Marc Helgesen talks about his greatest and most embarrassing moments as an English teacher, reminisces about the halcyon days of Japan’s bubble economy, and offers advice to those hoping to embark on their English teaching career in 21st century Japan. Check out Part 1 of this interview here.

What has been your greatest moment as a teacher in the last 30 years?

Wow. There have been so many.  Let me just share a simple one.  Last year, towards the end of the year, I asked a few of my fourth year students who had become bilingual in the course of their college life, to talk to their kohai (the younger students, mostly first and second year).  They started out in English but most of the Q & A about how they had done it was in Japanese so the younger students would understand.  Seeing my own students, who were really good at English, sharing with the others was wonderful. I felt kind of like a “proud papa.”  There’s a quote from Earl Stevick, one of the great thinkers in ELT.  He said, “Teach. Then test. Then get out of the way. “  That’s how I felt watching my successful students.

And your most embarrassing?!

How about two stories? One that is simply funny, the other a bit different.

Early on in Japan, I was teaching at an eikaiwa. We did “delivery teaching” for various companies and senmon gakko (trade schools).  One time I was teaching an elementary-level senmon gakko class.  It was a TPR (Total Physical Response) lesson:  Lots of “Touch your desk.”, “Point to the window” kinds of things. At one point, I said, “Point to the teacher”.  All these 18-year old women pointed to my crotch.  I looked down. Sure enough, my fly was open.  I turned around, zipped up and taught the word, “embarrassed.”

One that is more serious, I think.  Back in the early 90’s, my books were starting to take off. I was getting invited to more and more conferences.  One time, I was on a panel with a few real famous teachers and authors— one of whom my books were directly competing with.  At one point, he used his chance to speak to attack me for something he assumed I would have said in my session, based on my topic. (He hadn’t attended).  It very much came off like he was putting down the new kid.  One take-away for me was to always try to support the next wave of leaders, whether they are authors, teachers, conference organizers, etc.  In addition to being a good thing to do (karma – see the monk question), you look like a jerk if you don’t.  The second is that “the audience always wants the presenter to succeed.”  But you know how you always think of a good comeback line long after you need it?  I’m ready if I ever get attacked again: Smile and say,  “Nice shootin’, Tex.”

You started your career in Japan during the bubble era. Was teaching English during that period really as insanely lucrative as it is sometimes made out to be?

$1000 gift bags:
standard fare during bubble era Japan?

Not really – or maybe I was just teaching at the wrong place.  Salaries were never that incredible.  But I do remember one event from the bubble that sticks in my mind.  In the mid-and late-80’s, a lot of American universities opened programs in Japan.  This is how they thought they were going to deal with the fact that the baby boom was over in the States.  Didn’t really work out. Anyway, a lot of those universities had very rich Japanese partners/backers.  I was teaching for an American university program whose partner was a Japanese luxury golf resort.  Anyway, one time the boss of the golf resort wanted to take his teachers out for dinner.  We went to a fabulous restaurant – think this is the only time I’ve eaten fugu.  As we were leaving, we were all given a “gift bag.”  We left the formal and most of the teachers went off to our own nijikai (second party) at a beer place.  We opened the bags. We were each given 100,000 yen in department store coupons, just for attending the party.  Someone made the comment, “He must have some really weird tax problems.”  Anyway, don’t think that sort of thing happens any more.

Bearing in mind the current state of the Japanese economy, the issue of population decline, and the repercussions of the events of March 11th, what advice would you give to someone considering starting an English teaching career in Japan?

It is certainly harder to get a good, secure job in Japan than it used to be. And the population decline is worrisome, both for the education industry and for the country in general. The earthquakes – and keep in mind I live in Sendai and we are likely to get another really, really bad one in this cycle.  At the same time, why worry about something you have absolutely no control over?  So, yeah,  there are bad things. For many of us, the earthquake reminded us to take the time to notice the really wonderful things about this country. People helping each other. No one went crazy. Safety (of some types, anyway).  And professionally, there is a lot going on in Japan. So yeah, eyes wide open, I still think Japan is a good place to be.

If you could do it all again, is there anything you would do differently?

I wish my Japanese, especially my written Japanese was better than it is.

But, overall, what would I do differently?  Let me share a quote I just learned* from Tallulah Bankhead, a film star from the 1930’s and 40’s.   She was asked the same question and said, “If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, just sooner. “

*I heard this quote in a plenary Ken Wilson did at Korea TESOL.

Marc Helgesen is professor in the Dept. of Intercultural Studies, Miyagi Gakuin, Sendai. He is the author of over 150 books, textbooks and professional articles on ELT and has done teacher training workshop on five continents. He is Chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation. Beginning Summer 2013, he will teach a course on Positive Psychology in ELT in the grad. school at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.

Don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this interview!

