Real Voice

Real Voice
2010
Real Voice
Suggestions for
Changing English Education
for Future Generations
from 1st Year University Students
Students’ Analyses of
Their Language Learning Histories with
Recommendations to Students, Teachers, and MEXT
Appendices of Possible Steps for Teachers
Edited by Tim Murphey, Joe Falout, and Maria Trovela
PeerKuis
1
Real Voice
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2010
Part I: Table of Contents
Intro and Methods: Tim Murphey
Page
3
1. ENGLISH ONLY
Hitomi Hatano, Takeshi Miyao, Maiko Miyawaki
4
2. FIND YOUR ENGLISH STYLE
Ryo Hayasaka, Natsumi Ide, Haruna Mochizuki
8
3. BETTER ENVIRONMENT, BETTER ENGLISH
Chika Sugano, Yoshie Kine, Ryosuke Hosaka
11
4. THIRTY PEOPLE, THIRTY WAYS
13
Kento Inoue, Rie Nakatsuka, Nozomi Shishikura
5. FROM RIDING TO DRIVING THE ROLLER COASTER
16
Saori Mine, Fumi Takeyama, Tatsuya Lacey, Yoshinori Yahiro
6. JOYFUL STUDENT CENTERING
Yui Fujimoto, Aki Ishii, Sera Sasaki
20
7. THE REAL VOICE OF STUDENTS IN KUIS
Ryuichi Yamada, Yurie Iwamoto, Hanae Iwasawa
23
8. LEARNING FROM OUR PEERS
Akane Nakayama, Kenji Yokoi, Ayaka Nagasawa
26
9. EDUCATION NEEDS CHANGING
Mayu Ozawa, Takahiro Aoyagi, Yuuka Ohno
28
10. LIVING ENGLISH
Yuki Takahashi, Yuriko Chino, Camila Kaori Hayashi
31
Appendices
34-36
Appendix 1. Language Learning Histories (protocal)
Appendix 2: Instructions to students for scaffolding their analyses
Appendix 3: Prompt sheet for analyzing the LLHs in small groups
Appendix 4: The Real Voice of Japanese Students (video script)
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Intro and Methods
Dear Readers,
In the spring of 2009, 30 students in a Freshman Seminar at Kanda University of
International Studies (hereafter KUIS) wrote their language learning histories (hereafter
LLHs). As rough models, they read a few LLHs from previous years and were given a list of
possible questions to answer (see appendix 1). The LLHs became a class publication,
Language Learning Histories 2009.
In the fall semester of 2009, these same students in groups of three or four people
read the LLHs over a period of several weeks. The first week they read histories 1 through
12 (Never Been Abroad), the second 13-23 (Been Abroad a Bit), and the third week they
read 24-30 (Been Abroad A While). Each week they gathered together to discuss their
findings with the help of some prompts (appendix 2 & 3). They analyzed the LLHs for
motivational and demotivational factors and thought about how their data might inform and
help students, teachers, and MEXT. Finally, at the end of the readings they were asked to
put all their data together and to write a report of their findings, conclusions, and
perspectives. This is the content of the pages that follow in this booklet. (If you only have a
minute, we suggest you read the back cover that summarizes the booklet.)
Each group analyzed the same set of LLHs, and there are some common points
among the reports, but they each also have unique perspectives on these LLHs (as we say
in Japanese “jun nin to iro”). I believe these perspectives will be very valuable to students,
teachers, and MEXT, for these are the voices of students (the clients, if you will) who have
most recently experienced JHS and HS English education in Japan and who are reporting
on what they found helpful, motivational, de-motivational, and worthy of change. Most
companies treasure such customer feedback as this, so that they can do a better job
producing what is effective, healthy, and hopeful for their customers in the future. These
young writers are to be applauded for their efforts to improve English education in Japan for
future generations.
Handouts to the students (for teachers who might want to use LLHs in these ways)
are found in the appendices. Please collaborate with us and let us know what you think of
these reports and the new things you might do with them. If you wish to have copies of the
original LLHs please contact us.
Thanks to my co-editors/researchers Joe Falout and Maria Trovela (note: all editing
was for the English, the ideas are the students’) and lastly and most importantly, thanks to
the students for their efforts at improving English education in Japan.
Sincerely
Tim Murphey ([email protected]) Kanda University of International Studies,
1-4-1 Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi 261-0014, Japan
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(1) ENGLISH ONLY
Hitomi Hatano, Takeshi Miyao, Maiko Miyawaki
We wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs, hereafter) in the spring of 2009
in our First Year Seminar. In the fall of 2009, we began to analyze our LLHs and
discussed the data we gathered. This report is based on the data and those
discussions.
Motivational Factors
According to the LLHs, talking to foreigners, teachers and friends in their classes in
English is motivating. Some of the students who experienced study abroad thought
that these experiences were also motivating. So it means that students can enjoy
studying English with foreigners. The solution for better education in Japan may lie
in increasing foreign teachers in Japan. Consequently students in Japan will be
more motivated! About half the students mentioned foreigners favorably (see
Figure.1).
I started going to a church called Tokyo Baptist Church. This church is
always filled with native English speakers so you automatically had to
communicate in English. I tried to speak only English whenever I was there.
(Lacy p.32)
I had a chance to talk with native speakers twice a week. It was useful and
enjoyable. I could enjoy learning English, and my English skill improved
without notice. (Hosaka p.13)
Figure 1: Motivational Factors
Others
Friends
Private school
Study abroad
Teachers(J)
Foreigners/ALTs
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However, Japanese teachers were also mentioned nearly as much as foreigners.
Thus, we can say that teachers, whether foreigners or Japanese, are very
important.
Demotivational Factors
Many students said lessons of English in JHS and HS were boring because they
wanted to speak English. However, there were very few opportunities to speak in
the class. Therefore, teachers should make opportunities to speak English in class.
More than half of the students who were demotivated by English classes mentioned
the reasons were that they learned mostly grammar or vocabulary at their desks
and hardly ever spoke, with little communication or interaction between students
(see Fig.2).
When I entered HS, English became one of the most tedious subjects
because we did not use it. It was a very teacher-centered class and no
interaction between classmates. (Yamada p.18)
In JHS, I learned only about grammar. It was so boring for me. (Fujimoto
p.17)
Also, teachers should teach how to pronounce English. One student
mentioned their teacher’s bad pronunciation: “After entering JHS I was very
surprised and shocked because my teacher didn’t tell us the right
pronunciation” (Miyao p.19).
Fig.2 Demotivational Factors
Entrance Exams
Foreigners
Teachers(J)
English calsses
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Recommendations
The first recommendation for students is that just sitting at your desk does not work.
