Job Discussion Forums

[alexcase]

Do you teach Business English in Japan differently to in other countries you know about/ have taught in? Are the types of classes and students different? Do you need to use different teaching techniques and materials? Are the kinds of companies you teach in and the level of people in the company different to other places?

To give one example: I have found many of my Japanese students are very good at telling you what they think you want to hear in a needs analysis and it takes some weeks or months for it to come out that they see it as a benefit lesson. A Spanish student might be more likely to come out and tell you on day one if it's just a hobby more than a need for anything work related.

[matador]

Alex, my man! You appear to be peppering this message board with a lot of questions.

Get out and enjoy the summer, dude!

I am more than happy to wax lyrical on your above message but ...to what end?

In Japan I use Market Leader, my own materials, pair work/group work, DVD viewing, pronunciation exercises. e-learning modules, roleplays, etc. I always do a lot of error correction and give feedback.

Very similar to what I used to do in China and Germany.

[alexcase]

Thanks matador, but too hot to go outside!

Just general interest, really. Is that good enough reason to post a question? I find musing on a question like this when I go to the pool later kills some of the boredom of being stuck behind some granny

[gaijinalways]

I don't find it that different, but I can only compare Hong Kong, taiwan, and Japan. Busines English is just that, for Business generally. The motivation of the students will vary widely.

[alexcase]

So, no general differences in motivation between those places. For example, people often say the reason why some Business lessons in Japan lack seriousness is that the students often don't need English- or at least their ability to bow at the right angle is much more likely to affect their promotion prospects. I would imagine Taiwan and Hong Kong being smaller places (like Holland or Denmark) they would have more idea of a real need to communicate with the rest of the world.

[gaijinalways]

Hardly correct. In some companies here in Japan, knowing English is the difference between promotion to an international section or languishing in a domestic section. Yet, some students are requested to learn English, and they may be at a stage in their life where learning a language seems impossible, so they only go through the motions of studying.

[alexcase]

That was more what I commonly hear than my own opinion. First time I've heard of "getting promoted to an international division". Would that be just a transportation or export-lead company where the international division is larger than the domestic and therefore there are more opportunities?

[gaijinalways]

It may not be necessarily larger (the international section) and it is not always a promotion, but it can generally lead to that. Many Japanese companies are realizing that the domestic market may not be enough if they wish to expand their company and profits. That and in some cases, Japanese companies are being threatened by foreign competors, but generally the government does a good job at keeping those 'pesky' foreign products out.

[Mark]

I haven't taught Business English in Japan very much, but the first thing that jumps out at me is that, regardless of their level of interest, most students simply do not have any time at all to study on their own.

Not only that, they don't have time to read English business publications or watch business-related television programming. Outside of class, they receive virtually no English input. And, at work, many of them don't do anything beyond e-mails and perhaps the occasional telephone call.

They work 14hr days and that's that. I actually find it impressive that so many people in this situation still make the effort to attend classes.

[alexcase]

Gaijinalways- good point, but of course in most other countries English is far more vital to get a job and get a promotion than it is in Japan. In Spain, there was so much unemployment when I was there that they would ask you about your English and computer skills when you applied to MacDonalds- honestly! In Japan people are still much more likely than elsewhere to be given a promotion based only on seniority and placed overseas while people with better language skills are stuck in Japan waiting for their chance. Thus one difference occurs to me:

In Japan, you are just as likely to have a one to one intensive course with someone who has always hated languages and avoided them as you are with a language expert who just wants a top up before they go abroad. I have never heard of or experienced this anywhere else.

[alexcase]

Mark- good point. Because of that I do far more telephoning and emailing practice than I have ever done elsewhere. The tricky bit is putting some speaking in it, making it fun, and tying it in with a grammar syllabus.

[markle]

[alexcase]

Obviously I have heard about that, markle, as you haven't been able to read a "revisionist" article or book about Japan written since the bubble burst that doesn't mention it. What I am saying is that in some countries that is the reality for almost everyone while Japan has still not reached that point. To give one example, one of my students who was promoted to head office from a partly foreign-owned chemical plant was so overburdened with work before he was promoted that he started missing more and more English lessons and his TOEIC score dropped back to the level of 2 years before. Still got the promotion, though, to a position where he is supposed to use English. Unthinkable in Spain.

[Glenski]

MOD EDIT

Japan is changing. There are plenty of articles out there. Just Google them. I think your vision of Japan is still that of when you were here 15 years ago at NOVA or even a few years ago when you were here at Shane. I'm surprised that you have not noticed the change over those years.

Seniority systems are crumbling (and will be phased out in 2009 if the government has its way).
Younger mangers are getting promoted.
TOEIC is being used more and more because (albeit slowly) Japanese companies have recognized that English is necessary. Just look at the huge numbers of companies that use TOEIC to hire new employees, screen them for promotions or overseas assignments, and other things. ETS has all the published information you could want to read.
Business English companies like Phoenix Associates, Simul, Sumikin, ELEC, etc. have been around for decades and are growing. There is a need.

What "point" (to use your word) have other countries reached that Japan has not, and how do you measure that?

[alexcase]

You are looking at it as someone who has been in Japan a long time and has seen things change. I am looking at it as somewhere who has spent only 30% of his career in Japan comparing it to other countries. (I don't know or care if you were in Nova 15 years ago, but I must certainly wasn't). Before you demand proof of my argument, maybe you should provide some of your own, which seems to be that Japanese companies usually do not now take seniority into account when deciding promotions.