1. Japanese Context
2. English in Japanese Public Schools
3. ALTs
4. JTEs
5. Teachers Working Together
6. Learners
2. English in Japanese Public Schools
3. ALTs
4. JTEs
5. Teachers Working Together
6. Learners
Contextual Modules, as the title suggests, will explore the teaching context in Japan.
To be more effective teachers a detailed working knowledge of who you are teaching, who you are teaching with, and where you are teaching, is fundamental.
ALTs are part of language policy and, as Spolsky definitively put: ‘language policy functions in a complex relationship among a wide range of linguistic and non-linguistic elements, variables and factors’ (as cited in Gottlieb, 2012, p.130). He identifies non-linguistic elements as; political, demographic, social, religious, cultural, psychological and bureaucratic (p.130). There is a huge amount of literature on English education in Japan that discusses all of these factors. Articles have been handpicked and are used as recommended reading for these modules. To understand the ALT position and how to teach more effectively these factors must be taken into account, and are discussed throughout these modules.
Reading the content in these modules is only half the goal of delivering a higher quality education to your students. To get a deeper understanding of how these influences are manifested in the schools you work in, share your thoughts and personal experiences with other ALTs in the Forum or Facebook. Use this site as a place to make comments and ask other ALTs questions so we can share and grow as a community - ALTs to be are actively invited to join in too.
ALTs who develop an appreciation of sociocultural factors will better understand their students, the teachers they work with, school cultures and the roles that social factors play in affecting our classrooms. An outcome of these modules (and the entire course) is to encourage the development of socially and professionally cultured teachers that officials in Japan have been requesting.
questing.
To be more effective teachers a detailed working knowledge of who you are teaching, who you are teaching with, and where you are teaching, is fundamental.
ALTs are part of language policy and, as Spolsky definitively put: ‘language policy functions in a complex relationship among a wide range of linguistic and non-linguistic elements, variables and factors’ (as cited in Gottlieb, 2012, p.130). He identifies non-linguistic elements as; political, demographic, social, religious, cultural, psychological and bureaucratic (p.130). There is a huge amount of literature on English education in Japan that discusses all of these factors. Articles have been handpicked and are used as recommended reading for these modules. To understand the ALT position and how to teach more effectively these factors must be taken into account, and are discussed throughout these modules.
Reading the content in these modules is only half the goal of delivering a higher quality education to your students. To get a deeper understanding of how these influences are manifested in the schools you work in, share your thoughts and personal experiences with other ALTs in the Forum or Facebook. Use this site as a place to make comments and ask other ALTs questions so we can share and grow as a community - ALTs to be are actively invited to join in too.
ALTs who develop an appreciation of sociocultural factors will better understand their students, the teachers they work with, school cultures and the roles that social factors play in affecting our classrooms. An outcome of these modules (and the entire course) is to encourage the development of socially and professionally cultured teachers that officials in Japan have been requesting.
questing.
Recommended reading
Miyazato, K. (2015). In-service training for teaching English in elementary schools in Japan. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), JALT2014 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT
References
Gottlieb, N. (2012). Language policy in Japan: The challenge of change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spolsky, B. (2004). Language policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gottlieb, N. (2012). Language policy in Japan: The challenge of change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spolsky, B. (2004). Language policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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