Japanese University Students’
Attitudes toward
the Teacher’s English Use
Koji Uenishi
Hiroshima University
Outline
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Research Objectives
Research Method
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
1 Introduction
• In Japan the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology (MEXT): Changes to English language
instruction in mainstream education.
• Primary sector:
Foreign language activities (gaikokugo katudou), formally
introduced in 2011; many primary teachers struggling with
the teaching method & contents at school.
→ Discuss English as a formal English subject from now.
• Secondary sector:
English language classes at senior high school taught
primarily through the medium of English in 2013 (MEXT’s
announcement, 2008).
→ Mixed response from English teachers at high schools.
• Tertiary sector:
More discussion on the merits of English classes only in
the target language to further promote students’
learning motivation and English ability ⇔ more flexible
approaches that incorporate the use of Japanese.
• Researchers and educators:
Research on teachers’ use of Japanese in English classes
(Ford, 2009; Burden, 2000; Critchey, 1999).
• Critchey: 91% (out of 160 university students)
welcomed some degree of bilingual support; a teacher’s
limited use of Japanese.
→ English-only classrooms not suitable in Japan.
• Atkinson (1993): Integration of communicative
methodology with a selective and limited use of the L1.
<ELT at Japanese universities>
• Some researchers’ objection to L1 use:
• Ryan (2002):
The students’ L1 not employed in class → given
more opportunities to use the target language.
• Leane (2006) :
The value or importance of English-only
classrooms:
• The more chances they have for authentic
communication with each other, the greater the
likelihood that their risk-taking, and hence
communicative confidence, will increase.
<Teaching contexts involving a more bilingual
approach>
• Cole (1998):
At lower levels, translating individual words,
explaining grammar use, and facilitating complex
instructions can save time and anguish, especially
for mature students.
• Ford’s (2009) research:
Although 9 out of 10 interviewees tended to follow
an English-only approach concerning their own
language use, they took a flexible tack on student
language use and employed Japanese for ‘primarily
humor, creating a relaxed atmosphere, giving
instructions and task directions.’
<Objections to a mixed language approach>
• Burden (2000):
The teacher should not use the L1 ‘when
explaining grammar, giving instructions,
explaining class rules or the reasons why the
students are doing a task, testing, or checking for
understanding’.
→ Communication exclusively in the target
language; ‘a more humanistic approach is needed
that values the students, their culture and their
language.’
• Ford (2009):
There is a growing tendency toward recognizing
not whether the teacher employs the students’
L1, but when or in what case it should be used in
class.
→ The issue of English-only in classrooms
‘remains hotly debated.’
• Teaching: a complex activity.
• English language teachers: in a wide range of
actions in class-time (e.g. explaining new words,
explaining grammar, giving instructions, and
checking students’ understanding)
→ Such items: teaching contexts in this paper.
2 Research Objectives
• The research questions:
• (1) What are non-English-major students’
attitudes toward the teacher’s English use in
different teaching contexts?
• (2) Are there differences or similarities in
attitudes toward the teacher’s English use
between English-major and non-English-major
students?
• (3) What ideas regarding the teacher’s English
use can be found in non-English-major students’
free descriptions?
3 Research Method
• Subjects: 91 first-year university students (non-Englishmajors)
• Classes: Communication III B during one semester
(lower-intermediate and intermediate classes)
• The aim: students basically develop their receptive
skills.
• Diverse 15 teaching contexts (Table 1) in the lessons
(e.g. grammar instruction, explanation of vocabulary,
and explanation of social issues).
→ The questionnaire at the end of the semester;
83 out of 91 students completed the questionnaires.
Table 1: Teaching contexts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. explain new words
2. give grammar instruction
3. instruct students
4. talk about Japanese and foreign cultures
5. explain class code such as good manners and attitudes toward
classes
6. talk about assignments
7. explain grammatical differences between English and Japanese
8. give students quizzes
9. confirm students’ understanding of the content
10. relax students
11. create a good rapport
12. explain activities such as games
13. review the previous lesson
14. wrap up the class
15. give a warning
• Students: evaluate whether Japanese teachers of
English should use English-only in these teaching
contexts through a questionnaire, using a 6-point
scale ― to evaluate each item positively or
negatively.
• Further groups of questions:
• Items 16 to 19 (Table 2): toward a more global
attitude to English use in class.
• Items 20 to 25 (Table 3): to assess students’
perceptions of their own ability/improvement in
English after taking the class.
Table 2: General views on L1 and L2 use
• 16. Japanese teachers of English should use
English in class.
• 17. Please describe the reason(s) why you agree
or disagree with Item 16.
• 18. Students may use Japanese in class.
• 19. Please describe the reason(s) why you agree
or disagree with Item 18.
Table 3: Awareness of English ability /
improvement
• 20. I understood what the teacher said in
English.
• 21. I could interact with the teacher smoothly.
• 22. I could use English positively.
• 23. I understood the text.
• 24. I could memorize more vocabulary in pair
work activities.
