach me to practice their English. Why? I know why now. In Myanmar, I am a foreigner, I do not understand any Burmese and will probably never know more than a few words or phrases. I don't mind that people approach me and tell me directly state that they want to practice English with a foreigner because I do not live here and even the most routine tasks such as ordering a bowl of noodles is a challenge for me. On the other hand, I have lived in Japan for 16 years and have made a fairly substantial effort to learn the language. I live apart from my family and friends in the US and it is not for the sake of being a "foreigner" in a "foreign land." I dislike being called a foreigner because Japan is my second home. I want to be accepted as a functioning member of society and not as a conversation partner. I know I am not "Japanese" but I do not feel like a foreigner either. What should I be called? I don't know, but in Japan, I am not the person who I was in Mahabandoola Park. </div>
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I will end by saying that if I were in the shoes of the Japanese people who try to speak English to me, I would probably do the same thing as an enthusiastic language learner. I also understand there are (American/European) non-Japanese in Japan who have lived there longer than me who chose not to learn the language. I think that people who want to practice their English or other foreign language in Japan have to judge on a case by case basis whether or not it is appropriate. </div>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-84466909682419191692015-03-22T20:37:00.000+09:002015-03-22T20:40:24.064+09:00Day trip from Yangon to Dala, MyanmarI am in Yangon, Myanmar for the next couple of weeks working on a textbook project. On the weekdays I am at work but on the weekends I am completely by myself in my hotel in downtown Yangon. Yesterday, when I was walking near the Pansodan Jetty I met a 13 year old boy named Jeim. From the Jetty, there was a ferry which crossed the other side of the Yangon river to Dalah.<br />
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He was selling postcards. He said that he used to live in Dala but his dad died in the tsunami (referring to the super typhoon of 2008 which everyone calls "a tsunami") and he quit school to support his family. He said that he had a brother and sister who lived with their grandmother in a rural area. He and his mother were squatting in Yangoon and living off his income. He asked if he could be my guide because he does not make much money from selling postcards. I was very surprised at how good a communicator this boy was. In fact, to be articulate as he was, I thought that he likely had a talent for learning languages that most people do not have. A couple of hours before meeting Jeim, I had talked with a university graduate for about 30 minutes who could not communicate as well as the thirteen-year-old postcard seller. </div>
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To make a long story short, I agreed to go on a tour of Dala with him leaving at 9:00 AM the next day. Dala is a collection of villages and offers a glimpse of the traditional stilt houses that the Burmese live in outside Yangon. He told me that he would show me how Myanmar people really lived. </div>
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When I showed up at our meeting point a little past 9AM Jeim was not to be seen. As I started to cross the bridge over Strand st. Jeim appeared out of no where. We took the ferry across the river and Jeim told me we would need to hire Trishaws (bicycle taxis) to see the village (he was right). We ended up hiring two trishaws, one for him, one for me, and spend 90 minutes riding around the village. He was right, I could see how the poorer rural people lived and it was fascinating. The trishaw driver and Jeim also did a good job explaining to me every thing we drove by. I saw one pristine looking pond and Jeim said that was where everyone got their drinking water. Free water and food were also supplied to people by the local temples. There were a couple of things about this experience that bothered me.</div>
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First, when we stopped in one of the villages, Jeim asked me if I would like to buy biscuits for the children. The children were poor and hungry. I said yes but felt a little strange because it felt kind of like someone asking the dumb tourist if they wanted to by animal feed to give to the wild animals. We arrived at a stall and about 20 adorable children made a line. Jim told me that one back of biscuits (15 packs inside) would cost 4000 kyat (about 4 dollars) and I knew that this was an exorbitant price. He asked me how much I wanted to buy and I said two. The children wanted to eat, I wanted to give them food, but I also felt I was being had and they were using the cute children as a means to make a big profit off me. The day before, I had eaten a bowl of noodles and two pepsis for 1500 kyat (about $1.50). I ended up buying two bags of biscuits for 7000 kyat and giving them to the kids. The trishaw drivers and Jeim made sure that each child only received one pack. Jeim told me that the kids parents were working in Yangon and they would not eat until they came back home. </div>
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Second, the Trishaw drivers tried to charge me an incredibly exorbitant sum which I negotiated down to just an exorbitant one. I should have negotiated beforehand but I had thought Jeim would be looking out for my interest. The trishaw drivers were basically older kids (late teens or early twenties) and obviously had some kind of prearrangement with Jeim. I had a feeling as a little thirteen year old kid he did not have much leverage over them.</div>
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After settling with the Trishaw drivers, we went back to Yangon and had a pleasant talk on the ferry. Jeim thanked me repeatedly for hiring him as a guide. We settled to price in a secluded place on the Yangon side of the river. He said that he did not want others to see because they would talk and it would be bad for him. Jeim seemed to know all the ferry officials, the children peddling random merchandise on the ferry, and the young mothers, some begging for money, on the other side of the river. I could understand why he did not want them to see our transaction.</div>
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Jeim had asked me to pay what I thought he deserved. I told him how about 20000 khat ($20) which I thought was VERY generous but he then begged me for 30000 kyat or $30. I thought that Jeim had been ridiculously overcharging me the whole day, but the reason why I paid because in a lot of cases, from the trishaw drivers to the woman in the food stall to his mother, it really seemed like he was trying to spread the wealth around to people who desperately needed it. The day before, when I met Jeim, I tried to give him 5000 kyat and he refused it. As a father of three kids, I did not have the heart to bargain down an enterprising 13 year old who was forced to be the man of his family (I do believe he has told the truth). I do not think he is always able to find guide work and his next big payday might not be for a while.</div>
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Anyway, I wondered if I was doing more harm than good by overpaying. Will this encourage people to pray on sucker tourists like me rather than perhaps engaging in more honest endeavors? Or, am I just being cheap? These people are poor, do not have the opportunities that I have, and did provide me a bonafide service. </div>
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Today, the Jeim and the Trishaw drivers seems to take a sincere interest in learning about the USA and Japan from me as well as learning some English and Japanese. They also taught me some Burmese language. The children and adults in Dalah all went out of their way to say either "hello" or "Mingalaba" to me. Thanks to that, I learned my first Burmese word. Every time we passed a school, Jeim or the Trishaw driver Sam would point it out to me. For someone who is helping to develop English textbooks for Myanmar children, it was an incredibly valuable experience to see this side of Myanmar and imagine how an English class might occur in this kind of situation. Overall, I am glad that I did this. Next time, though, I'll make sure that I pay a good price but not a ludicrous one. </div>
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Here is a picture of me and Jeim, I really liked the kid and hope things work out for him.</div>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-40945132257559750122015-02-16T23:53:00.000+09:002015-02-16T23:53:48.181+09:00Who am I to criticize my students' English when my Japanese stinks? Yesterday, I had to write a letter to a junior high school principal requesting that he permit a teacher at his school to present at a conference with me. I wrote the letter in what I thought was fluent and persuasive Japanese. I asked my wife to take a look at it just to make sure there were no typos. Immediately she took out a red pen and started to correct. When she got to what I thought was the most compelling part of the letter, she asked if I has used a translating program. I, the teacher who curses the invention of translating programs often when he reads his students' written work, was being accused of using what I despise the most. Although she did not mean to insult me, my wife's appraisal of my Japanese felt, for a moment, absolutely devastating. It was like working your whole life to become a Picasso and being told that you can't even finger paint. <div>
The past few years, in my teaching methodology courses, I have been very strict in correcting students' English. In my evaluation of their writing, I have designed rubrics that frankly tell them if their English has shortcomings. I thought that even if the criticism was a little tough, it would be good for them. To be hired as English teachers, to be superior English teachers, they must possess a superior level of English. However, being on the receiving end of the tough love has made me reexamine this notion. The semester has just ended but next semester I would like to talk to my students about this. </div>
JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-5520378453607586372014-12-18T23:31:00.002+09:002014-12-19T11:15:31.854+09:00My Labor of LoveI attended the JALT (Japan Association of Language Teaching) between November 21 - 23 in Tsukuba city and on the way back home on the bullet train tears started to fill my eyes. I reflected on the thousands of hours I have spent correcting and commenting on my students' writing and asked myself why. I have read plenty of good student work but also plenty of awful writing by students who are likely more unmotivated to do their assignment than I am to read it. I also reflected on the thousands of hours I have spent reading and commenting on the response cards students write at the end of my classes. I have my own research, my family, my own hobbies, my PhD, university projects, and the classes themselves to prepare for. Why do I spend so much time on something that I do not really get any reward for? I realized that it is because I care about the people in my classes and I want them ALL to get something out of my classes. Giving assignments, commenting on assignments, and the students writing response cards at the ending of class gives me a chance to help the students one on one and show them that I care about their learning. Often, I am so busy commenting on assignments that I cannot prepare as well as I should for class (I cannot make snazzy powerpoint, eye-catching handouts, conduct an engaging introduction of the material, etc.). However, I feel it is my duty for students to get something out of my classes. The best way to do this is to encourage them to delve into the material themselves and encourage them through commenting on their work, opinions, thoughts, etc. I have to show them that I care and will ALWAYS take whatever they produce seriously. This brought tears to my eyes as I felt like a complete ass crying on a full bullet train back to Morioka.JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-23200330303153032112013-08-02T20:33:00.000+09:002013-08-02T20:40:57.486+09:00Researching what constitutes real and meaningful learning in the Japanese EFL Classroom Recently, I watched an online lecture by Rod Ellis titled "Micro-evaluation of Tasks," basically he was teaching methods that teachers can use to see whether or not their tasks actually work. You might have noticed that the title of this post does not have the work task in it. My understanding of Communicative Language Teaching or CLT and
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has changed this past year. CLT is a range of
principles about language learning and tasks are a way in which teachers
can try enact these principles (Kumaravadivelu, 2009). Therefore, I am applying Ellis's principles for evaluating tasks to a "communicative lesson." In the lecture, he discussed three perspectives from which a task can be evaluated:<br />
<ol>
<li>whether students enjoyed doing the task and found it useful</li>
<li>the extent to which the task results in the type of learner behavior that the teacher had in mind when selecting or designing the task</li>
<li>whether the task contributes to the students' acquisition of the L2 </li>
</ol>
For me, number two seems to be the most worthy to investigate. Why? Well, of course three is what everyone wants to know. Did my lesson facilitate the acquisition of a certain type of knowledge or skill? In my opinion this is difficult to prove because learners show improvement in the pre and post tasks themselves rather than the actual skill being mentioned. Furthermore, by focusing exclusively on techniques that foster the learning of a specific skill or language item, we are missing the big picture. What is the big picture? I think number 2 is.<br />
