JHS Team Teaching
Workshop 2
Reina Ishibashi
Lindsey Lewis
Jason Shon
Student Survey Information
Lindsey’s Data
Jason’s Data
• 2 junior high schools
• 2 junior high schools
• 380 students total
• 455 students total
• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd years, and なかよし
Grade
Number of Students
JHS 1
1st
2nd
80
70
Grade
JHS 1
JHS 2
1st
19
181
2nd
25
176
3rd
19
31
なかよし
---
4
Total
63
392
JHS 2
52
49
3rd
76
53
Total
226
154
Number of students
Questionnaire
Seven questions (English and Japanese) :
1. Is your ALT a positive attribute to your school?
very much (1)
yes (2)
so-so (3)
not much (4)
no (5)
2. Do you feel the ALT makes an impact at school?
very much (1)
yes (2)
so-so (3)
not much (4)
no (5)
3. How can the ALT be more involved with the students? [open answer]
4. What do you like most about having an ALT at school? [open answer]
5. How can the ALT improve in the classroom? [open answer]
6. What can the ALT do to help you learn English better? [open answer]
7. How do you view the ALT’s role in school? (choose as many as apply)
Friend
Teacher
Comedian
Role model
Foreigner
Other:
______
Results: Question 1
Is your ALT a positive attribute to your school?
so-so: 3%
not much: 0%
no: 1%
yes
21%
very much
76%
97% of students think their ALT is a positive attribute to their school
Results: Question 2
Do you feel the ALT makes an impact at school?
not much: 0%
so-so: 3%
no: 0%
yes
24%
vey much
73%
97% of students think their ALT makes an impact at school
Results: Question 3
How can the ALT be more involved with the students?
100
80
285
JHS 2
Percent
JHS 1
60
40
101
20
40
23
6
0
Face-time
Speaking
Other
Games/Fun
Blank
Results: Question 3 cont
How can the ALT be more involved with the students?
Face-time
• Hang out and talk with students outside of English class, during breaks, etc. (134)
• Eat lunch with students (30)
• Participate at school events (27)
• Participate in club activities (26)
• Come to school/class more often (23)
• Go to other classes (P.E., music) (14)
• Play sports with us (9)
• Clean with us (2)
• Stand at the school entrance when everyone is going home (1)
Speaking
• Talk with students a lot in English (85)
• Talk to us in Japanese, too (8)
• Make it easier to talk outside of class (7)
• Do more English conversation in class (1)
Results: Question 3 cont
How can the ALT be more involved with the students?
Games/Fun
• Do more English games, make English fun (23)
• Do games that you participate in, too (2)
• Make English class fun (1)
Other
• Learn more Japanese (13)
• Take Japanese classes with students (1)
• Remember students’ names (4)
• Learn the things that students are interested in (4)
• Be genki, cheerful, and kind (3)
• Be stricter (1)
• Be funny (1)
• Study with us outside of English class, too (1)
• Give the students more work (1)
• Post papers with things written on them on the board so it’s easy to understand (1)
• Instead of just saying the English, have everyone say it while gesturing (1)
• Work with the student council to put on games or activities with at school (1)
• Sing a song at the Sports Festival that will get everyone excited (1)
• Wear a school uniform (1)
Results: Question 4
What do you like most about having an ALT at school?
60
217
50
Percent
40
JHS 2
JHS 1
30
68
20
82
68
34
10
6
0
English
Speaking
English
(Other)
Fun
International
Exchange
Other
Blank
Results: Question 4 cont
What do you like most about having an ALT at school?
English Speaking
• We can hear and learn how English is really spoken (148)
• His pronunciation is easy to understand (19)
• We can learn to communicate better in English (33)
• We can use English in our daily lives (9)
• The opportunities to speak English increases (2)
• Speaking English is fun and I want to speak more (1)
• We can speak with him casually (1)
• I think about trying to start conversations (as opposed to always being asked) (1)
• It makes me think it would be great to be able to speak English (1)
English (other)
• He helps us when we don’t understand (42)
• We can learn stuff not in the textbook that other Japanese people don’t know (14)
• He teaches us English kindly and enthusiastically (10)
• The number of people interested in English increases (1)
Results: Question 4 cont
What do you like most about having an ALT at school?
Fun
• Classes are fun; learning English is fun (76)
• School becomes lively/fun (6)
International Exchange
• We can learn about foreign countries, cultures, people, words, games, lifestyles (61)
Other
• He hangs out with us during breaks (5)
• He participates in club activities and school events (4)
• I get a lot of work done (3)
• He’s easy to talk to and ask questions (3)
• He’s a fun and lively ALT (2)
• He draws a person’s face when he writes the date on the board (1)
• We can learn and grow together (3)
• I like the nervous feeling of speaking to a foreigner (1)
• The number of times I sleep decreases (1)
• He's always laughing, and he tries really hard to speak Japanese so it makes me want to
try hard at English (1)
Results: Question 5
How can the ALT improve in the classroom?
70
234
60
Percent
50
40
JHS 2
30
20
JHS 1
56
49
48
10
0
English
Other
Japanese
Blank
Results: Question 5 cont
How can the ALT improve in the classroom?
English
• Speak slower (29)
• Make it easier to understand your English (12)
• Talk more (10)
• Make it easier for us to ask you questions (1)
• Make the class more lively than it is now (2)
• When we make mistakes tell us what
we did wrong (1)
• Don’t hold one-sided conversations in English (1)
Japanese
• Speak in Japanese more (26)
• Get better at Japanese (21)
Results: Question 5 cont
How can the ALT improve in the classroom?