Actually it is important for you to do assignments and hand them in. However,
additionally, there are a lot of things you can do to learn English and to enjoy
learning. If you communicate with your classmates, teachers or foreign people in
English, we are sure you will notice the real enjoyment of English. Talking with
people who are from different countries and knowing other cultures through English
are really wonderful. You might find it hard to say what you want and you might be
afraid or ashamed of mistakes at first. Those feelings are very natural for language
learners. Therefore, the second thing is that mistakes are not bad. If you never
make mistakes when you learn something, you gain nothing. We can learn from
mistakes. Please remember this phrase, “Mistakes are learning steps”. Finally, we
can also tell you that studying is not what you do alone. Friends are your best
partners to learn with. To share your ideas and discuss them means to help each
other and interact with each other. The more you learn English, the better you like
English, we promise.
Based upon our data, we recommend that teachers change the style of classes
from teacher-centered to student-centered. Most students feel that teachercentered style is dull. Teacher-centered style means that students sit at their desk,
and just listen to what teachers say, read textbooks or do assignments. This style
might be easy for teachers, but not for students because they can study grammar,
vocabulary and so on from textbooks by themselves. It is to communicate in English
what they cannot do by themselves. Thus, teachers might give them opportunities
to talk with classmates in English in class. Even if they study English hard, it will be
meaningless unless they use it as a communication tool. Therefore, teachers might
introduce various activities with phrases or expressions related to their daily life.
Lastly, if teachers make the classroom environment in English or teach English in
English, students will feel closer to English and like it better.
According to our data, students’ motivations depend on the way of teaching. For
English education and JHS and HS teachers, MEXT might reconsider the present
guidelines. We think that classes of English should be more communicative. Now,
JHS and HS have reading class, writing class, speed reading class, oral
communication class and so on. We hope MEXT will increase the number of
classes that focus on orally communicating in English. In addition to that, it is
necessary to train more competent teachers. Teachers should teach students not
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only grammar or vocabulary but also how to learn English, which means to help
them to be good learners. What is important is to raise the level of English classes.
Finally, we can say that students are motivated when they talk with foreign people
from our data. Therefore, MEXT might introduce more ALTs (Assistant Language
Teachers) and needs to make environments where students can talk with foreigners
more, such as SALCs (Self Access Learning Centers) and retreats
Conclusion
We found that students were motivated when they were talking with people in
English. Also, they felt bored with teacher-centered style because they had no
chance to use English during the classes. We think that speaking English helps
students to learn English with joy and it is necessary for them to feel English closer
to communicate with native speakers. Thus, we recommend “ENGLISH-ONLY”
classes in Japan and we hope that the “ENGLISH-ONLY” environments increase in
Japanese universities.
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2010
(2) Find Your Learning Style
Ryo Hayasaka, Natsumi Ide, Haruna Mochizuki
Introduction
We wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs) about when we began learning
English to the present in May 2009. We classified LLHs into 3 groups. (Never been
abroad, Been abroad and Been abroad a while)
Method
We are freshman of Kanda University of International Studies. We wrote LLHs to
improve our English ability. Moreover, we read our LLHs and analyzed them for
motivating and de-motivating factors. There were many kinds of opinions for
learning English.
Motivational Factors
According to our analysis, 10 students were motivated in JHS and HS by going
abroad to English countries. For example, one student said that she went abroad to
Australia and she couldn’t communicate with people, so she started to study
English seriously. Also, foreign teachers and students made us excited because if
we could speak English, we could make friends with them. It was good for us to
communicate with foreigners (see Figure 1).
Figure1: Motivational Factors
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De-motivational Factors
Students mentioned lots of things that de-motivated them. Especially, they wrote
about English teachers in JHS, English classes, and grammar. The reason why
some students chose English classes is because of the atmosphere. Some
students said that studying language sitting in front of the desk isn’t the way to learn
language. Studying English the same way as other subjects made it boring. (See
Figure 2)
Figure2: De-motivational Factors
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Recommendation to students
Based upon our data, we recommend that students use their body to experience
some kind of English activity. For example, go abroad, talk to native speakers. We
think they should not think studying grammar is the only way to study or learn
English.
Recommendations to teachers
Many students are tired of studying by using only textbooks, so we think teachers
should use some different materials. Also, students don’t have so many chances to
listen and speak English. Therefore, they should speak English more actively.
Remember, teaching only grammar is not good for students. They have to mix
various activities, which will improve their skills.
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Recommendations to MEXT
First of all, MEXT should change how to teach English. For example, students need
a good teacher who can speak English reasonably well. However, in fact, there
aren’t so many Japanese teachers who can speak English. So we think MEXT
needs to train teachers and give students a lot of chances to talk with them. If
possible, MEXT should accept many more native speakers.
Surprising data
Some people are using their iPods to study English. It’s a nice idea. We can study
everyday, anytime, everywhere by using it. Also, people are often watching
YouTube. There are a lot of information, movies, news and more. These things are
very useful for us to learn English.
Conclusion
There are many ways to study that will motivate or de-motivate you. Find your
learning style. It’s up to you to choose your way. If you wonder what you should do
or want to do something new, ask for help! Asking may be a moment’s
embarrassment, not asking is a lifelong regret.
You can do it! Good Luck!
Thanks to Akio Otsuka for his help with the paper.
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(3) Better environment, better English
Chika Sugano, Yoshie Kine, Ryosuke Hosaka
Each person experiences differences in styles or environments of learning English.
All the students in KUIS have been interested in English somewhere in their life.
Some people have met a great teacher, and it was the reason why they started to
learn English. Although some people who met a bad teacher thought that it was a
boring subject and didn’t want to learn English. That tells us that environment is
very important for students especially when they are studying English. When we
have a better environment, we learn better English.
Method
According to the LLHs 09, students who have fewer experiences in other countries
tend to learn English when they happen to meet foreigners in Japan. Students
usually try to communicate with foreigners by using English they learn in their
school. In addition, students who have been abroad less than a year, usually know
how to learn English and improve their English. For instance, they use their
environments like the SALC (Self Access Learning Center) properly. Also they are
aware of the weak points that they need to improve the most. On top of that,
students who have more experiences abroad learned a lot when they were there.
So we think what makes for most student differences is their environments.
Motivational factors
There are many motivational factors, for example, teachers, friends, movies, and so
on. Most of the students mentioned that having experiences with foreigners made
them motivated the most. Getting to know about other countries or having
communication by using English encourages us to study English harder. The more
experiences we have, the more desire we get. Frankly speaking, there are fewer
chances to get encouraged studying English when we just take general classes in
Japanese school. For example, one person said, “English class was a little boring
for me because we learned grammar and vocabulary and only listened to what our
teacher said. I really wanted to speak English more” (Hatano’s p.10).
Demotivational factors
On the other hand, there are some factors that make students discouraged to study
English. For example, teacher-centered English classes make students bored. We
have little opportunities to use English if we just listen to teachers sitting at their
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desks. Moreover if teachers use Japanese often in their classes, students don’t feel
that they are studying English. Many people take it for granted that studying English
is just something that they have to study to pass their exams. We had better get rid
of this stereotype. It obstructs their English development.