<br />
Dick Allwright's (2003) theory of exploratory practice is very close to what has been in my mind but up to now I have been unable to articulate. Allwright says that rather than instructional efficiency, we should be concerned with the quality of life in the classroom which I interpret to mean that teachers and learners find classroom practices rewarding and meaningful. Therefore, instead of doing research which tries to develop improved teaching techniques, we need to develop our understanding of the quality of classroom life. There is no cause and effect relationship between quality of classroom life and teaching technique, but teachers and learners understanding what quality of classroom life is will benefit them. <br />
<br />
This is kind of deep stuff! The past four months, I have recorded 5 classes at the junior high school affiliated with my university. Four of the classes were taught by my students and one by the head English teacher. I used three video cameras in each class. One camera was focused on the teacher and two were focused on a learner each. The learners wore wireless microphones so we could hear their interaction. The point of doing this was basically to investigate "2" or learners' behavior during the communicative activities. The fundamental principle of CLT is that classroom practice be real and meaningful to the learners (Hiep, 2007). Therefore, I wanted to analyze learner interaction to determine the extent to which the communication was real and meaningful to them. This involves transcribing their interaction which is a lengthy process I am still involved in. I also looked at the nature of the activities the students were engaged in using principles from Csikszentmihalyi's (1994) flow psychology. Flow psychology is the study of the mentality of people when they completely devote themselves to a particular activity and even lose track of time. This state of mind is called "flow." I first learned about it in van Lier (1996) and read more about it in Csikszentmihalyi (1994), which, by the way, is a good read. Basically people are most likely to experience <i>flow</i> when the activity in which they are engaged has<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> clarity:</b> concrete goals and manageable rules<br />
<b> flexibility: </b> it is possible to adjust opportunities for action to our capacities or abilities<br />
<b> feedback: </b>we know how we are doing in the particular activity while we are doing it<br />
<b> concentration: </b>we are able to screen out all distractions and focus on the particular activity<br />
<br />
In addition to recording student interaction, at the ending of the class, students answered a questionnaire about their experience to help me ascertain the extent to which they felt there was activity had clarity, flexibility, feedback, and concentration. In my opinion, students do not necessarily experience flow because a teacher employs a superior activity. Rather, students experience <i>flow</i> when <u>they perceive</u> that the activity facilitates clarity, flexibility, feedback, and concentration. <br />
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At two conferences in August, <a href="http://www.jasele.jp/">JASELE</a> and <a href="http://www.jacet.org/">JACET</a>, I will make presentations related to these classes. My goals in the presentation will not be prescribe superior teaching techniques to produce fluent speakers of English but rather to consider 1) What constitutes real and meaningful L2 communication in the EFL classroom in Japan and 2) What is quality classroom life in my particular context. I think these questions are the most important ones to answer. Looking at learner behavior can tell us the extent to which students find the class meaningful as well as provide feedback to the teacher as to whether or not their expectations are unreasonable. <br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Allwright, D. (2003). Exploratory Practice: rethinking practitioner research in language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 7(2), 113-141. doi: 10.1191/1362168803lr118oa</li>
<li>Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1994). The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium. New York: Harper Perennial. </li>
<li>Hiep, P. H. (2007). Communicative language teaching: unity within diversity. ELT Journal, 61(3), 193-201. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccm026</li>
<li>Kumaravadivelu, B. (2009). Understanding Language Teaching. London: Routledge.</li>
<li>van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the Language Curriculum. London: Pearson Education.</li>
</ul>
<ol>
</ol>
JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-3242009655367332482013-07-15T23:36:00.003+09:002013-07-16T21:04:22.270+09:00The Collapse of English Education in Japan<!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?-->
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;">Today, I went to a symposium by Kumiko Torikae, Haruo Erikawa, Yukio Otsu, and Yoshifumi Saito. The title was <a href="http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/gibson_erich_man/32877012.html">英語教育、迫り来る破綻ーーみんなで考え、行動しようーー </a>or "The Coming Collapse of English Education: Let's think and act together [to prevent it]." They recently wrote a book with the same title and the symposium was sponsored by the publishing company. </span>The speakers discussed the following topics which were based on what they wrote in the book:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Prof. Haruo Erikawa: Protecting children from the reckless demands global corporations are making on English education <span style="background-color: white; color: #585858; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">「グローバル企業の無謀な英語教育要求から子どもを守るために」</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">Prof. Yoshifumi Saito: The Puppet Show of Confusion in English Education </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #585858; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left;">「英語教育混乱のカラクリ」</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Prof. Yukio Otsu: Three reasons why I am against Elementary School English Education 「わたくしが小学校英語教科化に反対する3つの理由」</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Prof. Kumiko Torikae; The Chronic Reformatory Sickness and Global Syndrome that Plagues English Education</span></li>
</ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> All four speakers are very famous in the Japanese English education world. Their reason for publish the book is this year's proposed reforms in English education. For the sake of developing "global citizens," this year politicians have proposed using the TOEFL test as either an entrance exam for universities or an exit exam for high schools. They have also proposed that English become a subject in elementary schools (Currently, fifth and sixth graders have English activities once a week but this is not considered a subject). The speakers argued convincingly that TOEFL is not the right test for high school students. High school students graduate knowing less than 3000 words but TOEFL requires a vocabulary of about 8000 words. This incredibly brief summary does not do these speakers justice. They were witty, well-informed and very convincing. They presented a range of issues with current English education policy. I did buy the book they were selling and I think that it is a worthy read for anyone who is interested in English education policy reform. I definitely look forward to reading the book and discussing it with my seminar students (advisees). </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
The criticism I have of this symposium was that the title was to think and act together but we were not really able to do this. The speakers spoke for 25 minutes each and after that the participants wrote questions for them to answer on paper. Many participants wrote questions and I can understand that this enabled the speakers to get a general feeling for what the audience wanted to discuss. We had 90 minutes for question and answer in which the speakers gave their insights into the questions and problems written by the participants. At the very ending, the speakers opened the floor for further questions and comments. Five people spoke and the second to last person, quoting the Japanese teacher's union (Nikkyousou), said that he felt that the most important role for English education in Japan was to improve students' ability in Japanese. First, I will say that this is definitely one of the benefits of studying a foreign language: learning to look at your own language more objectively. At least two of the speakers answered and said that they agreed that this was very important. This actually really disappointed me because I feel that if this goal is made a priority then learners' English abilities will not be developed at all and classes will be primarily focused on translation. The speakers have all criticized "communicative English," and I think a lot of their criticisms are valid. However, I also worry that at the ending of the symposium they were encouraging teachers to maintain the status quo instead of really improving English education.<br />
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<b>Postscript: </b>After writing this I stumbled upon a blog post by <a href="http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.jp/2013/07/714.html?spref=fb">Prof. Yosuke Yanase </a> which raises the same point I do (although much more convincingly) and also summarizes the main issues of the symposium very well. If you can read Japanese, check it out!<br />
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<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-58285280872347963712013-02-09T15:41:00.001+09:002013-02-09T15:42:24.266+09:00Practice Lessons for Pre-service English TeachersToday was our last day of classes at the university. In my English teaching methodology class I have been experimenting with different ways for students to do practice teaching in the class. It is extremely important for students to experience teaching because that is the only way they can link such theories as learning strategies, communicative competence, etc. to English teaching. However, practice teaching is not easy because I have 43 students in the class. This means that it is not feasible to have one or two students do their practice teaching in class and have the others pretend to be students. If we did this, then maybe each student would teach no more than one 10-minute lesson a semester. Therefore, I have decided to have students do their demonstration lessons in small groups. Here is what I did for our practice teaching day:<br />
<br />
First, I chose four activities from the <a href="http://iteslj.org/games/">Internet TESL Journal</a>:<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Lesson 1: </span><a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/games/9947.html" href="http://iteslj.org/games/9947.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">The Bragging Game</a><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Lesson 2: <a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/games/9957.html" href="http://iteslj.org/games/9957.html"> Verb Review Game</a><br />
Lesson 3: (a)<a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/i/026.jpg" href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/i/026.jpg"> The Family (Worksheet)</a> (b) <a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/i/026t.jpg" href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/i/026t.jpg">The Family (Text)</a> (c) <a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/02t.htm" href="http://iteslj.org/t/tmm/02t.htm">The Family (Teacher's Notes)</a></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Lesson 4: <a data-mce-href="http://iteslj.org/games/9920.html" href="http://iteslj.org/games/9920.html">The Syllable Game</a></div>
<div>
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Then I divided the class into 5 groups of 8 students. Each group had 4 teaching pairs.<br />