• 25. I could improve my reading ability of the
text.
4 Results and Discussion
• Global statement ‘Japanese teachers should use English
in class,’
• → This correlated positively with students’ awareness
of their own English ability/improvement (Table 4).
• This aligns with the intuition that students who are
aware of their English ability/improvement agree with
the idea of the teacher’s English use in class.
• Students’ awareness of receptive ability/improvement
was high
⇔ Not feel they could interact with peers and the
teacher smoothly or positively (Table 5).
Table 4 Correlation: Item 16
Item
r
p
Awareness of English ability/
improvement
.335
.002
Table 5 Descriptive Analysis 1
Item
M
SD
N
20
5.11
.897
83
21
3.18
1.201
83
22
3.24
1.007
83
23
4.95
.999
83
24
3.83
1.413
83
25
4.60
1.219
83
AE
4.15
5.020
83
AE: Awareness of English ability/improvement
4.1 Research Question (1)
• Analyzing non-English-major students’
attitudes toward the teacher’s English use in
the 15 teaching contexts, the data were
divided into two categories: positive (6-4)
and negative (3-1).
• → The data results (Table 6).
Table 6 Data Results of Students’
Attitudes
Item
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Positive
49.4 31.33 63.86 79.52 48.19 22.89 33.73 53.01 62.65
50.6 57.83
Negative
50.6 68.67 36.14 20.48 51.81 77.11 66.27 46.99 37.35
49.4 42.17
Item
12
13
14
15
Positive
74.7
75.9 66.27 39.76
Negative
25.3
24.1 33.73 60.24
Table 7 Descriptive Analysis 2
Item
N
M
SD
Item
N
M
SD
1
83
3.47
1.086
9
83
3.83
1.277
2
83
2.98
1.000
10
83
3.53
1.272
3
83
4.04
1.224
11
83
3.71
1.077
4
83
4.11
1.024
12
83
4.18
1.170
5
83
3.61
1.248
13
83
4.14
1.083
6
83
2.89
1.179
14
83
3.89
1.190
7
83
3.16
1.053
15
83
3.33
1.231
8
83
3.61
1.198
Negative responses in the questionnaire content
relating to teaching contexts
• Item 1 (explain new words)
• Item 2 (give grammar instruction)
• Item 5 (explain class code such as good manners and
attitudes toward classes)
• Item 6 (talk about assignments)
• Item 7 (explain grammatical differences between
English and Japanese)
• Item 15 (give a warning)
• For Items 1 and 5, approximately half of them
answered in the negative.
• For Items 2, 6, and 7, a clear majority of students
answered in the negative.
• The results for Items 2 and 7:
Students do not like analyzing grammatical items only
through the medium of English.
→ support Cole’s research.
• University students’ preference → taught in the target
language (9 teaching contexts);
• items with high positive percentages (over 4.0)
• Item 3 (give instructions to students)
• Item 4 (talk about Japanese and foreign cultures)
• Item 12 (explain communication activities and games)
• Item 13 (review the previous lesson)
• → More preferable to be taught in English in the
contexts of reviewing, instructions and explanations of
activities and cultures.
Table 8 Correlation: Item 16
Item
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
r
.187
.395
.564
.422
.471
.528
.450
.393
.256
.227
.472
.298
.430
.386
.548
p
.090
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
.000
.020
.039
.000
.006
.000
.000
.000
N
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
83
• Next, the relationship between Item 16 and the
15 teaching contexts (the Pearson productmoment correlation coefficient).
• →In terms of the global statement: Item 16
“Japanese teachers should use English in class,” …
a positive correlation with all 15 teaching
contexts except for “explain new words (in
English)” (Table 8).
• →This implies that students who are positive
about the teacher’s English use tended to desire
it in almost all contexts.
• The differences of non-English-major student
attitudes toward the teacher’s English use,
depending on their levels, were also explored.
• No significant difference between the two levels
of students in 15 contexts in class.
• No significant differences between awareness of
English ability and understanding the class
content.
• →This indicates that there were no differences
between non-English-major student levels,
meaning that in all 15 contexts both levels of
students tended to have almost the same
attitudes toward the teacher’s English use.
4.2 Research Objective (2)
• English-major and non-English-major students were
compared based upon the data results obtained from the
research.
• Remarkable differences in awareness of the Japanese
teacher’s English use between both groups.
• The mean scores of English-major students were higher
than those of non-English-major students in all 15 teaching
contexts (Table 9).
• For non-English majors: only four out of 15 teaching
contexts given a mean score of over 4.0.
• ⇔ For English majors: 10 teaching contexts.
• → English-major students appear to prefer the teacher’s
use of English in class in almost all the contexts (Table 9).
