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Rea l Vo i ce 20 10 1

Real Voice Suggestions for

Changing English Education

for Future Generations

from 1st Year University Students

Students’ Analyses of

Their Language Learning Histories with

Recommendations to Students, Teachers, and MEXT

Appendices of Possible Steps for Teachers

Edited by Tim Murphey, Joe Falout, and Maria Trovela

PeerKuis


Part I: Table of Contents Page

Intro and Methods: Tim Murphey 3

1. ENGLISH ONLY 4

Hitomi Hatano, Takeshi Miyao, Maiko Miyawaki

2. FIND YOUR ENGLISH STYLE 8

Ryo Hayasaka, Natsumi Ide, Haruna Mochizuki

3. BETTER ENVIRONMENT, BETTER ENGLISH 11

Chika Sugano, Yoshie Kine, Ryosuke Hosaka

4. THIRTY PEOPLE, THIRTY WAYS 13

Kento Inoue, Rie Nakatsuka, Nozomi Shishikura

5. FROM RIDING TO DRIVING THE ROLLER COASTER 16

Saori Mine, Fumi Takeyama, Tatsuya Lacey, Yoshinori Yahiro

6. JOYFUL STUDENT CENTERING 20

Yui Fujimoto, Aki Ishii, Sera Sasaki

7. THE REAL VOICE OF STUDENTS IN KUIS 23

Ryuichi Yamada, Yurie Iwamoto, Hanae Iwasawa

8. LEARNING FROM OUR PEERS 26

Akane Nakayama, Kenji Yokoi, Ayaka Nagasawa

9. EDUCATION NEEDS CHANGING 28

Mayu Ozawa, Takahiro Aoyagi, Yuuka Ohno

10. LIVING ENGLISH 31

Yuki Takahashi, Yuriko Chino, Camila Kaori Hayashi

Appendices 34-36

Appendix 1. Language Learning Histories (protocal)

Appendix 2: Instructions to students for scaffolding their analyses

Appendix 3: Prompt sheet for analyzing the LLHs in small groups

Appendix 4: The Real Voice of Japanese Students (video script)


Intro and Methods

Dear Readers,

In the spring of 2009, 30 students in a Freshman Seminar at Kanda University of

International Studies (hereafter KUIS) wrote their language learning histories (hereafter

LLHs). As rough models, they read a few LLHs from previous years and were given a list of

possible questions to answer (see appendix 1). The LLHs became a class publication,

Language Learning Histories 2009.

In the fall semester of 2009, these same students in groups of three or four people

read the LLHs over a period of several weeks. The first week they read histories 1 through

12 (Never Been Abroad), the second 13-23 (Been Abroad a Bit), and the third week they

read 24-30 (Been Abroad A While). Each week they gathered together to discuss their

findings with the help of some prompts (appendix 2 & 3). They analyzed the LLHs for

motivational and demotivational factors and thought about how their data might inform and

help students, teachers, and MEXT. Finally, at the end of the readings they were asked to

put all their data together and to write a report of their findings, conclusions, and

perspectives. This is the content of the pages that follow in this booklet. (If you only have a

minute, we suggest you read the back cover that summarizes the booklet.)

Each group analyzed the same set of LLHs, and there are some common points

among the reports, but they each also have unique perspectives on these LLHs (as we say

in Japanese “jun nin to iro”). I believe these perspectives will be very valuable to students,

teachers, and MEXT, for these are the voices of students (the clients, if you will) who have

most recently experienced JHS and HS English education in Japan and who are reporting

on what they found helpful, motivational, de-motivational, and worthy of change. Most

companies treasure such customer feedback as this, so that they can do a better job

producing what is effective, healthy, and hopeful for their customers in the future. These

young writers are to be applauded for their efforts to improve English education in Japan for

future generations.

Handouts to the students (for teachers who might want to use LLHs in these ways)

are found in the appendices. Please collaborate with us and let us know what you think of

these reports and the new things you might do with them. If you wish to have copies of the

original LLHs please contact us.

Thanks to my co-editors/researchers Joe Falout and Maria Trovela (note: all editing

was for the English, the ideas are the students’) and lastly and most importantly, thanks to

the students for their efforts at improving English education in Japan.

Sincerely

Tim Murphey ([email protected]) Kanda University of International Studies,

1-4-1 Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba-shi 261-0014, Japan


(1) ENGLISH ONLY

Hitomi Hatano, Takeshi Miyao, Maiko Miyawaki

We wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs, hereafter) in the spring of 2009

in our First Year Seminar. In the fall of 2009, we began to analyze our LLHs and

discussed the data we gathered. This report is based on the data and those

discussions.

Motivational Factors

According to the LLHs, talking to foreigners, teachers and friends in their classes in

English is motivating. Some of the students who experienced study abroad thought

that these experiences were also motivating. So it means that students can enjoy

studying English with foreigners. The solution for better education in Japan may lie

in increasing foreign teachers in Japan. Consequently students in Japan will be

more motivated! About half the students mentioned foreigners favorably (see

Figure.1).

I started going to a church called Tokyo Baptist Church. This church is

always filled with native English speakers so you automatically had to

communicate in English. I tried to speak only English whenever I was there.

(Lacy p.32)

I had a chance to talk with native speakers twice a week. It was useful and

enjoyable. I could enjoy learning English, and my English skill improved

without notice. (Hosaka p.13)

Figure 1: Motivational Factors

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Foreigners/ALTs

Teachers(J)

Study abroad

Private school

Friends

Others

number of times mentioned


However, Japanese teachers were also mentioned nearly as much as foreigners.

Thus, we can say that teachers, whether foreigners or Japanese, are very

important.

Demotivational Factors

Many students said lessons of English in JHS and HS were boring because they

wanted to speak English. However, there were very few opportunities to speak in

the class. Therefore, teachers should make opportunities to speak English in class.

More than half of the students who were demotivated by English classes mentioned

the reasons were that they learned mostly grammar or vocabulary at their desks

and hardly ever spoke, with little communication or interaction between students

(see Fig.2).

When I entered HS, English became one of the most tedious subjects

because we did not use it. It was a very teacher-centered class and no

interaction between classmates. (Yamada p.18)

In JHS, I learned only about grammar. It was so boring for me. (Fujimoto

p.17)

Also, teachers should teach how to pronounce English. One student

mentioned their teacher’s bad pronunciation: “After entering JHS I was very

surprised and shocked because my teacher didn’t tell us the right

pronunciation” (Miyao p.19).

Fig.2 Demotivational Factors

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English calsses

Teachers(J)

Foreigners

Entrance Exams

Of times mentioned


Recommendations

The first recommendation for students is that just sitting at your desk does not work.

