Studying
english is a heated topic in
japan these days. We used to start studying
english when we were at junior high, and most of the classes were taught by
japanese
teachers. We studied mainly
english grammar for a long time, however recently the preference has shifted to conversation skills. And the starting age of studying
english is getting younger and more native
english speaking
teachers are needed right now. I believe that the non-native speaking
teacher can be a wonderful
teacher however they are not welcomed in a lot of situations for many reasons.
english is now required at elementary school for 5th and 6th grade since April, 2011. Also a lot of parents try to have their
kids study it when they are younger than 1 year old. Some mothers listen to
english for prenatal training. They believe that language development will be finished around 12 years old and for this global world they need to have
english skills for their baby's future
business success. Most of these parents also believe that conversation skills are more important than grammar for
english learning and tend to put their
kids into the native speakers' atmosphere.
Most of the schools used to ask ALT (Assistant Language
teacher). These
teachers are native speakers but not all of them have teaching experience or a license to teach
english. Now the classroom
teacher, who is a non-native
english speaker, is teaching
english beginning April, 2011 at elementary schools. The reason for starting
english class at elementary school is to develop
japanese people's
english conversation skills. However, a lot of parents have concerns about whether
japanese
teachers can teach
english well enough to develop their
children's skills sufficiently. The need is for native speakers but it's hard to hire enough native speakers for every school. Under this pressure, a lot of
japanese elementary school
teachers are uncomfortable teaching
english because they think they cannot pronounce or listen well enough to teach
english. But I believe that learning
english is not just about being able to talk and listen. Understanding
english is one of the most important skills and for that grammar is a necessity.
In
japan a lot of people say that they don't want to be taught
english by a
japanese
teacher because native speakers are “better”, but this is a misunderstanding. They may pronounce words correctly, but they don't always use correct grammar. This is especially common of those who don't have any teaching background.
japanese
teachers may have a problem for speaking and listening but they can teach grammar well because they were taught mainly grammar when they were at school. They also understand the students' difficulties and the main differences between
japanese and
english. Native speakers have difficulty understanding why the students don't understand or cannot pronounce correctly. It is not their fault, because they have never had such difficulties speaking their own language. I have had experience teaching
japanese to
japanese learners but sometimes I couldn't understand the purpose of their question and have said “just because.” I know that this is the worst comment for the language learners but I couldn't understand what the problem was. I don't want to say that non-native speaking
teachers are better
teachers for
tefl, however I would like to say they can be a great
teacher who understand students' feelings.
In conclusion, non-native speaking
english teachers are also needed to teach grammar, especially in a monolingual
efl class. They are also needed for beginners because they understand what their difficulties are. I would like to say that a non-native speaking
teacher is just as important as a native speaking
english teacher in monolingual
efl classes.
Elementary school
english: Ready or Not
http://www.
japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090305f1.html
Nonnative-
english-Speaking
teachers in the
english Teaching Profession
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0209maum.html
Everything about Elementary school
english
http://www.genki
english.net/basics.htm
Assistant Language
teacher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistant_Language_
teacher