Teacher Wants to Limit English Conversation in School
UseNet Replies Only
"Experts" like this woman are the reason KIDS in Phillipines and Korea
speak English much better than Japanese adults. Japanese students probably
do better on standardized tests, but what good is that when they can't even
order a cup of coffee in Hawaii?
It seems that Japanese students "study" English, while other kids "LEARN"
English...big difference, IMHO.
Article clipped from:
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020127p2a00m0fp006000c.html
==========
Teacher wants to de-emphasize conversational skills in learning English
MIYAZAKI -- School children should be taught fundamentals of English rather
than placing too much emphasis on conversation so they can acquire better
English skills, a junior high school teacher will report at a union
gathering here.
The 28-year-old female teacher at a municipal junior high school in Ibaraki
Prefecture will make the report in a paper she will read during a study
session of the Japan Teachers' Union (JTU).
The teacher points out that a survey she conducted in April last year on
all the 811 students at her school shows that the more they studied
English, the less enthusiastic they were about learning the language.
About half of the first-year students responded that they like English,
while smaller percentages of older students -- 35 percent of the second-
year students and 31 percent of the third-year students - gave the same
reply.
"Conversation-oriented lessons alone do not enable students to acquire
fundamental English skills," the teacher says on the survey results.
Speech-making and dictation that she introduced to her lessons helped
students to increased their vocabulary and boost their enthusiasm about
learning English, she says.
After students were instructed to make brief speeches and then dictate
them, many useful English phrases that appeared in the speeches clearly
remained in their memory, she claims.
Moreover, her students became enthusiastic about learning English, she
says, noting that they have come to actively look up words and phrases in
their dictionaries, according to her report. (Mainichi Shimbun, Jan. 27,
2002)
Brett Robson
UseNet Replies Only wrote:
>
>
> Teacher wants to de-emphasize conversational skills in learning English
>
> MIYAZAKI -- School children should be taught fundamentals of English rather
> than placing too much emphasis on conversation so they can acquire better
> English skills, a junior high school teacher will report at a union
> gathering here.
No doubt because she is unable to speak English herself.
> Speech-making and dictation that she introduced to her lessons helped
> students to **increased** their vocabulary and boost their enthusiasm about
> learning English, she says.
I wonder how bad the English is before all the native speaker
sub-editors get to it.
--
No means no and no means yes.
And everything between and everything else.
Osugi Sakae
> Here we go again :-(
>
> "Experts" like this woman are the reason KIDS in Phillipines and Korea
> speak English much better than Japanese adults. Japanese students probably
> do better on standardized tests, but what good is that when they can't even
> order a cup of coffee in Hawaii?
>
> It seems that Japanese students "study" English, while other kids "LEARN"
> English...big difference, IMHO.
>
> Article clipped from:
>
> http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020127p2a00m0fp006000c.html
More dubious `research'. Here is some dubious research of my own:
every Japanese woman i have slept with has shown more interest in
English afterwards (well, starting a few hours later, not immediately
afterwards, since we were sleeping). So obviusly i should sleep with
all the students of english in japan (god what a horrible
conclusion). Hey, this is just as scientific as that teacher's
research! and more fun to read, too.
Have any of the people who come up with this stuff actually look at
how languages are taught in other countries? No, of course not, these
are Japanese children and they learn languages differently than every
other group of children on the planet.
I for one say, f*ck 'em. They want to be backward shmucks who can only
speak their native language, let them be. It isn't like they really
care - they pay us to teach but don't listen. They pay us to advise
but don't listen. They pay us to translate and then `correct' our
translations. F*ck 'em.
(And yes i know that the first part of that paragraph applies equally
to americans. A difference is that the americans do not pretend
to study a language for 6-10 years, only 2 or 3).
Um, am i coming across as cynical and burnt-out? Sorry, but someone at
work got the dreaded `lets teach the foreigner about japanese culture
and call it an english lesson' lesson-plan the other day. That is the
one where the real objective is to teach the kids what they, as
Japanese, are expected to know as well as reinforcing the idea that
foreigners do not know anything about Japan.
Child: Do you know Tokyo Tower?
Foreigner: What the f*ck was the target vocabulary again? Why are we
teaching the kids Japanese words that they already know?
oh well.
--
Osugi Sakae
I am not a number, I am a free man
