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[dove]

That this high level group enjoys dissecting English grammar has been enlightening for me in a lot of ways. I always thought a class should be about role plays, partner-work, functional language, information gap exercises, etc. While I generally do those activities in the majority of my classes, I had an interesting experience in another high level conversation class. The boldest member of the class--representing the other members--told me that they don't really like pair work. They wanted to focus mainly on group discussions. I told them that their individual talking time would be reduced if we did a group discussion. They said they didn't mind; they wanted to hear what their classmates had to say. Hmm. That IS the way it is done in western universities.... (And yes, I am fully aware that Japan is not the West).

Every class has different wants and needs, I guess.