To JHS and HS students
First of all, it is good for us to know why English is needed (the government can't
run Japan without help from other countries; food, fuel, etc.) If we see this need, we
will be more interested in studying English naturally. Then, we try to find good ways
to learn English. It is obvious that we make mistakes when we learn a new
language so do not be afraid and ashamed of making mistakes. Moreover, it is
much better to go abroad and experience life there.
To teachers
We recommend teachers teach English in many enjoyable ways, and students have
classes with native speakers, songs, etc. According to our LLHs, some said their
teachers had poor teaching skills so students got bored. To avoid this situation,
teachers should keep on studying English and create new ways to teach English. If
teachers do so, students will be motivated to be good English learners. As a result,
teachers are happy to teach English and students are also happy to learn English.
To MEXT
We suppose it is a good idea to make better regulations for becoming a teacher. If
teachers had enough skill to teach English, students would not complain about
teachers' skill. However, if not, students are not satisfied with learning English, with
their teachers and with their classes. There are many good teachers but students
cannot choose their teachers. Therefore, MEXT should make teachers take a test
(reading, writing, listening and speaking skill) periodically to keep and improve the
in skills.
As we mentioned before, the environment is important for students who are learning
English. At first, the teacher is the one who is the most responsible for creating the
environment and helping the student to create better environments. Later, students
can change environments by themselves. It is also effective to be in touch with
foreign cultures and countries, going abroad, and communicating with foreign
people. We suppose that having such experiences will help language learners to be
interested in new languages and improve their languages skills. In short, better
environments make for better learning.
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(4) Thirty People, Thirty Ways
Kento Inoue, Rie Nakatsuka, Nozomi Shishikura
There are several good ways to learn English in our daily life. They are motivating
factors. However, do the students use them effectively? And are they in such an
environment where they can use these ways? While there are many ways to study
English well around us, it is true that there are several ways that do not make
students want to study English. Those ways are called de-motivating factors. We
analyzed, looking especially at motivating and de-motivating factors, 30 people’s
Language Learning Histories. From these factors we can see that students are
influenced differently and think differently. Below are our thoughts and suggestion.
First, we are going to talk about “how to learn languages.” We think the best way of
learning is to enjoy it. People do not usually want to study just sitting on a chair. On
the other hand, people like to enjoy doing something, so they should learn
something having fun. The educational style nowadays is boring for many students.
When this style continues for a long time, a number of people would start to dislike
English learning. Therefore, not only students but also teachers should have lots of
fun as well, and they should make most classes enjoyable. This means, it is more
effective to have student-centered class than teacher-centered one. Students are
bored and tired when they have the latter one.
Motivational Factions
According to our data, students could learn best when they do not use textbooks,
when they have a goal, and when they are having fun. To make a class enjoyable,
teachers can use these motivating factors such as songs, games, movies and so
on. It is good for students and teachers to change the environment also. Typical
English class in Japan is for an entrance examination so you should change the
style to make students not bored during the class.
Demotivational Factions
On the other hand, de-motivational factors, our classmates think, are things like
homework, textbooks and the current English classes, which are the most
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controversial point. These three common points are all less interesting and these
also force the students to work by themselves. Other points are students who are
talking about other things during the class; when the class is like that, some
students who love to study English cannot concentrate on learning. Our data shows
that students get bored and tired when only the teacher is talking in front of the
room by using only textbooks. Also, it is true if the teachers do not have a fun
teaching English, students probably cannot enjoy learning. Then they are not
interested and start to hate English. But the number of demotivating factors is far
less than that of motivating factors for our group.
Suggestions To Students, Teachers And MEXT
What we want to tell JHS/HS students is that it depends on you whether you can
learn a lot delightfully or not. Almost all of the students think foreign languages like
English are not useful in the future, which makes you de-motivated in learning. The
result is that students get sleepy or use their cell phone under the desk even during
the class. To be sure, the class is boring and makes you feel sleepy. Textbooks are
written in only English, so the students have to study grammar and structure. And
they also have to learn thousands of words they’ve never known. However, it is
important for each student to have an active attitude.
It is the student who must get English skills, not teachers. They should be interested
in foreign languages, and they will get much knowledge easily with enjoyment. To
sum up, students must take responsibility of their education and find their way to
enjoy individual learning English.
We also recommend to teachers that from our data, students are more active when
they do not use the textbook. For instance, they can listen to English music, sing
songs in English, watch movies and play some games while moving our bodies. In
Japan, teachers teach English mainly for the university entrance exams. This style
makes most students de-motivated in learning. But we do not want teachers to
forget there are students who love to learn English. Such students are of course
active therefore, if English class becomes teacher-centered, active students
become less interested in English. Hence, we think student-centered classes are
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better. Just opening the text and listening to teachers’ instructions is boring. It is not
effective. English education is not only for examinations.
What we would like to say to Monbusho is that most students are not interested in
having the current English classes. Most people get interested at first when a
foreigner comes to their class and they enjoy talking to him or her. Also, demotivating factors tell us that many students do not like the current class, which
makes the students study the grammar of English by using the text book. So, from
these results, we think English classes should have more English conversation and,
if possible, every school should have some foreign teachers in order to teach “real
English”. We are sure this will get students to learn English with interest and joy.
The most important thing to improve students’ abilities in English or in other areas is
thinking from the student side. Then teachers can know what is good and what is
not.
In conclusion, by collecting our class data, we learned that at first glance, there
were not many big differences in our Language Learning Histories. We found it
surprising to know that we are motivated by a lot of things, and it is important to feel
motivated. Moreover, it is sometimes important to feel de-motivated in some cases
to learn languages. By analyzing these Language Learning Histories, we could
learn many things from our classmates. Also, every single person is different. Some
are motivated by something. However, others are not motivated by the same thing.
And the feelings and thoughts they got are all different from each other. If there are
thirty people, there are thirty different ways to feel. Hence, there must be thirty
different ways to learn languages. Finally, we are glad to study English with our
classmates.
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(5) From Riding to Driving the Roller Coaster
Saori Mine!Fumi Takeyama! Tatsuya Lacy! Yoshinori Yahiro
INTRODUCTION
This is a Student Report on English Language Learning in Japan Based on
Language Learning Histories" (LLHs, hereafter). We really like English and have
been studying English for many years, but our learning motivation is like a roller
coaster. We sometimes feel that we don’t want to study English anymore. What
makes us lose our enthusiasm to learn? When do we feel that we really want to
study English? Only the students who have been studying English know these
things. When the Japanese educational system is improved by considering this
data, children who study English in the future can study English more efficiently. We
made this report because we hope that the Japanese education in Japan will be
improved and children can enjoy studying English by being motivated more often.
Method
The general method for the research is in the introduction (p. 5). We made this
report by analyzing the LLHs. We sometimes had some problems when we studied
English in JHS and HS. We think it helps a lot to understand our histories in order to
make a more instructive and effective educational system in the future.
