Use NO Japanese in the EFL classroom

[Mark of Zorro]

This thread can be expanded into the discussion of everyone's opinion on any degree of usage of Japanese in English classes for Japanese students. But the main reason I am starting this is because my company has told me repeatedly that use of Japanese in the public school classroom by the ALT is strictly forbidden. I want to know where and why this rule originated, whether it is just from my company or if it has been handed down by the Ministry of Education.

While I can certainly accept a demand for limited usage of Japanese in the classroom, there are just so many things that require fine-tuned explanations that cannot be explained through pictures, gestures or use of English with elementary and junior high level students.

For example, their parents and teachers have so often taught them incorrect meanings to English words and phrases. For example, they learn "I don't like blue" as "Ao ga kirai", which is "I hate blue". They should be saying "Ao ga suki ja nai". I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to explain that one, and then even when I succeed to have the homeroom teacher announce in Japanese "Ao ga kirai" and destroy everything I did, with me, somehow, resisting the urge to throw that person out the 3rd story window.

The whole situation could have been avoided with one very simple and brief explanation which would clearly illustrate for them the meaning of the words "don't" and "like" which are directly "suki" and "ja nai". This would train them to pick out the words individually. Having them believe its the same as hate really does not serve them much.

So do you know where this idea of zero tolerance for Japanese in the classroom started? What do you think of it?

I think it has really had a negative affect on my classes and my ability to teach with effectiveness and satisfaction. I think I and my students have been cheated for fool idea generated by a fixated mind that cannot see the big picture.

 

[nahadef]

Companies say that, largely because many ALTs/foreign teachers don't exactly know what they're saying. I speak decent Japanese, and of course make mistakes still. So, they make a blanket rule of no Japanese. But, really, in cases like you described, it's best to just use Japanese.

I come across it when I'm trying to explain why a sentence is wrong. I can fumble around with English and confuse them more, or I can say "shugo ga hitsuyo" or "kore wa santangen desho?" It's officially breaking rules, but the teachers appreciate it, and I generally only use Japanese one on one. To the class it's all English.

 

[Mark of Zorro]

Dang, you really think that's it? I have been getting my balls busted over it despite a high level of fluency.

The kicker is that I have been told its okay to have worksheets with Japanese on them or to write Japanese on the board, and THAT is where I am not so proficient. Not to mention, it frustrates the crap out of me to be expected to write out what merely needs to be said. Its just busy work at that point.

And on top of that, team teaching is now officially illegal as well depending on contract type. So I have to teach my own thing "officially" with no help from the homeroom teacher. Hell of it is, they won't explain this to the homeroom teachers themselves with an e-mail or memo, but expect me to do it...in just the right way...or they get mad at me.

Its like they put me in a straight jacket, shove a gag ball in my mouth and a Xmas tree up my @$$ and still expect me to not only carry on as normal, but also to smile brightly! (without plugging in the Xmas tree of course!)

 

[nahadef]

@Frustrated Dave's deleted post: Troll. Reopen a six month old thread only to insult. What a pleasure it must be for the casual viewer to read this sort of juvenilia. Someone needs a better hobby.

 

[Tamayo]

I can't remember why it is that I never posted in this thread. Tell me, what grade level are you guys teaching, and what, really, are you supposed to be teaching? Are we talking about memorizing phrases and being able to use them in context, or actually trying to teach them a but of usable English?

 

[nahadef]

I can't remember why it is that I never posted in this thread. Tell me, what grade level are you guys teaching, and what, really, are you supposed to be teaching? Are we talking about memorizing phrases and being able to use them in context, or actually trying to teach them a but of usable English?

I teach both in public schools and privately. In the public schools, it's grammar and vocab, standard textbook stuff, but slowed down a lot to fit the pace of apathetic kids. Ideally, they would have some usable English, but in practice....

I can see it two ways. When I was a kid and I studied French, I just treated it as stuff to memorize for tests, and did just that. I never wanted to communicate with it. As an adult, when I learned Japanese, I treated it with more seriousness, as something for communication, and fared better because of it. I always try to express this with kids: If you think you can't speak, you won't. If you try a little, you will.

Of course, I have to tell them that in Japanese, since the English is over their heads.

There's a weird balance to the classrooms here. The Japanese teacher is trying to shove them through to their entrance exams, while the foreign teacher is trying to get them to actually communicate. They're coming from perpendicular directions.

 

[Tamayo]

There's a weird balance to the classrooms here. The Japanese teacher is trying to shove them through to their entrance exams, while the foreign teacher is trying to get them to actually communicate. They're coming from perpendicular directions.

That actually sounds like a pretty terrible situation for the people who have a genuine interest in speaking English over there.

I always knew that the English education wasn't effective and quite wasteful, but I wasn't aware that it's because the boards restrict the teachers so much. Is there a way to have a new method approved, or are you really just completely stuck giving them only a tiny piece of what they need? If the latter is the case, then I hardly see what the point in having a native English speaker teach it, since, as Zorro pointed out, many of these people are going to have some issues down the line.