[etni] INDIRECTLY SPEAKING / Imaginary debate on all-English classes

From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 09:15:18 +0200
Does the following sound familiar? No, it is not from an Israeli newspaper, 
but from a newspaper in Japan.
Comments?

INDIRECTLY SPEAKING / Imaginary debate on all-English classes
The Daily Yomiuri - May 26, 2009

Several people have asked me why I haven't commented on one of the hot 
topics among English teachers in Japan--the Education, Science and 
Technology Ministry's revised teaching guidelines, which require that as of 
2013 teachers teach English in English in all Japanese high schools. The 
main reason I've refrained from discussing this is that it affects Japanese 
teachers far more than people like myself. So instead of listening to me 
rant, let's just switch on the mics in the teacher's room in Anyhighschool, 
Japan, so we can overhear the discussion between Saito-sensei and 
Watanabe-sensei.

Saito: The revised guidelines worry me. English is supposed to be an 
academic subject, but it seems like the ministry wants to turn it into an 
extension of English conversation lessons, with that emphasis on listening 
and speaking. Isn't that what private conversation schools are for? This 
"let's learn conversation" focus doesn't make sense in classes of 35 
students. Pretending that we are having conversations with them, assuming 
that this is somehow real, living English, it's a charade! Anyway, I'm 
supposed to be preparing students for success on university entrance exams, 
the basis of this school's standing and success, and teaching as a rigorous 
academic discipline, a part of classical education.

Watanabe: Saito, we have to separate conversation from communication. The 
revised guidelines' emphasis is upon the latter, not the former. English can 
be taught as a tool of communication and still maintain its academic 
qualities. And if real communication is the focus, the content should be 
more engaging, too. More exposure to actual English, including input from 
the teacher, won't hurt the students' academic standing.

Saito: But Watanabe, you and I are hardly perfect English speakers. Our 
pronunciation may be better than the average Japanese person's, but it's 
still distinctly Japanese pronunciation. And I still make mistakes with 
particles, articles and in finding the perfect English expression. Is it 
fair to the students to use our imperfect English as a model for them? 
Nativelike modeling is one of the reasons the JET (Japan Exchange and 
Teaching) Programme was started, a reason we have native speaker ALTs 
(assistant language teachers), right?

Watanabe: Yeah, we have Japanese accents, so what! Saito, most English 
speakers in the world are not native speakers--most speak "imperfect" 
English, like us. I don't mind admitting that to my students. I think the 
positive impression they get when they see a teacher, who is Japanese just 
like them, showing competency in English, is much greater than any 
negativity arising from our not being perfect or from not meeting some 
dubious standard of "correct" pronunciation. And isn't trying to develop 
competency, or at least a level of comfort with the language, a more valid 
target for our students than perfection?

(To read the whole article, go to -
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20090526TDY14001.htm  )


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[etni] INDIRECTLY SPEAKING / Imaginary debate on all-English classes

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