curriculum EFL expectations extensive reading graded readers language courses teaching university video
by sendaiben
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VIDEO: Extensive Reading EFL Class Orientation
I was hoping to post this video yesterday, but I ran into technical problems (three of the students wandered into the shot, and I wasn’t comfortable posting something with students’ faces visible without getting permission from them and the university). Much easier to just try again with another class this morning 🙂
So, this is the first session of one of my extensive reading classes at Tohoku University. This is the orientation class, so we briefly run through what ER is and how our ER program works. After the video ends, the students start reading low-level graded readers. We managed to get about fifteen minutes of silent reading in class.
The ER@TU program is described in our forthcoming bilingual handbook. I will have a few copies of this to give away at the ACLL later this month, the Pan-SIG conference in May, the ER World Congress in September, and JALT National in October -please let me know if you want one or just come and find me at the conference.
Please post any questions below or on the Facebook page.
curriculum expectations high school language courses Language learning public policy teaching
by sendaiben
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If I ruled the world… high school English in Japan
This is the third of four posts on reforming English education in Japan. You can see my thoughts on elementary school here, and on junior high school here.
High school is a crucial step within Japan’s English educational system. It is the gateway to university, and currently has the most powerful external incentives for students. Get into the right high school, and you’ll have a shot at a good university. Graduate from a good university (and let’s face it, once you get in it’s not very difficult to graduate) and you’ll be set for life.
That’s how the script used to go. It’s shifting now, which is why we are seeing change on the horizon. Here is my take on high school English education in Japan.
The Current Situation
Most students attend junior high school then go to a separate senior high school. Entry is competitive, and students take the high school test or take advantage of a parallel ‘recommendation’ system (suisen). The system is designed to select candidates based on academic achievement and potential.
Once in high school, students focus on preparing for university entrance tests (if they attend an academic-track high school) or on getting vocational qualifications (if they attend a vocational high school).
From this month all high school English classes are supposed to be taught in English (something that was also part of the 2003 Course of Study but was not successfully implemented) but we will have to wait and see how widespread this turns out to be in practice.
My Thoughts on the Current System
High schools have a lot going for them. They select students based on academic ability. High school teachers are better  qualified than junior high school teachers (see MEXT figures for English teachers here). Students are more mature and more conscious of their goals -sometimes 😉
Ironically, English classes at vocational schools are often more practical than classes at academic schools. Freed from the pressure of cramming huge amounts of vocabulary/grammar for the university tests, teachers are free to work at the students’ level and have them work on their communicative competence. Sadly many teachers instead do an ‘academic lite’ class, reviewing junior high school vocabulary/grammar.
The falling number of children due to demographic change is putting a lot of pressure on high schools. The best public and private schools still have students competing to get in, but other schools are becoming less able to select as they only get as many applicants (or fewer) as they have places.
The governments plan to use TOEFL to screen applicants to university (which I disagree with) also has the potential to shake up SHS education.
My Recommendations
These are the things I would most like to see changed in high school English education (many are similar to my requests for junior high school):
- Increase English input for students
This has three parts: teach students why input is important and how they can access it, expect students to do a certain amount of input-based self-study per week, and monitor their progress. Done well, this can have a significant effect on practical English ability, as well as helping students become independent learners. This should include extensive reading with graded readers, as well as online listening and watching videos.
- Increase meaningful English output from students
Students should be speaking and writing ‘real’ content regularly. Writing their reactions or ideas, giving speeches, and having discussions about topics of interest will help them build up their language proficiency. - Introduce content-based lessons
Give students the opportunity to interact with news and current issues through English. This can include reading online, simplifying news stories for the classroom, and using contemporary stories as the basis for output activities as described above. - Create meaningful English qualifications
I would like to see the government create meaningful English qualifications that students could take to demonstrate their ability. At the moment, the STEP Eiken, the TOEIC, and to a limited extent the TOEFL tests fulfil this role at the moment, but they don’t do a very good job of measuring overall English proficiency, particularly with regards to speaking and writing. Perhaps some kind of language portfolio would be the best way of achieving this. The qualifications would ideally be recognised by universities and employers, and provide incentives for students to work on developing actual English skills. - Provide online courses
Based on best practice worldwide (see the Khan Academy or online university courses for examples) create online content using the best teachers. By flipping the classroom in this way, students can use class time for practice and interaction, and learn concepts for homework, in an environment where they can repeat or rewind as much as they need. This would have the welcome side-effect of reducing the importance of cram schools for university entrance. It would also reduce the influence of unqualified or unskilled teachers (only 50% of senior high school teachers hold intermediate English qualifications).
I struggled writing this one. By the time students get to high school, they’ve already had five years of English at school. Any problems have been compounded and it is unlikely that high school alone will revolutionise their experience. For the same reason, changes here will probably have less effect than they would do in elementary school or junior high school.
Still, the fact that students are academically streamed should make it easier for teachers to deliver content appropriate to most of their charges.
Many young people I speak to were profoundly disappointed when they started high school and found that the classes were a continuation of what they had been doing in junior high school. They had honestly been expecting to have things step up a notch and become more challenging/practical.
What do you think? Is senior high school English a lost cause? What practical steps could we take to improve English classes?
curriculum ES expectations language courses public policy teaching
by sendaiben
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If I ruled the world… elementary school English in Japan
This is the first instalment of my master plan to improve English education in Japan. I’m going to start with elementary school (I don’t have anything concrete to say about pre-elementary school education, especially given how fragmented and individualised it is) today, with junior high school, senior high school, and university following later in the week.
