Non-teachers teaching English in Japan?

[diceke]

When I see "English teachers" on Jref, it amazes me that some people seem to teach the language that they can barely speak and certainly cannot spell? Teachers are supposed to be role models, but some of their posts seem to reflect their bad attitude? I feel sorry for the Japanese students who are learning from them? Why is it that there's no certification/credentialing to be a language teacher in Japan? Is a university degree enough to be a teacher in Japan!?☝

 

[tokapi]

Ahem .. my close observations," Western background " weighs more than teaching credential to some adult Japanese.

Beats me,why Japan's schools would hired non-native speaking individuals with below-average English writing proficiency.

 

[Mars Man]

While the bulk of your OP appears to be tainted with an emotional element beyond the innocence that you may wish to portray therein, I am certain that the concern you have raised would be one of private schools--and for that reason, not a matter of the Japanese education system; per se.

It is an obvious, and fairly well known thing that just being a native speaker of any language does not and would not automatically make that individual speaker a good teacher of that mother tongue. This is true even in that not all those who graduate with proper education degrees make good teachers.

A good teacher will be good at helping a student learn, to the degree and capability of that student, and pretty much that alone. (note--'pretty much' does leave some room)

In your post you misused the questionmark function, but the answer to your second real question is primarily 'no.' The first real question is perhaps pressuming a situation that certification is absent across the board and spectrum. That is a false pressumption.

 

[JimmySeal]

Is a university degree enough to be a teacher in Japan!?☝

I'm going to disagree with Mars Man a little and say...

Actually yes. A large portion of the teachers in Japan (and I'm referring to Japanese people working in public schools) are simply people who graduated from college and may have taken a few classes on teaching and on the subject they are teaching (but the latter is often not the case).
They must pass a certification exam by the time they are age 35 in order to continue teaching (and to get a decent salary), but the test is extremely rigorous and competitive and many people work as teachers for a decade before passing the exam.

A large portion of Japanese teachers teaching English are barely proficient
in the language.

 

[diceke]

Sorry if my first post was a bit confusing, I'm talking about the non-Japanese teachers here.

 

[Glenski]

Foreign (non-Japanese) teachers in Japan largely don't have any teaching credentials, certification, education, or experience. Essentially, Japan wants it that way. Exceptions are most university jobs and international schools.

For most other positions, nearly any degree will do (or 3 years experience) for the work visa as well as for the job. Conversation schools are all about money, so they want fresh faces. Mainstream schools have their own Japanese teachers providing the grammar in Japanese, so the foreigners mostly teach oral communication classes which are not even necessary for the college entrance exams.

Why do so many foreign teachers have poor spelling and grammar? Go figure. That's education around the world these days, and that's something you learn to live with on anonymous discussion forums.

 

[dreamer]

I do not mean to speak ill of the american educational system but from my experience here, students really start really getting into composition at the Masters level. Although some majors are pretty essay-intensive at the bachelor level, most exams here are only MCQ which in my opinion does not really help in mastering a language.

 

[FrustratedDave]

The reason why I chose not to enter teaching, I am not qualified to teach and I would feel sorry for my students.

But in all fairness, do "conversation schools" need you to have a degree? If all you are doing having coverstaion and not teaching them any gramma and such would all the credentials needed be a degree in something to show that you are educated and then converse away.

Maybe some of the qualified teachers will have more input on this topic?

 

[Charles Barkley]

It's also worth noting that people don't come to JREF to practice their English writing skills. Some probably don't even come sober. Its a place to relax on the internet. For some, it's one of the few spaces in their lives where they can use English. There are many legitimate reasons to question the credentials and teaching ability of foreign teachers in Japan, but poor spelling on JREF is not one of them.

 

[Elizabeth]

Ahem .. my close observations," Western background " weighs more than teaching credential to some adult Japanese.
Beats me,why Japan's schools would hired non-native speaking individuals with below-average English writing proficiency.

Why do non-conversation schools hire non-native speaking foreigners to teach English ? Because their language skills are apparently still superior to the would-be Japanese English teacher and the demand is, or at least has been, high enough to mandate it...

Not a legitimate practice in my opinion but I have friends at JREF in that situation so I'm going to stop this diatribe before it gets started.

 

[Revenant]

I'm one of those teachers without proper credentials (I am a native speaker), and I suppose that I also get by on being young and somewhat good-looking (I'm a Hirai Ken look-alike to a lot of my students).

Teaching wouldn't have been anything anyone would've guessed I would be doing... cause I'm quiet... and I still get co-workers who wonder what the heck I teach in class, since I'm so quiet.

I've learned after nine years of teaching to become someone different from my usual self. Still, I'm not great at teaching by any means.. I mean I know teachers that can teach English well and have all the students they teach having a great time. I have a few superb classes (I get on very well with my students), a few horrible classes (I just don't get on with my students even though we're all trying to get on), and mostly just all right classes. I do have a few students who've been with me for eight years and would be upset were I to quite on them.

What can I say? I teach cause that's the only job I can get that pays me enough here to meet my expenses (I've got a son), and so I just keep trying to improve my teaching somehow. I can say that I have improved in some areas a lot, but that would be the result of having nine years teaching experience.

 

[dreamer]

I just keep trying to improve my teaching somehow.

And that is one of the key component to the development of good teaching practice. Too many teachers are not committed enough in their job. Teaching requires a lot of time to develop appropriate methods and even when one has the appropriate degrees, it does not necessarily make this person a more qualified teacher.

The problem with Japan is that people want to go there with visa sponsor, and many of them have no motivation to teach.

 

[Glenski]

The reason why I chose not to enter teaching, I am not qualified to teach and I would feel sorry for my students.
But in all fairness, do "conversation schools" need you to have a degree?

