ELT in Japan (ELT-J)

TEFL Net's 'TEFL Inspire' has a lot of material and discussions relevant to the English teacher in Japan.  http://www.tefl.net/index.htm http://www.tefl.net/newsletter/ TEFL INSPIRE NEWSLETTER (May 2010) TEFL Help Desk by Lucy Phonemic alphabet Q: Hi Lucy: I am a foreign teacher of English in a language centre in Turkey. I am teaching the young learners and adult programmes. Because Turkish students are so particular about the translation of the English words to Turkish, I usually board them (both). Then I go through the pronunication with them without giving them phonemic alphabet. I will do the drilling with the whole class and then again with smaller groups. What is your thought about this? Do you think I should write down the phonemic alphabet? I would think the students will be more confused.... A: Dear Jo: For older children (eg teens) and for adults, you could start introducing phonetic symbols. You...

ELT in Japan's next two issues This is what will appear in issue #3 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in June.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Textbook selection for university EFL classes in Japan 2. Directory of EFL publishers for the Japanese market 3. The Visual Pronunciation Dictionary (VPD): An introductory overview 4. Teaching and learning English /l/s and /r/s 5. Introduction to Truespel --a phonetic alphabet based on the principles of English pronunciation and spelling conventions    This is what will appear in issue #4 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in August-September.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Phonemic Awareness is a native literacy concept, but does it have applications for EFL? 2. A overview of...

Japan Probe (News Aggregator) Page with news items and video on ELT in Japan http://www.japanprobe.com/category/teaching-english/

Some in ELT in Japan have argued that content teaching and English for Specific Purposes are the future of ELT here. However, at any level, attempting to teach content in a foreign language faces many challenges, such as teacher training, materials writing, effective methods, and COSTS. The program in Okinawa raises one issue that needs to be addressed under the category of 'evaluation': If less than half of the students say that they can understand the content taught in English, is that an acceptable level of comprehension? http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=10116 Excerpt: English immersion program facing budget elimination A special educational program at a pair of Okinawa City schools conducting classes in English is facing extinction unless something can be done to provide funding to keep the program going. Yamauchi Junior High School and Kyuyo High School have been in the “immersion education” program since it was created on a test basis by the Okinawa Prefecture B...

You can view and read the entire patent application, including graphics which show aspects of the VPD's most typical embodiments. View it as a google document - click here. Download it as a .pdf, viewable in a program like Adobe Acrobat Reader - click here.

The TOEFL is more famous than its younger 'cousin', the TOEIC, as the TOEFL is the exam most people overseas take in order to attend college in the USA. However, the TOEIC has increased in popularity all over Asia and Latin America. Many students would like to add a good TOEIC score to their re'sume' for job searches. When students ask about the TOEFL because they want to study abroad, I always ask them to clarify: 1. Where do they want to study abroad? If they choose the UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, they had better make sure the TOEFL is what they need. (Also, have they even considered studying English in SE Asia, such as in Singapore or Malaysia? They could save a lot of money and travel time.) 2. I always advise students to take the TOEIC first, before they take the TOEFL. I can use a TOEIC score to predict a TOEFL score. But it is better to take the TOEIC first because it is cheaper and held more often. Also, if the student scores low, it means they ...

I'm not sure to what extent the makers of TOEIC go out of their way to put idioms on their test, but such idioms do occur often in everyday speech and perhaps reflect an anglophone sense of metaphor, which can be completely baffling to EFL learners. While I don't think the TOEIC or TOEFL or other such standardized EFL tests should be a requirement for everyone, they might help 'non-native' EFL teachers track and guide their own development. In Japan, many teachers refuse to model any oral English at all, often citing lack of self-confidence. I think we need to get beyond this. Indeed, getting beyond this impasse would be a big step forward. On the other hand, native speaker types might spend more time learning how to teach formally described aspects of language, such as grammar, idiomatic vocabulary, and pronunciation (applied phonology).They might also do well to familiarize themselves with the syllabuses and vocabulary lists their students have studied at the second...

I have often thought Japan's universities would do well to emphasize EFL and Chinese (CFL), and if other foreign languages were covered in university curriculums, they might consider Russian, Korean, Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia, but also Bahasa Malaysia), etc. However, restructuring departments and personnel slots is an extremely difficult issue, as this case shows. Traditionally, English/EFL has fallen under the departments that included English-language literature, linguistics (usually formal linguistics after Chomsky), and 'English education' (Japan's version of TEFL for training JHS and SHS EFL teachers). Foreign language departments might reflect a similar makeup of literature and linguistics, concentrating on two European languages of major importance, German and French. Chinese has often been in a special relationship with Japanese (Japanese as a native language art), given the historical ties of literacy and cultural influence. This has been complicated in rec...

ELT in Japan's next two issues This is what will appear in issue #3 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in June.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Some thoughts and suggestions on textbook selection for university EFL classes in Japan 2. Directory of EFL publishers for the Japanese market 3. The Visual Pronunciation Dictionary (VPD): An introductory overview 4. Teaching and learning English /l/s and /r/s 5. Introduction to Truespel--a phonetic alphabet based on the principles of English pronunciation and spelling conventions    This is what will appear in issue #4 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in August.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Phonemic Awareness is an native literacy concept, but does it have applications ...

The Japan Association for the Promotion of Foreign Language Education (JAPFLE)   lists a lot of the English Conversation/Eikaiwa industry among its members and supporting members:  http://www.zengaikyo.jp/English/index.html Members (update: 23/04/2010) No. school name 　(head office) T E L web site 1 IAY International Academy 　(Sapporo) 011-281-5188 myiay.com 2 Mirai English School 　(Sapporo) 011-846-8845 www.mirai-es.com 3 JOY English Academy 　(Obihiro) 0155-33-0198 www.joyworld.com 4 Heights-Center English School 　(Ebetsu) 011-386-6268 www.fan.hi-ho.ne.jp/hces/ 5 James English School 　(Sendai) 0120-304-911 www.james.co.jp 6 Primary Englis...

At least among the large companies running 'eikaiwa' schools, the decline and disruptions continue with the bankruptcy of Geos this year. With Nova and Geos now gone, the Big Four are now the Big Two, Aeon and ECC. Or perhaps we could say Big Three, with Nagoya-based G.communication taking over a large part of what were Nova and Geos. Berlitz is also a serious contender for 'big' status because of its dominance in providing English to large companies. And then there is the related issue of 'dispatch'--dispatch firms recruit and provide the personnel, while the accepting institution (such as a private junior high school) hosts the recruited teacher and provides the induction and management in terms of language teaching. There are still a lot of jobs in the 'eikaiwa' industry, but it appears to be more fragmented. This fragmentation probably hurts employees the most because it makes collective representation more difficult. It also makes it more difficul...