The Current Situation
My impression of what is going on in elementary school at the moment: English is taught in elementary schools for 30 hours each in the 5th and 6th grades. It is not a subject, but rather part of general studies. The purpose of the classes is not to acquire English per se, but rather to get exposure to language learning and international issues in a light-hearted and fun way. Classes are taught by homeroom teachers and visiting assistant language teachers (both native and non-native speakers of English). The current guidelines state that reading and writing should not be introduced. There is little training for elementary school teachers, and the curriculum is limited to the official textbook series Hi Friends.
My Thoughts on the Current System
I was cautiously optimistic about English classes being rolled out across all elementary schools. I used to work in an elementary school that was a test case for the city -all students had English once a week and the school had a specialist teacher who only taught English as well as a full-time ALT (me)- and I thought maybe the government would implement something like that.
Instead it has been a bit of a waste. The goals are unclear and vague, there has not been anywhere near enough training (I have done training for elementary school teachers, and it was discouraging to see how stressed and scared they were about conducting English classes), the content of the classes doesn’t match the students’ developmental levels, and there is little to link the elementary school and junior high school curriculums.
I still believe it could be very beneficial for students to start English earlier than junior high school, but it has to be done properly. If not, it might not be worth doing at all.
My Recommendations
I would like to make several suggestions as to what the government could do to improve English education in elementary schools. I have tried to make them as specific and concrete as possible.
- Assign an English specialist teacher to each school
This teacher would be responsible for leading English classes alongside the homeroom teacher. The teacher could be an elementary school teacher or an ALT. This would take a lot of pressure off regular homeroom teachers, as well as allowing English specialists to develop their expertise. - Implement English throughout elementary school
I would recommend five minutes per day for first and second graders, based around songs and short chants. Third and fourth graders could learn vocabulary thematically and practice simple phrases, again in daily short sessions. Fifth and sixth graders would learn basic phonics. - Link the elementary and junior high school curricula
Students can do a quick review in the first weeks of junior high school before continuing to build upon what they have already done. By covering basic phonics as well as learning vocabulary in elementary school, students could concentrate on learning how to use the language in junior high school.
I think the three proposals above would be a good beginning for making English instruction in elementary schools more effective. Any thoughts? What would you add or take away from that list?
blogging curriculum EFL ES expectations high school junior high school public policy teaching university
by sendaiben
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I have a dream… for Japan’s English education
I was very negative about the Japanese government’s proposal to use TOEFL to screen university applicants. It’s easy to criticize, to offer up reasons why things won’t work. It makes you feel important, contributing to the conversation in that way. It even feels productive sometimes, like you are saving people from making mistakes.
I still think indiscriminately imposing the TOEFL test on students in Japan is a flawed idea, and next week on this blog I am going to offer up some alternatives.
I will post my suggestions on how I think English education in Japan can be improved at the primary (elementary school), secondary (junior and senior high school), and tertiary (university) levels.
And then you can all have a go at criticizing me 🙂
* give yourself a pat on the back if you know who the guy in the picture is
curriculum evaluation expectations high school public policy teaching testing university
by sendaiben
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Japan to use TOEFL as university entrance hurdle?
You may have read about the Japanese government’s suggested plan to use TOEFL as a screening test for university entrance. If not, here are some online articles:
Japan Times (March 25) “Abe Wants TOEFL to be Key Exam”
Japan Times (March 25) “LDP urges TOEFL scores as college entrance, graduation requirement”
I am not an expert on the TOEFL test, and I am not privy to the details of this plan, such as what kind of scores they are planning to require, or how they expect high schools to prepare students for the TOEFL. However, I think this is a horrible idea.
I am really opposed to using tests out of context, for purposes other than the ones they were designed for. This applies especially to the TOEIC and TOEFL tests. As far as I am aware, TOEIC is a test designed to measure English proficiency within a working environment. Apart from the language, it also requires test-takers to have some idea of working environments and tasks. I find that young people with no experience of working in office or professional environments are at a real disadvantage taking the test -basically it is not designed for them.
I believe TOEFL is designed to measure how well candidates will deal with studying in an English-language institution. It is looking at whether they will be able to understand lectures, write papers, take notes, participate in discussions, etc.
Using these tests indiscriminately to measure general language proficiency or achievement is surely less than ideal.
I am opposed to using the TOEFL test to pre-screen candidates for university entrance, as suggested in the articles above, for the following reasons:
- The test is inappropriate to measure English achievement over the entire student population, as opposed to a select few who intend to study abroad
- Regular high schools are not in a position to prepare students for these tests, which means that students will have to go to the private sector if they want to go to university, which means that only relatively affluent students will be able to go to university
- The bar will have to be set so low on the TOEFL iBT in order for normal students to pass it as to render the whole thing meaningless
- A foreign company like ETS should not have this much influence on Japan’s national curriculum: giving it to them is an abdication of responsibility on the part of the Ministry of Education
- The test is expensive, and presumably most students will take it several times to try to maximize their score, adding 30-50,000 yen to the cost of applying to university
Basically this is the latest in a series of ‘reforms’ that start from a positive goal (improve students’ practical English abilities), then completely fail to implement steps to achieve that goal, due to lack of knowledge, political will, or sheer incompetence.
What do you think about this idea? Is it going to help Japanese students?