Job Discussion Forums

[shantaram]

Hi,

I hope you don't mind me posting in the Japanese forum. I could have posted this in the North American forum, but not too many people check that forum and I could do with some advice from people who are really familiar with Japanese students.

I teach Japanese students (among students from other countries) in Canada. The students come over to study English in an authentic environment. They all seem to have a really good time and are quite cool and relaxed people, who participate in conversational activities exceptionally well. However, I have one student who has a special zeal for the small details of English. This makes her the best student and the worst student in the class.

She asks a lot of questions, but often poses them in a confrontational manner. For example, she asked me about the phrasal verbs 'fill in' vs 'fill out' in the middle of an unrelated exercise, when we were pressed for time. Her tone of voice was confrontational and she told me her homestay parents had given her advice about it which contradicted my advice. I later told her that I appreciated her question but thought she could have picked a better time to ask it. I also told her I didn't appreciate the tone she took when she asked the question, because it was as if she wanted to prove to the rest of the class that my advice was incorrect. She denied that, and when I asked her if it was culturally appropriate to ask questions in a confrontational manner in the Japanese classroom, she said it was, and that if she was a teacher in Japan and a student asked her a question like that she would thank them for the question, go and do research and come back to the student. Of course, I researched her question anyway and am going to get back to her tomorrow about it, but I don't believe that a Japanese student would do that in class in Japan, so I'm kind of surprised she did it here, and not sure how much of this behaviour is reasonable to tolerate.

I think she is being confrontational and is just pretending not to be, in a passive agressive kind of way. Is this familiar to you, from your experiences in classrooms in Japan? Do I have a special case here?

She irritates me further by interrupting when I am introducing a new topic or a new activity in class. She will tell me to give homework, give answers for the homework, check some work that hasn't been checked yet, or somesuch. She acts like she thinks she is a CELTA tutor. She has no respect. Furthermore, she told me she deemed exposure to different accents a 'waste of time' after I gave her a fun activity to do on the computer which involved identifying different accents. I take this as further passive aggression given that I speak in an accent and she is aware of that as we have discussed it before.

Like I said, I had a word with her today, but I think this is going to be an ongoing thing. Does anyone have any ideas on how to deal with her? I have told her in the past that she needs to focus more on making friends and practising her English outside the classroom. I am starting to think she is in a funk about not making any friends and is taking it out on me in the classroom- and further alienating herself from her classmates in the process. I can't believe she would act like this in Japan. Does she sound unusual to you?

[markle]

[Glenski]

Japanese people are NOT confrontational. You have an exception on your hands. Probably the worst type, too. How old is she, anyway?

If you can't get her to stop interrupting, then cancel her lessons. No student is worth that frustration. The other students must love her!

Accents a waste of time, eh? Depends on what sort of activity you had students doing, I guess.

I had a GERMAN student like that in my high school classes in Japan. She would try to explain how I was wrong, or how there were so many exceptions to the rules. Brash, bold, and totally unaware that what she was doing was offensive and rude. I was happy the class had only 2 other students, all high level and experienced abroad, but even they were disgusted with her behavior.

I told her in a friendly way initially how she needed to show I was wrong (never happened), and I agreed with her on the exceptions but that every language has them, so get used to them, and that I'd be happy to go over any she or her classmates had trouble with (none ever surfaced).

When she started in again I just told her she was the student and I was the teacher. Thank goodness she was shipping out shortly thereafter.

If a student EVER interrupts class to ask or talk about unrelated matters, take charge. You are the teacher. Tell the student you will get to it later that class, even if it is AFTER class, but that you have a plan for the day to follow.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Is this a high school or junior high school student? How old is this person?

More and more there are Japanese students who will behave in the manner the OP described. There is basically no discipline in elementary school, but there is an awful lot in junior high- but not if that student went to a private school- in that case there would probably have been none. A lot of kids have almost every second of their lives planned out and end up never really having time to socialize... and so they can't. The result is that more and more kids are turning out just as you described them, especially ones who think because they listen to Sum 41, they should act like that.

How long has she been in Canada- especially without any friends? She could be in culture fatigue. I think it could just be her personality, though.

There are also the odd few who seem to somehow have got it into their heads that if ***anybody*** tells them something that contradicts something that a foreign teacher told them, then the foreign teacher must be wrong. Not really sure where it comes from, maybe there are just altogether too many cocky foreign teachers spouting pure crap around here!

[shantaram]

Hi,

She's about 25 years old and she wants to be a teacher of English in Japan. Today, her behaviour was on the mark, so maybe what I said to her yesterday worked.

I'll wait until tomorrow before believing it though. Her personality goes up and down all the time, and it really affects the class.

I guess some people just have stronger personalities than others, some good, some bad.

It's such a pain in the neck though. I don't feel like taking the class because I don't know what the day will be like.

Luckily I only have her for another week, then I can request to have her placed in another class.

Thanks for your comments, it's interesting to read what people teaching in Japan have to say about it.

PS She has been in Canada for about 6 months and is planning to stay for another 6.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Miyazaki]

Yeah, you have the worst of the worst....

Can you take steps to ingratiate her - for strategic reasons? I mean, if you're concerned about your student / performance evaluations then you might need to consider alternate options.

I know this student. I've been there. I really dislike them also and agree that they can be arrogant, pushy, etc., and yet often aren't all that capable with the language. However, they still need your support.

Frankly, based on what you've written, I think you might've done a couple things wrong: 1) don't chastize her in front of the rest of the class or during the lesson for challenging you, 2) smile and and tell her "I'll do some follow up on that and report back to you" - she'll dig that you're getting back to her, 3) praise her. She loves praise - "Your knowlege of SLA is extraordinary! Have you thought about doing a Ph.D in Linguistics!" Don't be patronizing but stroke her a bit - she'll love it. Recognize her and acknowledge her spirit - whether it's something you really appreciate or not.

