24 February 2012
English Game Time
Posted by Roland under: JET .
One of the biggest developments re: English education in Japan in the last few years was the introduction of formalized English education for fifth and sixth graders in elementary school. Previously, English lessons only began in earnest in middle school. While there could be some English taught in elementary schools before the introduction of Eigo Note (the elementary English textbook), it was very much location and staff dependent on how good the teaching was, if any was taking place.
Officially, the purpose to teach English in elementary is to just get kids exposure to English at a younger age, a sort of headstart to the English you’d start to learn in English. However, there is no accountability in terms of testing or grades (at least from the schools I work at) on how well you do the lessons. So this means a student’s desire to sit through an elementary English lesson is firmly predicated on their own personal desires to study (and also a little bit from having to behave because they’re in school).
But since the main purpose is exposure and not accountability, the English being taught focuses on simple phrases and only conversation. There’s no writing or reading elements being tested. Most of the time, kids are given a few key words/phrases to learn and then activities to do that reinforce learning those words/phrases. But since you’re dealing with kids, most of the activities turn out to be games. I think some of the games do work pretty well (they all involve speaking/listening English in some respect to succeed at the game) but I also think it sends a message to the kids that English lesson time is also a sort of play time. Some classes expect a game to happen in each weekly class (and inevitably they’re usually right).
It’s a double edged sword. I think it does accomplish the goal of getting kids exposed and also getting excited about English. But when game time is afoot, you don’t always get the best behavior out of class. That’s a lesson I had to learn early on. I came in to expect a perfectly behaved class and when I didn’t get that sometimes, I would get upset with what appeared to me as disrespect/disinterest/bad behavior. But as I saw more of the kids at play, I learned that it was just kids being kids when they have a good time, a little rough, a little loud, but never mean-intentioned. On the flip side, when I saw kids in other non English classes, such as Math or Science, I was legitimately surprised to see how seriously they took those classes. Where was that behavior for my English classes?
English in Elementary is a pseudo game/lesson for most kids. You’re not going to get them on their best behavior most days, but then again, I learned you’re not dealing with a bunch of horrible kids who have absolutely no interest in what you’re doing and just want to play play play. What I had to learn was to balance my expectations and lesson plans with the class I was working with. And by god, with the English lesson plans I was handed, I would probably hate to have to sit through a traditional class of English. Games are a god send to keep the kids from falling asleep and not learning anything, I’m sure.