Archive for the ‘Learner motivation’ Category

This is the one simple recipe that teachers all over Japan are using to raise the level of their students’ English:

• Take one copy of the Japan Times that you were going to read anyway
• Cut out one topical and/ or cultural article that might interest your students
• Photocopy
• Make up some comprehension and discussion questions, either before or on the spot
• Explain the 20 or 30 pieces of vocabulary you think they don’t understand while they tap away at their electronic dictionaries at the same time
• Send them home happy that they have ’learnt’ said vocab and read a real newspaper article
• Repeat next week

And really, the punters do love it- because they get the impression of having done something authentic and difficult. However, due to the fact that there are no real comprehension or vocabulary questions and that they can talk about the article using as easy language as they like, they haven’t actually been pushed at all. Just like watching an educational programme on NHK television, the illusion of learning is complete and the actual learning is almost zero. Evidence for the prosecution:

• Students who study this way get no practice of day to day functional questions and linked speech, and so whatever their level they will need to ask a native speaker to repeat social chit chat questions several times before they can reply
• Students almost never use the vocabulary in the texts in that or subsequent lessons, and even less in the rest of their lives
• Such as lesson covers almost none of the language and skills needed to move up to the next level as described in the Common European Framework
• Any approach that is being used a lot in Japan obviously isn’t working, or the Japanese wouldn’t have such a low level of English

Maybe these joker teachers don’t care. Maybe they are just looking for a justification to read the newspaper (I’ve found mine- start a blog!). I do care, and for a perfectly selfish reason. I am sick and tired of getting a student or class of students in Japan that I have to teach pairwork, phonemic script, linked speech pronunciation, basic chit chat and functional language questions, basics of telephoning and emailing, classroom language questions etc. etc. from absolute scratch. And there is only one solution. I hereby ban the use of authentic newspaper articles in class in Japan- no exceptions! And that includes Breaking News English!

Rant over

In a moment of inspiration fueled by low tolerance to the stimulating effects of real British “builders’ tea”, have come up with:

The pairwork magic formula

I have yet to teach a class that wouldn’t do and enjoy pairwork eventually. If the magic formula below doesn’t work, then you do indeed know to give up on working in groups. The magic formula is:

1. Make sure there are props and a game factor so you and they can easily see if they are doing nothing at all
2. Make sure there is a clear winner, e.g. the person who guesses their partner is lying more often, so that they know if they have completed the task successfully
3. Make sure some of the prompts are written in English, so that there is not a possibility of playing the game just in L1, e.g. cards with the answers they have to elicit from their partners written on
4. Try a simple, repetitive use of a grammatical formbut leave part of the form blank for students to add their own ideas if they wish, such as chain of First Conditionals that they have to try and make finish with the sentence ending they have been given
5. Try to give them preparation time before they start speaking sometimes, e.g. get them to write 5 pieces of information about themselves that their partner has to guess the questions for
6. If it is one or two students in the class that ruin their groups all the time by pausing too long etc, do pairwork activities as two teams of twos instead

*Well, actually it started with a comment of mine on http://insights-into-tefl.blogspot.com/, but that fact for some reason got the “classic” (i.e. horribly dated) Hot Chocolate song “It started with a kiss” stuck in my head and I could only get rid of it through the magical use of a meaningless blog title. Ah, relief…

Busy, busy, busy, busy. A TEFL Agony Aunt’s work is never done. But does Auntie Alex let it get her down. Of course she doesn’t! There’s no need, when you have the tools of TEFL teaching to save the day. Can she do the same for our next troubled reader? Let’s see…

Dear Auntie Alex,

However do you find the time to rattle on about everything and nothing under the sun?

Have you found the secret of making the 85 hour day a reality (like the alchemists of yore who made gold out of base metal)? Or have you found an updated designer drug called TEFL that replaced the now outdated LSD?

Please spill the beans.

Tired & tense in Tunisia

Dear Tired and Tense

No need for all the flattery my dear! Not a drug, but as you guessed TEFL is the answer!

I like to look at my time in a country as having the same stages as a lesson plan. The first stage when you first arrive should be a warmer- make sure you do enough energetic and fun things to give you a good feeling about the place you are in, as a random example staying out for all night karaoke every Thursday night for almost an entire year.

