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Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 2:56 am Post subject: Locked

Locked as the thread is beginning to go off-topic. When it is unlocked, it will hopefully stay on topic.

If it does not, we go to Plan B.

Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:28 pm Post subject: Unlocked

Unlocked. Please stay on topic.

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

I'm not sure where that was going.

Allow me to correct a mistake I made and that is the course title in the OP, it should have read Oral Communication.

These are first year high school students who have presumably been studying English for 3 years, what exactly they studied I have no idea. More than likely it was something aimed at passing an exam they will more than likely never take.

Basically, very few are interested in being able to communicate in English. In each class there are a few girls that are keen but the vast majority are clueless. I believe the average pupil must be watching upwards of 4-5 hours of Japanese TV a day.

Recently, I had begun using some new material and had a renewed sense of vigor. I was confident I could help many of my students and see great improvements in their communicative abilities. We were working on prepositions and there were a series of related tasks that took up more than several lessons. My thinking was that at the end and along the way the students would gain a grasp of the target language and be able to apply it for use in general conversation.

What I find is that the answers you get after numerous lessons are the same you get before the lessons. For example, most of my students would reply to the question, "Are the keys...?" with "Yes, it is." I have the hardest time teaching the verb "be". I consider it a cornerstone to speaking English and yet my students go to great lengths to convince me they haven't the slightest idea about it.

So, my question is this, and this is really at the root of all my concerns at the present time:

Should I teach each lesson independant of the others? You know, so that each lesson is new and there is no need to build on what you learned in the previous lesson. Like the Nova method of sticking your finger in the text to decide the day's lesson. I can finish each lesson confident that I have done my best to provide stimulating material and made myself available to facilitate language learning and I can go home at the end of the day knowing that it really doesn't make the least bit of difference that my students can not speak English after 100 hours of instruction?

Will I compromise my moral integrity by continuing to do this job?

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

I know, but I was referring to the "conversation-based" English exposure. In my experience, very few JHS English teachers emphasis anything even remotely bordering on conversation. I have seen this beginning to change a bit (especially among the younger staff). Therefore, do not be surprised too much if most of your 1st-year HS students have very little ability to have conversations.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Yes, I understand that but with 20 teaching hours a week what is the optimal mind-set for a teacher, how to survive?

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Sweetsee you are discovering exactly the reason why I left Japan almost a year ago now after six years of feeling like I was compromising my ethics as a teacher. If that sounds too high faluting, just take it that I felt like I was wasting my time.

Mr Simpson, as I said clearly: "supposed conversation." I think that if you check the Mombusho syllabuses closely enough, you will find that conversational ability is a major goal of JHS English classes. The reason that I mentioned this was that despite their obvious failure to actually meet this target in the vast majority of cases, this is a lot more than students who come to EFL having had nothing at school and are beginners in the true sense of the word.

Therefore, there are important differences to consider when teaching a "beginners oral communication" class in Japan, as opposed to teaching it for refugees in Kazakhstan.

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

shmooj, I'm with you. I started a new thread so as not to ruin the OP's thread.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Thanks Shmooj I appreciate your comments. Did you find the work less of a waste of time where you are now?