Actually it is important for you to do assignments and hand them in. However,

additionally, there are a lot of things you can do to learn English and to enjoy

learning. If you communicate with your classmates, teachers or foreign people in

English, we are sure you will notice the real enjoyment of English. Talking with

people who are from different countries and knowing other cultures through English

are really wonderful. You might find it hard to say what you want and you might be

afraid or ashamed of mistakes at first. Those feelings are very natural for language

learners. Therefore, the second thing is that mistakes are not bad. If you never

make mistakes when you learn something, you gain nothing. We can learn from

mistakes. Please remember this phrase, “Mistakes are learning steps”. Finally, we

can also tell you that studying is not what you do alone. Friends are your best

partners to learn with. To share your ideas and discuss them means to help each

other and interact with each other. The more you learn English, the better you like

English, we promise.

Based upon our data, we recommend that teachers change the style of classes

from teacher-centered to student-centered. Most students feel that teacher-

centered style is dull. Teacher-centered style means that students sit at their desk,

and just listen to what teachers say, read textbooks or do assignments. This style

might be easy for teachers, but not for students because they can study grammar,

vocabulary and so on from textbooks by themselves. It is to communicate in English

what they cannot do by themselves. Thus, teachers might give them opportunities

to talk with classmates in English in class. Even if they study English hard, it will be

meaningless unless they use it as a communication tool. Therefore, teachers might

introduce various activities with phrases or expressions related to their daily life.

Lastly, if teachers make the classroom environment in English or teach English in

English, students will feel closer to English and like it better.

According to our data, students’ motivations depend on the way of teaching. For

English education and JHS and HS teachers, MEXT might reconsider the present

guidelines. We think that classes of English should be more communicative. Now,

JHS and HS have reading class, writing class, speed reading class, oral

communication class and so on. We hope MEXT will increase the number of

classes that focus on orally communicating in English. In addition to that, it is

necessary to train more competent teachers. Teachers should teach students not


only grammar or vocabulary but also how to learn English, which means to help

them to be good learners. What is important is to raise the level of English classes.

Finally, we can say that students are motivated when they talk with foreign people

from our data. Therefore, MEXT might introduce more ALTs (Assistant Language

Teachers) and needs to make environments where students can talk with foreigners

more, such as SALCs (Self Access Learning Centers) and retreats

Conclusion

We found that students were motivated when they were talking with people in

English. Also, they felt bored with teacher-centered style because they had no

chance to use English during the classes. We think that speaking English helps

students to learn English with joy and it is necessary for them to feel English closer

to communicate with native speakers. Thus, we recommend “ENGLISH-ONLY”

classes in Japan and we hope that the “ENGLISH-ONLY” environments increase in

Japanese universities.


(2) Find Your Learning Style

Ryo Hayasaka, Natsumi Ide, Haruna Mochizuki

Introduction

We wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs) about when we began learning

English to the present in May 2009. We classified LLHs into 3 groups. (Never been

abroad, Been abroad and Been abroad a while)

Method

We are freshman of Kanda University of International Studies. We wrote LLHs to

improve our English ability. Moreover, we read our LLHs and analyzed them for

motivating and de-motivating factors. There were many kinds of opinions for

learning English.


According to our analysis, 10 students were motivated in JHS and HS by going

abroad to English countries. For example, one student said that she went abroad to

Australia and she couldn’t communicate with people, so she started to study

English seriously. Also, foreign teachers and students made us excited because if

we could speak English, we could make friends with them. It was good for us to

communicate with foreigners (see Figure 1).

Figure1: Motivational Factors

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De-motivational Factors

Students mentioned lots of things that de-motivated them. Especially, they wrote

about English teachers in JHS, English classes, and grammar. The reason why

some students chose English classes is because of the atmosphere. Some

students said that studying language sitting in front of the desk isn’t the way to learn

language. Studying English the same way as other subjects made it boring. (See

Figure 2)

Figure2: De-motivational Factors

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Recommendation to students

Based upon our data, we recommend that students use their body to experience

some kind of English activity. For example, go abroad, talk to native speakers. We

think they should not think studying grammar is the only way to study or learn

English.

Recommendations to teachers

Many students are tired of studying by using only textbooks, so we think teachers

should use some different materials. Also, students don’t have so many chances to

listen and speak English. Therefore, they should speak English more actively.

Remember, teaching only grammar is not good for students. They have to mix

various activities, which will improve their skills.


Recommendations to MEXT

First of all, MEXT should change how to teach English. For example, students need

a good teacher who can speak English reasonably well. However, in fact, there

aren’t so many Japanese teachers who can speak English. So we think MEXT

needs to train teachers and give students a lot of chances to talk with them. If

possible, MEXT should accept many more native speakers.

Surprising data

Some people are using their iPods to study English. It’s a nice idea. We can study

everyday, anytime, everywhere by using it. Also, people are often watching

YouTube. There are a lot of information, movies, news and more. These things are

very useful for us to learn English.

Conclusion

There are many ways to study that will motivate or de-motivate you. Find your

learning style. It’s up to you to choose your way. If you wonder what you should do

or want to do something new, ask for help! Asking may be a moment’s

embarrassment, not asking is a lifelong regret.

You can do it! Good Luck!

Thanks to Akio Otsuka for his help with the paper.


(3) Better environment, better English

Chika Sugano, Yoshie Kine, Ryosuke Hosaka

Each person experiences differences in styles or environments of learning English.

All the students in KUIS have been interested in English somewhere in their life.

Some people have met a great teacher, and it was the reason why they started to

learn English. Although some people who met a bad teacher thought that it was a

boring subject and didn’t want to learn English. That tells us that environment is

very important for students especially when they are studying English. When we

have a better environment, we learn better English.

Method

According to the LLHs 09, students who have fewer experiences in other countries

tend to learn English when they happen to meet foreigners in Japan. Students

usually try to communicate with foreigners by using English they learn in their

school. In addition, students who have been abroad less than a year, usually know

how to learn English and improve their English. For instance, they use their

environments like the SALC (Self Access Learning Center) properly. Also they are

aware of the weak points that they need to improve the most. On top of that,

students who have more experiences abroad learned a lot when they were there.

So we think what makes for most student differences is their environments.

Motivational factors

There are many motivational factors, for example, teachers, friends, movies, and so

on. Most of the students mentioned that having experiences with foreigners made

them motivated the most. Getting to know about other countries or having

communication by using English encourages us to study English harder. The more

experiences we have, the more desire we get. Frankly speaking, there are fewer

chances to get encouraged studying English when we just take general classes in

Japanese school. For example, one person said, “English class was a little boring

for me because we learned grammar and vocabulary and only listened to what our

teacher said. I really wanted to speak English more” (Hatano’s p.10).

Demotivational factors

On the other hand, there are some factors that make students discouraged to study

English. For example, teacher-centered English classes make students bored. We

have little opportunities to use English if we just listen to teachers sitting at their


desks. Moreover if teachers use Japanese often in their classes, students don’t feel

that they are studying English. Many people take it for granted that studying English

is just something that they have to study to pass their exams. We had better get rid

of this stereotype. It obstructs their English development.