<table border="1" style="cursor: default; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Lesson 1</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Lesson 2</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Lesson 3</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Lesson 4</td></tr>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Group A</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Kota and <a data-mce-href="http://skenglish.edublogs.org" href="http://skenglish.edublogs.org/">Airi</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://mayjump.edublogs.org/" href="http://mayjump.edublogs.org/">May</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://paradoxdoe.edublogs.org" href="http://paradoxdoe.edublogs.org/">Yui</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://hrrrrrk.edublogs.org/" href="http://hrrrrrk.edublogs.org/">Haruka</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://chakku06.edublogs.org" href="http://chakku06.edublogs.org/">Emi</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://mikitea.edublogs.org" href="http://mikitea.edublogs.org/">Miki</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://sk519a.edublogs.org" href="http://sk519a.edublogs.org/">Saki</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Group B</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://moge.edublogs.org" href="http://moge.edublogs.org/">Mai</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://marimaria.edublogs.org" href="http://marimaria.edublogs.org/">Chika</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://metrokkkk.edublogs.org" href="http://metrokkkk.edublogs.org/">Kotaro</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://showwwww.edublogs.org" href="http://showwwww.edublogs.org/">Shohei</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://fujiblog.edublogs.org" href="http://fujiblog.edublogs.org/">Hiroki</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://macochin.edublogs.org/" href="http://macochin.edublogs.org/">Makoto</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://teststudentblogses.edublogs.org" href="http://teststudentblogses.edublogs.org/">Hamaya</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://gnbo319.edublogs.org" href="http://gnbo319.edublogs.org/">Matsun</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Group C</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://kuroma15.edublogs.org" href="http://kuroma15.edublogs.org/">Shunsuke</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://yuyuko.edublogs.org" href="http://yuyuko.edublogs.org/">Hikaru</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://morimorimorio.edublogs.org" href="http://morimorimorio.edublogs.org/">Masato</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://pondekumagai.edublogs.org" href="http://pondekumagai.edublogs.org/">Tatsuki</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://coochan.edublogs.org" href="http://coochan.edublogs.org/">Shunta</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://gohanhaokazu.edublogs.org" href="http://gohanhaokazu.edublogs.org/">Satoru</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://takumikumagai.edublogs.org" href="http://takumikumagai.edublogs.org/">Takumi</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://iliketukemen.edublogs.org/" href="http://iliketukemen.edublogs.org/">Eiki</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Group D</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://tkchmnch.edublogs.org/" href="http://tkchmnch.edublogs.org/">Takahiro</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://tanii.edublogs.org" href="http://tanii.edublogs.org/">Ai</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://etm2blog.edublogs.org/" href="http://etm2blog.edublogs.org/">Flowers</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://maayuu.edublogs.org" href="http://maayuu.edublogs.org/">Machiko</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://robcoph.edublogs.org" href="http://robcoph.edublogs.org/">Marin</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://hamnm.edublogs.org" href="http://hamnm.edublogs.org/">Yurika</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://gontablog.edublogs.org" href="http://gontablog.edublogs.org/">Yoshi</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://hokkaidoman.edublogs.org" href="http://hokkaidoman.edublogs.org/">Ryouhei</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top">Group E</td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://match.edublogs.org" href="http://match.edublogs.org/">Satoshi</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://water3.edublogs.org" href="http://water3.edublogs.org/">Wataru</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://andantino.edublogs.org/" href="http://andantino.edublogs.org/">Ayu</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://tibbysblog.edublogs.org" href="http://tibbysblog.edublogs.org/">Moe</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://bearcoffee.edublogs.org" href="http://bearcoffee.edublogs.org/">Shiho</a> and <a data-mce-href="http://monako.edublogs.org" href="http://monako.edublogs.org/">Kanako</a></td><td style="cursor: text; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 8px;" valign="top"><a data-mce-href="http://paradoxdoe.edublogs.org" href="http://paradoxdoe.edublogs.org/">Yui</a> U and <a data-mce-href="http://haemolex.edublogs.org" href="http://haemolex.edublogs.org/">Takayuki</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then, each student was given the following blogging assignment (taken from our <a href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/2013/01/31/english-sounds-and-letters-and-prepare-for-final-project-february-1-2013/">class blog</a>):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>I would like you to write the lesson plan in your blog specifying the following. Next week, you and your partner will conduct a 10 minute lesson based on your plan.</strong></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Activity:</strong> What kind of activity is it? Adjust the activity so that it encourages acquisition, interaction, or focus on form. Your activity can cover more than one of these.</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong><a data-mce-href="http://mste.illinois.edu/courses/ci407su02/students/stansell/Strategies.htm" href="http://mste.illinois.edu/courses/ci407su02/students/stansell/Strategies.htm">Strategies</a>:</strong> What kind of learning strategies does it encourage?</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong><a data-mce-href="http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm" href="http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm">Learning styles</a>:</strong> What kind of learning style is most appropriate for your activity?</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/etm-3-files/language-acquisition-and-teaching-methodology/" href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/etm-3-files/language-acquisition-and-teaching-methodology/"><strong>Communicative competence</strong></a>: What kind of communicative ability does it encourage and why?</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Procedures:</strong> Write the steps you will take to carry out the activity. At the ending of your activity, there should be some kind of reflection to help students realize the skill/strategy you wanted them to practice. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
See my <i>sample lesson</i> for an <a data-mce-href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/etm-3-files/a-sample-lesson-plan/" href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/etm-3-files/a-sample-lesson-plan/">example</a> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Although you will be team-teaching, you should write the lesson plan in your own blog. It is ok to write the same thing as your partner.</div>
</blockquote>
The text books we use are the <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/gb/elt/catalogue/subject/project/course/item6038326/The-TKT-Course-Modules-1,-2-and-3-About-the-product/?site_locale=en_GB&currentSubjectID=382398">TKT Course</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4384056826/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=466449256&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=4384040547&pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_r=0G9GHMWBYZ4ZEC22SFS2">新しい時代の英語科教育法と実践 </a>. The items that I asked students to specify(Activities, strategies, learning styles and communicative competence) were concepts that we studied in the textbooks. When we did the actual practice lessons, all groups did Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4 in that order. We were able to finish on time easily. What impressed me was that each pair of students taught their lessons differently depending on their goal. This meant that they were thinking very deeply about their teaching which I think is great. The problem areas were first, with five groups teaching at once it is hard to understand what each group is doing. I had two other teachers come to class that day to help me but I will not always have these kinds of resources. Second, I was not able to look at all the blogs before the class and give feedback on the lesson plans. I was just too busy. I was fortunate in that one of the other teachers volunteered to read the students' blogs. Third, sometimes when you are so busy orchestrating students' group work, keeping time, etc. it is hard to give students good comments on their lessons. Despite the problems, I am going to continue to use this format next semester. Although I need to think of ways that I can follow the students' lessons better, the most important thing is that the students, themselves, learn from this experience and determine themselves how they should improve. </div>
JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-15786414193282942032013-02-06T13:04:00.000+09:002013-02-06T13:05:19.609+09:00Using Vocabulary Notebooks: Tips For Organization<div>
Between April and August, I wrote tons about using vocabulary notebooks (hereafter VNs) and then abruptly stopped. (You can see the posts <a href="http://discussenglish.blogspot.jp/search/label/vocabulary%20notebooks">here</a>). VNs were basically "vocabulary sheets" that could be put into a two-ringed binder (See a sample below).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIR9NKfyiB3KF5Hq5bcJTMXXXU9exP6YVMGSf1X749qOQxdLnxGLfVEGAiMUtGWOstCs7gJhvt18EQ6wL4NDodaCTlsdhoHZ2qf0VbtiVisNDKhH6QrjveMR7gK4dHa0sQiNH/s1600/DemonstrationEmanualJAL.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIR9NKfyiB3KF5Hq5bcJTMXXXU9exP6YVMGSf1X749qOQxdLnxGLfVEGAiMUtGWOstCs7gJhvt18EQ6wL4NDodaCTlsdhoHZ2qf0VbtiVisNDKhH6QrjveMR7gK4dHa0sQiNH/s320/DemonstrationEmanualJAL.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Although I continued to use them from October (when the second semester for university starts in Japan), I was too busy with other things to devote as much time to experimenting with them. This semester I did not really expand on VN activities, but I did improve in incorporating them more smoothly into the curriculum. This semester, of 22 students, I would say that 20 routinely entered words into their VNs. The key to this success was 1) making VNs an essential part of the class evaluation while trying to encourage independent learning and 2) being more organized. I will explain both below:<br />
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<b>1. Making VNs an essential part of class evaluation</b> <b>but encouraging some independent learning</b>:<br />
We routinely had quizzes about words that students wrote in their VNs and I routinely collected students<b>' </b>vocabulary sheets. Although it would be great if students would autonomously update their own VNs to satisfy their need for learning English words, without any kind of external measures from the teacher, students will not update their VNs.<br />
<br />
However, when we had readings outside of the textbook, students would choose the words that they wanted to learn. Also, when we had quizzes, I let students choose which words to write on the quiz. For example, if students wrote 4 vocabulary sheets from a unit, they would choose about 3 words per page. For the quiz, I would give students a blank vocabulary sheet and they would fill it in. Also, they did not have to write the phonetic symbols for each word but they would have to write where the accent was. Lastly, they would only have to write the "derivations" and "important information" for about two thirds of the words. The reasons for this is that in can be too tedious to write all the lexical information for words you want to learn and for a lot of words receptive knowledge will suffice. Here is an actual quiz: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoLn1m8X_DASYF1kfikQjvkr13R9za23tA54IT8Qs1FGK3LBwgwi3D89tr8hNc8ZkEGGo68_YO48400PDIUNQTpGUSx9dGfa1zHAb1-CfLxAuQacZ8mRR2YR7fY7YW2XJJi1g/s1600/ChildSolidersQuiz.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoLn1m8X_DASYF1kfikQjvkr13R9za23tA54IT8Qs1FGK3LBwgwi3D89tr8hNc8ZkEGGo68_YO48400PDIUNQTpGUSx9dGfa1zHAb1-CfLxAuQacZ8mRR2YR7fY7YW2XJJi1g/s320/ChildSolidersQuiz.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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In addition to the quiz, I would collect students' vocabulary sheets after their quizzes and give them marks of ✓+, ✓1/2, ✓, ✓-, depending on how much effort they put into their sheets. Last semester I realized that students wrote a lot of incorrect information into their sheets and would actually correct this information. This semester, though, I did not do that. However, I believe there was less erroneous information in students' VNs this semester. The reason was, I think, is that they chose the words to write productive information (derivations, "important information," example sentences) for and did not have to write this information for words that they did not intend to learn. Additionally, they had a semester's worth of experience using VNs and they were more used to the practice of finding the word information. Nevertheless, I think that frequently students did write incorrect information. However, I could not spare the time to check the sheets, this is an issue.<br />
<br />
At the ending of the semester, students had a self-evaluation sheet which contained their grades for each assignment and quiz. Students had to calculate their numerical grade in the last class and then tell me whether they deserved an A+, A, B, C or D. (At many Japanese universities, they do not use numerical grades). Of course, students' VN marks were also on the evaluation sheet (see below). Actually, I accidentally forgot to record some of the grades for students VN sheets (especially if they turned them in late), so with the self-evaluation sheets students were able to confirm to me that they had filled out their sheet even if there was no mark. A real evaluation sheet is shown below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJKpJVrw8Q9sSB3KCHfYzxAK6hsGiPv6blN7GUJrsh7jJoK57vzRONKDinY5hjDBGxP998V5i6Cc5KmLPtPnwOnJ3SUNgX_C2PD6ZisI4cIm0UAXdCu1AR4Fmk1CgODUAKFRi/s1600/VocabularySheetEvaluation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJKpJVrw8Q9sSB3KCHfYzxAK6hsGiPv6blN7GUJrsh7jJoK57vzRONKDinY5hjDBGxP998V5i6Cc5KmLPtPnwOnJ3SUNgX_C2PD6ZisI4cIm0UAXdCu1AR4Fmk1CgODUAKFRi/s320/VocabularySheetEvaluation.png" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIR9NKfyiB3KF5Hq5bcJTMXXXU9exP6YVMGSf1X749qOQxdLnxGLfVEGAiMUtGWOstCs7gJhvt18EQ6wL4NDodaCTlsdhoHZ2qf0VbtiVisNDKhH6QrjveMR7gK4dHa0sQiNH/s1600/DemonstrationEmanualJAL.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<b> </b> <br />