Table 9 Descriptive Analysis 3
Item G
1
1
2
2
1
2
3
1
2
4
1
2
5
1
2
6
1
2
7
1
2
8
1
2
N
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
M
4.11
3.47
3.36
2.98
4.58
4.04
4.50
4.11
3.92
3.61
3.50
2.89
3.36
3.16
3.69
3.61
SD
1.237
1.086
1.291
1.000
1.156
1.224
1.108
1.024
1.402
1.248
1.254
1.179
1.175
1.053
1.451
1.198
SE Item
9
.206
.119
.215
.110
10
.193
.134
11
.185
.112
12
.234
.137
13
.209
.129
14
.196
.116
.242
.131
15
G
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
N
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
36
83
M
4.08
3.83
4.06
3.53
4.28
3.71
4.72
4.18
4.53
4.14
4.19
3.89
4.11
3.33
SD
1.296
1.277
1.393
1.272
1.210
1.077
1.162
1.170
1.028
1.083
1.037
1.190
1.635
1.231
SE
. 216
. 140
.232
.140
.202
.118
.194
.128
.171
.119
.173
.131
.272
.135
Table 10 Comparison on Learners’ Awareness
(t-test)
Item
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
t
p
df
2.836
1.763
2.277
1.868
1.169
2.537
.939
.313
.985
2.011
2.541
2.324
1.799
1.324
2.886
.005
.081
.025
.064
.245
.013
.350
.754
.327
.047
.012
.022
.075
.188
.005
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
117
• When analyzing the data using the t-test, there were
significant differences between English majors and that of
non-English majors in seven teaching contexts (Table 10).
English-major students, generally speaking, prefer the
teacher to use English in class (t=5.603, df=117, p<.001);
Medium sized effect (r=.46).
• The following preferred contexts:
• when the teacher:
• explains new words in English (Item 1)
• gives instructions to students (Item 3)
• explains homework/assignments and various activities such
as playing games (Items 6 and 12)
• relaxes students (Item 10)
• creates a good rapport (Item 11)
• gives a warning to students (Item 15)
• Among them both groups tended to prefer to be taught in a
quite different way in two teaching contexts: explain new
words and give a warning.
• → English majors desired to be taught in the target
language.
• ⇔ Non-English majors preferred the teacher to use the
Japanese language.
• <similarities between the two groups in terms of awareness
of the teacher’s English use>
• English major and non-English major students tended to:
• prefer the teacher to use Japanese only in grammar
instruction (Items 2 and 7).
• want to be taught in the target language in the contexts
such as understanding the class content and evaluation.
4.3 Research Question (3)
• Students’ free description (Item 17) in terms of Item 16,
‘The teacher should use English in class’:
• → 23 out of the 83 participants answer:
• (1) the teacher’s English use is good for improving
listening ability.
• (2) they can get accustomed to listening to English.
• Four students: they can focus on English studies.
• Four students: they take it for granted that the teacher
will employ English in English classes.
• → The main reason that the students give: the teacher
should employ the target language in class to develop
their ability in listening to English.
• <Negative responses>
• 14 students: the teacher should play it by ear
regarding his or her English use in class (e.g.
grammar instruction or Japanese translation).
• 9 students: they could not follow the English
class or did not understand the class content.
• 5 students: at the teacher’s L1 use promoted a
better understanding of the class content.
Table 11 Results of Free Description
(Non-English majors)
Positive Comments
Good for listening/get accustomed to listening
Focus on English (studies)
Natural ( English classes)
Negative Comments
Play by ear / Use both English and Japanese
Cannot follow the class / Don’t understand the class
Japanese use deepens understanding
Insufficient communication
Depends on the students’ English ability
Miss important points in class
N
23
4
4
N
14
9
5
3
3
2
5 Conclusion
• This research has examined the responses of students
who were not majoring in English at university.
• Regarding non-English-major students’ attitudes
toward the teacher’s English use, it was found that it is
preferable to be taught in English in the contexts of
reviewing, instructions, and explanations of activities
and cultures.
• → It seems that students do not like analyzing
grammatical items only through the medium of English.
• → They prefer to be taught in the target language in
nine teaching contexts: reviewing, instructions, and
explanations of activities and cultures.
• The differences of awareness of the Japanese teacher’s
English use: the mean scores of English-major students
were higher than those of non-English-major students
in all 15 teaching contexts.
• Especially, in two teaching contexts (explain new words
and give a warning), English majors desired to be
taught in the target language,
• ⇔ Non-English majors preferred the teacher to use
Japanese.
• <Similarities between the two groups regarding
awareness of the teacher’s English use>
• Both groups tended to prefer the teacher to use the
Japanese language only in grammar instruction.
• ⇔ They preferred to be taught in English in the
contexts such as understanding the class content and
evaluation.
• The main reason that the students give for the teacher
employing English in class is to enable them to develop
their listening ability.
• Some students fear, however, that they might not be
able to follow the English class or understand the class
content without the teacher’s use of Japanese.
• < Areas explored in subsequent studies>
• A further issue concerns the connection between
awareness of language ability/improvement and actual
language improvement. Does a willingness to study in
predominantly English-only classes correlate with a
belief in English ability, or in actual English ability?
• Future research is necessary to obtain more reliable
and objective results based on data from more subjects.
References
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Thank you for your attention.