University teaching through an agency

Working through an agency is the easiest way to get started teaching English at Japanese universities

Perhaps the easiest and most accessible way to start teaching English at Japanese universities, especially for those currently based outside Japan, is to teach through an agency. One of the biggest recruitment agencies for university English teachers in Japan is Westgate Corporation, which regularly advertises for new teachers on websites such as TEFL.com. Westgate offers short-term renewable contracts, with two main intakes per year in the spring (April) and fall (September) semesters.

In order to work for Westgate, you will need to be a native speaker of English with at least a Bachelor’s degree, and have teaching experience either in an EFL classroom, or other educational institution. The compensation tends to be better than the average ‘conversation English’ teaching job in Japan (from ¥275,000/month), although this is not paid in the break between semesters. Westgate will also pay for your flights and provide help obtaining a working visa.

Getting a direct contract

Annually renewable contracts tend to be the norm for English teachers at Japanese universities

Getting a direct contract with a Japanese university tends to be more difficult, both in terms of qualifications and experience required, and the process of finding and applying for vacant positions. There are three basic kinds of contracts for English teachers at Japanese universities, with each progressively harder to obtain than the last. The three kinds of contract are: part-time renewable, full-time renewable, and tenure.

Part-time renewable contracts

Most Japanese universities rely on part-time lecturers to provide at least some, and sometimes most, of their English lessons. The qualifications and experience applicants require have been rising gradually over the past few decades, and it is now usual practice for universities to request the following:

• Prior English teaching experience at university level, particularly in Japan;
• An MA (in progress or completed) in TEFL, Applied Linguistics, or related field;
• 2 or 3 publications TEFL-related journals, particularly those based in Japan;
• Conversational ability in Japanese

As for any other job, good references and a successful interview are also a must. If you tick all the boxes, and impress the recruiter at interview, you will likely be awarded with a one year renewable contract for teaching a certain number of ‘koma’ (90-minute lessons) per month.

Compensation is usually in the range of ¥20,000 ~ ¥40,000 per koma per month, including the summer months between semesters when there are no lessons scheduled. In other words, you will receive a set monthly salary all year round, despite only teaching for 30 weeks per year (15 in the spring semester and 15 in the autumn semester). Travel expenses will also be provided, although health insurance and pension contributions will not.

Full-time renewable contracts

The qualification and experience requirements for a full-time position tend to be incrementally more demanding than those required for part-time positions, i.e. more teaching experience, more publications, and at least an MA (completed) in TEFL or a related field. It is not unusual for universities to give preference for full-time positions to Ph.D. holders over MA–only applicants.

You will usually be required to teach a certain number of koma per week, in addition to other responsibilities, such as attending faculty meetings, designing course syllabuses, proctoring exams, and attending special events. Although your contract will be ‘full time’, you will normally only be required to work four days a week, with the fifth day designated as a ‘research’ day. In addition to research, for which you will be given a budget, many full-time university teachers choose to take on additional part-time work during their fifth day in order to further supplement their income, which is usually in the range of ¥300,000 ~ ¥600,000 per month. Contracts are usually one or two years in length, renewable two or three times, after which you will have to start your job hunt all over again.

Tenure

Tenured positions: the 'Holy Grail' of English language teaching jobs

Tenure is widely regarded as the ‘Holy Grail’ of university English teaching in Japan, both in respect of the difficulty of obtaining such a position, and the high demands made on applicants in terms of both qualifications and experience. But if you do manage to secure such a contract, you will be granted eternal life (well, an eternal contract, which is the next best thing really).

Usual minimum requirements for tenured positions include:

• Significant prior English teaching experience at university level in Japan;
• A Ph.D. (completed) in TEFL, Applied Linguistics, or related field;
• A comprehensive number of publications in reputable TEFL-related journals;
• A sufficient command of Japanese to pursue administrative duties.

Salary and other benefits will be equal to or greater than those conferred by full-time positions, including generous research allowances. Of course, you will receive your salary over a much longer period of time (i.e. until you retire). You will also be entitled to pension and health insurance contributions, and the enduring respect of all your non-tenured English teaching peers.

Finding vacant positions

The most common and effective way of finding university English teaching positions in Japan is through the referrals of friends and acquaintances. Indeed, many universities never need to advertise positions, relying instead on a surprisingly close-knit network of their current employees, employees acquaintances, employee’s acquaintances’ friends and… you get the picture. If job searching for university English teaching positions in Japan could be summed up in three words, they would be: network, network, network.

Besides networking, the second best way to find vacant university positions is online, through job postings provided by JALT, JACET and JREC-IN. Because of the staff high-turnover caused by the lack of long-term contracts, there are normally plenty of positions advertised each year around October/November (recruiting for April) and to a lesser extent January/February (recruiting for September). However, for the same reason, there are also plenty of applicants looking for positions.

In summary

Teaching English at Japanese universities is a very rewarding profession, and English teaching careers are available to those with the motivation and means to undertake the qualifications required. If you are a passionate educator with an inclination toward academic research, then teaching at Japanese universities will definitely provide you with a wealth of opportunities. But be prepared to change jobs frequently, and network extensively if you want to stay ahead of the game.