<b>2. Organization</b> </div>
<div>
One of the things I struggled with last semester was that I had a difficult time keeping track of the number of vocabulary sheets I asked them to write and students were also confused about how many they should have. This semester, on the course <a href="http://logos.edu.iwate-u.ac.jp/groups/vocabularyresourcepage/">vocabulary resource page</a> I recorded each time I asked students to record words in their vocabulary sheet from readings we did, songs we listened to, or discussions that we had. I also recorded when they had a quiz based on a particular sheet or when I collected the sheets to see that they had been writing in the VNs (see below) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTV0PCDWS1rwW2s-2ANRYur8Byx19txmjAqBJPHYl-zLrpCZiT8MfHZMe-gja889A6i3F2weZiRuugHjdPR9f2uvhqOYRwXX7LI6dvYSf1G5lKK7jaljWopG2e3g-BWk9-MQH6/s1600/VocabularyRecordSheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTV0PCDWS1rwW2s-2ANRYur8Byx19txmjAqBJPHYl-zLrpCZiT8MfHZMe-gja889A6i3F2weZiRuugHjdPR9f2uvhqOYRwXX7LI6dvYSf1G5lKK7jaljWopG2e3g-BWk9-MQH6/s320/VocabularyRecordSheet.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXEiSTr7dDOnNEifZbg7ZZUzESeNLNxkZ8CH9ziwXxSgZKDqR9uTC1aPCGeZ-J0AIk5WfesWcpfeLA8qOBNdp7GMS8oNiQrhcqfCbfj4_tBzyh3GW99eA4c0FgueHBTwaLAki/s1600/IMG_1193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXEiSTr7dDOnNEifZbg7ZZUzESeNLNxkZ8CH9ziwXxSgZKDqR9uTC1aPCGeZ-J0AIk5WfesWcpfeLA8qOBNdp7GMS8oNiQrhcqfCbfj4_tBzyh3GW99eA4c0FgueHBTwaLAki/s200/IMG_1193.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
Also, students wrote their names and the topic for the words on each vocabulary sheet. I used a new system to have students turn is assignments including VN sheets. Each student at the beginning of class would be given a clear file with their number on the outside (students were given a number from 1 - 23 at the beginning of the semester. They were numbered this way on the class list I received from the university). When students turned in a VN sheet, they would put it in their clear file. This made it MUCH easier for me to keep track of the sheets. If I had students hand them in with no files and received a big stack of VN sheets, I know that I would have lost many of the sheets.</div>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-29107420915597183052013-01-24T23:08:00.000+09:002013-01-24T23:08:09.598+09:00What I Learned About Teacher Education in ThailandFor 13 days I rotated around three unique schools and saw three unique groups of student-teachers teach at each school. In my <a href="http://discussenglish.blogspot.jp/2013/01/off-to-thailand.html">post </a>before I left for Thailand, I wrote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">in Thailand I want to see how students will fix their own lessons and how this experience will change their view of what effective teaching and their image of themselves as teachers.</span></blockquote>
In the blog, I try hard not to write about people or schools in such a way that would reveal information they would not want shared. I am a little worried that what I would write might reveal certain details that schools and or the student teachers would prefer not to be shared. However, I do think that I can share what fascinated me the most about this whole experience.<br />
<br />
At the Thai schools we had three groups of people working together on planning the ideal English class. These groups had different life experiences and views on teaching, they were Japanese college professors (who were American!), Thai and non-Thai English teachers working in Bangkok or Ayutthaya, and Japanese pre-service teachers. We had different ways in how we perceived good topics, appropriate activities, our ideal image of teachers, how to interact with students, and how to use materials.<br />
<br />
I think that for the classes that were most successful, the pre-service teachers, the Thai teachers, and the American teachers were able to exchange dialogue about the classes, understand each other, and negotiate changes that everyone could be happy with. For the classes that were not as successful (all the classes were actually good, I think), the pre-service teachers, Thai teachers, and American teachers were not quite able to reach a common ground. Nevertheless, the opportunity to collaborate on planning these classes was an incredible experience which taught me about myself, my students, and the Thai teachers; it also brought us all closer together. This trip taught me about how difficult and exhausting communication can it made me a more open and honest communicator and made me feel more alive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskcvR9lRZdljvYdq4ZqrfTSqX_WNGzYVO77piXH7a2dxuAohcV3FbIoA_tfR1oNSd9tvW9DJKIHhQQB5ibavK8ohlufPC_NJS2DXOwI0EUXq-aJxkJXBDGe1WX-FtW31KcAxa/s1600/2013-01-06+17.23.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskcvR9lRZdljvYdq4ZqrfTSqX_WNGzYVO77piXH7a2dxuAohcV3FbIoA_tfR1oNSd9tvW9DJKIHhQQB5ibavK8ohlufPC_NJS2DXOwI0EUXq-aJxkJXBDGe1WX-FtW31KcAxa/s320/2013-01-06+17.23.17.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-67786238964952255722013-01-16T09:29:00.001+09:002013-01-16T09:29:12.198+09:00Using the Japanese Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages in a Class DiscussionI am in Thailand right now but need to get my mind off it. So, I am going to write about using the J-Postl. The <a href="http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jacetenedu/">J-POSTL</a> or the Japanese Porfolio for Student Teachers of Languages is adapted from E-POSTL or the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of other Languages. The J-POSTL consists of 100 descriptors that students can use to assess their teaching ability. The descriptors help students assess their knowledge or ability related to their context, teaching methodologies, using resources, planning lessons, conducting lessons, etc. The descriptors are useful in that they can raise students' awareness of the techniques, skills, and knowledge that very good teachers have. For example, look at the following descriptors for conducting lessons:<br />
<div class="column">
<ol start="73" style="list-style-type: none;">
<li>
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">73 I can start a lesson in an engaging way.
</span><br />
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">74 I can be flexible when working from a lesson plan and respond to student interests </span><span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">as the lesson progresses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">75 I can adjust my time schedule when unforeseen situations occur.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">76 I can time and change classroom activities to reflect individual students’ </span><span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">attention </span><span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">spans. </span></li>
</ol>
</div>
The problem with J-POSTL is the sheer number of descriptors can make it a little overwhelming. However, the developers of the portfolio recommend that students only do a few descriptors at a time. I tried to do just this last month. My students in my teaching methodologies class did a one day teaching practice at an elementary school where they conducted a foreign language activity (English activity) using the standard elementary school English textbook, "<a href="http://www.tokyo-shoseki.co.jp/hi_friends/friends.html">Hi, Friends</a>"After their practice lesson, we had a class discussion using part of the J-POSTL. For the discussion our goal was to <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Determine the essential skills necessary for conducting foreign language activities in elementary school</span>, this is what I did:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I gave students a list of descriptors from J-POSTL about using resources, lesson planning, and conducting a lesson (using a lesson plan, content, interaction with students, classroom management, classroom language). I have written the list of descriptors I used at the bottom of this page.</li>
<li>I asked students to write a circle next to they thought they were able to do in the lesson, a cross next to what you were not able to
do, and write a triangle next to what they thought was not relevant. (5 minutes)
<!--EndFragment--></li>
<li>Each teaching group of students (7 groups of students each conducted a class) watched a video of their class. If their thinking changed, they could change their answers they wrote in 2. (15 minutes)</li>
<li>Each teaching group comes to a consensus about the 5 items they thought they were most successful in accomplishing in their classes and the 5 items they were least successful in accomplishing. (20 minutes)</li>
<li>Next, students made seven new groups so that each new group consisted of a member from each of the original groups (like a jigsaw task). They shared the results of 4. with their new group members. After that, as a group,
they chose what they thought were the four most important items for
conducting foreign language activities in elementary school and gave reasons
why. (20 minutes)</li>
<li>Lastly, each group presented their top four items. I wrote them on the computer (using a projector of course) and as a class we chose the top 5 items. </li>
</ol>
<br />
In steps 4 and 5, I told students that they could add their own items if they so wished. The final list of the most important items consisted of the students' original items rather than those of J-POSTL.<br />
<br />
<table border="0" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Number of Votes</strong></td><td style="text-align: center;"><strong>Item</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">40</td><td>Enjoy the class</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">23</td><td>Use English as much as you can.</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">20</td><td>Don’t use Japanese too much</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">16</td><td>Try to speak easy English</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">12</td><td>Prepare for the class perfectly</td></tr>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">12</td><td>Prepare for many activities</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I thought that this was VERY interesting. I think it means that it is difficult to tell students to look at their classes from a perspective that is different from their own. The J-POSTL makes A LOT of sense to me because I am an experienced teacher. Student-teachers, however, are new to teaching and they might perhaps focus more on the very basics such as "enjoy the class" rather than the detailed techniques, knowledge, and skills written in J-POSTL. Also, it could have been the nature of the task itself that influenced students' answers. Nevertheless, I was surprised that every item that students voted as most important were their own original ones. <br />
<br />
I should be writing about my students' teaching in Thailand right now, but actually being able to think about my orderly and predictable life in Japan has been a little therapeutic for me.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Appendix: Items from J-POSTL used in the class discussion</b></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="background-color: rgb(4.710000%, 4.710000%, 4.710000%); color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%); font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">RESOURCES
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">47 I can identify and evaluate a range of coursebooks/materials appropriate for the
age, interests and the language level of the students.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">48 I can select texts and language activities from coursebooks appropriate for my
students.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">49 I can locate and select listening and reading materials appropriate for the needs of
my students from a variety of sources, such as literature, mass media and the
Internet.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">50 I can make use of ideas, lesson plans and materials included in teachers’
handbooks and resource books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">51 I can design learning materials and activities appropriate for my students.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">52 I can recommend dictionaries and other reference books useful for my students.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">53 I can guide students to use the Internet for information retrieval.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #0c0c0c; color: white; font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #0c0c0c; color: white; font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">LESSON PLANNING</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">A. Identification of Learning Objectives
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">54 I can identify the Course of Study requirements and set learning aims and
objectives suited to my students’ </span><span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">needs and interests.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">55 I can plan specific learning objectives for individual lessons and/or for a period of
teaching.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">56 I can set objectives which challenge students to reach their full potential.<br />
57 I can set objectives which take into account the differing levels of ability and
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">special educational needs of the students.<br />
58 I can set objectives for four main skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">respectively, according to the focus of individual lessons and/or period of teaching.
