Japanese teachers wrap up training

Yuki Sato explains the teaching strategies outlined in his project, “Vocabulary Acquisition through Extensive Reading in the Japanese High School EFL Classroom,” to Amelia Hope, head of testing services at the Second Language Institute. Sato took part in a poster presentation with 11 other Japanese teachers on November 24, 2005.

Why can’t Japanese high school students speak English after six years of instruction?  Hiroshi Asari cannot only tell you why, but he now plans to help combat the problem upon his return to Japan this month (December 2005).

Asari was one of 12 Japanese English teachers studying in Canada for the last six months in one of the teacher training programs offered by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology (MEXT). During the teachers’ four months at the University of Ottawa, one of their goals was to learn how to inspire Japanese students to want to learn more English than simply what is required for high school and university entrance exams. 

As a part of the program, all participants were required to complete a 4,000 word independent study project outlining techniques that could be used to help them teach after returning home. These projects, presented in late November, covered such topics as how to bring vocabulary into productive use (Takao Murashima), guiding students from Japanese-English translation to independent writing in English (Rieko Takeda), and integrating grammar instruction with writing and a communicative approach (Naohiro Kubo).

Asari was looking forward to implementing some of the knowledge he acquired while in Ottawa. He was due back in the classroom on December 10, 2005, just one day after his return.

“You can learn a lot by reading books,” says Asari. “But coming to Canada, learning from professors and being able to ask questions — it had a lot more meaning.”