Job Discussion Forums

[SeasonedVet]

I have never been a Nova basher.
Before I came to Japan I read these mesage boards and read quite a number of posts that said "don't work for that company" and "stay away from that company"
That was a long time ago and I have since learned to take alot of what is said hee with a pinch and sometimes a bottle of salt and other condiments.

A number of problems have already been pointed out and I don't intend to try to reinvent the wheel. I want to focus on

I will focus first on the Nova textbook past and present. I am not doing this to turn off new or prospective teachers who read this board, rather I am doing it with the hope that something good may come out of it for the teachers and the students of the company.
So to new teachers I say go and do your job and don't worry too much about what I am typing here until you settle down and understand the how thigs work at the company and in Japan. Enjoy yourselves and do a good job for the students.

The old Nova textbook was outdated. Everybody knew that and fully understood that and wanted a change. Although it was outdated there was still alot of useful information in there. The new updated version is available in bookstores. Nova chose Not to purchase the New Updated version. But rather created its own tseries of textbooks.
A comparison: The old textbooks had grammar points and a storyline or passage ( corny jokes and all) and had a workbook to practice what was learnt in the particular chapter.
That was subsudised with the use of The Side By Side series which in my opinion are invaluable to people studying English as a secong or Foreign language.
And the system that was used focussed on Introductions, Warm up, Picture speculation, Listening, Listen and repeat, drills ( for grammar or other/including remembering phrases sentences/ to remeber the particular lesson point etc), role plays to practice using what was studied, feedback, corrections, retry, reinforce.
Through that system I have seen beginners move gradually (and sometimes very quickly) from beginner to intermediate to advanced speakers of English sometimes with or without further study at home and also making use of the voice room.

The new textbook has by contrast No grammar point in particular. The new textbook is strictly conversational topics.
Let me state that I am not condenming the books totally. I know alot of work went into making the texts and kudos to those who contributed. it was done inhouse.
However,
the question is How can you teach English without teaching grammar?
I know that Japanese students study grammar at school and there is less and until recently no focus on speaking.
There are lessons in the texts that are made up solely of a topic for example "Interrupting Politely" or "Buying a gift for a friend"
Although there are some that rush in to defend having those topics in a textboof for studying English (and it is very ok to have them) the point that they may overlook is that you do not make a whole lesson out of interrupting politely or buying a gift for a friend unless there is a point to it other than just what it ststes and also if there is substantial practice exercises (and that is not the case)
In an English textbook topics like that are usually as a follow up Not a main lesson. There is no substance to lessons like that and there are a number of them.
Some of them are good lessons however and Nova teachers can attest that those "good lessons" are the ones that you notice being done again and again and again while others remain Not Covered or covered only once and some Never. There is a reason why.
Moreover the students themselves don't look to happy with it (this is a general statement but I have firsthand information from the mouths of some students from the time the new books were introduced until now).
It is interesting that with all the complaints about the old text book even from students, that when the new texts were introduced that some students were asked what they thought of the new "Pilot" text, and the reaction was mixed. There didn't seem to be any big whoopees or elation.

So if Nova wants to fix the problems it has, the company has to also focus on fixing the problems of the textbook series.
teachers don't have enough good material to work with and neither do students. That is also a source of discouragement for students.
I don't think anyone has focussed on that thus far.
I wite it up here because this is a forum where I can. I would really like to say this to the powers that be at Nova but wouldn't know how to do so or even if I would be allowed but I write it here in hope that someone connected to Nova might read it and take it as constructive criticism.

[Hoser]

Well I'll never accuse NOVA of using top quality resources, that's for sure.

[Symphany]

What he said.

[alexcase]

Another chain of schools did the "changing from quite bad published textbook to worse in house book" thing a few years ago. They said it was because Japanese people had a better impression of schools with their own materials and methods, and all the teachers said that it must have been just to make more money. It didn't turn out to work either way.

[furiousmilksheikali]

[jotham]

Well, there are educational theories out there that might be taken to the extreme. Chomsky noted that children have an inner knack for language and can understand and apply basic grammar without having it taught when they first talk. Many of his followers took this insight and ran with it, though Chomsky never endorsed it, apparently. This immersion approach is the reason why many educators enthuse over untrained teachers in the classroom � because children absorb language like a sponge, as if from their mother or father. It may be true that children don't need grammar lessons to talk when they're four or five, but when they're seven, they have more capacity for logic and analysis; and grammar lessons intercalated into their lessons, at their level, is beneficial � especially when coupled with teachers well-versed in child psychology, which they can advantageously apply when drawing up lesson plans. You also might be seeing the effect of functionalists, who believe all learning is social and can never be divorced from real-life context, as a grammar lesson supposedly is.

[Temujin]

There's a lot to be said for functional teaching and a conversational approach. It's not perfect and it's not for everyone, but it's unfair to say it's not teaching grammar. The grammar is all there, it's just that the book is not arranged around it as is often the case elsewhere.

I agree that adult learners should be applying their analytical skills rather than just trying to immerse themselves in the language, but as you said, the average Japanese student has been doing this their whole lives and is sorely lacking in applied language skills.

If you look at the books as a complete course then there is a huge 10-years worth of formal grammar study sized hole in them, but when you consider the average Nova student, the average Nova teacher and the selling point of all the Eikaiwa's, then Nova's textbook seems to pretty much fit the bill.

I'm not surprised that a commercial outfit like Nova would take the functional approach. Regardless of its educational merit, being able to tell a customer that they can now perform some useful real-life task in English at the end of each lesson is much more marketable than telling them they've improved their ability to use some abstract grammatical concept. And I don't think that's really such a bad thing.

[jotham]

[alexcase]

The other advantage of covering language by functions is that it is easier than teaching by grammar point if you have a mixed level class. For example, S1 might already know everything about the Present Continuous for future arrangements, S2 vaguely remembers it and S3 has no idea. However, all of them are likely to know at least one way to ask for a cup of tea and none of them can possibly know every way. However, as the various forms that can be used to order a cup of tea have little in common but that fact, in my experience it doesn't seem to "stick together" in students' heads and is more like spending a tiny bit of time on each grammar point involved than it is like spending lots of time on one useful function. Sooner or later they are going to need some intensive controlled practice in manipulating each grammatical form in real time speaking before they can use it.

Of course, whatever the theoretical issues involved a well designed grammar book works better than a badly designed functional one and visa versa...

[SeasonedVet]

furiousmilksheikali wrote

[SeasonedVet]

Temujin wrote

[SeasonedVet]

alexcase wrote

[jotham]

[furiousmilksheikali]

[Symphany]

Ali, if you had worked for Nova like I have you would beg to differ.

The textbook is one of many problems but it is a significant thorn in the side of teachers trying to work for the organization. They tell you to "come up with your own additions" to the lessons meanwhile you have no time to prepare for it with the 8 lessons a day you're teaching with a ten minute break in between. On top of that you're helping out the staff and dealing with last minute changes to the schedule. On those crazy days you rely on the book pretty heavily and when the lesson is absolute regurgitated S*&@ you don't have much to work with.

I can see alot of lesson complaints coming out of the book because it isn't a big help to someone who hasn't taught English for 7 years already -- which is like 90% of Nova's workforce. I definitely would not say the book is the company's only problem but it is a big part of the total equation.