Further reading

For more information about teaching English at Japanese universities, I recommend the following excellent articles:

Getting a university teaching job- Q&A from a reader – by Mike Guest
Foreign university faculty face annual round of ‘musical jobs’ – by James McCrostie and John Spiri

Is extensive reading alone sufficient for learning vocabulary, or should it be used in conjunction with other techniques, such as decontextualized vocabulary learning?

Self-study vocabulary flash cards can be used as a complement to a course of Extensive Reading

It can—perhaps should in adult L2 contexts—be used in conjunction with other techniques. I’m a big fan of self-study flashcards, myself. As long as we bear in mind the relative strengths and weaknesses of any particular technique, there’s no reason to exclude something that works well for many people.

As for “sufficient,” well, one of the strengths of ER is to build and reinforce vocabulary knowledge, particularly of very frequent words. Paul Nation, a pioneer of research into vocabulary acquisition, argues that a word needs to be encountered 20-30 times in context before it is well and truly learned. When we consider that there are millions of words in English, and billions of collocations of those words, and then we look at how many total words most students read in a language course—not to mention in a lifetime—then we get a sense of how tough it really is to develop a wide vocabulary.

One piece of good news is that a vocabulary of the 3,000 most frequent words in English is sufficient to read authentic material fluently. Unfortunately, not all words are created equal; the word “man,” for example, is far more frequent than the word “invisible.” To run across “man” twenty times, one needs only pick up any random short story; to run across “invisible” that many times, one might need to read several novels, or a thousand newspaper stories.

So, if you can set up an ER program that is supplemented by a well-planned focus on discrete vocabulary practice—say, sets of flashcards which cover the less frequent words in your students’ level—then you’re getting the best of both worlds.

What motivated you to adapt Choose Your Own Adventure books for learners of English?

Well, I’m a former ESL learner myself, as my family moved to Canada from Brazil when I was eleven. I was a voracious reader in Portuguese, so when I started learning English, one of the first things I did was hit the school library and start looking for things to read. One of the things that caught my attention was this strange paperback series written in the 2^nd person, where the reader is the hero, and makes choices leading to a variety of endings. I found the stories very addictive. And I wasn’t alone—at 250 million copies sold, CYOA is tied with Sweet Valley High as the 5^th best-selling book series of all time. That’s higher than the Chronicles of Narnia or the Star Wars novels.

Anyway, fast forward twenty years to when I had become a teacher looking for material that might motivate my students to read. I ran across the recently re-launched CYOA series and ordered a set for my students. They loved it, even though the language was far too tough for them. So I got in touch with the publisher, Chooseco, and asked them if they would be interested in having me write graded reader adaptations of some of their original stories. They were interested, but only if we could partner with a larger publisher. So I approached McGraw-Hill, who amongst the large publishers had little in the way of graded readers, and the rest is (soon-to-be!) history.

Do you have any other advice for teachers regarding extensive reading?

Yes. First of all, visit the Extensive Reading Foundation’s website. They have many ER resources for teachers, and links to many more. As well as Paul Nation, mentioned above, I also recommend Rob Waring’s website. Stephen Krashen has also written a lot on the principles underlying ER. Finally, Thomas Robb’s Moodle Reader site provides an excellent quiz database for thousands of graded readers, which helps to keep track of how much students have read.

Many thanks to Marcos Benevides for taking part in this interview.

Marcos Benevides is a Japan-based teacher and ELT materials writer. He co-wrote the reading coursebook Fiction in Action: Whodunit (Abax, 2010), which won both the Duke of Edinburgh and the British Council ELTon Awards. He also co-wrote Widgets: A task-based course in practical English (Pearson, 2008), and is currently the series editor for the newly launched Choose Your Own Adventure graded reader series from McGraw-Hill Education. He teaches at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo.

A vast range of "graded readers" are available for learners of English

What exactly is “Extensive Reading” and how does it differ from other kinds of reading?

I like to think of Extensive Reading as the reading branch of Communicative Language Teaching. If you believe that authentic, meaningful, and plentiful opportunities for language use should be a key component of language learning; that learners should have a degree of autonomy in selecting topics to engage with; that an explicit focus on linguistic forms and features is only part of the picture; and that teachers have a role to play as facilitators as well as experts in the classroom—then ER provides solutions for reading that perhaps you have already been employing on the speaking, listening, and writing side of things.

As with CLT more broadly, the primary aim of ER is to develop fluency rather than accuracy. Fluency in reading means the ability to read something at a good pace, without (often) needing to stop to check a dictionary, or (often) going back to re-read for missed information. Once someone can read fluently, they can truly enjoy reading—which causes them to read more, and thus to continue improving. So ER aims to kick-start that virtuous cycle in language learners.