To JHS and HS students

First of all, it is good for us to know why English is needed (the government can't

run Japan without help from other countries; food, fuel, etc.) If we see this need, we

will be more interested in studying English naturally. Then, we try to find good ways

to learn English. It is obvious that we make mistakes when we learn a new

language so do not be afraid and ashamed of making mistakes. Moreover, it is

much better to go abroad and experience life there.

To teachers

We recommend teachers teach English in many enjoyable ways, and students have

classes with native speakers, songs, etc. According to our LLHs, some said their

teachers had poor teaching skills so students got bored. To avoid this situation,

teachers should keep on studying English and create new ways to teach English. If

teachers do so, students will be motivated to be good English learners. As a result,

teachers are happy to teach English and students are also happy to learn English.

To MEXT

We suppose it is a good idea to make better regulations for becoming a teacher. If

teachers had enough skill to teach English, students would not complain about

teachers' skill. However, if not, students are not satisfied with learning English, with

their teachers and with their classes. There are many good teachers but students

cannot choose their teachers. Therefore, MEXT should make teachers take a test

(reading, writing, listening and speaking skill) periodically to keep and improve the

in skills.

As we mentioned before, the environment is important for students who are learning

English. At first, the teacher is the one who is the most responsible for creating the

environment and helping the student to create better environments. Later, students

can change environments by themselves. It is also effective to be in touch with

foreign cultures and countries, going abroad, and communicating with foreign

people. We suppose that having such experiences will help language learners to be

interested in new languages and improve their languages skills. In short, better

environments make for better learning.


(4) Thirty People, Thirty Ways

Kento Inoue, Rie Nakatsuka, Nozomi Shishikura

There are several good ways to learn English in our daily life. They are motivating

factors. However, do the students use them effectively? And are they in such an

environment where they can use these ways? While there are many ways to study

English well around us, it is true that there are several ways that do not make

students want to study English. Those ways are called de-motivating factors. We

analyzed, looking especially at motivating and de-motivating factors, 30 people’s

Language Learning Histories. From these factors we can see that students are

influenced differently and think differently. Below are our thoughts and suggestion.

First, we are going to talk about “how to learn languages.” We think the best way of

learning is to enjoy it. People do not usually want to study just sitting on a chair. On

the other hand, people like to enjoy doing something, so they should learn

something having fun. The educational style nowadays is boring for many students.

When this style continues for a long time, a number of people would start to dislike

English learning. Therefore, not only students but also teachers should have lots of

fun as well, and they should make most classes enjoyable. This means, it is more

effective to have student-centered class than teacher-centered one. Students are

bored and tired when they have the latter one.

Motivational Factions

According to our data, students could learn best when they do not use textbooks,

when they have a goal, and when they are having fun. To make a class enjoyable,

teachers can use these motivating factors such as songs, games, movies and so

on. It is good for students and teachers to change the environment also. Typical

English class in Japan is for an entrance examination so you should change the

style to make students not bored during the class.

Demotivational Factions

On the other hand, de-motivational factors, our classmates think, are things like

homework, textbooks and the current English classes, which are the most


controversial point. These three common points are all less interesting and these

also force the students to work by themselves. Other points are students who are

talking about other things during the class; when the class is like that, some

students who love to study English cannot concentrate on learning. Our data shows

that students get bored and tired when only the teacher is talking in front of the

room by using only textbooks. Also, it is true if the teachers do not have a fun

teaching English, students probably cannot enjoy learning. Then they are not

interested and start to hate English. But the number of demotivating factors is far

less than that of motivating factors for our group.

Suggestions To Students, Teachers And MEXT

What we want to tell JHS/HS students is that it depends on you whether you can

learn a lot delightfully or not. Almost all of the students think foreign languages like

English are not useful in the future, which makes you de-motivated in learning. The

result is that students get sleepy or use their cell phone under the desk even during

the class. To be sure, the class is boring and makes you feel sleepy. Textbooks are

written in only English, so the students have to study grammar and structure. And

they also have to learn thousands of words they’ve never known. However, it is

important for each student to have an active attitude.

It is the student who must get English skills, not teachers. They should be interested

in foreign languages, and they will get much knowledge easily with enjoyment. To

sum up, students must take responsibility of their education and find their way to

enjoy individual learning English.

We also recommend to teachers that from our data, students are more active when

they do not use the textbook. For instance, they can listen to English music, sing

songs in English, watch movies and play some games while moving our bodies. In

Japan, teachers teach English mainly for the university entrance exams. This style

makes most students de-motivated in learning. But we do not want teachers to

forget there are students who love to learn English. Such students are of course

active therefore, if English class becomes teacher-centered, active students

become less interested in English. Hence, we think student-centered classes are


better. Just opening the text and listening to teachers’ instructions is boring. It is not

effective. English education is not only for examinations.

What we would like to say to Monbusho is that most students are not interested in

having the current English classes. Most people get interested at first when a

foreigner comes to their class and they enjoy talking to him or her. Also, de-

motivating factors tell us that many students do not like the current class, which

makes the students study the grammar of English by using the text book. So, from

these results, we think English classes should have more English conversation and,

if possible, every school should have some foreign teachers in order to teach “real

English”. We are sure this will get students to learn English with interest and joy.

The most important thing to improve students’ abilities in English or in other areas is

thinking from the student side. Then teachers can know what is good and what is

not.

In conclusion, by collecting our class data, we learned that at first glance, there

were not many big differences in our Language Learning Histories. We found it

surprising to know that we are motivated by a lot of things, and it is important to feel

motivated. Moreover, it is sometimes important to feel de-motivated in some cases

to learn languages. By analyzing these Language Learning Histories, we could

learn many things from our classmates. Also, every single person is different. Some

are motivated by something. However, others are not motivated by the same thing.

And the feelings and thoughts they got are all different from each other. If there are

thirty people, there are thirty different ways to feel. Hence, there must be thirty

different ways to learn languages. Finally, we are glad to study English with our

classmates.


(5) From Riding to Driving the Roller Coaster

Saori Mine!Fumi Takeyama!Tatsuya Lacy!Yoshinori Yahiro

INTRODUCTION

This is a Student Report on English Language Learning in Japan Based on

Language Learning Histories" (LLHs, hereafter). We really like English and have

been studying English for many years, but our learning motivation is like a roller

coaster. We sometimes feel that we don’t want to study English anymore. What

makes us lose our enthusiasm to learn? When do we feel that we really want to

study English? Only the students who have been studying English know these

things. When the Japanese educational system is improved by considering this

data, children who study English in the future can study English more efficiently. We

made this report because we hope that the Japanese education in Japan will be

improved and children can enjoy studying English by being motivated more often.

Method

The general method for the research is in the introduction (p. 5). We made this

report by analyzing the LLHs. We sometimes had some problems when we studied

English in JHS and HS. We think it helps a lot to understand our histories in order to

make a more instructive and effective educational system in the future.