Motivational factors
Most students were motivated by native speakers and teachers in elementary
school, high school, or English conversation school. They met great teachers at
school who were interested in English. After learning basic English, they started
studying English by themselves and in their own way. Native speakers were a big
chance for them to start learning English. Some people say that their motivational
factors were home stays, exchange programs or school trips to foreign countries.
They learned a lot of valuable things in foreign countries by using English and
speaking with native speakers. They found that communicating in English is hard,
but they kept using English, so gradually they came to be able to communicate in
English. Staying in foreign countries was their turning point in their LLH. Moreover
some people are motivated by a certifying examination like EIKEN or TOEIC, and
some people are motivated by movies and music. When they pass the examination,
they become confident in their abilities. They take a step by passing the exam.
What it amounts to is this: if you enjoy it, it is motivational
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Demotivational factors
English class in high school, junior high school and cram school demotivated many
students, because teachers taught them mostly grammar and vocabulary, but they
didn’t have many chances to actually use the language. To learn grammar and
vocabulary is important for us, but if we can’t use them in conversation, it doesn’t
make sense. Also students had to read textbooks and memorize vocabulary and
grammar in class. Some of them felt English class was too easy and some of them
felt it too difficult, so they thought it was boring. Moreover some Japanese teachers’
pronunciation was bad, and it was not good for them. Teachers who have poor
English skills make students bored and lose respect. Most students are
demotivated by English classes at school because of these reasons.
Recommendations to students
We’ve been studying English since we were children and we found good resources
to improve our English skills effectively, so we want to recommend them to
students. One student said that he always listens to English or has something about
English (Takahashi p.14). When you have English around you all the time, your
English skill will improve rapidly. So, we recommend students to read books, listen
to music and watch movies in English as much as possible.
Study abroad is also a good way of learning English. One student went to a foreign
country to study abroad (Shishikura p.20). She couldn’t communicate with her host
family in English at first, so she asked her friends the meaning of words when she
found unknown words and she tried to talk with her host family. Her effort made her
English skill improve and she came to be able to communicate with her host family.
To communicate with foreigners is hard and difficult, but it will be really a good
experience for language learners. So, if possible, we recommend students to go to
foreign countries and communicate with people there.
Recommendations to teacher
In this part, we want to recommend to teachers the good strategies to teach English
for JHS and HS students. When we analyzed the LLHs, we noticed that the classes
at JHS and HS were not interesting and useful for most students. Most students
said they only read text books and learned grammar, but they didn’t have chance to
use them in classes, so they were bored and they couldn’t feel the pleasure of
communicating with people in English. And also, the teachers spoke English only
when they read text books and some of them were not good at speaking English
clearly and fluently. Thus, we couldn’t feel the English classes at JHS and HS were
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interesting. So, we think the teachers should speak ENGLISH ONLY in their
classes. And they have to give more classes, which emphasize communication like
discussion, debate, presentations and so on. To teach grammar and vocabulary is
very important, but we think teachers have to give students a chance to USE them.
And if our teachers were friendly and positive, we looked forward to their class and
our motivations for studying English were better. It is important that teachers talk a
lot with students and listen to student’s questions and opinions. Perhaps
communication is the most important thing. Teachers should not only be strict but
friendly and concerned with the atmosphere of the class.
Teachers should also teach their students to have confidence in themselves. And
last but not least, bring out the student’s passion for learning English. In other
words, make them become interested in language learning through fun and
enjoyable classes. In addition, when teachers teach, they should think about how
teenagers want to learn. And we can guarantee that through ‘active learning’ they
will become motivated. Most Japanese teacher’s regular routine of just reading
textbooks and students having to listen to the teacher’s lecture is boring. Instead,
teachers should be more creative with their classes by adding fun learning games,
more conversations in English to increase motivation, and activities which are done
on your feet rather than on your bottom. A few examples for this are done at KUIS.
Walking around the classroom and asking classmates questions in English is a
simple and fun activity. Also the fruit basket game is fun because one person
stands in the middle of the class and by saying one line in English such as ‘stand up
if you are wearing shoes’ he/she has the power to move all classmates off their
seats.
Recommendations to MEXT
MEXT will play the most important role to change English classes in Japan. First of
all, as we said in our recommendations to teachers, teachers need to have better
English skills. Because we just read textbooks and we couldn’t practice speaking
English at JHS and HS, people in other countries think that, “Japanese people can’t
speak English at all.”
Therefore, MEXT should often provide workshops for JHS and HS teachers and
train them to improve their ability and teach them how to teach English to students
more efficiently. And they also need to increase the classes like Oral
Communication classes that ALTs visit. MEXT should change the educational
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system and increase time spent to study English.
Surprising data and Conclusion
In conclusion, we were surprised at the fact there were people who came up with
ideas that not only helped foreigners in Japan but also helped their own English
skills. But we were shocked that so many students lacked confidence in learning
English. We think that confidence is the most important thing you need for language
learning. Because having confidence makes you think positive. And by thinking
positive, you are able to learn faster. When we have confidence we begin driving
the roller coaster.
Also knowing the motivational factors of our classmates was interesting because it
surprised us that so many students were motivated because of their ALTs or native
speakers. This shows that native teachers are a lot more effective to the students in
English education than having Japanese teachers teaching English. We noticed
that the learning environment should be closer to reality. If we want to improve this
country’s English educational system, we should first offer more job opportunities to
foreigners in Japan as English teachers.
When we start learning, we have little control. Later we are more self-directed. We
have more control and it gets even more exciting and we can do things to make it
go up! Still MEXT, teachers and students themselves can together create more
student-centered environments where students are more in control.
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(6) Joyful Student Centering
Yui Fujimoto, Aki Ishii, Sera Sasaki
Introduction
English is used as a common language all over the world. English enables us who
don’t use English in daily life to communicate with foreigners even though they
aren’t native English speakers. It’s often said that Japanese tend to be not good at
using English compared with other nations’. As Japanese English learners, we
researched our experiences learning English. This paper deals with the topic of
what is effective for Japanese English learners.
Method
Our freshman English class of Kanda University of International Studies wrote our
experiences learning English, in other words, our Language Learning Histories
(LLHs, hereafter) at the end of our first semester in 2009. The 30 LLHs consist of
three groups as follows:
I. Never been abroad for longer than a weekend - 12
II. Been abroad a bit: short stays abroad (cumulatively less than a year) - 11
III. Been abroad a while: longer stays abroad (cumulatively over a year) - 7
three
groups !
"
#
Using the LLHs, we researched what kind of materials and experiences were
motivational or de-motivational for us, counting the number of them to make sure
what was effective, with an eye toward improving English education. Also, our
paper contains recommendations to students, teachers, and MEXT.
Motivating Factors
There are many things that motivated our classmates: watching movies, listening to
music and going to cram schools in our childhood. For example, 18 students’
motivation went up when they encountered good teachers who taught them English
with fun. In addition, going abroad was very useful and interesting for 10 students.
During their stay abroad, they were surrounded by an English environment and they
had many opportunities to speak and listen to English, so their English skill
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improved and their motivation to study English went up. Thus, our motivations go up
when we learn English actively, when we have opportunities to speak English more.