However, just as the only way to develop fluency in speaking is to speak a lot, the only way to really become a fluent reader is to read a lot. It’s a bit of a catch-22. When you can’t read fluently, reading becomes a chore; this means you don’t do it as much as you should, which then means it’s tough to ever become fluent. ER solves this conundrum by having learners read things that are easy and interesting for them, so that they can start out by reading relatively fluently—for their level—right from the very beginning.

The readings can be anything at a language level that each individual feels comfortable with. Second language learners often start out by reading children’s books, for example, because they are both easy and plentiful. And that’s great. However, most adult learners are not particularly interested in children’s stories, so they don’t always fulfill that very important interesting requirement. For this reason, most ER programs use “graded readers,” which are books adapted to various reading levels, from beginner to advanced. That is, graded readers use restricted vocabulary and forms, but not simplified content. Although some series are targeted at younger learners, most are written to be enjoyed by adolescent and older learners.

There are all sorts of graded reader collections out there, including Oxford Bookworms, Macmillan Readers, Cengage Footprints—literally too many to list here. Some focus on adaptations of classics, such as Great Expectations or The Great Gatsby. Others offer movie adaptations, such as Spider-Man or Titanic. Most also include some excellent original stories written specifically for language learners. And the genres are as varied as in any library—romance, detective, horror, science fiction, biography, history, even travel.

How can language teachers utilize Extensive Reading in the classroom?

The most common way ER is implemented is as out of class readings. A typical example would have students selecting a graded reader from a library, reading it outside of class, then either filling out a simple book report or taking some kind of comprehension quiz. Assessment should interfere as little as possible with the enjoyment of the reading itself; if you have learners reading a book just to pass a test, it undermines the idea of reading for pleasure.

Having said that, there is a wide range of ways teachers implement ER. At my university, for example, we encourage teachers to give 15 minutes at the start of each weekly lesson for silent reading in the classroom. This has several incidental benefits; for instance, it gets students to settle down and start thinking in English; it encourages them to carry their graded reader around with them, which increases the chance they may pull it out and continue reading on the train before and after school; and it also allows teachers to keep tabs on student progress by asking them how they’re enjoying the books, which genres they prefer, etc. We still expect that students will read mainly outside of class, but some in-class reading helps to keep everyone on track.

Some programs set up reading circles where three or four students read the same book and then have discussions about it. Others include a listening component, since most graded readers come with a CD or downloadable MP3s. There is a wide range of activities that can be added to the basic reading requirement that can enhance the experience. As long as the students are reading at a comfortable level for them, reading a lot, and reading books that they select themselves, then it’s ER. Without losing sight of these goals, teachers can of course tweak things to suit their own situations.

Is it possible for teachers to measure or assess Extensive Reading?

It’s possible to measure overall language gains from ER over time, but not from lesson to lesson. That’s another way in which ER is similar to a communicative approach. But yes, there is a solid body of research that supports the effectiveness of ER.

However, teachers must bear in mind that ER is not meant to be implemented as a series of lessons followed by quizzes and tests. While there can be book reports or quizzes in ER, the purpose of these is always to show that the book has been read—and never to test for specific language gains or deep understanding. So for example, questions such as “What is Juliet’s cousin Tybalt’s nickname?” or “What does the word ‘dagger’ mean”? are not very good ones in an ER context. It is possible to read Romeo and Juliet, enjoy it, and yet not to have learned these particular items (the answers are “Prince of Cats” and “a kind of knife,” by the way—maybe some of us didn’t remember, either!)

Good comprehension questions might include, “Where do Romeo and Juliet meet?” (at a party); or, “What happens at the end of the story?” (they both die). Likewise, a good book report lets teachers know that the book has been read; if that can be done in two or three short sentences, so much the better.

Marcos Benevides is a Japan-based teacher and ELT materials writer. He co-wrote the reading coursebook Fiction in Action: Whodunit (Abax, 2010), which won both the Duke of Edinburgh and the British Council ELTon Awards. He also co-wrote Widgets: A task-based course in practical English (Pearson, 2008), and is currently the series editor for the newly launched Choose Your Own Adventure graded reader series from McGraw-Hill Education. He teaches at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo.

For more information about Extensive Reading, plus details of an innovative graded reader version of the Choose Your Own Adventure series, check out Part 2 of this interview!

In this blog post, I discuss some of the most important factors to consider when deciding whether to undertake a Masters degree in teaching English as a second or foreign language.

Is an MA in TEFL/TESL a required qualification?

The first thing you need to do is to carefully research the qualifications that are generally required for the kind of teaching positions you intend to apply for in the future.

For direct-hire full or part-time English teachers at Japanese universities, an MA in TEFL/TESL is almost always required (check the job listings at JALT or JACET, for example). However, some private language schools may value the DELTA more highly, whereas international schools often require a PGCE and/or QTS. Check job listings to see which qualifications are most often requested by the kind of institutions you hope to be employed by.

