Developing classroom English for teachers from Japan using tasks

1. Developing classroom English for teachers from Japan using tasks Dr. Olenka Bilash University of Alberta (Canada) olenka.bilash@ualberta.ca

2. Background • Part of a longitudinal Action Research Study (5 years) • Teachers of English from Japan • FL setting • Teacher training in Canada and Japan, Classroom visits • Capacity building • Teaching English through Japanese • Try to increase student exposure to English (TL)

3. Exposure to the TL • 3 years of jr. high • 105 classes of 50 minutes each X 35 weeks = 5,250 minutes or 87.5 hours of instruction per year; 262.5 hours in three years • 3 years of high school • 175 classes of 50 minutes X 35 weeks = 8,750 minutes or 144.1 hours of instruction per year or 432.3 hours in three years • TOTAL in 6 years is 695 hours

4. How much English do students hear in a 50 minute class? • Greeting to signal the beginning of class 10 seconds • Pronunciation practice 40 seconds • Listen to song or dialogue (2 times) 1 minute • Vocabulary repetition 1 minute • Structured Pair work 1 minute • More Vocabulary repetition 1 minute • More Structured Pair work 1 minute • Farewell to signal the end of class 10 seconds • TOTAL 6 minutes • 12% of 50 minutes

5. How much English do students hear in a year? • 6 minutes • 12% of 50 minutes • 18 minutes per week • 72 minutes per month • 648 minutes per year • Less than 11 hours per year • 33 hours in 3 years • 66 hours in 6 years

6. Consequences • Problems with listening comprehension • Lack of confidence in speaking • Unbalanced development of 4 skills • Feeling of inability to communicate in English • Lack of faith in ‘school system’ to ‘teach’ English

7. Proposed way to improve the situation • Increase the amount of English heard in the classroom • Encourage teachers to USE more English • Help teachers develop confidence to do so Teachers who speak English to their students show their students that it is possible and model confidence to try and acceptance of making small mistakes but still successfully communicating

8. BUT • Interviews and surveys reveal that JTE do not use English more in the classroom because they do not feel confident.

9. Confidence • What does ‘being confident’ mean to JTE? • Hunches: • Lack of vocabulary • Low perception of ability • Lack of experience using the language in select ‘instruction giving’ situations • Internal conflict with ‘completing the curriculum’ and preparing students for exams

10. Lack of vocabulary • a large and exhaustive book of classroom phrases is provided to teachers in order to encourage them to use classroom English • No time to look up the words • Poor organization/access • No way to verify accuracy of selection of words to the context

11. Low perception of ability • No examination exists to measure classroom language • No experience learning through English • No time to practice

12. Lack of experience using the language in select ‘instruction giving’ situations • No opportunities - were taught English through Japanese • Minimal contact with NS (especially in such situation) • Fall back on their experience • Few have been abroad • Build it in to the teacher training course

13. Needs Assessment Interviews Surveys Observations Developing Classroom Language “pilot” Tasks Grounded theory feedback sheet Self assessment ‘student’ feedback 3 Part study • Developing Classroom Language “study” • Tasks • videotaped • Self assessment • ‘student’ feedback

14. Participants in Needs Assessment • Understanding ‘confidence’ in the Japanese context • Surveys completed by 100 teachers of English at elementary, jr. high and sr. high levels • Interviews with 15 teachers

15. Participants in 2-Part Study • Improving Classroom English • Pilot: 12 teachers of English from Japan • Study: 10 teachers of English from Japan

16. Needs Assessment: Survey • When teachers use English to teach English • When teachers use Japanese to teach English • Situations in which they self report comfort using English in spoken and written contexts

17. When teachers use English to teach English • 70% use English less than 50% of the time. 30% use more, using more English to teach grammar. Giving a greeting • Giving praise and encouragement • Asking short and simple questions - At the beginning of class • After a reading or dialog • Giving simple instructions • Making connections with students • checking for completion of an activity or understanding • Not often  giving extra information and giving students a clue.

18. When teachers use Japanese to teach English • Giving a greeting • Giving grammar explanations • Disciplining students • Explaining a context • Giving complex instructions • Translating • because they do not think that the students will understand them if they speak in English • because it takes less time (is more efficient) to use Japanese.

19. Situations in which would feel comfortable Teachers Using English • 100% - have a conversation with an ALT or foreigner in English (about your interests or hobbies) • type on an English keyboard • write in English (for example, a letter, essay, poems) • team teaching • 90% give someone who is lost directions to a bus stop or train station • have a phone conversation with an ALT/native speaker • 80%read a story to students • order food in a restaurant • Give praise to my students • 70% write an e-mail introducing yourself to someone in English • read an English magazine about a familiar topic • sing English songs at karaoke

20. Situations in which would feel comfortable Teachers Using English • 50% explain how to cook some Japanese food or play a Japanese game • understand TV and radio broadcasts – news, weather, sports • 40% make a school or class newspaper in English • do role plays or theatre • listen and understand English music • listen and understand English video, film • give a presentation about teaching in English • give a summary of a lesson • self correct • 30% learn how to make food or fix a cabinet from an English TV program • create a power point presentation • 20% tell a personal anecdote about my life • read English literature

21. Which type of ‘task’ would respond to their needs? • Authentic (Culturally) • Unfamiliar • Instruction giving • Somewhat complex • Use story or anecdote (with supporting actions) • Presence of an authentic listener • Required presentation/summary • Not too long • Could be repeated/rehearsed without becoming bored

22. TASKS • Card tricks • Paper-cutting stories • Require ‘presentation’ (story telling) • Require ‘teaching’ (with support)

23. Type of Task (Long, 1990) • Planned/unplanned • unplanned • Closed/open • Closed - room for negotiation of meaning • No-way/one-way/two-way • One-way (initially) • Two-way