59 I can set objectives which encourage students to reflect on their learning.</span><br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Century; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">59. I can set objectives which encourage students to
reflect on their learning.</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<span style="background-color: rgb(4.710000%, 4.710000%, 4.710000%); color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%); font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">CONDUCTING A LESSON
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">A. Using Lesson Plans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">73 I can start a lesson in an engaging way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">74 I can be flexible when working from a lesson plan and respond to student interests </span><span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">as the lesson progresses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">75 I can adjust my time schedule when unforeseen situations occur.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">76 I can time and change classroom activities to reflect individual students’ </span><span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">attention</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">spans.
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">B. Content
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">77 I can relate what I teach to students’ </span><span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">knowledge, </span><span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">current events in local context,
and the culture of those who speak it.
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">C. Interaction with Students</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">78 I can keep and maximize the attention of students during a lesson.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">79 I can encourage student participation and student interaction whenever possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">80 I can cater for a range of learning styles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century; font-size: 11pt;">81 I can help students to develop appropriate learning strategies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">D. Classroom Management
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">82 I can create opportunities for and manage individual, partner, group and whole
class work.
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">83 I can manage and use instructional media (flashcards, charts, pictures, audio-visual
aids, etc.) effectively
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">E. Classroom Language
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">84 I can conduct a lesson in the target language, and if necessary use Japanese
effectively.
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<span style="font-family: 'Century'; font-size: 11.000000pt;">85 I can encourage students to use the target language in their activities. </span><br />
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-39074451506339856732013-01-04T06:41:00.004+09:002013-01-04T06:42:05.293+09:00Off to ThailandI am writing from a hotel in Narita and am off to Thailand for almost two weeks. Another colleague and myself will be accompanying 10 students to Bangkok and Ayutthaya where they will be teaching English at high schools. I think that the students have been preparing hard for their teaching but I still don't think that they are quite ready. Last year, students went to Thailand with an almost perfect lesson plan. However, I took great pride in watching their lesson but then wondered whether students were actually teaching their own lesson or actually teaching my lesson. This year, students have chosen their own topics, activities, etc. Students are divided into 3 groups. Each group has made lesson plans and conducted demonstration lessons. Here are the topics of each group.<br />
<br />
<b>Group 1 (Three female students teaching at an All-Girl's High School in Bangkok):</b> Valentine's Day in Japan, Traveling in Japan<br />
<b>Group 2 (Three female students teaching at a coed school in Ayutthaya)</b>: Origami, New Years in Japan<br />
<b>Group 3 (Three female students and one male student teaching at a coed school in Bangkok): </b>Seasonal events in Japan, Japanese food stalls<br />
<br />
One regret I have is that during the demonstration lessons I tend to talk A LOT and the students do not have much of a chance to give each other feedback after the lesson. If I see something during the lesson that I know would not work well in Thailand I become filled with an uncontrollable urge to point it out and give students my own ideas about how to remedy the problem. I do not have the patience to let students resolve the problem themselves. However, I also think that because the students have not gone to Thailand, they CANNOT understand why some thing might not work. I have been accompanying students to Thailand for a couple of years and feel the overwhelming urge to impart what I have learned before students have had a chance to try to work out the problem themselves. I need to learn to speak less.<br />
<br />
No matter what I tell them though, they won't really be able to understand why or why not their lesson will work until they actually teach in the Thai schools. Therefore, in Thailand I want to see how students will fix their own lessons and how this experience will change their view of what effective teaching and their image of themselves as teachers. Well, I have to get ready to go.JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-25220226083517130442012-12-13T01:28:00.001+09:002012-12-13T01:30:58.675+09:00Impromptu Advising in "Class Conferences" and "Speech Contests"The past few years I have been frequently asked to be a judge at a speech contest or an "advisor" for an "open class conference". A speech contest is fairly self-explanatory. Judges will evaluate the contestants and before announcing the winners, one judge will speak for 5 to 10 minutes offering advice to the contestants about how they can improve their speeches. Occasionally, I am nominated to be this judge.<br />
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An open-class conference, on the other hand, might not be so clear to some of you. Schools in Japan will periodically conduct conferences for which they publish some kind of journal about their overall educational mission as well as the specific objectives and research agendas of each subject. In the conference they conduct one open class per subject and this open class is then followed by a meeting between the class instructor and those who came to see this class. The meeting can last from 60 to 90 minutes. The instructors will present their overall objectives for their subject and then talk about their class specifically. This is followed by questions and opinions from the audience. Lastly, a university professor and/or a teacher supervisor from the Board of Education will speak for 10 to 20 minutes each offering their advice to the instructors. They are fulfilling the role of an "advisor."Advisors' roles are usually to meet with the instructors a few weeks before the class to give them feedback on the lesson as well as speak at the conference. I am not a big fan of "the open class conference" because the advisors are treated as an authority and their opinions are never questioned (Of course, if people do not agree with the advisors, they can just ignore them). Nevertheless, if you work at a university or high school, at some point you might find yourself being asked to speak for 10 to 20 minutes in English or Japanese about English teaching or students' speeches. So, I thought I would write about my tricks of the trade.</div>
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First, my presentations are actually not impromptu. For open class conferences, I have seen the lesson plan and talked to the teachers beforehand so I already have an idea about the topics I can discuss: for example, teaching reading, writing, conducting group work, a specific grammar point, task based language teaching, etc. I also might think about the jokes I might tell or the analogies I might make before the conference starts. Before the conference, I will sometimes put information I have on these topics onto my IPad which I bring to the conference to use for recording field notes. With speech contests, usually I do not have this kind of luxury to predict what kind of topics I might discuss. </div>
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Second, when I am watching the speeches or classes, I am not only concentrating on what I am observing, but in the back of my head, I am also thinking about possible talking points for my impromptu presentation. If I think of a talking point, I will immediately write it down. I try to write various talking points throughout the class or the speech. For example, the awful handwriting below shows the talking points that I wrote while watching an elementary school English class. I ended up discussing the HRT/JTE/ALT role, how to encourage more authentic communication in the class, and pronunciation tips. </div>
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Third, after the class, I will try to speak to the other advisor to find out what he/she plans to discuss. The reason for me doing this is that one, I do not want to talk about the same thing and two, if my opinion is different, I want to consider how to present my perspective in a way that contrasts with that of the other advisor but does not put us in an awkward situation. In a speech contest, after the judges have decided the winners, I will ask the other judges what they want me to say in my feedback to the contestants. I will either add the other judge's advice to my talking points, make new talking points, or not include the judge's advice.</div>
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Fourth, in a speech contest, I speak soon after talking to the other judges. In an open class conference, I have more time to consider what I will say. I am usually adding smaller details to my main talking points while listening to the discussion in the meeting following the open class. If I hear a teacher speak his or her opinion and find it interesting, I might try to incorporate it into one of my talking points.</div>
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Lastly, when I speak, I sometimes tell the audience how many talking points I have. It makes it easier for the audience to take notes, of they so wish. I might say something like, "I want to talk about four conditions necessary to conduct group work smoothly" or "I want to discuss 4 areas of pronunciation that are difficult for Japanese students" etc. </div>
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I should add that when I speak at elementary schools I usually do my presentation in Japanese and at junior high schools or speech contests I give my presentations in English. If I am to speak in Japanese, I find that I have to prepare more. When I speak in English, I find that I can make more rudimentary notes and get away with ad-libbing. When I first started doing this I was REALLY awful at it. I still do not consider myself that good, but I have found that I can, for the most part, give acceptable presentations. Maybe the most important thing is to smile, look like you are happy to be there, be in good spirits, and try your best to say something that will hopefully be useful to the people who have the unenviable task of listening to you.</div>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-38228283446618410462012-12-05T01:23:00.000+09:002012-12-19T12:21:23.946+09:00Taking Japanese Student Teachers to Thailand to Teach EnglishBuilding a lesson from scratch includes choosing the content, thinking about how to present the content to the students in a way that is comprehensible and interesting, conceiving of communicative activities related to the content for students, and determining which language points and vocabulary to highlight to the students. I believe that this is what the best English language teachers in Japan can do. I have written about this many times, but at my university, we have a teaching internship in a few secondary schools in Thailand where our students try to do exactly this. We tell the student-teachers that they are not teaching English but rather teaching about the Japanese culture in English. This year, a colleague and I will accompany the student-teachers to Thailand for two weeks in January. We have been helping the students prepare since October and we have done up to meeting 5 so far:<br />
<br />
<b>Meeting 1:</b> Write profiles to send to host families and schools. Overview of the participating schools.<br />
<b>Meeting 2:</b> History of Thailand<br />
<b>Meeting 3:</b> Culture and customs of Thailand<br />
<b>Meeting 4:</b> Classroom English practice and students receive a description of the kind of lesson plan we want them to conduct.<br />
<b>Meeting 5:</b> Student-teachers present proposals for lessons and receive feedback<br />
<b>Meeting 6:</b> Student-teachers give demonstration classes.