Is the course content interesting to you?

The second important factor you should consider is the course content of the Masters degree you are thinking of undertaking.

You will be studying for the MA for at least a year, and possibly much longer. If the content of the course isn’t interesting in itself, you will find it very hard to remain motivated for the duration of your studies. This is especially important if you intend to undertake an MA through distance study, as you will have no regular face-to-face contact with your teachers or classmates, and you will have to remain self-motivated for the duration of the course.

One further factor to bear in mind is that some Masters degrees in TEFL/TESL tend to be more focused on research and theoretical understandings of English language learning and teaching, as opposed to the perhaps more practical ‘bread and butter’ focus of other teacher training qualifications.

That’s not to say you won’t become a better teacher by completing an MA in TEFL/TESL – you most certainly will. However, improvements to your teaching may come about through a better understanding of the theories, approaches, philosophies, and methods of English teaching, and not necessarily through an improved knowledge of  games, activities or techniques to utilize in your lessons.

Is the institution a reputable one?

There are a more than a few unscrupulous online ‘universities’ offering ‘courses’ and ‘qualifications’ ranging in quality from fair to extremely dubious. Use common sense, trust your instincts, and if in doubt, stick with accredited, internationally recognized universities, which have actual physical campuses, to ensure that you do not end up spending a lot of time and money on a ‘mickey mouse’ degree.

Does the course/institution provide networking opportunities?

Networking is vitally important, both during and after your MA studies. A good network of classmates can help you locate publications, give you feedback on your degree papers, and help keep up your morale throughout the course.

Additionally, when it comes to finding teaching positions, a good network of academic and professional acquaintances is invaluable. Of the five university teaching positions I’ve had to date in Japan, four were found through friends (or friends of friends) I met through undertaking my Masters degree, and one was found through a mailing list affiliated with the degree.

In summary

If you answered ‘yes’ to all of the above questions, then I cannot recommend taking a Masters degree in TEFL/TESL highly enough. It will involve lots of hard work, and it will stifle your social life for some considerable time. But it will also open up new social opportunities in the form of professional networking, and ultimately provide you with an extremely valuable qualification for advancing your TEFL career.

Recommended institutions

The following institutions are recommended providers of Masters degrees in TEFL/TESL:

University of Birmingham, UK (Distance)

Temple University, Japan (On Campus)

Aston University, UK (Distance)

A comprehensive list of other MA TEFL/TESL course providers can be found here.

1. Name cards

I have found name cards to be absolutely essential when teaching classes bigger than five or six students.

You can either create the name cards yourself, which helps you to familiarize yourself with your students’ names at the beginning of term, or get students to create their own, or, even better, create each others. The latter option can be made into a nice first-lesson information gap activity.

I also use name cards as one of my classroom management techniques. After the name cards have been created, in every subsequent class, I place the name cards randomly on the students’ tables before the lesson starts. The students are then required to sit at the table with their name card. This prevents friends from always sitting together, and keeps the group dynamic fresh from week to week.

2. Name card holders

I’ve tried many different kinds of name card holders. I’ve found these to work the best. They’re cheap, and come in a variety of fun colors! Name card holders are necessary if you want to see each student’s name from the front of the class, and pick out individual students to answer questions.

3. Color stickers

I have found that the students in my teaching contexts (Japanese universities) are very reluctant to speak out in front of their classmates, answer questions, or volunteer for activities when called upon by the teacher to do so.

Stickers work very well as incentives to students who volunteer to do any of the above things (answer questions, volunteer for activities, etc) without being asked individually by the teacher.

In my classes, every time a student volunteers for an activity, or answers a question, or generally participates actively in the class, they receive a sticker. The stickers are attached to the students’ name cards. At the end of the semester, the number of stickers each student has helps me to decide what their ‘participation’ grade should be, and whether, if they are a borderline “B/C” student, for example, they should go up to a “B” or down to a “C”.

The students know that the stickers will have an effect on their final grade in this respect, so they really do work as incentives for classroom participation.

4. A toy bomb

This is the toy bomb from Gibson Games’ “Pass the Bomb”. The way I use it is:

1. Students all stand up in a big circle
2. The teacher nominates a lexical set such as countries, animals, colors, etc
3. The teacher names the first item, e.g. “France”, “Dog”, “Red”, etc, and starts the timer on the bomb
4. The teacher passes the bomb to the first student, who names another item from the set
5. The student passes the bomb to the next student, who also names an item
6. This continues until the bomb explodes!

Students love this activity, and it’s a great way to get them thinking quickly, and to review key words or word groups relating to the topic of the lesson. I also use it to practice ordinals, months, days of the week, etc.

5. Conversation cards

I made a large set of conversation cards, each of which has a topic printed on the front (e.g. “School”, “Pets”, “Travel”, “Baseball”, etc) and ten questions on the back relating to the topic. The students use the cards to practice quick-fire question and answer in pairs. It’s a useful filler for the beginning or end of each lesson.