De-Motivating Factors
On the other hand, 15 students felt their motivation for studying English go down
when we took the English classes at our junior high school and high school. One of
the biggest reasons is, that the classes are teacher centered, so students just
listened to what the teacher said and studied grammatical things. One of our
classmates said “When I entered HS, English became one of the most tedious
subjects because we did not use it. It was a very teacher-centered class and no
interaction between classmates” (Yamada p.18). We didn’t have enough
opportunities to speak English. Another thing, which de-motivated us was our poor
vocabulary and English skill. When we couldn’t express what we wanted to say, we
lost confidence in our English abilities.
Recommendations to students
Now, we would like to give some pieces of advice to junior high school and high
school students to improve their learning styles. First of all, you should find your
way which suits you to study English. There are a lot of ways to study English and
whether some of them are good ways or not depends on you. You had better think
of which English skill you are good at or not. For example, we know, many boys and
girls like music. If you also like music, you will learn a lot from listening to English
songs.
We suggest that you should communicate with foreign people like your assistant
language teachers in your school if you want to be able to speak English fluently. If
you do that, you can get used to speaking and listening to native speakers. It is
good practice and you can learn how to pronounce appropriately.
It is also important to study and talk with your friends. Some students often get
nervous when they speak to native speakers. However, communication between
friends does not need any hesitation. Ask your friends when you have any question
about English grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. You can also help each
other with your mistakes.
Recommendations to teachers
Based upon our data, we recommend that junior high school and high school
teachers improve their teaching styles. First of all, please make lessons more
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interesting. According to our data, most students tend to feel bored when they are
taught only grammar. “I studied grammar, grammar, grammar, so I didn’t have any
chances speaking or communicating.”(Hayasaka, p.12)
In order to make your lesson more interesting, you need to make opportunities for
students to talk in English. Please try to let your students tell their friends or native
speakers like assistant language teachers about their free time or weekends in
English. Talking to foreigners and classmates in English is very important to
improve students’ English skills. Singing English songs is really an affective activity
for them, too. Many students say that they liked these kinds of activities and felt
they were useful. If your students are also interested in music, singing English
songs together will help them learn English grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary
naturally.
Recommendations to MEXT
To improve English education in Japan, MEXT might consider organizing
communication classes and activities like conversation time in English. Then,
students can accept English as an interesting subject. After they have chances to
use English, they can understand the necessity of learning English. It’s also
important to have access to an environment in which they can always touch English
using songs, magazines, posters, and so on. Now we study English at KUIS. There
are many materials that we can use to study English, so we can always be in touch
with English. We think that MEXT should invest in self-access learning centers
(SALCs) for all schools so students would be able to increase their contact with
English. We strongly believe that junior high school students and high school
students should have more opportunities to communicate with their friends or native
speakers in English.
Conclusion
We were surprised that what got many of us to be interested in English and really
like English were good teachers who taught us English with fun. It is clear that we
tend to dislike teacher-centered classes like most JHS and HS classes and we like
student centered classes. Students want English classes to include a lot of
opportunities to speak English and do fun activities. Therefore, we are sure that our
motivations continue to go up for a long time. We strongly hope that English
education will be improved through joyful student centering and the number of
students who like English will increase.
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(7) The real voice of students in KUIS
Ryuichi Yamada, Yurie Iwamoto and Hanae Iwasawa
This report is an analysis of Language Learning Histories 2009 (LLHs). Our LLHs
were written by 30 KUIS Freshman. We found that many students who went abroad
said that they could get interested in English more after studying abroad. However,
in general, it is hard for students to go outside of Japan because it costs a lot. In
this research, we found many ways to study English without leaving Japan and we
would like to share our findings. For the general method of collecting the data,
please see the introduction.
Motivational factors
20 out of 30 students think that teachers and the environment are the most
important parts of language learning. Other minor motivational factors are friends,
tests, and their experiences. A lot of students were motivated by the media (comic
books, TV programs, movies, and Western music). These things are fun and also
are so effective to learn English because people can access them easily. Similarly,
people who are surrounded by English can be motivated. From the LLHs, the
majority of people said that the environment (ALT teachers, classes, and KUIS) had
to do with motivation of learning English. For instance, going abroad seems
statistically the best strategy to improve their English skills and increase their
interests. The problem is we can’t go abroad easily. How can we solve this
problem? The answer is to experience being in a different country. As a first step,
they need to engineer their environment in a way which they must speak, write and
make people stronger. In addition, communicating with their friends and native
English speakers in English is useful as they can actually gain experience through
practice. Two students said, “they can improve their English skills and share a lot of
fun with their friends and native English speakers.” (Takeyama, Sasaki p.22)
Demotivational factors
According to our data, there is only one demotivational factor: a teacher-centered
English grammar class. The students don’t want this kind of typical education.
Students think that “when you study foreign language, never study only sitting on a
chair. You should communicate with a lot of people to learn.” (Inoue p.11)
Recommendations to students
Students should not think that learning English is difficult and should not worry
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about making mistakes. Mistakes tell you what you need to work on, and they even
make your goals clear. Therefore, do not be afraid of making mistakes. If you really
want to study English, find ALT teachers at your school and try to speak to them. It
might be a little bit tough for you to talk to somebody in English at the beginning, but
do not give up. You will not gain anything if you do not even try. Keep trying as
much as possible and you might enjoy it. If you do not like your ALT teacher, it does
not matter. You can still find other ways to learn English. For example, take
advantage of everything you can find such as western films, newspaper, friends or
teachers. Thus, you can get a vast knowledge of English. The important thing is to
try and do not be afraid of making mistakes.
Recommendations to teachers
Based on our understanding of data, teachers should help students be interested in
English. Some teachers tend to conduct teacher-centered classes and they put too
much pressure on students, for example, studying too many grammatical rules and
memorizing unnecessarily complex vocabulary. In other words, they shouldn’t be so
strict with students. They should have more interactions with them using English.
For example, playing activities together or doing role-plays in class must be
entertaining. On the other hand, learning English right in front of a desk most of the
time is not fun at all and it might give some students an allergy to English.
Recommendations to MEXT
It is difficult to change the Fundamental Law of Education but there are three tips
which the government may take into consideration. First, we KUIS students
recommend MEXT raise teachers' salary and give more benefits to teachers to
attract excellent people to become teachers and this in turn will create
reinforcement of the teacher population and the quality of teachers. Secondly, the
government should introduce those teachers to the real voice of KUIS students and
should try to instill more attractive ways of teaching styles into them. Lastly, the
government should treat universities of the humanities and universities of natural
sciences equally because the government tends to give more budgets to latter
ones. We understand natural science is indispensable to Japanese economy in
order to prosper in business. However, language learning is as important as natural
science because language is the foundation to link the world in peace. For example,
in general, poor communication skills make people difficult to get along with
Japanese because we are traditionally required to gather from people's attitude or
sense what people are thinking. In greater degree, without having good
communication skills, we can't conclude an alliance with other nations. Therefore,
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the government should treat universities of the humanities and universities of
natural sciences equally.
