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The
Changing Classroom: A More International Feel
Go to any EFL classroom in the United States
or England, and it is clear that people from
all over the world are studying English. All
these students, however, come from various backgrounds,
have different mother tongues, and can be generally
said to have different struggles in acquiring
English. For many years, the mixing of non-native
speakers from various parts of the world into
one EFL classroom occurred only in English-speaking
nations, or in a few isolated cases within non-English
speaking nations. The trend in Japan in recent
years, however, has been towards a more mixed
EFL classroom. This trend has both plusses and
minuses, but it has become important for many
teachers, at least at the university level,
to realize that they can no longer teach to
one population.
Looking back even just 10 or 20 years, Japan
was essentially closed to foreign students at
the undergraduate level. The fact is that up
until recently the Japanese university EFL classroom
was filled with Japanese-born English learners
sharing basically the same language and culture.
For the English teacher, this situation is perhaps
not ideal in terms of having an interesting
and stimulating diverse classroom, but it does
make the job easier. Problems with particular
areas of English can be addressed to the entire
class as a group. If one student has problems
with L/R differentiation, most other students
probably will benefit from further practice
too. The universality and uniformity of junior
high school and high school English education
in Japan intensifies this. Students from Hokkaido
all the way down to Okinawa generally study
the same English. This has led to Japanese university
students all clustering around the mean in English
ability. To put it in statistical terms, the
mean and median show little variation. Another
point to consider is that the culture also is
communal; Questions about sushi and sumo can
be answered by all.
This homogeneous classroom is gradually changing.
Many international students are entering the
Japanese undergraduate system. For example,
in 1999 alone, the total number of international
students entering Japan (not just including
university students) increased 8.7 percent over
the previous year.(1) Nonetheless, this was
not just a one-year phenomenon. The years 2000
to 2002 (the latest available data) registered
double-digit growth in the number of international
students. In 2001, the total increased by 23.1
percent and in 2002 by 21.2 percent.(2) These
are amazing figures, but what is more startling
is that the greatest growth has been seen in
special colleges (senmon gakko), junior colleges,
and colleges/universities, with the number in
graduate schools showing only modest increases.
While these students come from countries as
diverse as Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam,
the vast majority of students are arriving from
mainland China. Looking at data from 2002, now
61.3 percent of all international students come
from mainland China. Chinese students accounted
for 87 percent of the overall rise in international
students for 2002.(3)
The reasons for the increased internationalization
of the EFL classroom at Japanese universities
are simple. It goes beyond Japan's desire for
internationalization, since it is also a case
of economic supply and demand. As China's economy
grows, the need for educated, white-collar workers
increases. Although new universities are opening
in China, the country still does not at the
moment have enough universities to meet this
demand for higher education. Therefore, many
Chinese students are, in increasing numbers,
selecting Japan for their undergraduate studies.
Japan, on the other hand, has traditionally
been ambivalent about accepting Chinese international
students. Japan's universities, while claiming
to want more international students, never really
meant for an increase in the number of Chinese
students, since the Chinese percentage of the
international student total has always been
high.
What most dramatically made an increase in the
number of Chinese students possible was Japan's
flagging economy. With a decreasing population
and predictions of even further reductions in
the number of Japanese applicants to universities,
China has become the oxygen for many struggling,
and even some not-so-struggling universities.
According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper(Japanese
version), the number of Japanese eighteen-year-olds
decreased from a peak of 2.05 million in 1992
to 1.5 million in 2002, a 26 percent drop. It
is estimated that by the year 2009, the number
of eighteen-year-olds will have declined 20
percent from the 2002 level.(4)
There are now some universities, especially
in outlying areas, which have foreign student
populations over fifty percent. This increase
has been accompanied by a gradual relaxation
in entry regulations at immigration control.
Newly established universities and departments
also have a "30% Rule" to abide by.(5)
This rule stipulates that the universities should
include nontraditional students and international
students as thirty percent of their student
body. The government and universities, working
in tandem, have come to see Chinese students
as their "golden egg." Not only are
universities becoming increasingly active in
recruiting Chinese students, they are also laying
the groundwork for ensuring a continued flow
of students. Some universities now offer their
entrance exams in China, and some have also
set up intensive Japanese-language courses within
China.