For a work visa, a bachelor's degree OR 3 years of teaching experience is needed. For a working holiday visa, no degree is needed (but some employers want you to have 1-2 years of university under your belt. For a spouse visa, dependent visa, student visa, cultural visa (all of which can permit work), no degrees are needed.

Employers want degrees most of the time because they feel that at the very least they represent completion of something educationally fulfilling.

If all you are doing having coverstaion and not teaching them any gramma and such would all the credentials needed be a degree in something to show that you are educated and then converse away.
Maybe some of the qualified teachers will have more input on this topic?

Well, being an instructor at an eikaiwa is not "doing having conversation". You will often have to review grammar points, and all it takes is one savvy student asking a grammar question to make you look bad. Reviewing grammar may be simple for some, but it may also take a fair amount of smarts for others.

Conversation instructors should speak about 20% of the time (or less) in a classroom, anyway. Some lazy teachers take advantage of the situation, though, and make a classroom their own chat session, hence the misperception. Granted, I've had a few eikaiwa courses that didn't deal with reviewing grammar; they were called freestyle or open chat courses. However, I still kept my participation to a bare minimum and maintained more of a coaching and advisory role than one of fellow chatter. Teachers don't need the practice talking in English anyway; students do, and a good teacher helps them do that.

 

[FrustratedDave]

I'm one of those teachers without proper credentials (I am a native speaker), and I suppose that I also get by on being young and somewhat good-looking (I'm a Hirai Ken look-alike to a lot of my students).

You must look like a pansy then?

 

[Davey]

Being an English teacher in Japan, is not only about teaching English but also to teach/ show about foreign cultures. Edutainers is also a good name to call them.

I wish I could do something else than teaching English, but I have no other option right now then doing this, in order to take care of my family...

 

[Revenant]

You must look like a pansy then?

Errr... yeah, I guess... don't keep myself prettied up like him, I've just got a similar facial structure.

 

[diceke]

Being an English teacher in Japan, is not only about teaching English but also to teach/ show about foreign cultures. Edutainers is also a good name to call them.

Don't you get asked a lot about the US or the UK, people assuming that it's where you are from? Your students may misunderstand the diversity of world cultures.☝

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

How does all of this jive with the massive glut of English teachers in Japan? From what I've heard, teachers with CELTAs and TEFL Certs. are a dime a dozen. With competition that high, all of this still makes it sound easy to get a teaching job in Japan. I've been looking for a year, and everybody wants me to fly out for an interview, but won't do a phone interview (I don't have the cash to fly out unless I have some sort of guarantee). Some places simply haven't even given me the time of day to email me a rejection. I've got 2 years classroom instruction experience, 1 semester TA experience, 3 years experience in TESOL/TEFL (I tutor for an institute) with all aspects of English grammar/vocab/test prep/vernacular/academic composition, and am about to receive my MA. Getting into Japan from here has been fraught with nothing but immense difficulty. Maybe it is because they think I'm too old (29).

In fact, I just got hired for a job in Busan, S. Korea over the phone. Getting a job in Korea was insanely easy. I hope to use Busan as a jumping-off point to find work in Japan for when my Busan contract expires.

 

[Glenski]

Trust me, 29 is NOT too old! Geez, I got hired for the first time at 41!

With 3 years of experience (in what, exactly?) and almost an MA (in what field?), you are probably too experienced for run of the mill eikaiwas. Keep fishing. As of November last year, NOVA collapsed, and it put 5000 teachers on the streets or packing for the homeland. Things have not quite recovered yet.

I am confused over these contradictory statements...

I've been looking for a year, and everybody wants me to fly out for an interview, but won't do a phone interview

I just got hired for a job in Busan, S. Korea over the phone.

Good luck in Korea. More xenophobia, many more unscrupulous managers in the larger cities, and despite the advantage of free rent, you will face the fact that losing your job means losing your visa, unlike in Japan. Truly, good luck!

 

[FrustratedDave]

Errr... yeah, I guess... don't keep myself prettied up like him, I've just got a similar facial structure.

aawww... I was just kidding! I think Hirai Ken is a pansy ,thats all. and when you said you looked like him it gave me a chance to get a joke in there... LOL

Sorry for getting off topic

 

[Haruspex]

Actually, why do they even teach grammar? Did grammar ever do anyone any good? Its just a frame to hold the knowledge until you get into the language.

 

[Glenski]

Frames can be pretty important, Derfel. Besides, if you know anything about the Japanese education system, you'll understand.

 

[ullvarg]

Frames can be pretty important, Derfel. Besides, if you know anything about the Japanese education system, you'll understand.

Yea they are extreamly focused on the grama, just try going to a japanese language school, before you know how to build a basic sentence you know atleast 3 verb groups

 

[Haruspex]

Yeah I know they're obsessed with it, and so is like half of the world.
When I was around 12, my parents were dragging me from language school to language school mainly because my school English teacher wasn't satisfied with my grammar knowledge, and that did it for me, I didn't learn a single grammar rule or whatever since then.

When I was playing World of Warcraft, I noticed that Scandinavian folks and people from Benelux countries in general spoke better English, no clue why.
The situation here in Hungary is rather steep too, from what I hear about Japan, its not as steep, but still quite bad, but the country is flooded with certificates and whatnot, is the situation (I mean with the certificates) similar in Japan? Or they're strict about it regardless of the general level?

 

[JimmySeal]

Japanese are very analytical people in many ways, and they like to break English down like a science to "fully understand" it before putting it back together into whole sentences, much like dissecting a frog.

This "dead frog teaching method" (to borrow the words of Richard Graham) is, in my opinion, the very reason that English performance is so poor among Japanese students.