Most students were motivated by native speakers and teachers in elementary

school, high school, or English conversation school. They met great teachers at

school who were interested in English. After learning basic English, they started

studying English by themselves and in their own way. Native speakers were a big

chance for them to start learning English. Some people say that their motivational

factors were home stays, exchange programs or school trips to foreign countries.

They learned a lot of valuable things in foreign countries by using English and

speaking with native speakers. They found that communicating in English is hard,

but they kept using English, so gradually they came to be able to communicate in

English. Staying in foreign countries was their turning point in their LLH. Moreover

some people are motivated by a certifying examination like EIKEN or TOEIC, and

some people are motivated by movies and music. When they pass the examination,

they become confident in their abilities. They take a step by passing the exam.

What it amounts to is this: if you enjoy it, it is motivational



English class in high school, junior high school and cram school demotivated many

students, because teachers taught them mostly grammar and vocabulary, but they

didn’t have many chances to actually use the language. To learn grammar and

vocabulary is important for us, but if we can’t use them in conversation, it doesn’t

make sense. Also students had to read textbooks and memorize vocabulary and

grammar in class. Some of them felt English class was too easy and some of them

felt it too difficult, so they thought it was boring. Moreover some Japanese teachers’

pronunciation was bad, and it was not good for them. Teachers who have poor

English skills make students bored and lose respect. Most students are

demotivated by English classes at school because of these reasons.

Recommendations to students

We’ve been studying English since we were children and we found good resources

to improve our English skills effectively, so we want to recommend them to

students. One student said that he always listens to English or has something about

English (Takahashi p.14). When you have English around you all the time, your

English skill will improve rapidly. So, we recommend students to read books, listen

to music and watch movies in English as much as possible.

Study abroad is also a good way of learning English. One student went to a foreign

country to study abroad (Shishikura p.20). She couldn’t communicate with her host

family in English at first, so she asked her friends the meaning of words when she

found unknown words and she tried to talk with her host family. Her effort made her

English skill improve and she came to be able to communicate with her host family.

To communicate with foreigners is hard and difficult, but it will be really a good

experience for language learners. So, if possible, we recommend students to go to

foreign countries and communicate with people there.

Recommendations to teacher

In this part, we want to recommend to teachers the good strategies to teach English

for JHS and HS students. When we analyzed the LLHs, we noticed that the classes

at JHS and HS were not interesting and useful for most students. Most students

said they only read text books and learned grammar, but they didn’t have chance to

use them in classes, so they were bored and they couldn’t feel the pleasure of

communicating with people in English. And also, the teachers spoke English only

when they read text books and some of them were not good at speaking English

clearly and fluently. Thus, we couldn’t feel the English classes at JHS and HS were


interesting. So, we think the teachers should speak ENGLISH ONLY in their

classes. And they have to give more classes, which emphasize communication like

discussion, debate, presentations and so on. To teach grammar and vocabulary is

very important, but we think teachers have to give students a chance to USE them.

And if our teachers were friendly and positive, we looked forward to their class and

our motivations for studying English were better. It is important that teachers talk a

lot with students and listen to student’s questions and opinions. Perhaps

communication is the most important thing. Teachers should not only be strict but

friendly and concerned with the atmosphere of the class.

Teachers should also teach their students to have confidence in themselves. And

last but not least, bring out the student’s passion for learning English. In other

words, make them become interested in language learning through fun and

enjoyable classes. In addition, when teachers teach, they should think about how

teenagers want to learn. And we can guarantee that through ‘active learning’ they

will become motivated. Most Japanese teacher’s regular routine of just reading

textbooks and students having to listen to the teacher’s lecture is boring. Instead,

teachers should be more creative with their classes by adding fun learning games,

more conversations in English to increase motivation, and activities which are done

on your feet rather than on your bottom. A few examples for this are done at KUIS.

Walking around the classroom and asking classmates questions in English is a

simple and fun activity. Also the fruit basket game is fun because one person

stands in the middle of the class and by saying one line in English such as ‘stand up

if you are wearing shoes’ he/she has the power to move all classmates off their

seats.


MEXT will play the most important role to change English classes in Japan. First of

all, as we said in our recommendations to teachers, teachers need to have better

English skills. Because we just read textbooks and we couldn’t practice speaking

English at JHS and HS, people in other countries think that, “Japanese people can’t

speak English at all.”

Therefore, MEXT should often provide workshops for JHS and HS teachers and

train them to improve their ability and teach them how to teach English to students

more efficiently. And they also need to increase the classes like Oral

Communication classes that ALTs visit. MEXT should change the educational


system and increase time spent to study English.

Surprising data and Conclusion

In conclusion, we were surprised at the fact there were people who came up with

ideas that not only helped foreigners in Japan but also helped their own English

skills. But we were shocked that so many students lacked confidence in learning

English. We think that confidence is the most important thing you need for language

learning. Because having confidence makes you think positive. And by thinking

positive, you are able to learn faster. When we have confidence we begin driving

the roller coaster.

Also knowing the motivational factors of our classmates was interesting because it

surprised us that so many students were motivated because of their ALTs or native

speakers. This shows that native teachers are a lot more effective to the students in

English education than having Japanese teachers teaching English. We noticed

that the learning environment should be closer to reality. If we want to improve this

country’s English educational system, we should first offer more job opportunities to

foreigners in Japan as English teachers.

When we start learning, we have little control. Later we are more self-directed. We

have more control and it gets even more exciting and we can do things to make it

go up! Still MEXT, teachers and students themselves can together create more

student-centered environments where students are more in control.


(6) Joyful Student Centering

Yui Fujimoto, Aki Ishii, Sera Sasaki

Introduction

English is used as a common language all over the world. English enables us who

don’t use English in daily life to communicate with foreigners even though they

aren’t native English speakers. It’s often said that Japanese tend to be not good at

using English compared with other nations’. As Japanese English learners, we

researched our experiences learning English. This paper deals with the topic of

what is effective for Japanese English learners.

Method

Our freshman English class of Kanda University of International Studies wrote our

experiences learning English, in other words, our Language Learning Histories

(LLHs, hereafter) at the end of our first semester in 2009. The 30 LLHs consist of

three groups as follows:

I. Never been abroad for longer than a weekend - 12

II. Been abroad a bit: short stays abroad (cumulatively less than a year) - 11

III. Been abroad a while: longer stays abroad (cumulatively over a year) - 7

three

groups!

"

#

Using the LLHs, we researched what kind of materials and experiences were

motivational or de-motivational for us, counting the number of them to make sure

what was effective, with an eye toward improving English education. Also, our

paper contains recommendations to students, teachers, and MEXT.

Motivating Factors

There are many things that motivated our classmates: watching movies, listening to

music and going to cram schools in our childhood. For example, 18 students’

motivation went up when they encountered good teachers who taught them English

with fun. In addition, going abroad was very useful and interesting for 10 students.