More meetings: Student-teachers make appointments to consult with the internship supervisors about their classes.<br />
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I wish that we could meet more, but considering all the other work both the student-teachers and my university teachers have, even the above schedule is very hard. In meeting 4, I introduce many different ideas for ways to present material and tasks that encourage the use of all four skills. However, student-teachers probably did not learn anything from this. I have found that student teachers grow when they try demonstration lessons, receive feedback, and fix their lesson. It is only by actually teaching that student-teachers develop the know-how to teach. As I said before, this program enables the student-teachers to do some thing that would be more difficult for them to do as teachers in a school of Japan: design and develop their own teaching materials and activities to accomplish the English learning goals they have for the children. It is my hope that this experience will inspire the program participants to develop their own materials when they become teachers.
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In a few weeks, I will blog about the themes and lessons of the student teachers.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-21712234220033831362012-11-28T08:53:00.000+09:002012-11-28T11:38:12.274+09:00Doing a Task at an Elementary SchoolOn October 31, my universities affiliated elementary school had an "Open Class Conference" (公開授業研究会). As a "collaborative researcher" I teamed up with teachers in the "English study group" (英語班) to plan two classes. The first class was a picture book class with the third grade and the second class was a class using "tasks" with the fifth grade. With all modesty possible, I have to say that both classes were much more successful than I anticipated. In this post, I will talk about the task based class and (hopefully) in a future post discuss the picture book class.<br />
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Last June, I went to Sendai with the head of the English study group (Hereafter T Sensei) at the elementary school and a graduate student. We attended a lecture by Dr. Natsuko Shintani about TBLT (Task Based Language Teaching) for young learners. This was a great opportunity for both me and T-Sensei to get on the same page about what TBLT is and understand the types of tasks used with young learners. We left the workshop with a common understanding about the principles of TBLT. However, the tasks that were shown in the workshop were designed for a small group of children at an English school. We had to think how we could design a task for a large group of children (+30 students) with limited command of English and lower motivation to study English.<br />
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The four features of tasks introduced in the workshop are below and based on the features we designed two tasks.<br />
<ol>
<li>A task involves a primary focus on message.</li>
<li>A task has some kind of 'gap"</li>
<li>The learners choose the linguistic and non-linguistic resources needed to complete the task.</li>
<li>A task has a clearly defined outcome.</li>
</ol>
The tasks we did were information gap tasks which are very typical and might make you wonder why I would write a blog post about doing such a ubiquitous activity. Although the type of activity was far from innovative, I will say that the way we adapted the information gap task to their textbook "<b>Hi, Friends 1, lesson 7 What's this</b>" and thought of a way to make it interesting for the students was creative.<br />
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The modest success of this lesson was a result of the collaboration between me, the elementary school, and my graduate students. We met two times for about 90 minutes each time (to plan the task and picture book class, not just the task class). By sharing ideas with each other and combining our strengths, we were able to think of original lessons that we could not have done by ourselves. It made me realize how important collaboration is. I will talk about the two tasks we ended up doing:<br />
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<b>Task 1: The Locker Task</b><br />
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The words for the unit of Hi, Friends were<br />
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Apple, cap, shoe, bat, glove, flower, fish, eggplant, mat, bird, frying pan, cup, tomato, triangle, recorder, piano, microscope, beaker, brush, map, globe, triangle, ruler, notebook, Japanese/science/history/English textbook, eraser, pen, pencil, marker, water bottle.</div>
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These are fairly dull words and our challenge was to think of a situation where children could use these words meaningfully.<br />
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The first task we designed was called the "locker task". It was a kind
of "find the differences task."Students were in pairs, and each had a different picture of a locker. The goal of the task was to find the number of differences in two minutes. The words were words from the unit of high friends (I acknowledge that there was a BIG spelling mistake on the first set of cards). For the first two sets of cards, the teacher performed the task together with the students (the teacher had the card for Locker 1A and the students had the card for Locker 1B). After this, the students did the task twice using the next two sets of cards. It is important to note that the students were familiar with these words.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18euxz_pNLfp7ixsGiE2Of6dgocejTcGhdYM20qTqApeglYTCSkd9_KSj74AOCWY8i1BF6DRP-IME00d8RbgUtzEmZN-KmiGk3t47Wf7Y925VYff1EkGpp7CuCeaeUINW2kE5/s1600/Locker1A1B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18euxz_pNLfp7ixsGiE2Of6dgocejTcGhdYM20qTqApeglYTCSkd9_KSj74AOCWY8i1BF6DRP-IME00d8RbgUtzEmZN-KmiGk3t47Wf7Y925VYff1EkGpp7CuCeaeUINW2kE5/s320/Locker1A1B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 1A</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKenHzh1ltivZPY5K2GdyxVyBo3NohtPt5DgNPUed78sLqm8cEBssH3FJqT1rRc3-fN2ar4ullvn4-nQzgSMIMuiqmRUvwkBknyljiK5VEn6sQnKWMgc1vFyR9h_LTNoJtpcFZ/s1600/Locker1A1B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKenHzh1ltivZPY5K2GdyxVyBo3NohtPt5DgNPUed78sLqm8cEBssH3FJqT1rRc3-fN2ar4ullvn4-nQzgSMIMuiqmRUvwkBknyljiK5VEn6sQnKWMgc1vFyR9h_LTNoJtpcFZ/s320/Locker1A1B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_2.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 1B</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GhxBlt7ylidtc3K46oDhVHUcK3IwJ-Z5M2h_v9RJMYiGWvvtpJz5dRjZQksbYbZlR837sijKgS5w91NU4AoLTDNHoNWIR93SZkpp7mTNqgqNGnOYwpwJyT2GkteixBdyLdYR/s1600/Locker2A2B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GhxBlt7ylidtc3K46oDhVHUcK3IwJ-Z5M2h_v9RJMYiGWvvtpJz5dRjZQksbYbZlR837sijKgS5w91NU4AoLTDNHoNWIR93SZkpp7mTNqgqNGnOYwpwJyT2GkteixBdyLdYR/s320/Locker2A2B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 2A</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa73c5C2IM5HJkt0KeCX83OFHpthMiw_jTxPYiwK0cCrRfaA3e3vSW8RRl73m-_2V6mXRIhyLcQ9zzRcN3VmI8o_yfcq-ylmx8q2IvhA24HTPy53X-JQWgTojsU6Eg0xpDYGI/s1600/Locker2A2B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa73c5C2IM5HJkt0KeCX83OFHpthMiw_jTxPYiwK0cCrRfaA3e3vSW8RRl73m-_2V6mXRIhyLcQ9zzRcN3VmI8o_yfcq-ylmx8q2IvhA24HTPy53X-JQWgTojsU6Eg0xpDYGI/s320/Locker2A2B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_2.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 2B</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhweOdjaHfj_hEj1Txt5_EBbtF0RPvSGPbS9ApoQsBK2ve12CTiwdHMNmZTSJbCOAIIQxwIGyFfa5pgY2MGI8yv2bVudnxCgsf7BdfvMDhOedXCK39nczEkX4AiWZ-ZaRX514Z/s1600/Locker3A3B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhweOdjaHfj_hEj1Txt5_EBbtF0RPvSGPbS9ApoQsBK2ve12CTiwdHMNmZTSJbCOAIIQxwIGyFfa5pgY2MGI8yv2bVudnxCgsf7BdfvMDhOedXCK39nczEkX4AiWZ-ZaRX514Z/s320/Locker3A3B_%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8_1.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 3A</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locker 3B</td></tr>
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35 of 36 students report that they were able to communicate the contents of their locker. When asked what helped them, 31 of 36 students wrote that the teacher's demonstration helped them. What was interesting was that the teacher demonstrated how to do the activity but did not explicitly teach which language to use.<br />
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<b>Task 2:</b> <b>The Magic Bag</b><br />
First, I will say that task 2 was the far more innovative task and was the original idea of the elementary school teachers.<b> </b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3AZZkYhao0KYzCl5hXKg69aSS3Y_048xHzfL9gAQ_CWwP6OHldX-5wKdaXPJw-cUsZMlVJBbajhRwtTIpqFv0ki_uPQU_SfaNMUhmuLv7O_hUhQs68TEniikqYXDgbqlHjTe/s1600/WorkSheetWhatIsInMyBagTask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3AZZkYhao0KYzCl5hXKg69aSS3Y_048xHzfL9gAQ_CWwP6OHldX-5wKdaXPJw-cUsZMlVJBbajhRwtTIpqFv0ki_uPQU_SfaNMUhmuLv7O_hUhQs68TEniikqYXDgbqlHjTe/s400/WorkSheetWhatIsInMyBagTask.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This is a little more complicated. The teacher said that all the students had a "magic bag" like Doraemon and they could put anything inside of it. The children had the above worksheet which featured a daily class schedule. The children then had to choose a day, and then based on the class schedule for the day, put objects in their bag. For example, if the day was Friday, the classes were Japanese, social studies, science and music. A student who chose Friday would then have to put a Japanese textbook, globe, beaker, and piano in their bag. After the students had chosen the days and the corresponding contents of their bag, they made pairs again. They would ask each other, "What do you have in your bag" and write down their partners answers. After writing down what their partner said, they would try to guess the day. The goal of the task was to guess the day of the week their partner had prepared for. As in the first task, 35 of 36 students wrote that they were able to express the contents of their bag and ask their partner the contents of their bag. Twenty-seven of 36 students wrote that their teacher's demonstration was helpful although the teacher did not explicitly teach language.<br />
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<b>Both Tasks</b><br />
<br />
Again, tasks are supposed to have the following characteristics: <br />
<ol>
<li>A task involves a primary focus on message.</li>
<li>A task has some kind of 'gap"</li>
<li>The learners choose the linguistic and non-linguistic resources needed to complete the task.</li>
<li>A task has a clearly defined outcome.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Both tasks featured a focus on the message, there was a clear gap in information between the pair of students, the teacher did not explicitly teach language and students were expected to use their own language, and each task had a clear goal.<br />
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We did give questionnaires to the students to find out the techniques they used to accomplish the tasks but I have no idea when I can get around to actually analyzing them so I thought I would write about this experience before I completely forgot about it. If you would like to use these ideas for your own contexts, please feel free to do so. If possible, I would also appreciate it if you contacted me to tell me how it went. JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-89290163565123161712012-11-18T22:55:00.002+09:002012-11-19T09:28:58.301+09:00Issues with textbooks and reading/writing assignments for pre-service teachersI am in charge of a teaching methodology class for second year students university students. Most of them are English majors and about half of them aspire to be English teachers. This year I have 43 students in the class; this means giving them any kind of assignment also gives me a lot of work. Checking 40 + long writing assignments adequately can take over 7 hours easily, and really make it hard for me to prepare the week's lesson. Because the class is conducted mainly in English and the content, theories and practices in TESOL/TEFL, is new to students, it is essential that they read the textbook and do the writing assignments every week. <br />
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The textbook that we use is titled 英語科教育の基礎と実践 (An approximate translation is "Basic theory and practice of English Education"), the book is a good introduction to basic theories in TESOL/TEFL, teaching techniques, and teaching English in junior and senior high schools in Japan. Of course, the book cannot go into very much depth, but I think it points students into the right direction for learning more about their field.<br />