Finally, The 33 Strategies of War (by Robert Greene) - read it, it's got a ton of insight on how Asians approach conflict.

[shantaram]

Thanks for the tip, Miyazaki. I'll definitely check out the book. I didn't chastise her in front of the class, I took her aside for that. Yes, I am concerned that she will give a negative assessment of me at the end of the month. However, I'm trying not to worry about that, because my respect drops for teachers who try to ingratiate themselves with students. I don't want to come across as obsequious and lose her respect altogether.

[Canuck2112]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with the statement "Japanese are not confrontational" (in class). Certainly, most tend to remain silent, even if they obviously have questions or points they aren't 100% sure of, but I've had several students confront me...sometimes directly and sometimes passive/aggressively.

This often occurs when there is some discrepancy between what I teach and what their electronic dictionary and/or piece of crap Japanese-English "textbook" says.

Just to cite a few examples...I had a student who would dredge up the most archaic, obscure words and idioms and ask me about them in class. I think his dictionary was programmed with a combined word list from Tudor England and Prohibition-era Chicago. He would monopolize class time with questions like "Canuck-sensei, what mean 'the bees knees'?". I'd tell him the meaning and then politely mention that the phrases he asked me about were virtually unused and he would sound strange if he were to use them. He'd get agitated and point to his dictionary, as if it were the last word on natural spoken English. He'd try to incite other students, as well. I finally told the class that I would address only lesson-related questions. That seemed to work.

Another was a senior student, a beginner, who picked up some TOEIC 900 prep book for some unknown reason. Again, I'd get grilled with minutae like "how different 'show up' and 'turn up'?". Now, if she were an advanced student I might address this extremely miniscule point, but this was a woman who could barely express basic likes and dislikes. Even if I were to explain the answer she wouldn't be able to understand it. When I told her, politely, that she should focus on the basics first, she would try and berate me to the other class members in Japanese.

I echo what everyone else is saying here though. Take charge of your class. Her random comments are detrimental to the purpose of your lesson. One bad performance review is unlikely to matter, if your school is reasonable.

[cafebleu]

the student, don't forget it' act.

I understand it's more difficult doing this with students of the age group you are teaching (not schoolkids), and yes we know that there are students who think that because they are paying a lot for their language education they can be arrogant towards the teacher.

While Glenski's comments about Japanese students generally have some truth, I worked for some time in Japan. I found that while Japanese students have a much more agreeable way of behaving in language classes than some other cultures where open displays of assertion are encouraged, there are students who have the same kind of arrogant personalities found in more openly expressive cultures.

It's an issue of the individual here. I think you've got to stop thinking of her as Japanese and start thinking of her as just another student who has gone beyond boundaries of acceptable politeness.

Take her aside, be nice (don't do this behind closed doors or she can lie about what you said or did) but explain that your job is to teach her and while you welcome constructive feedback, she has to respect norms of being a student that other students respect.

She is pushy. She is a pushy Japanese girl and she is a know-all by the sounds of it. Put her in her place nicely but effectively.

[gaijinalways]

What about your other collegues in the same program? What do they recommend (or are you afraid to air your 'dirty laundry' in front of them)?

A lot of dealing with students depends on your institution in some cases. It's definately a judgement call. She doesn't sound like a typical Japanese student, but as others have already explained, just maybe suffering from culture shock and being a little pushy herself (or just frustrated or both). I have had some very arrogant students, but they usually were a) working for a well regarded company or b) went to a top notch school or c) both. Though I suppose having wealthy parents can also do it, even though at 25 you'd think that wouldn't matter (doesn't always).

Does your institution (or you) plan any class outings? They may be a way to defuse or better examine the situation, outside of class. You might be able to get her to open up in a non-classroom situtation and see what exactly is bothering her.

[David]

I know the type of student you're talking about all too well having taught both overseas and here in the States for a number of years.

First of all, let your immediate supervisor know about this problem asap. I think it's important for your supervisor to back you up in this situation. Hopefully, you have a boss that supports the teaching staff at times like this.

The student is behaving in a disruptive manner. This student needs to be taken aside, after or before class and be told that her behavior, tone, and attitude is unacceptable and needs to stop. She's obviously creating problems for the other students and being extremely inconsiderate. If she objects, then you can have her speak to a higher up in your program. Her behavior is unacceptable across cultural lines and she needs to understand this and that it needs to change now. I would also tell her that you especially don't like having your lessons critiqued and second guessed based on what she hears from her homestay parents (I've had more than a few students receive wrong and grammatically incorrect advice or help with their homework from homestay parents).

You also need to consider the other students in your class and their language needs. If they see you being bullied or intimidated by her you may lose their respect. One caveat, from my experience, no matter how disliked the student may be by the rest of the class, don't lose your temper, insult, or lash out at the troublemaker in class. The students will look at you in a negative light.

I've found that sometimes such students don't realize that they're coming across in a negative way. A little private talk will often work wonders in a positive way. Some students like this are very needy and look at their teacher as their own private tutor of sorts. Other times they're just "jerks" (for lack of a better word) who, for whatever reason think that they can behave like this just because they're studying in a foreign country. I've had students change their behavior, and I've also had students quit my class after I had a heart to heart talk with them. Can't win em all.

In summary, hold your ground and make it clear as to what you expect in terms of classroom behavior. Don't let things linger in hopes that she or things "might" get better.

Good luck!

[gaijinalways]

[Glenski]

[Khyron]