Event

A Look at English language learning throughout the Japanese school system: Open forum discussion

Sunday, March 11th, 2012, 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Speaker: Darryl Mellows, Dan Frost, Gregg McNabb

Three speakers will introduce their perspectives on EFL issues in the Japanese school system followed immediately by open, moderated discussion. Audience participation is most definitely encouraged. Topics will progress according to school-age group (i.e. children, Jr. high school, high school, university). Each topic will be allotted 30-40 minutes for presentation and discusssion.

Realistic goals for teaching children
Darryl Mellows
Students at the elementary age are largely being failed by the low expectations being placed on them compounded by the poor curriculum provided by MEXT. Obscene amounts of time and resources have been allocated to “expose”, almost exclusively, grade 5 and 6 students to the English language. I believe a new and much more challenging mindset must be adopted in the approach to teaching young learners in order to effectively utilize the technology and resources being provided.

Questions to be discussed:

• What should we expect for children's English abilities?
• Have the new policies for English at Elementary schools effective?
• What realistic goals should we set for our students?

In Japanese junior high schools, how important is grammar for learning English?
Dan Frost
The traditional roles are for the Japanese teacher (JT) to teach grammar, and the native-English speaking teacher (NT) to focus on oral communication. However, in recent years JTs in junior high school are trying to use the communicative method of teaching with less explicit emphasis on grammar. This discussion will look at how JTs and NTs might work together in teaching both communication and grammar.

Questions to be discussed:

• To what extent should grammar be taught implicitly or explicitly?
• Should there be a division of roles for NTs and JTs?

English for University - The divide between students' needs, instructors' beliefs and students' expectations.
Gregg McNabb
This topic will be a brief examination of the current status and outlook for Japanese universities.

Questions to be discussed:

• Is the central entrance examination system really so awful?
• Concerning changes in the schedule, good for some, unnecessary for most?

Organization: Hamamatsu Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Hamamatsu JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1,000 yen

Venue: Zaza City Palette, 5th Floor

Location: Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Contact Hamamatsu JALT

Dan Frost

Work phone: 053-460-7956
Mobile phone: 090-9891-4844