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Anyway, back to the reading and writing assignments. As you can tell, the book is written in Japanese, but I have the students answer questions about the reading in English. I think that it is important for the students to be able to explain concepts about English education in English. I hope that they will be able to build off this experience to one day be able to explain their pedagogical choices to ALTs or be able to discuss English teaching with other educators throughout the world.<br />
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We have a <a href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/">class blog</a> and students make their own blogs which link to the <a href="http://etm2and3iwate.edublogs.org/">class blogs</a>. Students put their assignments and reflections of their practice teaching on their personal blogs. These blogs are supposed to serve as portfolios of students' work. I am actually not sure if I have chosen the appropriate technological tool for students' portfolios, but that is a story for another post. Students evaluation is based on whether or not students can explain the concepts written in the textbook in English. I grade them by giving them one of the following marks:<br />
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<span style="text-indent: -10px;">✓- means that a student was not able to explain the concepts in English.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-indent: -10px;">✓ means that students were mostly able to express the concepts but there were some mistakes which made the writing difficult to understand.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-indent: -10px;">✓1/2 means that they were able to express the concepts well with perhaps a few minor areas where the meaning was not completely clear</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-indent: -10px;"> ✓+ means that they were able to express the concepts very well </span></div>
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A couple of weeks ago, I encountered an unexpected problem with these writing assignments. In the first assignment there were many sloppy mistakes. Sloppy mistakes are spelling mistakes, mistakes in plural/singular, mistakes in with subject-verb agreement, etc. Basically, sloppy mistakes are mistakes that students should be able to catch by themselves. To my surprise, well over 50% of the assignments were littered with these sloppy mistakes. For example, some students spelled the word learn as "lean" throughout their whole assignment. This gave me a sense of deja vu as something similar happened to me last year in the <a href="http://discussenglish.blogspot.jp/2012/05/past-couple-of-years.html">same class</a>. On top of that, many of the assignments were full of global errors or awkward English, I was not sure what the students were trying to say. Becoming an English teacher at a public school is very competitive and these days one needs strong English skills to pass the teacher's examination and interview test. For the sake of the students, I cannot accept mediocrity. They have to all work hard to improve their English if are serious about becoming English teachers.<br />
<br />
I underlined all the mistakes they made (this took well over 10 hours), and told students that they had to fix their mistakes as an assignment. I also transformed myself to the stern Jimbo and told students that they made too many careless mistakes and this was intolerable (Of course making mistakes because you are experimenting with new and difficult language is a good thing. Also, I should not that I make spelling mistakes all the time and a few mistakes in an assignment will not bother me. In fact, for me to get mad at a few mistakes would be very hypocritical).<br />
<br />
As I said before, in addition to the careless mistakes, there was a high amount of unintelligible prose written by the students. Therefore, after the stern Jimbo had said his peace, I decided to give the students about 40 minutes to start the next assignment in pairs and I walked around to observe how there were doing the assignment. One of the most typical strategies was this: they would find the answer to the question of the textbook in Japanese and try to understand it. After grasping the meaning, they would write the answer in Japanese. Lastly, they would translate the answer into English. I realized that the textbook in Japanese was not necessarily clear-cut for them. When I read and summarize parts of the textbook, I understand the concepts already and can use my background knowledge when the language of the book is unambiguous or clear to me. The students, however, do not have the background knowledge that I have. It seems like that when students are unsure what the Japanese is actually saying, they tend to just directly translate it into English. The result of their effort is unintelligible English.<br />
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On this day, we ended up working on writing the answers into English the whole time and after the class had ended, I felt that I had just conducted my first grammar-translation class ever. I would not call it a waste of time, students worked very hard and I think they understood better what I expected from them and I understood better the demands that the assignments placed on them. Nevertheless, I did not think this was an ideal way for us to spend the precious little time we have to learn the basics of English teaching. I am now starting to question whether these kinds of assignments are appropriate (Reading in Japanese and answering questions in English). There are textbooks written in fairly simple English such as the <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/gb/elt/catalogue/subject/project/course/item6038326/The-TKT-Course-Modules-1,-2-and-3-About-the-product/?site_locale=en_GB&currentSubjectID=382398">TKT Course Module 1,2,3 </a>which I think does a good job of explaining all the basics about English language teaching and learning that teachers need to know. The TKT is a teaching knowledge test for teachers of adult learners made by Cambridge University Press. I would prefer to use a book that also specifically discusses teaching at schools in Japan. In other words, I want a book that will contextualize the knowledge better.<br />
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I will say that most of the students in the class are working hard. I hope that this experience will push the students to become better self-monitors of their writing and also help them realize how hard they have to work to improve their English. I hope that I can choose the right kind of textbook and the right way of using the textbook that will help the students learn the basics of English teaching and improve their teaching. I really want to help them realize their dreams. For the next few weeks, we will be preparing for a teaching practice at a local elementary school. Hopefully during this time, I will be able to think of a better way of using the current textbook.<br />
<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-59041369519397414972012-11-02T22:45:00.001+09:002012-11-28T08:56:13.597+09:00Giving a Workshop at the ALT mid-year Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dYACS0SQre0Xk9daw3R-95VYS2I_OedJPcw9UdDBTazuMTsTCQw8vQHo8ige1bqEO04gqCRh33xBY1LglOSVxms5PlXBo-GydF5X7OTTdpHFOiXPIn7razqB1Kc6p8e7GNfa/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dYACS0SQre0Xk9daw3R-95VYS2I_OedJPcw9UdDBTazuMTsTCQw8vQHo8ige1bqEO04gqCRh33xBY1LglOSVxms5PlXBo-GydF5X7OTTdpHFOiXPIn7razqB1Kc6p8e7GNfa/s320/IMG_0782.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, October was a busy month and really flew buy. The new semester started at my university, I started a PhD program, I went to the JALT conference in Shizuoka, I had to write a laboriously tedious grant application, and I planned and conducted an open "research class" with my university's affiliated elementary school. I would actually like to write about all of these but today, I want to tell you about giving a talk at the Iwate ALT mid-year seminar in early October. At the seminar, there were about 25 ALTs and 15 JTEs (Japanese teachers of English). This was a very workable number. I only had 90 minutes and I wanted to do some thing that hopefully would be of some use for the ALTs. I know that no matter how amazing an educator you are (and I am a pretty mediocre one), after 90 minutes you are not going to reinvent the way someone teaches.<br />
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When planning for the seminar, I thought back to the days when I was an ALT in Hokkaido for two years in the late nineties. I came to Japan knowing zero Japanese, having little experience in education, knowing next to nothing about Japanese schools, and no formal knowledge of the English language itself. I was about as unqualified for a job of teaching English as possible. I was stationed at a rural junior high school and usually my job was just to stand in class and do nothing but recite the textbook to the students when asked. Sometimes the JTE would give me 20 minutes of the class to teach. I would be very grateful for this opportunity but usually my activities were either too difficult for the students or not interesting. These days, the JET Program (the name of the scheme that brings people from abroad to assist in the teaching of English at Japanese public schools) seems to be much more selective and most of the ALTs are much more knowledgable about Japan and teaching than I was.<br />
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Nevertheless, I thought about something I could have learned that would have made me a little better at my job. Coming to Japan, my understanding was that I was supposed to assist in making English more communicative. However, what exactly does that mean? The national curriculum for English in public schools is called the <i>gakushuu shidou youryou</i> or the Course of Study and all English textbooks in Japan follow these guidelines. To be honest, I sometimes intuitively feel a little bit of resistance towards it because all schools MUST follow it (Whenever someone tells me I HAVE to do something, I tend to automatically NOT want to do it). However, the document itself emphasizes that English be taught as a means of communication and I believe that if more schools actually DID follow it, English education would probably be a little better. In my two years as an ALT, though, I never heard of the Course of Study. In fact, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing rather than "making my classes more communicative." I think now that if I had a better idea about the national curriculum (or what I was supposed to be doing) then maybe back then I could have reached an agreement with the JTE about what our goals were and tailor the activities to try to accomplish these goals. With this in mind, here is how I conducted the workshop:<br />
<br />
Part 1 -<b> Icebreaking: </b>We played four corners. The signs agree, disagree, I don't know, and I don't understand are each posted in a corner of the room. I give the participants a statement and they go to the corner which best reflects their feelings. Here are the questions I gave them:<br />
1. I think Japanese food is better than the food in my country.<br />
2. The goal of English Education in junior and senior high schools is for students to become high level communicators of English...<br />
... and others......<br />
<br />
<b>Part 2: Introducing the course of study for English education. </b>On Powerpoint I showed them the objectives and recommended content for <a href="http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/new-cs/youryou/eiyaku2/gai.pdf">JHS</a> and <a href="http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/new-cs/youryou/eiyaku/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2011/04/11/1298353_9.pdf">SHS</a> English classes. This was written in English but I left blanks in the text and read every thing in Japanese. The ALTs, consulting with the JTEs if necessary, had to try to guess what filled in the blanks.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 3: Challenges: </b>Next, I discussed obstacles for achieving the objectives in the course of study based on my experience as an ALT and the limited knowledge I have about English education in Japan. The challenges I discussed were:<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I System and Environment</b><br />
1. High school and university entrance exams<br />
2. Teachers' workloads<br />