Surprising data and conclusion
Three things surprised us: Speaking of friends, five students think that they could
learn English better when they teach each other or have a strong sense of rivalry.
As for tests, three students think that studying for tests help them learn better. In
regard to their experiences, two people think that their experiences boost their
motivation to study English. For instance, one student said, “I tried to communicate
with American students, but I couldn't speak and understand what they said. I was
very sad and my confidence was perfectly crushed. Then I noticed that my effort
wasn't enough, so I decided to study more and more." (Hayasaka p.12)
In conclusion, this report of LLHs 09 analysis is mainly about how Japanese
students can improve their English learning styles. For these are the voices of
students who have most recently experienced Junior high school (JHS) and high
school (HS) English education in Japan. We found many interesting perspectives,
motivational factors, and demotivational factors. Most importantly, the students
prefer to speak or use English rather than sit on a chair for a whole class, and they
cry out for changing the old teaching styles to new teaching styles because they
found the new method much more fun by themselves. In this report the word “fun” is
mentioned over and over which, we think, must be a staple point of learning English
and other subjects as well because we unconsciously know that a feeling of
enjoyment drives us energetically in studying more. If somebody studied English
hard with the feeling of fun, it would become part of him/her. We believe that it is the
best source of learning English or other things as well. Finally, we hope this report
will help improve English education in Japan for future generations.
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(8) Learning from Our Peers
Akane Nakayama, Kenji Yokoi, Ayaka Nagasawa
In writing this report we are “learning from our peers” because it was their LLHs that
we read and analyzed. We also learned with friends. We hope our peers and
friends can also learn from this report. Motivation and de-motivation are related to
studying. However most students do not know what motivation is, or where it comes
from. The type of motivation depends on the student, but there are common points.
We wrote our own LLHs and showed how we learned English to our classmates.
Then we studied them, mainly the motivational and de-motivational factors. The
main point is to consider and improve ways to learn languages through this activity.
Motivational Factors
We are sometimes motivated or de-motivated to learn English, although we like it.
Some students are motivated because the style of class is very fun. For example,
one of the students said, “We had parties on Halloween and Christmas. We sang
songs in English, ate cookies and drank juice. I had a very good time with friends. I
could enjoy learning English, and my English skill improved without notice.”
(Hosaka p.13) And another student said “I studied English very hard. Then, I
passed Eiken grade 2 when I was freshman in high school. At that time, I noticed
that doing my best was wonderful!” (Mine p.13) Thus, we are motivated when we
enjoy what we do and see progress.
Our motivations sometimes depend on our teachers or peers. One of the students
said, “The English class was so boring. I knew the alphabet and numbers so I had
no concentration in learning English. I also hated my teacher so I usually did not
attend the class” (Nakatsuka p.26). Other students also said that the class in junior
high school was boring because it was only studying grammar, vocabulary and
listening to what the teacher said. Another student said, “When I entered HS,
English became one of the most tedious subjects because we did not use it. It was
a very teacher-centered class and no interaction between classmates. Hence I only
showed my face in class and I did not study at all for three years” (Yamada p.18).
Teacher-centered classes make students passive—we need to be active to learn.
Recommendations
According to our data, we all have studied English using songs and English movies.
These make it fun to study and students can learn useful English. In addition, if you
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have a chance to go abroad you should go and talk with foreigners. Actually most of
us say that talking to native speakers can motivate us. And after you come back,
you may know what you need to do to improve your English skill. If you truly want to
improve your English skill, you need to know how to study English, and make sure
which skills you need to improve and what makes you motivated.
Teachers need to know how students think about studying English. LLHs are the
real voice from students. According to these data, students are motivated when
they have interest to learn English. It is not effective for them just to sit at the desk,
read a textbook, and memorize vocabulary. Students need to analyze their own
motivation to study English. We recommend doing this in class. They need to find
out why they are learning English, and how to improve their English skill. Students
want interesting classes, therefore sometimes teachers could be either good
motivation or de-motivation. Also, schools should have more exchange programs
such as study abroad, home-stay program and more, to make students want to
learn English.
Indeed, too many students study by themselves. However, to learn subjects,
teachers are indispensable for students, so we want the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to employ teachers who are
responsible and have good effects on students. Some teachers seem not to like
children and teaching. We cannot understand why they became teachers.
Therefore we think MEXT needs to make an examination for a teacher’s certificate
stricter and try to employ better teachers. If students have good teachers, they will
be motivated to study.
Conclusion
While reading the LLHs, we were surprised at the fact that more than half of the
students in this class have already been abroad. They said that they enjoyed their
homestay programs and they could learn a lot from native speakers. Therefore we
thought students should study abroad more if they can. Also they need to analyze
their strong and weak points of studying English and know how to learn English.
After doing this, students can be in a good environment. In conclusion, analyzing
our own skills, knowing how to learn English, having motivation and making a good
environment are the most important things for learning languages. We actually
recommend studying abroad, but it is not the most important thing. All that learners
need is to find their own suitable and stable learning style, and to learn from their
peers.
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(9) Education Needs Changing
Mayu Ozawa, Takahiro Aoyagi, Yuuka Ohno
Introduction
Would you like to change the teaching of English in Japan? We are
freshmen of Kanda University of International Studies. In the first six months of our
university life, we have mainly learned how to communicate in English, how to learn
English in classes in very different ways from junior high or high school. During a
compulsory class, we are not allowed to use Japanese. We learn a lot of useful
knowledge and suitable vocabulary or phrases for various kinds of situations by
doing activities all in English. The big difference of ways to learn from junior high
and high school really surprised us and also made us wish that we had been able to
study in such easier ways before university. This is one of the reasons why we are
writing this report. We are hoping that the teaching of English in Japan will change.
We are going to give some recommendations, so we will appreciate it if you make
use of them for educating students in the future.
Method
In one course, we wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs) so we had a
chance to know how each of our classmates had studied English before entering
university. Then, we read everyone’s LLH, and we noted what kinds of experiences
motivated or de-motivated us to study English harder. Here, we look at a few
factors, which influenced most students. Based on the data, we made some
recommendations to students, teachers, and MEXT.
Motivational factors
According to our analysis, almost all students were motivated in junior high school
and high school by a good teacher, an interesting English class, and also by
studying abroad. A student said “to have met the teacher was an important turning
point for me. He taught me not only English but also about many foreign
countries.”(Mine, p.14) From these factors, we could find how teachers and classes
affect students’ motivation of learning English. In addition, studying abroad is also
motivational. Other students said, “I made friends at various ages and from various
countries.”(Mochizuki, p.21) In such ways, students can learn a lot from many
native speakers and experiences of foreign country life and culture.
De-motivational factors
On the other hand, students were not motivated when an English class was boring
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and a teacher was not good at teaching. A student said, “English classes were
boring because they were teacher-centered” (Takahashi, p.15). Another student
said, “Of course I liked English but sometimes I could not understand the lessons.
