Over the Wall of Silence

Getting the Class Moving 35

Chapter 2

time, there are teachers against it, because they believe that it’s best for students to hear only English and get used to constructing mean ing even when they don’t understand 100% of what is being said. It’s rather controversial. Our take on this is that it depends on your students’ level. If their level is too low, they will be lost and nothing worthwhile will happen for far too long. In this situation, using Japanese to direct the class helps save time and ensure that speaking practice activities run smoothly, and therefore maximizes the students’ speaking time . Here’s another practical suggestion. Even if you decide to speak only English in class, you could ensure that crucial instructions are written down in Japanese and circulated to students. The written and the spoken directions will complement each other. S TRATEGY 2: M AINTAIN A REGULAR CLASS STRUCTURE When students don’t react to our teaching, we might think that they are bored with the style of the class and need some variation in the way they are learning. This may sometimes be the case. However, more often than not, bringing a wide range of activities that need to be explained and understood before they can be done only works to heighten students’ uncertainty. Of course, we agree that variety is the spice of life, but also that this spice should be added gradually, as students become more com fortable with the class dynamics. Western teachers are sometimes surprised at how Japanese students prefer regularity to adventure. It may be counter-intuitive, but in the Japanese context having a steady basic structure upon which we can vary content is a springboard for creativity.