3. The communicative goals of the course of study are a little ambiguous.<br />
4. Teachers have to follow a curriculum made by their department.<br />
5. The total number of <a href="http://discussenglish.blogspot.jp/2012/10/are-number-of-class-hours-for-english.html">hours</a> spent in the English classroom in JHS and SHS are insufficient (see a previous blog post)<br />
<br />
<b>II People Factors</b><br />
1. Unmotivated students<br />
2. ALTs lack of knowledge of Japanese, Japanese schools, education, and English teaching (I am talking about myself!)<br />
3. ALTs unwilling to cooperate<br />
4. JTEs do not want to work with ALTs (I think this is a big problem)<br />
5. JTEs cannot or do not explain to ALTs their schools situation, the ALT's role, or give the ALT guidance.<br />
6. JTEs can lack understanding of how to make classes more communicative<br />
7. Some JTEs have insufficient command of English (only a few!)<br />
<br />
<b>Part 4: Ways to achieve the goals</b>: In Part 3, I was kind of hoping that someone would try to argue against me but no one did. In Part 4, I took a more optimistic view and said that actually most Alts and JTEs care very much about their students' learning and are very innovative. Also, relatively speaking in very general terms, Japanese JHS and SHS students can be easy to work with. My suggestions were that 1. JTEs and ALTs discuss how they want students to get out of their classes; 2. JTEs and ALTs discuss the kind of teachers they want to be; 3. JTEs and ALTs make plans to routinely conduct a small repertoire of activities to push students and themselves towards their goals. Lastly, I discussed my own goals for my students and the kind of teacher I aspire to be (but am not). Then, I conducted a learning activity I had designed to try to meet these goals. The activity was a task-based activity. I read a picture book in Japanese (showing the pictures on the computer). This was perhaps the most well-received part of the workshop.<br />
<br />
<b>Overall, </b>the content of my workshop was probably something that the Japanese English teachers had heard many times: The Course of Study and having thinking about a goal for your students before planning your classes or curriculum. However, when I was an ALT, I never heard any thing like that. I hope that they found it useful.<br />
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<b>Epilogue: </b>After the workshop, I went to Hanamaki station to go home. To my surprise, who should I meet in the station but the former K-1 kickboxing champ Ernesto Hoost! He was in Iwate to film an NHK television special. He was nice enough to take a picture with me:<br />
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<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-15700374879939603092012-10-06T23:00:00.001+09:002012-11-02T23:18:16.052+09:00Are the number of class hours for English study in junior and senior high school enough?<div>
<b>Note: </b>I first encountered this information a few years ago on a blog called on <a href="http://ikuma.s47.xrea.com/blog/?p=562">ikuma's log</a>. Since the JHS and SHS curriculum has changed, I thought the information should be updated so I decided to write this post.</div>
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According to the Foreign Service Institute in the United States, to gain "General Professional Proficiency" in Japanese, a native English speaker would have to take 2200 hours of Japanese language classes and also live in Japan for a period of time. Someone with "General Language Proficienct" means that a person can "speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy to participate in most formal and informal conversations of practical, social, and professional topics." Considering that learning English for a native speaker of Japanese would be equally difficult, this number can give us an idea about the time necessary for Japanese speakers to become highly proficient in English.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Of course, the goal of JHS/SHS English education in Japan is not nearly as high as "General Language Proficiency.". This is the overall goal for senior high school English in Japan:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To develop students’ communication abilities such as accurately understanding and appropriately conveying information, ideas, etc., deepening their understanding of language and culture, and fostering a positive attitude toward communication through foreign languages.</blockquote>
How many hours do students spend in English class in junior and senior high school? In junior high , students have English 4 times a week for 35 weeks and classes are 50 minutes each. This amounts to about 116.66 hours a year (35 x 4 x 50 minutes) and 350 hours for the whole three years.<br />
<br />
Calculating senior high is a little more complicated.<br />
A senior high school student who attends an academic high school (rather than a technical high school) will take the following classes. One credit is 35 class hours. <br />
<br />
Basic English Communication (2 credits)*<br />
English Communication I (4 credits)<br />
English communication II (4 credits)<br />
English Communication III (4 Credits)<br />
English Expression I (2 Credits)<br />
English Expression II (4 Credits)<br />
English Conversation (2 Credits)<br />
<br />
Overall, a senior high school students will have 612.5 hours of English class in their three years (21 credits x 35 class hours x 50 minutes = 612.5 hours).<br />
<br />
If you add the JHS and SHS hours, it means that secondary school students in Japan will have 962.5 hours of English class. Considering that the Foreign Language Institute is assuming that it will take highly motivated learners 2200 to become high level speakers of Japanese, it seems that 962.5 of English class for questionably motivated JHS and SHS students will not produce fluent speakers of English. I think that when teaching at the JHS and SHS level, we need to have realistic expectations on how well our students will learn how to use English. If a JHS or SHS student is a poor speaker and really labors to express herself, we should perhaps consider one reason to be the lack of time she had to learn English. Japanese are notorious for not being able to communicate in English after 6 years of secondary school study but this criticism might be unreasonable considering how much time it takes to master a second language which is might different from your own.<br />
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Post-script:<br />
I am writing this with droopy eyes and am falling in and out of sleep. I hope this post has been readable! I will post now without proofreading, I'm too tired...<br />
<br />JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13911608.post-85017818065321624312012-09-28T22:43:00.000+09:002013-04-08T12:07:41.142+09:00Getting New Ideas for My Teaching Methodologies Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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The new semester starts in October and I will teach an English Teaching Methodologies class to about 30 students. I will teach these students from October - February and then from April to August. To try to get some fresh ideas I read the book プロの教師の「初伝」から「奥伝」まで (EFL Teacher Education for Professional Development)by Takahashi Kazuyuki is seems to be a pretty well know figure in the English education world in Japan. What I liked about the book was this:</div>
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1) He gives a fairly frank appraisal of problems with Teacher Education in Japan.</div>
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2) He gives a sensible and realistic proposal for teacher professional development in the Japanese context which I think can be a good reference for teachers and teacher educations.</div>
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Regarding 1), he writes about the teacher certification system in England which has clear criteria for novice teachers to met and where universities and schools collaborate to develop teachers. He is critical of the Japanese system in that education universities and boards of education or schools have never come to a common understanding of professional criteria novice teachers should meet. I think that he does have a strong point here but I also think that criteria should be flexible and broad enough so that education universities and schools can create professional development programs for their particular contexts.</div>
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He bases his process of professional development on what is written in Burns and Richards' (2009) Cambridge guide to Second Language Teacher Education. Below are the stages written in Burns and Richards as well as what Takahahsi called them: </div>
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<li><b>Input of necessary knowledge and skills (初伝)</b></li>
<li><b>Application to the Classroom Context (中伝)</b></li>
<li><b>Self-development in Professional Career (奥伝)</b></li>
<li><b>Social Context (エピローグ)</b></li>
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<b>初伝・中伝・奥伝</b> refer to the beginning, middle and advanced levels that apprentices of a Japanese traditional art or sport pass through. He calls social skills (Epilogue) . Each chapter of the book is given the title of a specific stage.</div>
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In <b>初伝</b>, he basically gives a list of techniques, skills and knowledge that beginning teachers need to conduct a class. He also gives a lot of practical advice. A lot of this is stuff that most experienced teachers know but may not realize it. I think that this chapter is useful when thinking about what the bare essentials are that a novice teacher needs to know to be able to survive a class. </div>
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In <b>中伝</b>, he gives a couple of lesson plans, includes tasks asking the reader to evaluate parts of each plan, and then gives his own analysis. The point of this section is for the reader to learn how to visualize a class by looking at the lesson plan, and, through this visualization, determine which parts of the lesson will likely work and which parts will likely be problematic.</div>
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In <b>奥伝,</b> he discusses three views of teacher development: Teaching as a craft (people learn to teach by imitating a mentor), teaching as an applied science (from SLA theory and teaching methodologies, we learn that there is a right way to teach), and the Reflective Model (The third approach - developing through experience and reflecting on the experience). He then discusses an all Japan English assessment test given to secondary school students which showed that they lacked skills in writing and speaking. He says that teachers must shoulder some of this blame. Then, he gives a couple of case studies of experienced and very accomplished teachers and shows how through a reflective approach, they were able to improve their classes and get students who had little interest in English to enthusiastically speak and write in the language. The point of this is if that if teachers do not take the initiative to improve themselves, they will not make much progress professionally.</div>
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In the epilogue, he gives an overview of how social context can affect the English class.</div>
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<b>How the book impacted me:</b></div>
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Last semester (April - August), my Teaching Methodology course consisted of the following routine: lecture (for example, teaching vocabulary, teaching reading, etc..) with learning activities → micro teaching → student reflection. I think this is close to a reflective approach. However, students would hand me their reflections and then maybe look at them once again to see my comment. I realized that by not having the students keep a portfolio in which they collect all their work which includes their assignments, lesson plans, teaching artifacts, and feedback from peers and teachers so that they can track their own development. Therefore, this semester, I have decided to have students make blogs on edublogs and record their learning on the blogs as well as display their teaching artifacts. I hope that they can use the blogs to record their growth over the next 10 months that we will be working together. When this project picks up some steam, I might include the link on this blog. </div>
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JHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01179353111986149963noreply@blogger.com0