I was speaking with my sister a while back who is currently living and teaching in Japan. First it was me and then she went to Japan. It’s a family thing I guess, our love of that country.
Anyway, she was on the hunt for better English teaching materials for her classes. The text the school was using had its good points but was not very well liked by the students, nor the teachers.
This got me thinking. This has been the story in teaching English in Japan for a long time now. It was true when I was there and taught at schools like Nova (now defunct) and at a college and it seems to still be true.
English Language education in Japan is such a huge market yet most of the teaching material is unoriginal, boring, not very inspiring or user friendly. Why are business men and junior high school student using the same textbook?
I know that some smaller language schools, like Modern English in Osaka, are trying to provide their students with better English education. The owner not only tried a new business model by franchising his schools but also incorporates new teaching methods in order to engage the students more.
I also remember one of the schools I taught at many years ago piloting a business English course that I was happy to be a part of. But what about the English education system in junior high and high schools? The schools my sister taught at have language labs and innovative teachers like my sister and others but overall I think there is so much room for improvement.
These might be radical, but when selecting teaching materials why not:
1.) Have teachers provide input into the materials chosen to use in classes - they know the students the best
2.) Have student have input as well in the selection process - if it isn't interesting to them, they won't learn as much
3.) Find texts and teaching materials that are original and that fit in with modern changing educational standards
4.) Teach things in English. ‘Eikaiwa’ is all good but use it as the journey and not just the destination .
Studying English should not be considered a chore. It is an opportunity to open minds and spirit. It is not just to learn to speak another language but to learn to open the mind to a new culture and way of thinking through that language. New ways of creating through words that goes along with that new language.
This is something I know because in learning Japanese, it has taught me how to think in that language as well. It has taught me economy of words due to the language and culture's reliance on nuances and contextual understanding, it has taught me subtlety of verbal communication . It is amazing to be able to think in English as the American I now am, as well as the Jamaican that I was born as and now as a Japanese speaker.
Education is the start of it. The way of teaching a language is a part of it. Anyone who writes a textbook for students seeking to learn a new language in these times, write it to inspire students as well as instruct, to think as well as to memorize, to be creative and to keep reaching for knowledge.
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