During their stay abroad, they were surrounded by an English environment and they

had many opportunities to speak and listen to English, so their English skill


improved and their motivation to study English went up. Thus, our motivations go up

when we learn English actively, when we have opportunities to speak English more.

De-Motivating Factors

On the other hand, 15 students felt their motivation for studying English go down

when we took the English classes at our junior high school and high school. One of

the biggest reasons is, that the classes are teacher centered, so students just

listened to what the teacher said and studied grammatical things. One of our

classmates said “When I entered HS, English became one of the most tedious

subjects because we did not use it. It was a very teacher-centered class and no

interaction between classmates” (Yamada p.18). We didn’t have enough

opportunities to speak English. Another thing, which de-motivated us was our poor

vocabulary and English skill. When we couldn’t express what we wanted to say, we

lost confidence in our English abilities.


Now, we would like to give some pieces of advice to junior high school and high

school students to improve their learning styles. First of all, you should find your

way which suits you to study English. There are a lot of ways to study English and

whether some of them are good ways or not depends on you. You had better think

of which English skill you are good at or not. For example, we know, many boys and

girls like music. If you also like music, you will learn a lot from listening to English

songs.

We suggest that you should communicate with foreign people like your assistant

language teachers in your school if you want to be able to speak English fluently. If

you do that, you can get used to speaking and listening to native speakers. It is

good practice and you can learn how to pronounce appropriately.

It is also important to study and talk with your friends. Some students often get

nervous when they speak to native speakers. However, communication between

friends does not need any hesitation. Ask your friends when you have any question

about English grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. You can also help each

other with your mistakes.


Based upon our data, we recommend that junior high school and high school

teachers improve their teaching styles. First of all, please make lessons more


interesting. According to our data, most students tend to feel bored when they are

taught only grammar. “I studied grammar, grammar, grammar, so I didn’t have any

chances speaking or communicating.”(Hayasaka, p.12)

In order to make your lesson more interesting, you need to make opportunities for

students to talk in English. Please try to let your students tell their friends or native

speakers like assistant language teachers about their free time or weekends in

English. Talking to foreigners and classmates in English is very important to

improve students’ English skills. Singing English songs is really an affective activity

for them, too. Many students say that they liked these kinds of activities and felt

they were useful. If your students are also interested in music, singing English

songs together will help them learn English grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary

naturally.


To improve English education in Japan, MEXT might consider organizing

communication classes and activities like conversation time in English. Then,

students can accept English as an interesting subject. After they have chances to

use English, they can understand the necessity of learning English. It’s also

important to have access to an environment in which they can always touch English

using songs, magazines, posters, and so on. Now we study English at KUIS. There

are many materials that we can use to study English, so we can always be in touch

with English. We think that MEXT should invest in self-access learning centers

(SALCs) for all schools so students would be able to increase their contact with

English. We strongly believe that junior high school students and high school

students should have more opportunities to communicate with their friends or native

speakers in English.

Conclusion

We were surprised that what got many of us to be interested in English and really

like English were good teachers who taught us English with fun. It is clear that we

tend to dislike teacher-centered classes like most JHS and HS classes and we like

student centered classes. Students want English classes to include a lot of

opportunities to speak English and do fun activities. Therefore, we are sure that our

motivations continue to go up for a long time. We strongly hope that English

education will be improved through joyful student centering and the number of

students who like English will increase.


(7) The real voice of students in KUIS

Ryuichi Yamada, Yurie Iwamoto and Hanae Iwasawa

This report is an analysis of Language Learning Histories 2009 (LLHs). Our LLHs

were written by 30 KUIS Freshman. We found that many students who went abroad

said that they could get interested in English more after studying abroad. However,

in general, it is hard for students to go outside of Japan because it costs a lot. In

this research, we found many ways to study English without leaving Japan and we

would like to share our findings. For the general method of collecting the data,

please see the introduction.


20 out of 30 students think that teachers and the environment are the most

important parts of language learning. Other minor motivational factors are friends,

tests, and their experiences. A lot of students were motivated by the media (comic

books, TV programs, movies, and Western music). These things are fun and also

are so effective to learn English because people can access them easily. Similarly,

people who are surrounded by English can be motivated. From the LLHs, the

majority of people said that the environment (ALT teachers, classes, and KUIS) had

to do with motivation of learning English. For instance, going abroad seems

statistically the best strategy to improve their English skills and increase their

interests. The problem is we can’t go abroad easily. How can we solve this

problem? The answer is to experience being in a different country. As a first step,

they need to engineer their environment in a way which they must speak, write and

make people stronger. In addition, communicating with their friends and native

English speakers in English is useful as they can actually gain experience through

practice. Two students said, “they can improve their English skills and share a lot of

fun with their friends and native English speakers.” (Takeyama, Sasaki p.22)


According to our data, there is only one demotivational factor: a teacher-centered

English grammar class. The students don’t want this kind of typical education.

Students think that “when you study foreign language, never study only sitting on a

chair. You should communicate with a lot of people to learn.” (Inoue p.11)


Students should not think that learning English is difficult and should not worry


about making mistakes. Mistakes tell you what you need to work on, and they even

make your goals clear. Therefore, do not be afraid of making mistakes. If you really

want to study English, find ALT teachers at your school and try to speak to them. It

might be a little bit tough for you to talk to somebody in English at the beginning, but

do not give up. You will not gain anything if you do not even try. Keep trying as

much as possible and you might enjoy it. If you do not like your ALT teacher, it does

not matter. You can still find other ways to learn English. For example, take

advantage of everything you can find such as western films, newspaper, friends or

teachers. Thus, you can get a vast knowledge of English. The important thing is to

try and do not be afraid of making mistakes.


Based on our understanding of data, teachers should help students be interested in

English. Some teachers tend to conduct teacher-centered classes and they put too

much pressure on students, for example, studying too many grammatical rules and

memorizing unnecessarily complex vocabulary. In other words, they shouldn’t be so

strict with students. They should have more interactions with them using English.

For example, playing activities together or doing role-plays in class must be

entertaining. On the other hand, learning English right in front of a desk most of the

time is not fun at all and it might give some students an allergy to English.


It is difficult to change the Fundamental Law of Education but there are three tips

which the government may take into consideration. First, we KUIS students

recommend MEXT raise teachers' salary and give more benefits to teachers to

attract excellent people to become teachers and this in turn will create

reinforcement of the teacher population and the quality of teachers. Secondly, the

government should introduce those teachers to the real voice of KUIS students and

should try to instill more attractive ways of teaching styles into them. Lastly, the

government should treat universities of the humanities and universities of natural

sciences equally because the government tends to give more budgets to latter

ones. We understand natural science is indispensable to Japanese economy in

order to prosper in business. However, language learning is as important as natural

science because language is the foundation to link the world in peace. For example,

in general, poor communication skills make people difficult to get along with

Japanese because we are traditionally required to gather from people's attitude or

sense what people are thinking. In greater degree, without having good

communication skills, we can't conclude an alliance with other nations. Therefore,


the government should treat universities of the humanities and universities of

natural sciences equally.