The next stage of your lesson plan and your foreign stay is of course reception: whenever you are all warmed up with your fun and games/ sightseeing, it’s time to read a book and talk to more expert people at the reasons for all the things you have noticed such as cultural customs. Just as in English teaching, though, the level of input depends on your level- in this case meaning you are probably not ready for authentic materials (talking to cynical long termers in English-themed pubs) at this stage.

Finally, you are ready for production. To give two examples: starting a blog and/ or becoming a TEFL Agony Aunt.

Clear staging brings variety to your lessons and your life, and keeps energy levels up! I hope you can use this TEFL tip to put spice in your couscous too

All the best

Aunty Alex

Not a big enough problem to worry Auntie Alex with, so will deal with this reader enquiry myself:

Some good-looking internet resources on said topic, have no more than skimmed them myself but the sites they are on are well respected.

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kilickaya-AutenticMaterial.html

http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/berardo/article.pdf

http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/2/144

http://www.amazon.com/Motivational-Strategies-Language-Classroom-D%C3%B6rnyei/dp/0521793777/ref=sr_1_4/002-8179833-2881649?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185616833&sr=8-4

The last one is the Amazon page of a classic book by a great author with a great name- Zoltan.

It seems not just the population but also the chimps in Japan are suffering from rapid ageing, something else in which we also lead the world:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707250108.html

(First time I’ve said ‘we’ meaning people in Japan there!)

As the baby boomers and their pet apes reach retirement time with time and money on their hands, it makes for a growing market for English lessons too. Will take some special content and methodology though. My oldest student in Japan was in her 80s and I’ve had 10 or so students over 60 here and in the UK, so here are my ‘expert’ tips for the greying braincells segment of the Eikaiwa* student population:

• Lots of traditional British culture topics, especially Lady Di- but not the scandalous truth!!
• Keep the level very low and safe, and endlessly recycle
• Leave presentations of new language for homework or the very end of the class so they can work it out in their own time, then practice it in the next class
• Give them lots of homework (they have plenty of time!) but make sure the instructions are very clear and some of it is fun
• Don’t bother with learner training (also known as “sucking eggs”)- just adapt your stuff to how they already learn. For example, they will never learn how to ignore or guess unknown vocab, keep the texts you use simple and pre-teach everything.
• Let them talk about their week, their families and their hospital visits, and show their photos.
• Make sure there are several older people in the class, but also some young whippersnappers too.

* Eikaiwa means “English conversation”, and is the normal Japanese expression for the language school industry- maybe another reason why they have false hopes on how easy it will be to learn at your school and don’t apply themselves (often not even bringing a pen!)

No, not TEFLtastic- Toyota. Now that Toyota is top of the world, it seems all some analysts can see is the inevitable decline. Understandable in a way, but it is not as if the Japanese gave up their number one position in most other products in a hurry, so after quickly consulting my dartboard I’d say Toyota shares are a buy.

So as the Japanese are number one in cars, video game machines, animation etc. etc, why not English? It is understandable that the immense differences in the vocabulary, writing systems, grammar and pronunciation of the languages makes it a lot harder than switching from English to Dutch- but why at least haven’t they come up with a language learning method that helps them catch up with the same ease and convenience as a (Japanese-owned) 7-11?

Part of the reason for the lack of Japanese progress with English, despite millions of dollars spent on ALT*s and millions of books bought every year is actually connected to that convenience store thing- language learning does not lend itself to clever effort saving solutions in the same way as toilet technology. Another problem lies in those millions of books, as authors are judged the same way as salarymen and churning out books reliably is seen as the height of a writer’s skill. The main problem, though, is the one Toyota is facing- a lack of a clear goal where to go next.

Most Japanese students come into a language school classroom convinced by high school English lessons, impossibly obscure university entrance tests and the above named ungraded English learning books that they will never be able to communicate in any way in English. When they find out they can, they are so happy they don’t seem to know where to go next. As the Toyota article says: “What do you do when you pass a rabbit you’ve been chasing for 70 years?”

* ALT, Alien Language Teacher- a native speaking assistant teacher who helps give lessons in Junior High schools etc. Not to be confused with ALF, which is Alien Language Friend- someone who gives informal English conversation lessons in cafes.