24. Design - Part 1 • Part 1 (pilot) • 12 different tasks • 12 teachers • 7 ‘learners’ each • Observations about HOW they taught • Interviews about WHAT they thought about • ‘grounded theory’ approach • Guided reflection/Feedback sheets

25. Teacher Guided Self Reflection • Name of teacher: Which turn: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 • Name of student: • Think about your presentation of the GAME and describe how much you agree/disagree with the following statements: 4= Strongly Agree • 3=Agree • 2=Disagree • 1=Strongly Disagree. • I remembered the vocabulary well. 4 3 2 1 • I remembered the actions well. 4 3 2 1 • I combined the vocabulary and actions well. 4 3 2 1 • I used accurate and relevant language. 4 3 2 1 • I went off topic in a useful way. 4 3 2 1 • I spoke with confidence. 4 3 2 1 • I spoke clearly. 4 3 2 1 • I checked that my student(s) understood the task from the words I used. 4 3 2 1 • I made good use of silence. 4 3 2 1 • I repeated the instructions enough for the student. 4 3 2 1 • I didn’t need to correct myself very often. 4 3 2 1 • I used a lot of full sentences. 4 3 2 1 • I let the student talk or ask questions. 4 3 2 1 • Other things that were important to me are: • Next time I want to concentrate more on / improve:

26. Learner Guided Self Reflection Name of teacher: Which turn: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Name of student: Think about learning the GAME and describe how much you agree/disagree with the following statements: 4= Strongly Agree 3=Agree 2=Disagree 1=Strongly Disagree. It was useful to me when the teacher ... ... repeated specialized vocabulary 4 3 2 1 ... memorized specific terms and phrases 4 3 2 1 ... used general terms and phrases 4 3 2 1 ... said and did the words and actions together 4 3 2 1 ... repeated the same words a lot 4 3 2 1 ... repeaed using different words 4 3 2 1 ... encouraged and praised me a lot 4 3 2 1 ... used full sentences 4 3 2 1 ... asked me questions and interruptions 4 3 2 1 … made eye contact with me 4 3 2 1 … used hand gestures 4 3 2 1 … let me ask questions 4 3 2 1 … let me try to learn on my own 4 3 2 1 What else did the teacher do for you that helped you learn? Next time I could learn better if I . . . Next time I could learn better if the teacher. . . When it was your turn to explain back or teach back the trick to your teacher, what was easy or helpful or important? When it was your turn to explain back or teach back the trick to your teacher, what was difficult or not helpful or not important?

27. Design - Part 2 • 1 teacher • 5 different students • One task • Videotapes, self assessments after each ‘turn’ X 10

28. Original task • Taught by NS • One-on-one (familiar with one another) • Presentation of ‘card trick’ or ‘paper cutting story’ • Teaching of the ‘presentation’ • Teaching of the ‘trick’ • Practicing - Q-A • Completion of the reflection sheet as a student • Videotaped

29. On teaching T1 Task turn1 S1 On learning

30. On teaching SR1 T1 Task turn1 S1 S1R On learning

31. On teaching SR1 T1 Task turn1 S1 S1R On learning

32. On teaching SR1 T1 Task turn1 S1 S1R On learning

33. On teaching SR1 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn1 S1 S2 S1R On learning

34. On teaching SR1 SR2 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn1 S1 S2 S1R S2R On learning

35. On teaching SR1 SR2 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn1 S1 S2 S1R S2R On learning

36. On teaching SR1 SR2 T1 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn3 Task turn1 S1 S2 S2 S1R S2R On learning

37. SR3 On teaching SR1 SR2 T1 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn3 Task turn1 S1 S2 S2 S1R S3R S2R On learning

38. SR3 On teaching SR1 SR2 T1 T1 T1 Task turn2 Task turn3 Task turn1 S1 S2 S2 S1R S3R S2R On learning

39. On teaching SR4 SR5 T1 T1 Task turn5 Task turn4 S4 S5 S4R S5R On learning

40. Analysis of self reflections of ‘teacher’ • By turn

41. What Teachers found important - Turn #1 • Using correct vocabulary • Thinking about WHAT (content) they were teaching • Thinking about the order to teach the content

42. Turn #1 • Using correct vocabulary Language Teaching Content • Thinking about the order to teach the content • Thinking about WHAT (content) they were teaching

43. What Teachers found important - Turn #2 • Using full sentences • Self correcting • Speaking slowly and clearly • Giving instructions more simply • Scaffolding • Checking for understanding • Watching students more (assessment)

44. Turn #2 • Using full sentences Giving instructions more simply • Self correcting • Speaking slowly and clearly Language • Scaffolding Teaching Content • Checking for understanding • Watching students more (assessment)

45. What Teachers found important - Turn #3 • Using more orderly vocabulary - e.g. first, second. . . . As ‘mnemonics’ for students • Giving their students more encouragement • Making the activity more ‘fun’ • Assessing students’ difficulties

46. Using more orderly vocabulary - e.g. first, second. . . . As ‘mnemonics’ for students Turn #3 • Giving their students more encouragement Language Teaching Content • Making the activity more ‘fun’ • Assessing students’ difficulties

47. What Teachers found important - Turn #4 • Improve rhythm, intonation • Develop confidence • Using more precise vocabulary • Giving their students more encouragement • Assessing students’ difficulties • Give students more chances to practice

48. Improve rhythm, intonation • Using more precise vocabulary Turn #4 Language • Giving their students more encouragement Teaching Content • Assessing students’ difficulties • Develop confidence • Give students more chances to practice

49. What Teachers found important - Turn #5 • The weaknesses of their students (the things that previous students had found difficult)

50. Turn #5 Language Teaching Content The weaknesses of students