Micro-Research
into Teaching English in Japan to Chinese Students
The success of having these Chinese students
in a Japanese EFL classroom has not been closely
monitored. The following is a compilation of
three short case studies-action study if you
will-of teaching EFL to Chinese students in
Japan.
The university in this case is a small private
university in a small urban area in northern
Kyoto prefecture. Like many rural universities,
it faces a declining number of Japanese applicants
as well as lack of prestige to ensure its future.
At this point in time, it has staked its survival
on being able to recruit a large number of Chinese
students (and in the future also a large number
of Korean students). It is reasonable to assume
that if the university meets its goals, someday
approximately one-third of the graduating class
will be Chinese, one-third Korean, and one-third
Japanese. It will truly be an international
Asian university. The classes involved in this
case study are first-year English (Chinese students
only), first-year English (mixed class of Chinese
and Japanese students), and third-year English
(again mixed).
The first-year mandatory English class, comprised
of only Chinese students, in some ways serves
as a control group. The absence of Japanese
students means that the teacher can direct his
or her attention to one group with specific
English problems, and can also consider to some
extent that the students have a shared culture.
If a student encountered a problem with English,
the whole class usually shared the same problem.
Overall, a kind of "Chinglish" was
evident. Also, the shared experiences went beyond
just problems with English, and even beyond
mere shared knowledge of their homeland. The
class was, after all, born and acculturated
in China. The famed Confucian ethic and Chinese
ambition, both stereotypical but relatively
true images of the Chinese people, affected
the classroom structure. Extra competition was
added with the knowledge that students who receive
good grades in all their courses were eligible
for scholarships.
Nonetheless, the 20 students in this class were
active and friendly. As is borne out in other
studies, they were more interested in English
than their typical Japanese counterparts would
be.(6) Chinese students place a greater emphasis
on learning. They have an outward respect for
teachers; It takes some time to get them to
stop addressing teachers as "sir".
They also tend to be more responsive than Japanese
students. Perhaps it was because we were all
foreigners in Japan, but they also enjoyed sharing
their culture with me. This all made it, for
the teacher, a very interesting class.
There were, however, some problems, not all
of which were culture-related. The greatest
difficulty came in managing a class which in
actuality was composed of many different levels,
from beginner to upper-intermediate. This gap
can be attributed to, what I learned later,
is China's problem in making English education
uniform and universal. Six years of English
in good schools in Beijing or Shanghai prepare
a student much better than six years' worth
in some rural village. While great strides have
been made, education is as of yet uneven in
China. In my particular classroom, three lower-level
students had to eventually be partially segregated
from the rest of the class, as they were unable
to keep up and had to be given more basic English
tasks. The textbook, too, proved a problem because
it had abundant explanations in Japanese. Produced
for a Japanese audience, the text also keyed
in on Japanese students' English-language problem
areas. Furthermore, some of the conversation
topics, such as dating, which produce interesting
classes in Japan, created a lot of embarrassment
for these Chinese students who were obviously
not used to talking about such things.
Since all students in the university, Japanese
or Chinese, use the same textbook, it would
have proven difficult to select a different
book. In actuality, the text turned out to be
acceptable, with adaptation by the teacher.
Key explanations written in Japanese were used
as our Japanese language practice time. As another
example, pronunciation practice was altered.