Surprising data and conclusion

Three things surprised us: Speaking of friends, five students think that they could

learn English better when they teach each other or have a strong sense of rivalry.

As for tests, three students think that studying for tests help them learn better. In

regard to their experiences, two people think that their experiences boost their

motivation to study English. For instance, one student said, “I tried to communicate

with American students, but I couldn't speak and understand what they said. I was

very sad and my confidence was perfectly crushed. Then I noticed that my effort

wasn't enough, so I decided to study more and more." (Hayasaka p.12)

In conclusion, this report of LLHs 09 analysis is mainly about how Japanese

students can improve their English learning styles. For these are the voices of

students who have most recently experienced Junior high school (JHS) and high

school (HS) English education in Japan. We found many interesting perspectives,

motivational factors, and demotivational factors. Most importantly, the students

prefer to speak or use English rather than sit on a chair for a whole class, and they

cry out for changing the old teaching styles to new teaching styles because they

found the new method much more fun by themselves. In this report the word “fun” is

mentioned over and over which, we think, must be a staple point of learning English

and other subjects as well because we unconsciously know that a feeling of

enjoyment drives us energetically in studying more. If somebody studied English

hard with the feeling of fun, it would become part of him/her. We believe that it is the

best source of learning English or other things as well. Finally, we hope this report

will help improve English education in Japan for future generations.


(8) Learning from Our Peers

Akane Nakayama, Kenji Yokoi, Ayaka Nagasawa

In writing this report we are “learning from our peers” because it was their LLHs that

we read and analyzed. We also learned with friends. We hope our peers and

friends can also learn from this report. Motivation and de-motivation are related to

studying. However most students do not know what motivation is, or where it comes

from. The type of motivation depends on the student, but there are common points.

We wrote our own LLHs and showed how we learned English to our classmates.

Then we studied them, mainly the motivational and de-motivational factors. The

main point is to consider and improve ways to learn languages through this activity.


We are sometimes motivated or de-motivated to learn English, although we like it.

Some students are motivated because the style of class is very fun. For example,

one of the students said, “We had parties on Halloween and Christmas. We sang

songs in English, ate cookies and drank juice. I had a very good time with friends. I

could enjoy learning English, and my English skill improved without notice.”

(Hosaka p.13) And another student said “I studied English very hard. Then, I

passed Eiken grade 2 when I was freshman in high school. At that time, I noticed

that doing my best was wonderful!” (Mine p.13) Thus, we are motivated when we

enjoy what we do and see progress.

Our motivations sometimes depend on our teachers or peers. One of the students

said, “The English class was so boring. I knew the alphabet and numbers so I had

no concentration in learning English. I also hated my teacher so I usually did not

attend the class” (Nakatsuka p.26). Other students also said that the class in junior

high school was boring because it was only studying grammar, vocabulary and

listening to what the teacher said. Another student said, “When I entered HS,

English became one of the most tedious subjects because we did not use it. It was

a very teacher-centered class and no interaction between classmates. Hence I only

showed my face in class and I did not study at all for three years” (Yamada p.18).

Teacher-centered classes make students passive—we need to be active to learn.

Recommendations

According to our data, we all have studied English using songs and English movies.

These make it fun to study and students can learn useful English. In addition, if you


have a chance to go abroad you should go and talk with foreigners. Actually most of

us say that talking to native speakers can motivate us. And after you come back,

you may know what you need to do to improve your English skill. If you truly want to

improve your English skill, you need to know how to study English, and make sure

which skills you need to improve and what makes you motivated.

Teachers need to know how students think about studying English. LLHs are the

real voice from students. According to these data, students are motivated when

they have interest to learn English. It is not effective for them just to sit at the desk,

read a textbook, and memorize vocabulary. Students need to analyze their own

motivation to study English. We recommend doing this in class. They need to find

out why they are learning English, and how to improve their English skill. Students

want interesting classes, therefore sometimes teachers could be either good

motivation or de-motivation. Also, schools should have more exchange programs

such as study abroad, home-stay program and more, to make students want to

learn English.

Indeed, too many students study by themselves. However, to learn subjects,

teachers are indispensable for students, so we want the Ministry of Education,

Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to employ teachers who are

responsible and have good effects on students. Some teachers seem not to like

children and teaching. We cannot understand why they became teachers.

Therefore we think MEXT needs to make an examination for a teacher’s certificate

stricter and try to employ better teachers. If students have good teachers, they will

be motivated to study.

Conclusion

While reading the LLHs, we were surprised at the fact that more than half of the

students in this class have already been abroad. They said that they enjoyed their

homestay programs and they could learn a lot from native speakers. Therefore we

thought students should study abroad more if they can. Also they need to analyze

their strong and weak points of studying English and know how to learn English.

After doing this, students can be in a good environment. In conclusion, analyzing

our own skills, knowing how to learn English, having motivation and making a good

environment are the most important things for learning languages. We actually

recommend studying abroad, but it is not the most important thing. All that learners

need is to find their own suitable and stable learning style, and to learn from their

peers.


(9) Education Needs Changing

Mayu Ozawa, Takahiro Aoyagi, Yuuka Ohno

Introduction

Would you like to change the teaching of English in Japan? We are

freshmen of Kanda University of International Studies. In the first six months of our

university life, we have mainly learned how to communicate in English, how to learn

English in classes in very different ways from junior high or high school. During a

compulsory class, we are not allowed to use Japanese. We learn a lot of useful

knowledge and suitable vocabulary or phrases for various kinds of situations by

doing activities all in English. The big difference of ways to learn from junior high

and high school really surprised us and also made us wish that we had been able to

study in such easier ways before university. This is one of the reasons why we are

writing this report. We are hoping that the teaching of English in Japan will change.

We are going to give some recommendations, so we will appreciate it if you make

use of them for educating students in the future.

Method

In one course, we wrote our Language Learning Histories (LLHs) so we had a

chance to know how each of our classmates had studied English before entering

university. Then, we read everyone’s LLH, and we noted what kinds of experiences

motivated or de-motivated us to study English harder. Here, we look at a few

factors, which influenced most students. Based on the data, we made some

recommendations to students, teachers, and MEXT.


According to our analysis, almost all students were motivated in junior high school

and high school by a good teacher, an interesting English class, and also by

studying abroad. A student said “to have met the teacher was an important turning

point for me. He taught me not only English but also about many foreign

countries.”(Mine, p.14) From these factors, we could find how teachers and classes

affect students’ motivation of learning English. In addition, studying abroad is also

motivational. Other students said, “I made friends at various ages and from various

countries.”(Mochizuki, p.21) In such ways, students can learn a lot from many

native speakers and experiences of foreign country life and culture.