6. Spare whiteboard marker

You can guarantee that when you really need one, all the whiteboard markers will have disappeared or run dry!

7. Stock photos

Stock photos are useful for many different topics and activities, but especially describing appearance or personality characteristics. Having high-quality glossy color photos beats dingy black and white copies any day of the week! Google Images is a good place to find stock photos for free. There’s also iStockPhoto, if you don’t mind digital watermarks.

8. Classical music compilation CD

Music is a great teaching tool, but it can also be used indirectly as background music when students are focused on other tasks, particularly writing activities. Having a little music in the background helps to break the deafening silence you might experience in classes comprised of extremely shy students. It can also be used to help time activities, so instead of saying to students “You have five minutes”, you can say “You have one song!”.

I’ve found classical music is the most unobtrusive kind, but sometimes also use other kinds of instrumental music. Classical music has the added benefit of allowing you to tell students that listening could be making them smarter and more productive!

9. Magnets

Magnets are great to have for pinning worksheets, photos, etc, to the whiteboard. They can also be used as counters for games.

10. Not pictured: patience and a sense of humor

I’ve also found that a lot patience and a good sense of humor are indispensable attributes for EFL teachers!

What’s in your TEFL box of tricks? Let me know in the comment section below!

Why did you choose to teach English in Japan?

Originally, I wanted to come to Japan, because I have always had a fascination with Japanese culture, music and food. A friend of mine, who was working at the company where I now work, decided to move to Tokyo. She emailed me and said her job was available if I was interested. I decided to go for it. I never considered other countries. There wasn’t a particular reason, but in retrospect I’m glad I came to Japan. It’s beautiful, safe (in terms of crime), interesting, and clean.

I don’t notice it really. There are many women teachers around me in my conversation school and other local schools. It might not be the same in other education facilities, such as universities.

I love teaching English and I don’t feel there is any difference between being a female teacher. I suppose, one thing is that maybe female Japanese teachers may feel more comfortable with a female ‘native’ English teacher.

And the worst thing?

Being female has its challenges, just as being a male teacher does. Discipline and proper conduct can be tough if you don’t set ground rules from the beginning of class, but that can happen just as easily for male teachers.

Yes, but it was with a male native English teacher at my company. I used to work in downtown Vancouver and would walk through rougher areas everyday before I moved to Japan, so I feel pretty confident in being able to handle uncomfortable situations.

Well, I may not be the best person to ask this question, because my husband is Japanese! I think one obstacle would be that Japanese men have heavy obligations to work long hours, which prevents time for a relationship as most may be used to in other countries.

Also, there are still many expectations that women will stay home and raise the kids, which many non-Japanese women will not accept. There is also the expectation that even if women work outside the home, that they will still cook, clean, shop and take care of the household finances. However, this is not my experience in my relationship. We have a very equal relationship, I’m very lucky – even by Canadian standards!

For sure! It’s deeply ingrained in the society and the language. Things are changing to allow women more freedom of choice, and guilt-free choice, but these kind of changes are very slow. There is also great respect given to elders and that includes women. Almost everyone I have met in Japan adores their ‘obaachan’ (grandmother).

Buying women’s clothes for long legs and a short body. My body type is the opposite of how clothes are manufactured for the Japanese market.

Meeting new people, sharing stories with my students, and doing something I love.

Understand that there are very solid traditions working here. Students, especially in rural areas, may not have the experience dealing with or even discussing women in different contexts. However, I have had many great conversations by explaining my feelings as my own and qualifying them by explaining that I grew up with a very independent mother and the societal values around me in Canada were fairly positive and supportive of women as well as women and children. The way I think is not ‘right’ and I make it clear that there are many viewpoints. Many of my adult women students really appreciate having male-focused English language pointed out and explained. It helps that I notice and pay attention to pronouns and language excluding minority groups. An example of this is that some older learners may have used old textbooks that use inappropriate terms in today’s world. I correct them, explaining that language changes and we should use language to respect everyone.

Japan is a great place to live, work and play. Be open, understanding and patient. There are horror stories of women who have been taken advantage of or hurt here in Japan, but the same can be said for any country. Be aware of yourself just as you would in any other place.

After teaching English in Japan for 7 years, Beth is making the move back to Canada to continue teaching after finishing a Masters degree in TEFL/TESL. Using music for language acquisition, teacher-researcher development, and online learning are among her many interests.

Second language ability of English teachers

When a language teacher first arrives in their host country, they probably don’t have much choice about the matter. Unless they have studied the host country’s language extensively before arriving, they will not possess the requisite language skills to to order an orange juice, let alone explain the present continuous in their students’ native tongue.

Likewise for those teachers who teach multi-lingual groups of students. There is no place for L1 instruction in this scenario, because there is no single L1 that all the students possess.

But where the teacher has lived in the host country long enough to acquire at least an intermediate level of the native language, and teaches groups of students all of whom possess the same first language – should he or she use the language?

