Job Discussion Forums

[englishtutor1378]

I�m curious to know if anyone has worked with students that are not motivated to learn English and would like to share their experiences as a teacher in this area.

For myself, I have worked in one of the big Eikaiwa�s when I was in Japan and never really had that problem. Why? Because students are paying for the class and so long as I made the class worth while it was fine. Well, except one class. Ah yes, I still remember it, Monday afternoons. They were 11/12 year old kids that had been in the school since they were about 6 years old. They were their because their parents could not take care of them during those hours (4-5pm) so they spent an hour of their time killing it with me. They were bored of the same old games, the school, and English in general. I even invented new games, motivated them with prizes for their competitive drives if they won the games but I realized they just were bored with the same old thing every week for the past 5-6 years. Eventually, March came along and the school term ended and all was good.

Have any of you ever had this problem? What about with adults specifically? Imagine yourself as a Japanese employee (scary thought) and you were required to take English lessons for your work and you hated studying English. Now imagine you are a native English speaker and for example you hated French and you were forced to be in French classes. Just imagine, �I�m here because I have to be� and that�s the attitude even before you go to class.

As a teacher, how would you deal with this? Just knowing that students dislike English and do not want to be in the class but their company is paying for it and it is free. Or, "Mom wants we to take this class and will buy me a new bike".

So long as they complete a certain amount of hours and they get some time off from work or somthing out of this like a new bike (for kids). Just imagine as the teacher the more you continue this job the more it can possibly make you feel like crap. What would you do? Feel free to share your similar experiences if you have any or even just your thoughts.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I've never taught in an eikaiwa in Japan, I've always been in either the public system (junior high and elementary) or private highs (junior and senior).

A fundamental problem with education in Japan is that it is teacher centred. Students expect to do very little or nothing but purely due to the miraculous (lecture) format they will know what they need to. And the proof that it works is that they don't fail! (Of course, they CAN'T fail, because that too would be the teacher's fault and very embarrassing for both the school and the parents of the child who didn't actually learn what was required, but that's beside the point). Because they don't fail, regardless of what they do, they don't put in any work, and then they try to think of a plethora of reasons why it is that "We Japanese cannot learn English". Kids and students who put in work, get results. Some get better results than others. But the bottom line is that if you put in effort, you will see some sort of positive gain. If you put in zero effort you will get zero gain, and then be passed up to the next year without the knowledge that is assumed at the next level, making it very, VERY difficult to progress.

So when they come to a subject that requires them to function (like Oral Communication English) they still expect the teacher to do everything (and in the case of foreigners that means provide entertainment as if they were watching TV, because they've been told that OC is supposed to be fun). And that means they sit there doing nothing. It's not so much that they are unmotivated to learn English, it's that they are so used to sitting there just doing exactly what they are told to do, that they're afraid to do anything else because of the group dynamic of the classroom. And they way you find out if this is the case, or if they actually just dislike English, the school or just you, is by talking to students in the halls. Kids who will come up and talk to you in the corridors and start real school relationships with you STILL say and do nothing in class because it would rock the boat (which is usually steered by one or two boys who just don't like anything that doesn't include video games and cola).

There are things teachers can do to increase motivation in students. But nobody can actually create motivation in students. They can only build on what's there. Or start testing all the time to 'force' the kids to study. If a student absolutely refuses to try (because most of the kids know by junior high school that they cannot fail so none of it really matters- except that then they screw up the entrance exam if their parents aren't paying for a private school... and truthfully, most of the time it is the fear of failing that keeps Canadian kids studying French, for example, because CDNs actually CAN fail courses and be held back) then all you can do is keep trying. But you can't kill yourself over it. There is a lot of talk about trying to make classes more student centred in Japan. But for some reason the fundamental function of that- students being responsible for their own learning and acutely aware of it- doesn't really happen. So it's really just a buzzword. And because it is still impossible to fail or even get a particularly bad grade that their parents will see, a lot of 14 year old or so students still aren't going to try, and therefore aren't going to get a whole lot out of it, and therefore will likely try to find some sort of arcane reason why "We Japanese cannot learn English" in the future.

[onesentiment]

[Glenski]

[englishtutor1378]

GambateBingBangBOOM wrote:

[dove]

I have taught in both jhs and eikaiwa. The hours are much better working at a jhs as an ALT, but I didn't like the job. I just didn't like the unmotivated students, the terrible text books, the days of being a human tape recorder. Actually, I was lucky because on my second year, I was allowed to teach some classes myself (I know, illegal in the public school system, but they allowed it). Still, it wasn't for me. I prefer teaching adults. I like company classes, private lessons, community center groups, and maybe a day or two at a private eikaiwa. I need to teach students who want to learn, who want to be there. Yes, some students are terribly shy, but at least they want to be there. I know there are some business people who are forced to take English lessons, but in my experience, they still try.

[Sweetsee]

Motivation comes from within. Provide your students the best lesson you can. Don't waste your time and energy. Be professional.
Enjoy,
s

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[TokyoLiz]

[Sweetsee]

Thanks GB3 and Liz, very kind of you two. I was inspired to write that by Mike Guest's recent article in the DY. I appreciate your support.
Enjoy,
s

[Glenski]

[TokyoLiz]

Sweetsee,

But if we teachers are motivated, then we will get the training, do the reading, and adopt/adapt methods and activities that are rational and interesting, that actually teach the students something while acknowledging the situation the students are in (i.e. interest level, needs, fatigue, divided attention).

[gaijinalways]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[gaijinalways]

You hit the nail on the head, that we need to make the content interesting, but the larger the group, the more difficult that can be sometimes. Can't help but try and possibly have students request and make some of the content (topics), in that way at least those students can't complain that you didn't talk/learn about those things in class.

Of course, how you do that and what activities you use to get them to use and learn the necessary language is another ball of wax all together.