De-motivational factors

On the other hand, students were not motivated when an English class was boring


and a teacher was not good at teaching. A student said, “English classes were

boring because they were teacher-centered” (Takahashi, p.15). Another student

said, “Of course I liked English but sometimes I could not understand the lessons.

Also, I did not have any courage to speak English” (Hayashi p. 24). We could notice

that the reasons were similar to motivating things. The more students feel classes

and teachers were bad, the more they do not feel like studying English and lose

their confidence.


To begin with, almost all the JHS and HS teachers teach just reading and writing

from their textbooks. In these studies we learn in a middle school or a high school

are for entrance exams, so it is not very useful in real English conversation. It is true

that vocabulary and grammar we learn in school are important. However, we should

try to speak English to get better. There are few opportunities to speak English for

students in classes. Of course, students have to try to speak English positively in

classes. However, we think students had better make more opportunities to listen to

English or speak English outside classes. What we recommend to students are

watching overseas dramas and making foreign friends. There are some reasons we

recommend students to do these two activities. First of all, we can enjoy learning by

watching dramas. We can keep on learning for amusement. Secondly, we cannot

only practice listening but also can learn a lot of vocabulary and expressions.

Moreover, a lot of daily conversations are used in dramas. It is more useful than

watching movies. Lastly, we should use vocabulary and expressions that we have

learned from dramas and movies to improve our English more. This is the most

important thing. Make foreign friends and talk a lot. Do not be afraid of making

mistakes.


As we mentioned before, some students were not motivated when English classes

were boring. So we would like to recommend to teachers to make classes more

interesting. For example, teach English with English music or movies and make

more chances to speak English in a class. For that, making a good environment to

concentrate on studying is good for not only students but also teachers in order to

make students like to study English. Furthermore, teachers should not teach only

vocabulary and grammar. Actually, we learned a lot of vocabulary and grammar in

our junior high school and high school. To be honest, however, we did not know

how and when to use the vocabulary and grammar, which we had learned before.

Moreover, it is not enough to teach just the language. Students might need to have


knowledge of cultures of foreign countries in society. For that, teachers had better

teach not only the language but also cultures and their backgrounds.


Now, studying at our university, we wish that we could have studied English in a

better environment, and could have met more fabulous teachers. Also, we feel the

uselessness of things that we have learned in junior high and high school. To make

the way of teaching at school better, we have several things that we would like you

to do.

First of all, we would like you to get teachers more eager for teaching. For instance,

to establish a system that teachers will get something like points and up to the

points they can get more salary if they get highly evaluated by parents and

students. This is an example that we could come up with, so whether this idea is

good or not, we would like you to make something like a system to get teachers

more eager.

Secondly, we think that students need to enjoy studying English. There are a lot of

students who hate English and also a lot of people who have a problem speaking

even though they are good at grammar. One of the reasons for that is teachers

teach mostly grammar or vocabulary in a class. We suggest that MEXT should

make a system in which teachers have to have students listen to music or watch

movies, and make chances to talk in English in a class. This would be good for

students who are eager to learn English as well because experiencing real English

is really practical.

If these things are realized, you might be able to decrease the number of people

who do not like English and hesitate to talk to people from foreign countries.

Surprising data/Conclusion

We were surprised at the fact that a lot of our classmates did not like English before

but now are in this university. What has changed their mind? According to the data,

many students changed because of their teachers. To conclude, to meet good

teachers in middle or high school is very important thing for students to learn

English. Of course, student’s motivation is also important. However, the first thing

we should do is to make an effort to educate teachers better. We think good

teachers know how important the student-centered class is. It might take a long

time to change education in Japan, or maybe not. But we should start now.


(10) Living English

Yuki Takahashi, Yuriko Chino, Camila Kaori Hayashi

We analyzed our classmates’ Language Learning Histories (LLH, hereafter) and

compiled motivational factors and de-motivational factors from their LLHs. We hope

this will be helpful not only to MEXT but also to students and teachers. We hope

this report will be useful when people study English and teach English. (Please see

the introduction for a fuller explanation of the general methodology.) Our

understanding of these LLHs lies in our belief that students learn when they are in

contact with living English.

Our classmates wrote their LLHs in the spring of 2009 in our First Year Seminar. In

the fall of 2009, we began analyzing them. We read classmates’ LLHs and put

together not only motivational factors but also de-motivational factors.

Motivation Factors

Many things make students have high motivation to study English. On the other

hand, there are de-motivational factors. When students were interested in

something using English such as movies, songs, books, games, overseas and so

on, they had high motivation to study English. However, it was their teachers,

especially native speakers who were ALTs, who influenced students the most.

Students also felt that the teacher-centered class was boring. Therefore, if teachers

made the class fun by using materials like songs and movies in their class, students

had high motivation and were interested in English more. Experiences in foreign

countries also motivated us. In fact, most of our classmates have been abroad for

tourism or studying. We think it is a good and an important thing to touch real-life

English, living English!

De-motivational Factors

Many people feel “de-motivated” when teachers have poor skills to teach English.

For example, some teachers do not have good pronunciation and enough

experiences to teach. If teachers improve their teaching skills, many people would

like English. The teachers need to make a “student-centered class”. We know that

to make a “student centered class” is difficult to make in junior high school and high

school students especially when teachers teach English grammar or vocabulary to

students. However, teachers can make time to have free conversation or activities

in English, so students can interact more. Students feel “de-motivated” when they


have a bad class. If their class is too difficult for them or the classmates do not have

good motivation, they cannot concentrate on the class.

Suggestions for teachers

First, the teacher should make a class “student-centered”. For example, take a few

minutes when students have some problems with grammar or vocabulary to let

them ask questions. The students need also to help each other. Just thinking in

groups of friends, they will improve their skills. Second, teachers should use

different activities in class. For example, listening to music, watching movies

together and summarizing them. Students need to learn a lot of grammar or

vocabulary, so they can enjoy leaning it with activities and they can enjoy English.

Finally, they should make more opportunities to talk with ALT teachers or

foreigners. The textbook is good material to learn English but it is not enough. They

need to practice what they learn in the textbook. To talk with native speakers makes

students’ motivations go up.

Suggestions for students

First, students do not just memorize grammar and vocabulary but rather use it in

real communication. Only memorizing is not too useful for your future, and it makes

your motivation go down. We recommend that students try to talk in daily life in

English. If they do not practice what they learn, it is of little use. Therefore, students

should try to talk with ALTs or friends in English. It is okay to make mistakes. These

kinds of experiences will be useful for students’ futures. Second, students should

watch more English movies. We recommend “drama comedy”, because that kind of

movie helps students to listen to daily life conversation and learn new vocabulary.

We should enjoy leaning.