CLT and the ‘no L1′ precept

The strict version of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the current dominant methodology in TEFL, suggests that learners acquire a language by using the language and being exposed to the language. In this sense, we might argue that the teacher should provide all possible opportunities to their students to be exposed to the language in use. As addressing students in their L1 also tends to procure responses in L1, a teacher who adopts the students’ L1 for grammar explanations and classroom management instructions arguably not only deprives their students of the chance to improve their receptive skills but also deprives them of the chance to improve their productive skills.

The exception to the rule

However, I would argue that there are situations where addressing students in the target language is actually counter-productive, and adopting the students’ L1 does not deprive them of the chance of acquisition in the way that CLT suggests. (I also argue that there is a place for grammar explanations and classroom management instructions, despite the impact of CLT in relation to the former, and the wisdom of the adage don’t explain, demonstrate in relation to the latter. These issues are, however, topics for another blog post).

These situations occur when:

• students are of an elementary or low-intermediate level of English
• the focus of the lesson is reading or writing, not speaking or listening

Where students are of an elementary or low-intermediate level of English, it is very likely that they will lack the requisite knowledge to understand meta-linguistic grammar explanations or complex classroom management instructions.

Yes, students probably should know words such as noun, adjective, verb, subject, present simple, etc. But some do not, and if the teacher has the ability to express these concepts in the students’ L1, he should not refrain from doing so on the basis of depriving them a chance of exposure to the target language.

After all, in elementary and low-intermediate lessons, what is the target language? It will most likely be language relating to self-introductions, expressing likes and dislikes, talking about hobbies and interests, and other building blocks of basic expression.

L1 as a direct route to understanding

Even if the teacher does insist on using the English words for grammatical concepts (noun, verb, adjective, etc), it is very likely that he or she will have to use the L1 translation of each word in order to teach its meaning, thereby confounding their efforts to use only English in any event.

Furthermore, it is a lengthy digression from topics such as self introductions and expressing likes and dislikes, to teaching English words for grammatical terms. And who needs to use such words anyway, other than English teachers themselves? Yes, we need to understand the concept of a noun, a verb and an adjective to learn a language effectively, but we don’t need to know the words for these concepts in the language we are trying to learn – or at least, its not a priority at the elementary to low intermediate level.

Finally, in relation to classroom management, as I previously stated, the old adage don’t explain, demonstrate is a reliable one – at least with demonstrable concepts. But to convey ideas such as: “Please go to the school office and hand in these questionnaires”, or “If you miss two more classes you will fail the course” or “These are the criteria for course assessment” to learners who have an elementary level of English, I would argue, requires, at the very least, an L1 gloss of the key words in each sentence.

What is fluency?

Fluency is the area of language ability which relates to the speed and ease with which a language learner performs in one of the four core language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Although the concept of fluency relates to all four language skills, it tends to be most closely associated with speaking.

What is speaking fluency?

Speaking fluency is ‘the ability to link units of speech together with facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation’. (Hedge 2000) The speech of non-fluent English learners tends to be characterized by ‘frequent pauses, repetitions and self-corrections’ (Hedge 1993) Developing speaking fluency, therefore, entails developing the ability to speak without frequent pauses, repetitions and self-corrections.

How can language learners improve their speaking fluency?

1. Not worrying about making mistakes

Fluency is usually contrasted with accuracy, where the latter entails knowledge of ‘pronunciation, vocabulary, word formation, grammatical structure, sentence structure and linguistic semantics’ (Hedge 2000). Fluency and accuracy are often envisaged as lying on the two opposing plates of a weighing scale: as one side goes up, the other goes down.

Some learners of English are able to significantly increase their fluency by temporarily disregarding accuracy. As they pay less attention to the grammatical conformity of their utterances, and more attention to conveying meaning, the speed of their speech can increase, and hesitations and pauses can decrease. We should therefore encourage our students not to worry about making mistakes in situations where fluent speech is more important than perfectly grammatically accurate speech, such as informal conversations inside and outside of the classroom. As teachers, we should exhibit restraint in correcting students during language activities designed to promote fluency.

2. Learning ‘pre-assembled chunks’ of language

Fluency also improves when language knowledge has become ‘automized’ (Thornbury 1999), i.e. when the learner is able to produce language without consciously thinking about it. One way students can aid the process of spoken language ability becoming automatic is to learn ‘pre-assembled chunks’ of language.

‘Chunks’ of language are idiomatic phrases such as ‘as it were’ and ‘on the other hand’ which tend to be produced as a whole rather than assembled grammatically piece by piece (Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992). Because such phrases are stored in a ‘pre-assembled’ form in the brain, they can be recalled relatively quickly and effortlessly, thus helping to eliminate pauses and hesitations and increase the overall speed of speech.