Also, I did not have any courage to speak English” (Hayashi p. 24). We could notice
that the reasons were similar to motivating things. The more students feel classes
and teachers were bad, the more they do not feel like studying English and lose
their confidence.
Recommendations to students
To begin with, almost all the JHS and HS teachers teach just reading and writing
from their textbooks. In these studies we learn in a middle school or a high school
are for entrance exams, so it is not very useful in real English conversation. It is true
that vocabulary and grammar we learn in school are important. However, we should
try to speak English to get better. There are few opportunities to speak English for
students in classes. Of course, students have to try to speak English positively in
classes. However, we think students had better make more opportunities to listen to
English or speak English outside classes. What we recommend to students are
watching overseas dramas and making foreign friends. There are some reasons we
recommend students to do these two activities. First of all, we can enjoy learning by
watching dramas. We can keep on learning for amusement. Secondly, we cannot
only practice listening but also can learn a lot of vocabulary and expressions.
Moreover, a lot of daily conversations are used in dramas. It is more useful than
watching movies. Lastly, we should use vocabulary and expressions that we have
learned from dramas and movies to improve our English more. This is the most
important thing. Make foreign friends and talk a lot. Do not be afraid of making
mistakes.
Recommendations to teachers
As we mentioned before, some students were not motivated when English classes
were boring. So we would like to recommend to teachers to make classes more
interesting. For example, teach English with English music or movies and make
more chances to speak English in a class. For that, making a good environment to
concentrate on studying is good for not only students but also teachers in order to
make students like to study English. Furthermore, teachers should not teach only
vocabulary and grammar. Actually, we learned a lot of vocabulary and grammar in
our junior high school and high school. To be honest, however, we did not know
how and when to use the vocabulary and grammar, which we had learned before.
Moreover, it is not enough to teach just the language. Students might need to have
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knowledge of cultures of foreign countries in society. For that, teachers had better
teach not only the language but also cultures and their backgrounds.
Recommendations to MEXT
Now, studying at our university, we wish that we could have studied English in a
better environment, and could have met more fabulous teachers. Also, we feel the
uselessness of things that we have learned in junior high and high school. To make
the way of teaching at school better, we have several things that we would like you
to do.
First of all, we would like you to get teachers more eager for teaching. For instance,
to establish a system that teachers will get something like points and up to the
points they can get more salary if they get highly evaluated by parents and
students. This is an example that we could come up with, so whether this idea is
good or not, we would like you to make something like a system to get teachers
more eager.
Secondly, we think that students need to enjoy studying English. There are a lot of
students who hate English and also a lot of people who have a problem speaking
even though they are good at grammar. One of the reasons for that is teachers
teach mostly grammar or vocabulary in a class. We suggest that MEXT should
make a system in which teachers have to have students listen to music or watch
movies, and make chances to talk in English in a class. This would be good for
students who are eager to learn English as well because experiencing real English
is really practical.
If these things are realized, you might be able to decrease the number of people
who do not like English and hesitate to talk to people from foreign countries.
Surprising data/Conclusion
We were surprised at the fact that a lot of our classmates did not like English before
but now are in this university. What has changed their mind? According to the data,
many students changed because of their teachers. To conclude, to meet good
teachers in middle or high school is very important thing for students to learn
English. Of course, student’s motivation is also important. However, the first thing
we should do is to make an effort to educate teachers better. We think good
teachers know how important the student-centered class is. It might take a long
time to change education in Japan, or maybe not. But we should start now.
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(10) Living English
Yuki Takahashi, Yuriko Chino, Camila Kaori Hayashi
We analyzed our classmates’ Language Learning Histories (LLH, hereafter) and
compiled motivational factors and de-motivational factors from their LLHs. We hope
this will be helpful not only to MEXT but also to students and teachers. We hope
this report will be useful when people study English and teach English. (Please see
the introduction for a fuller explanation of the general methodology.) Our
understanding of these LLHs lies in our belief that students learn when they are in
contact with living English.
Our classmates wrote their LLHs in the spring of 2009 in our First Year Seminar. In
the fall of 2009, we began analyzing them. We read classmates’ LLHs and put
together not only motivational factors but also de-motivational factors.
Motivation Factors
Many things make students have high motivation to study English. On the other
hand, there are de-motivational factors. When students were interested in
something using English such as movies, songs, books, games, overseas and so
on, they had high motivation to study English. However, it was their teachers,
especially native speakers who were ALTs, who influenced students the most.
Students also felt that the teacher-centered class was boring. Therefore, if teachers
made the class fun by using materials like songs and movies in their class, students
had high motivation and were interested in English more. Experiences in foreign
countries also motivated us. In fact, most of our classmates have been abroad for
tourism or studying. We think it is a good and an important thing to touch real-life
English, living English!
De-motivational Factors
Many people feel “de-motivated” when teachers have poor skills to teach English.
For example, some teachers do not have good pronunciation and enough
experiences to teach. If teachers improve their teaching skills, many people would
like English. The teachers need to make a “student-centered class”. We know that
to make a “student centered class” is difficult to make in junior high school and high
school students especially when teachers teach English grammar or vocabulary to
students. However, teachers can make time to have free conversation or activities
in English, so students can interact more. Students feel “de-motivated” when they
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have a bad class. If their class is too difficult for them or the classmates do not have
good motivation, they cannot concentrate on the class.
Suggestions for teachers
First, the teacher should make a class “student-centered”. For example, take a few
minutes when students have some problems with grammar or vocabulary to let
them ask questions. The students need also to help each other. Just thinking in
groups of friends, they will improve their skills. Second, teachers should use
different activities in class. For example, listening to music, watching movies
together and summarizing them. Students need to learn a lot of grammar or
vocabulary, so they can enjoy leaning it with activities and they can enjoy English.
Finally, they should make more opportunities to talk with ALT teachers or
foreigners. The textbook is good material to learn English but it is not enough. They
need to practice what they learn in the textbook. To talk with native speakers makes
students’ motivations go up.
Suggestions for students
First, students do not just memorize grammar and vocabulary but rather use it in
real communication. Only memorizing is not too useful for your future, and it makes
your motivation go down. We recommend that students try to talk in daily life in
English. If they do not practice what they learn, it is of little use. Therefore, students
should try to talk with ALTs or friends in English. It is okay to make mistakes. These
kinds of experiences will be useful for students’ futures. Second, students should
watch more English movies. We recommend “drama comedy”, because that kind of
movie helps students to listen to daily life conversation and learn new vocabulary.
We should enjoy leaning.