Suggestions for MEXT

Many students thought English class in school was boring. The reason was there

were many things we have to memorize such as vocabulary and grammar. Also in

the class, teachers mostly taught us English for exams. We do not think it is useful

in our future lives. Therefore, we believe that daily English is more important. If

students can learn daily conversational English, students can use it in daily life, it is

easy to remember, and it is useful in their future. However, if we cannot have

opportunities to use daily English, we cannot learn it. As they say in English, “Use it

or lose it#”. Many students said that their motivation went up when they met native

speakers or foreigners. If students meet foreigners, they will speak English to

communicate with them because English is our common language. That gives


students many opportunities to learn English. They can feel living English so it

makes them interested in English.

Conclusion

Students had different motivating and de-motivating factors. They do not learn the

exact same way as another person. However, after we compiled our data, we found

most of the students were highly motivated when they found English enjoyable.

Moreover, they were de-motivated when they found studying English boring. If

teachers or MEXT can help students find a way to enjoy studying English, students

can become active learners. Just a little help will be a big help for students. We

hope this report will help others see the value in living English.


Appendix 1: Instructions for Writing the Language Learning Histories

Original Instructions HANDOUT (reduced size of paper) My Language Learning History

Write a paper about your language learning history from when you began learning English to

the present. Length: 3 pages double spaced (about 750 words). If you like you can send it via

e-mail. Some questions you may want to answer in your story:

• How did you learn English in JHS and HS?

• What positive and negative experiences did you have and what did you learn from them?

• What were you expecting before you came to the university?

• What were you surprised about in your university classes?

• How have you changed your ways of language learning since coming to the university?

• What are the things that you found especially helpful?

• What are the areas that you still want to improve in?

• How do you think your next three years will be?

• What are your language learning plans and goals after graduation?

• What advice would you give to next year's first year students?

Have your paper proof read and signed by two other classmates. Write the following at the

end of your paper for their signatures: “I have proofread and given suggestions about this

paper.” Signed _____________________ Signed _________________________

Appendix 2: Instructions to students for scaffolding their analyses

Group Work Project #1 LLHs Strategy and Belief Reflections by first year students

Before each of the next three classes, you need to read some of the LLHs that you received

last spring in the booklet (see below). As you read them, you need to mark in your booklets

the following things to discuss with your group partners each week.

1. Specific learning strategies the writer used to learn English and be motivated

2. Specific beliefs they had and if they changed

3. Conflicts and problems they had and if these were solved and how?

4. Other patterns and things that you might notice and count, dreams, travel, motivators,

de-motivators, influence of friends, media use

5. What hypotheses that we could research further come out of your reflections? (e.g.

English teachers should …Students would learn better if …)

You will be doing research with your group and reflecting on how English education in Japan

might be improved. You can make charts and keep count of things as you like. You will write

a short report at the end of the three classes to submit as a group with recommendations for

change in the English educational system. I will present your findings to teachers when I do

workshops with them and your comments may be published in articles and change Japanese

education.

Please read the following LLHs and mark them up (highlight them) by the following dates


(write your name on the front of your copy, I will ask to have a look at them later): #1-12 (pp.

6-16) by Oct 2; #13-23 (pp. 17-26) by Oct 9; #24-30 (pp. 27-33) by Oct 16. Research Groups:

[students names in 10 groups]

Tips for Working Well in Groups

Know that you have something to learn from everyone. Learn it. Be polite. Be friendly.

Volunteer for tasks and roles. Ask questions; invite others to do things. Try not to dominate

the group; you are not always right. Try to contribute something worthwhile. Accept criticism.

Criticize the idea or phrase, not the person. Be brave and say your opinion, the group

benefits more from hearing different opinions. Accept others’ views and thank them for

expressing themselves. Make sure you are doing your share (but not everything) and that

others have things to do. Ask questions! Make sure you have each other’s phone and email.

When sending emails about the project or submitting your reports, please cc (include

everyone’s email) in each message so they are informed of all communications (even if it

does not concern them, include them!).

Working Through Conflicts in Groups and Caring Confrontation

Conflicts and confrontations can be positive; they help people think deeper. Expect them,

deal with them, and walk on. They are a part of life. Stay calm and discuss things, if it turns

out that things are un-resolvable, you simply report that “Some in our group think A and

some think B.” Use “I” messages with feelings, rather than blaming with “you” (“I feel un-

respected when you come late”, rather than “You are always late!” Rotate roles in the group.

Appendix 3: Prompt sheet for analyzing the LLHs in small groups

[Note: More space was given on a full A4 sheet for these analyses, with much space after

each of the 6 points below. For the sake of saving paper, this form is condensed.]

Report # Group Members Date .

LLHs considered in this report: # thru of .

Compiled Motivating factors Compiled De-Motivating factors

___________________________________/___________________________________________

__________________________________ /_____________________________________ . . .

1.Generalizations: According to this data, students learn best when…

2.According to this data, teaches teach better when they…

3. If you were to talk to JHS/HS STUDENTS what would you advise them?

4. If you were to talk to JHS/HS TEACHERS what would you recommend to them?

5. If you were to talk to Monbusho based upon the above data what would you tell them?

6. Did you find anything surprising or unexpected in the data? (use the back of this sheet if

you need more room)


Appendix 4: The Real Voice of Japanese Students 2010—University

Student Comments on their English language learning in JHS and HS.

(video script – read on Dec. 21 2009 for a YouTube Video by students)

1. Our Language Learning Histories

2. And our research / show that

3. Learning English in Japan / is not

always easy

4. Many JHS / and HS students in

Japan

5. Study mainly grammar /

for entrance exams

6. And end up / not being able /

to use English

7. After many years of study.

8. This is the inconvenient truth: /

Honne not Tataemae

9. While most JHS and HS teachers

mean well

10. And some of our teachers have

been really great!

11. The truth is, many teachers are

force-feeding grammar

12. This IS the inconvenient truth: /

Honne not Tataemae

13. A bit of grammar,

14. At the point of need,

15. Can be useful

16. But too much, is too much!

17. Its BORRRRR ING (say slowly)

18. We want to TALK more (excited)

19. Use English!

20. Talk to our classmates

21. SING SONGS! (Everybody sing it!)

22. Give presentations

23. Write our own ideas

24. Think seriously

25. bout improving our world

26. In short …

27. Do things with the language

28. Not just listen to teachers …

29. Talk in Japanese

30. When students speak English

31. We still use grammar / like now

32. We learn vocabulary

33. In language learning

34. You “use it or lose it.”

35. Narau yori nareyo

36. Asking may be a moment’s

embarrassement

37. Not asking is a lifelong regret.

38. Kiku wa itoki no hadji, kikanu wa

isho no hadji.

39. We ASK for CHANGE

40. In English education in Japan

41. For future generations

42. Students want to USE English

43. Less testing and grammar

44. We think our teachers need a break

45. from teaching to exams

46. We think Mombusho could help

47. By changing the exam system

48. Our exams are literally killing

some of us

49. You know, this may not work…

50. It’s OK, / “We can accept failure,

51. but we cannot accept not trying”

52. We dare / to hope for change

53. Thanks for at least trying

54. To improve education

55. For future generations

56. Arrigato gozaimas

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