Chunks of language can also help learners to compensate for lack of linguistic knowledge. If a student lacks the vocabulary to describe something, phrases such as ‘it’s kind of like…’ can be of some avail. If they lose their way in making an argument, gambits such as ‘the point I’m trying to make is…’ can be of assistance. We should therefore provide opportunities to our students to learn and practice idiomatic, pre-assembled chunks of language.

3. Planning ahead

If a student knows that they are going to be talking about a certain topic in their next English lesson, or discussing a particular issue with their company’s counterpart in America in their next teleconference, then planning for that topic or discussion is an indispensable way for them to increase their oral fluency when speaking in that situation (Kellem 2009).

Planning involves making written notes, composing written answers to expected questions, and rehearsal. If the student is giving a speech or presentation in English, then it goes without saying that they need to practice the speech multiple times. This is something that we would do even if we were giving a speech in our native language, and it is even more important to do when preparing to give a speech in a second or foreign language. We should therefore provide opportunities to our students for the planning and rehearsal of speeches and discussions before they take place.

4. Studying abroad

Research suggests that fluency can be significantly increased by studying abroad. In Wood (2007), Japanese students who spent time studying on a full time intensive ESL course at a college in Canada were able to increase their rate of speech, and length of time speaking between pauses, as well as making gains in other areas of fluency. The financial cost of studying abroad may well be worth it, then, in terms of the increase in speaking fluency the learner can expect to obtain. We should encourage our students to take such opportunities if and when they are able to do so, to improve their language skills in general, and speaking fluency in particular.

Conclusion

Acquiring improved speaking fluency is a very common and highly ranked goal among learners of English. I have argued that, as English teachers, we should:

• encourage our students not to worry about making mistakes in activities designed to promote fluency and informal conversations;
• provide opportunities for our students to learn and practice pre-assembled chunks of language;
• provide opportunities for our students to practice and rehearse speeches and discussions before they take place;
• encourage our students to spend time studying abroad where they possess the means to do so.

In these ways, we can help our students to improve their speaking fluency, and take important steps toward becoming more communicatively competent speakers of English.

Bibliography

• Hedge, T. (1993). “Key concepts in ELT.” ELT Journal 47(3):275-277.
• Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
• Kellem, H. (2009). “Principles for developing oral fluency in the classroom.” JALT Journal 33(1): 9-11.
• Nattinger, J. R. and J. S. DeCarrico (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
• Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow, Pearson Education.
• Wood, D. (2007). “Mastering the English formula: Fluency development of Japanese learners in a study abroad context.” JALT Journal 29(2): 209-230.

Do you believe that the critical period hypothesis is applicable to learning a second language? Would you support the proposition ‘the younger you start, the better’ when it comes to learning a second language?

I feel that the critical period hypothesis in regards to SLA has some interesting ideas about language acquisition but research has shown that older learners tend to be more successful in becoming fluent due to various factors such as learner motivation and language environment. That being said, I do believe that providing a child with and English rich environment will enable them to “code switch” between languages and thus further their proficiency in both English and Japanese. My school will only accept children who can use and understand Japanese because I believe children must have an understanding of how language works in order to make the study of a second language meaningful to them. Therefore, there is a limit to how young a child can be before starting to learn a second language. Also I feel that, when a child starts learning a foreign language while they are still acquiring their mother tongue, they seem to be more receptive to foreign sounds and intonations only because their mother tongue has not fossilized in their minds yet.

What is the best thing about living and working in Sendai?

I feel that Sendai is the best balance between the country side and the big city. The city is large enough to finds various kinds of entertainment without having the feeling of being too crowded. It also has great surfing, skiing and other outdoor sports that are accessible without the need of driving for hours to reach them.

Have you taken part in any volunteer relief work since the tsunami?

Sadly, no I have not. I opened my school four days after the earthquake and on the weekends I was quite busy cleaning my apartment and packing. By chance, I had already planned to move to another apartment a month before the earthquake struck so I was preparing for the move. Moreover, I was in the middle of writing a 4000 word paper on the Lexical Syllabus for my M.A.

Is the declining birth rate in Japan affecting your business? Do you expect it to do so in the future?

I have not had any trouble from this trend nor do I expect to have any in the future. I try to market my school as one where serious learning takes place and the parents are required to provide some learning support at home. It has been my experience that the children from families where the parents take an active role in their children’s education are the ones who achieve the best results. For this reason, I would rather cater to smaller families with highly motivated students than take on children from larger families where the parents are far too busy to review the lesson materials at home.

Is there anything else you would like to say about living and working in Japan/Sendai, or teaching very young learners of English?

I would like to say that working in Japan requires a certain amount of doggedness. On a day to day basis, there are always ups and downs however, on a long term basis there is a lot of subtle pressures and stress that can accumulate before one is aware of it. As for teaching children, this stress can be even more overwhelming so a positive attitude and a solid understanding of teaching methodology and child psychology are essential.

Thank you very much to Mario Passalacqua for the interview.