Suggestions for MEXT
Many students thought English class in school was boring. The reason was there
were many things we have to memorize such as vocabulary and grammar. Also in
the class, teachers mostly taught us English for exams. We do not think it is useful
in our future lives. Therefore, we believe that daily English is more important. If
students can learn daily conversational English, students can use it in daily life, it is
easy to remember, and it is useful in their future. However, if we cannot have
opportunities to use daily English, we cannot learn it. As they say in English, “Use it
or lose it#”. Many students said that their motivation went up when they met native
speakers or foreigners. If students meet foreigners, they will speak English to
communicate with them because English is our common language. That gives
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students many opportunities to learn English. They can feel living English so it
makes them interested in English.
Conclusion
Students had different motivating and de-motivating factors. They do not learn the
exact same way as another person. However, after we compiled our data, we found
most of the students were highly motivated when they found English enjoyable.
Moreover, they were de-motivated when they found studying English boring. If
teachers or MEXT can help students find a way to enjoy studying English, students
can become active learners. Just a little help will be a big help for students. We
hope this report will help others see the value in living English.
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Appendix 1: Instructions for Writing the Language Learning Histories
Original Instructions HANDOUT (reduced size of paper) My Language Learning History
Write a paper about your language learning history from when you began learning English to
the present. Length: 3 pages double spaced (about 750 words). If you like you can send it via
e-mail. Some questions you may want to answer in your story:
• How did you learn English in JHS and HS?
• What positive and negative experiences did you have and what did you learn from them?
• What were you expecting before you came to the university?
• What were you surprised about in your university classes?
• How have you changed your ways of language learning since coming to the university?
• What are the things that you found especially helpful?
• What are the areas that you still want to improve in?
• How do you think your next three years will be?
• What are your language learning plans and goals after graduation?
• What advice would you give to next year's first year students?
Have your paper proof read and signed by two other classmates. Write the following at the
end of your paper for their signatures: “I have proofread and given suggestions about this
paper.” Signed _____________________ Signed _________________________
Appendix 2: Instructions to students for scaffolding their analyses
Group Work Project #1
LLHs Strategy and Belief Reflections by first year students
Before each of the next three classes, you need to read some of the LLHs that you received
last spring in the booklet (see below). As you read them, you need to mark in your booklets
the following things to discuss with your group partners each week.
1. Specific learning strategies the writer used to learn English and be motivated
2. Specific beliefs they had and if they changed
3. Conflicts and problems they had and if these were solved and how?
4. Other patterns and things that you might notice and count, dreams, travel, motivators,
de-motivators, influence of friends, media use
5. What hypotheses that we could research further come out of your reflections? (e.g.
English teachers should …Students would learn better if …)
You will be doing research with your group and reflecting on how English education in Japan
might be improved. You can make charts and keep count of things as you like. You will write
a short report at the end of the three classes to submit as a group with recommendations for
change in the English educational system. I will present your findings to teachers when I do
workshops with them and your comments may be published in articles and change Japanese
education.
Please read the following LLHs and mark them up (highlight them) by the following dates
Real Voice
35
2010
(write your name on the front of your copy, I will ask to have a look at them later): #1-12 (pp.
6-16) by Oct 2; #13-23 (pp. 17-26) by Oct 9; #24-30 (pp. 27-33) by Oct 16. Research Groups:
[students names in 10 groups]
Tips for Working Well in Groups
Know that you have something to learn from everyone. Learn it. Be polite. Be friendly.
Volunteer for tasks and roles. Ask questions; invite others to do things. Try not to dominate
the group; you are not always right. Try to contribute something worthwhile. Accept criticism.
Criticize the idea or phrase, not the person. Be brave and say your opinion, the group
benefits more from hearing different opinions. Accept others’ views and thank them for
expressing themselves. Make sure you are doing your share (but not everything) and that
others have things to do. Ask questions! Make sure you have each other’s phone and email.
When sending emails about the project or submitting your reports, please cc (include
everyone’s email) in each message so they are informed of all communications (even if it
does not concern them, include them!).
Working Through Conflicts in Groups and Caring Confrontation
Conflicts and confrontations can be positive; they help people think deeper. Expect them,
deal with them, and walk on. They are a part of life. Stay calm and discuss things, if it turns
out that things are un-resolvable, you simply report that “Some in our group think A and
some think B.” Use “I” messages with feelings, rather than blaming with “you” (“I feel unrespected when you come late”, rather than “You are always late!” Rotate roles in the group.
Appendix 3: Prompt sheet for analyzing the LLHs in small groups
[Note: More space was given on a full A4 sheet for these analyses, with much space after
each of the 6 points below. For the sake of saving paper, this form is condensed.]
Report #
Group Members
LLHs considered in this report: #
Compiled Motivating factors
Date
thru
of
.
.
Compiled De-Motivating factors
___________________________________/___________________________________________
__________________________________ /_____________________________________ . . .
1.Generalizations: According to this data, students learn best when…
2.According to this data, teaches teach better when they…
3. If you were to talk to JHS/HS STUDENTS what would you advise them?
4. If you were to talk to JHS/HS TEACHERS what would you recommend to them?
5. If you were to talk to Monbusho based upon the above data what would you tell them?
6. Did you find anything surprising or unexpected in the data? (use the back of this sheet if
you need more room)
Real Voice
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Appendix 4: The Real Voice of Japanese Students 2010—University
Student Comments on their English language learning in JHS and HS.
(video script – read on Dec. 21 2009 for a YouTube Video by students)
1. Our Language Learning Histories
27. Do things with the language
2. And our research / show that
28. Not just listen to teachers …
3. Learning English in Japan / is not
29. Talk in Japanese
always easy
4. Many JHS / and HS students in
Japan
5. Study mainly grammar /
for entrance exams
6. And end up / not being able /
to use English
7. After many years of study.
8. This is the inconvenient truth: /
Honne not Tataemae
9. While most JHS and HS teachers
mean well
10. And some of our teachers have
been really great!
11. The truth is, many teachers are
force-feeding grammar
12. This IS the inconvenient truth: /
Honne not Tataemae
30. When students speak English
31. We still use grammar / like now
32. We learn vocabulary
33. In language learning
34. You “use it or lose it.”
35. Narau yori nareyo
36. Asking may be a moment’s
embarrassement
37. Not asking is a lifelong regret.
38. Kiku wa itoki no hadji, kikanu wa
isho no hadji.
39. We ASK for CHANGE
40. In English education in Japan
41. For future generations
42. Students want to USE English
43. Less testing and grammar
44. We think our teachers need a break
45. from teaching to exams
13. A bit of grammar,
46. We think Mombusho could help
14. At the point of need,
47. By changing the exam system
15. Can be useful
48. Our exams are
16. But too much, is too much!
literally killing
some of us
17. Its BORRRRR ING (say slowly)
49. You know, this may not work…
18. We want to TALK more (excited)
50. It’s OK, / “We can accept failure,
19. Use English!
51. but we cannot accept not trying”
20. Talk to our classmates
52. We dare / to hope for change
21. SING SONGS! (Everybody sing it!)
53. Thanks for at least trying
22. Give presentations
54. To improve education
23. Write our own ideas
55. For future generations
24. Think seriously
56. Arrigato gozaimas
25. bout improving our world
26. In short …