The Chinese students' difficulties were stressed;
R/L differentiation was skimmed, but S/TH pronunciation
required double practice. The variety of vowel
sounds in the English language, usually not
too difficult for Japanese students, was actually
quite troublesome for this class. With communication-centered
English in China not yet at the level it is
in Japan, it became clear that many students
were for the first time hearing native speakers'
English and were for the first time conversing
rather than translating. From this perspective,
the Japanese government's increasing emphasis
on conversational English at the secondary school
level appears to have paid off, although the
effort to get the "Communicative Approach"
into the curriculum has often been halfhearted.(7)
Another problem with the Chinese students' class
was that grammar also was different from Japanese
students'. Articles, prepositions, word order,
and subject-verb agreement all prove difficult
for Japanese students, but seemed even more
so for these Chinese students. Clearly, the
problems are evident because the students are
employing Chinese grammar, having an over-reliance
on translation. Nonetheless, as is mentioned
in an article on the TESOL website concerning
China, it is a tradeoff in teaching Chinese
students. The students "often have learned
bad habits" which "can be difficult
to correct and improve. Nevertheless, teaching
English is usually a positive experience because
the students really do want to learn."(8)
The first-year class including an equal mix
of both Japanese and Chinese students also went
well, but many of the dynamics of the classroom
changed. Essentially using the same materials,
it now became a balancing act between the needs
of the Chinese students and the needs of the
Japanese students. Teachers with experience
in EFL classes in English-speaking countries
can most probably attest to these added difficulties.
The Japanese students' passive attitudes also
seemed to have an effect on the Chinese students,
as active participation decreased. Even though
cooperation and consideration were the norm,
true mixing also occurred less than would be
desired, as Chinese students usually sat on
one side of the room and Japanese students on
the other. The partial integration of the classroom
did, however, have some good results. The Chinese
students in this class interacted outside of
class with their Japanese counterparts much
more than did the all-Chinese class. They had
more opportunities to speak Japanese and blend
in to the university. Nonetheless, as an EFL
approach, it was not without its demerits.
The third-year mixed class also serves as a
test case. As an elective course, it was selected
by students who were supposedly interested in
English. The class was composed of five eager
Chinese students, five hardworking Japanese
students, and another five or so Japanese students
who came when they wanted and for the most part
failed the class. The dynamics here were again
slightly different. The number of enthusiastic
students outnumbered morose ones, and these
pupils were able to tackle important world issues
and greatly improve their English. The positive
attitudes of the Chinese learners, who understood
the utility of English as an international language
and as a way of finding a good job, kept the
class on a fast pace. Being an elective course,
the Chinese students who are poor at English
did not choose to register. The Japanese students
who were unmotivated either did not sign up
for the class or did not bother to attend regularly.
This third-year class shows that a mixed class
can turn out to be a success, but also that
certain conditions allowed this class to flourish.
Summary
and Discussion
Further research needs to be conducted, ideally
at different universities and with teachers
of different perspectives, in order to arrive
at more definite findings, but there are numerous
implications to be had from the research conducted
here. First is that the EFL world is becoming
more interconnected. This requires more cooperation
and better information flow. Cross-national
contacts at seminars and conferences are likely
to become more crucial. Information over the
web or through books and magazines will play
a bigger role. The EFL community in China, having
a shorter history, is not as organized as in
Japan, but there are numerous web sites which
helped me as I was preparing to teach my Chinese
students. Dave Sperling's site (www.eslcafe.com)
provided me with useful information through
the chat and forums sections. TESOL's site (www.tesol.org/index.htm)
gave concrete examples of English teachers'
experiences with students in China. A China-based
site (teflchina.com or teflchina.org) provided
key hints on how to approach the teaching of
Chinese students.
Books on English teaching in China are available
also, but most have to be special-ordered from
overseas. Likewise, many language teaching journals
supply good information, but getting these back
issues can be time-consuming. In the end, the
best way to find out about the students' difficulties
is through direct questioning and first-hand
experience with the students themselves. Another
implication derived from these experiences is
that no longer can university teachers assume
that students coming to class have been blessed
with roughly the same educational (and cultural)
experiences. One way to partially solve this
problem is through beforehand level checks and
grouping according to aptitude scores. If Japanese
universities are unwilling to conduct such checks,
then the teacher must learn to cope with the
situation at least until Chinese English education
becomes more universal.
Cultural differences too, according to the lessons
drawn from these three case studies, play a
role in various aspects of the classroom. While
Chinese and Japanese students are the sum of
their experiences, and while certainly individual
differences are important, some knowledge of
the students' culture is definitely necessary.
