Job Discussion Forums

[Maitoshi]

Agreed.

[rtm]

[rxk22]

[rxk22]

[RM1983]

[RM1983]

[mitsui]

Maybe. I see younger teachers hired, mostly female.
Lots of turnover.

One older male teacher is burned out and headed for early retirement next March.
If they don't deal with discipline, they are useless.
I can speak adequate Japanese.
How are these Japanese English teachers better?
They aren't as there is a push for oral skills, and the eikaiwa part for 10th and 11th grade pushes speeches, debate, writing, etc.

I got reprimanded for speaking a little Japanese but try teaching in English only when they are unmotivated and low-level.

My boss doesn't always speak English. Her former boss was better but he retired.

I wonder if these teachers have to take an Eiken test like I heard, with a score of no lower than 2kyu.

[Shakey]

[Maitoshi]

Wouldn't you still have a job if actually teaching English, Shakey?

[mitsui]

No, it was just a b#$chy whine that the boss said we have to speak only English in class so please support me while she scowled at me.
I just used a little. They don't always listen to me, when I use English.

But the vice-principal said Japanese is OK since sometimes it is needed.
In fact in my demo lesson I had to do it in English and in Japanese.
70% of the students don't do homework, and don't study.

The teachers are not as useless as those you work with.
It is weird that it is OK for Japanese to speak Japanese in class but heaven forbid if a gaijin does even if students are so low level they don't know what is going on.

[RM1983]

I think there might be some relation to not wanting to rescind power too, in a way. Before I ever came here my Japanese student in the UK had told me about how she would get snotty remarks aimed at her when she tried to use English.

Mine at least have the skills to do much more in English but I think maybe they dont wanna stand out by being visibly better than the other teachers. Again, the kids lose out big time.

Insecurity seems to run the whole show. Much like some native speakers cling to the English only at all costs thing, Japanese teachers seem to cling to the myth that Japanese kids wont understand anything without a translation.

If all the ALTs could actually use Japanese to teach then their insecurity would go through the roof.

In their defense though, you have to be careful with how you use L1 in a class IMO. Youd have to be hot stuff to use it regularly. It isnt hard to imagine an ALT getting brave and start trying to teach in Japanese from the Genki book.

[mitsui]

No, some insist on English with just a little Japanese spoken to an individual who doesn't understand, but when speaking to the whole class they want English, even if students don't get it.
Less than two hours a week is just not enough for them.

When the JETs teach alone I don't know what language they use.
Maybe mostly English.

My uncle is at Tokyo University for a summer class. He speaks English, they understand.
At Aoyama, someone translates for him.

Yet I work at a low-level high school, and I must only use English?
Stupid.

[Shakey]

[RM1983]

[mitsui]

I work at a escalator school and at the university they have two years of English.
It is tough. Two semesters of reading/writing and two for oral skills.
The books are either British or American, and are English only.

But the texts used are too easy at high school. Many things are translated in the books. So they are not prepared for what awaits them.
So they are not ready and just have a Japanese teacher for 12th grade.

If the JET is good I can most of the time speak English if she translates when needed.

Another thing is, yes the JET tends to have not have a MA, doesn't go to conferences, doesn't read any research, so what do they know about the field? Not much.