For a first-time teacher in Japan, it is important
to know that Japanese people tend to be shy,
unassertive, and afraid of making mistakes.
An EFL teacher at the University of Hawaii (personal
conversation; name unknown) remarked that in
her experience Japanese students were her worst
pupils because of their tendency towards passivity.
Not knowing that Japanese students are relatively
passive could cause a teacher to misinterpret
classroom signs, especially if the teacher were
from a culture that believes in a highly participatory
classroom.
A teacher should also realize that Chinese students
come from a Confucian society, where learning
is valued and teachers tend to be respected.
A person's attitude, personality, motivation,
values, relationships, and beliefs are all culture-related.
This can be borne out in numerous studies of
political and social culture (e.g., Samuel Huntington's
works). Certainly culture can not be ignored
in the classroom. For example, it could be important
to know that Chinese students are highly patriotic
while their Japanese counterparts rarely ever
exhibit such feelings.
Authors such as Mr. Peter Dash state that countries
like China are becoming more globally conscious,
and thus students from transition nations like
China have less a stereotypical Chinese culture
than a global youth culture. Certainly this
trend towards globalization is also important,
and youth in many countries are similar, but
the fact remains that culture is still fundamental.
Over the long term, culture as a factor in the
classroom may possibly fade, but at the moment
the differences between cultures are too great
to ignore. While a teacher should not "elevate
a cultural factor to too great a significant
weighting," the case studies involved herein
point to culture, along with differences in
language difficulties, as key factors that must
be accepted by the teacher.(9)
Another implication-or rather a concern-from
these case studies is whether to separate classes
according to students' nationality, or create
a mixed class. In the above cases, both approaches
worked, but led to contrasting environments
and required different approaches by the teacher.
Merely in terms of addressing the needs of the
students, it might be better to have a mono-cultural
classroom, but this also does serve to keep
the two groups from interacting.
It is clear, from both this study and in other
reports, that Japanese university education
will be changing greatly over the next 20 or
30 years. One trend is the increased internationalization
of Japanese universities. This also means an
increased internationalization in the EFL classrooms
here. Reverberations will be felt throughout
the EFL industry, from textbook publishers to
teachers. As with any change, the challenges
will be greater, but the opportunities will
also be more wonderful.
ENDNOTES
1.
Nihon Keizai Newspaper(Ed.). Nihon Keizai No
Chiisana Daigimon. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Newspaper
Publishing, 2000, pg. 273.
2. Metropolitan Tokyo Professional Institution
Association, 1999-2002. Senmon Gakko Koto Senshu
Gakko Kakushu Gakko no Goannai.(Retrieved from
www.tsk.or.jp/mailnews)
3. Metropolitan Tokyo Professional Insitution
Association, 2002. Senmon Gakko Koto Senshu
Gakko Kakushu Gakko no Goannai.(Retrieved from
www.tsk.or.jp/mailnews)
4. "Downsizing Nippon." Asahi Shimbun
newspaper. May 18, 2003, pg. 7.
5. Nihon Keizai Newspaper(Ed.). Nihon Keizai
No Chiisana Daigimon. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Newspaper
Publishing, 2000, pg. 276.
6. Okihara, K, "Attitudes in Teachers and
Students Toward English Language Teaching: A
Cross-national Comparison between Japan and
China." Bulletin of the Faculty of Education,
Kobe University, vol. 87 (1991) pp. 117-126.
7. Lefebvre, Ben, "Putting Their Money
Where Their Mouths Are." Kansai Time Out,
vol. 317 (July 2003) pg. 8.
8. Toomey, Bob, "Teaching in China."
TESOL Career Center Articles(Internet Version),
pp. 1.(Retrieved from www.tesol.org/careers/counsel/articles/china-01.html)
9. Dash, Peter, 2003. "Culture and the
SLA Process." Asian-EFL-Journal, vol. 15
(June 2003) pg. 2.(Retrieved from www.asian-efl-journal.com)
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