Other
• Come to school/class more often (17)
• Participate in English class more (2)
• Participate in other classes, too (1)
• Be more lively (1)
• Write more neatly (1)
• Stop drawing weird pictures (1)
• Teach us things Japanese people don’t know (1)
• Speak louder when broadcasting (1)
• Answer questions even if they are in Japanese (1)
• If you see someone who looks they like don’t understand, help them out (1)
• Spend more time explaining vocabulary words that are difficult to understand (1)
• I prefer a female teacher (1)
• Do more games (1)
• Don’t continue the conversation if the student doesn’t know what you’re saying (1)
• Include American jokes (1)
• Do more crossword puzzles (1)
• Don’t choose on people in class (1)
• I don’t like an ALT who really doesn’t understand or hold a conversation in Japanese;
I don’t like an ALT with a bad attitude (1)
• I like an ALT who can speak and ask questions in Japanese (1)
Results: Question 6
What can the ALT do to help you learn English better?
50
169
40
Percent
JHS 2
JHS 1
30
87
20
46
45
10
26
25
17
0
Speaking
Class
Other
Fun
Japanese Face-time
Blank
Results: Question 6 cont
What can the ALT do to help you learn English better?
Speaking
• Talk with us more (39)
• Teach us correct pronunciation (16)
• Speak slowly and in a way that’s easy to understand (10)
• Speak in English as much as possible (9)
• Increase the number of times you pronounce vocabulary words (2)
• Read aloud the long passages in the textbook and on the tests (2)
Class
• Help those who don’t understand, correct us when we make mistakes (33)
• Teach us English (16)
• Give us help when we’re studying individually (14)
• Make English easier to understand (10)
• Teach us the vocabulary words over and over until we remember them (7)
• Do more listening practice in class (2)
• Periodically go to the English pronunciation tests (1)
• Have the ALT conduct class by himself about once a week (1)
• Instead of telling us the answer quickly, help us to come up with the answer ourselves (1)
• Participate in class more (1)
Results: Question 6 cont
What can the ALT do to help you learn English better?
Fun
• Teach English we can have fun with (16)
• Do games (10)
Japanese
• Use English and Japanese at the
appropriate times (17)
• Be able to speak Japanese well (6)
• Teach in Japanese more (2)
Face-time
• Hang out/spend more time with us (7)
• Come to school/class more often (5)
• Come to school every day (1)
• Make us practice English when you hang out with us (1)
• Walk around as much as possible (1)
• Increase the opportunities outside of class to interact with you (1)
Results: Question 7
How do you view the ALT’s role in school?
100
333
80
JHS 2
260
Percent
JHS 1
60
40
86
75
20
85
10
0
Friend
Teacher
Comedian Role model Foreigner
Other
Results: Question 7 cont
How do you view the ALT’s role in school?
Other
• “A teacher who participates in clubs”
• “A teacher I can trust”
• “A person who is also in a position to learn”
• “A teacher who’s really good at soccer”
• “A teacher like a friend who’s easy to talk to” (2)
• “A teacher but different from other teachers”
• “A representative of America”
• “The best!”
Recommendations for ALTs
The more they see you the better
• breaks, lunch, class (English and other), after school, club activities, school
events, in the halls, cleaning time, etc.
• increases opportunities for international exchange
Talk A LOT…but not too quickly
• Japanese or English?
Learn Japanese
Help make English more fun
• be genki, enthusiastic, and kind
• participate in activities and games
• prepare lessons with JTEs (suggest activities and share ideas)
http://sendaiedu.com
http://jhsenglipediaproject.com
Learn your students’ names
Learn the things that students are interested in
• pop culture
Implications for Team Teaching
ALTs should go to class as much as possible
ALTs should talk a lot
• vocabulary/text pronunciation
• spend time teaching pronunciation
• repetition (with gestures?)
• listening exercises/skits/conversations
• don’t speak too quickly or too softly
ALTs should have a good attitude
ALTs can make class more fun
• tongue-twisters, idioms, jokes, games, comic relief
ALTs should actively participate in class
• help students who don’t understand
• participate in activities and games
• correct students when they make mistakes
ALTs should learn Japanese
Other suggestions for Team Teaching
Ask if you can help JTEs with their work
• grade and correct tests, homework, worksheets, etc.
• keep asking
• ways to be involved with the students
Get to know your JTE
• face time with your JTE, too
• be able to anticipate your JTE
• good ALT/JTE relations make for a good class
Learn about your students
• find ways to connect activities to what students do outside of class
• ask your JTE about test scores, events, achievements, problems, etc.
Team Teaching from a JTE’s perspective
ALTs are partners with specific roles, not assistants.
Prepare lessons with the ALT
Use the ALT as much as possible
Inform ALTs about individual student needs and progress
Explain to ALTs how to evaluate tests, worksheets, activities, etc.
Inform ALTs about upcoming events so ALTs can converse with students on
those subjects
It’s OK to ask ALTs for help
Build a good relationship
• talk to your ALT
• improves team teaching
• improves class atmosphere
Questions?
Discussion Questions
What are your thoughts on the results of the student surveys?
What are some challenges you have encountered in the team teaching process?
What are examples of effective ways to use ALTs in the classroom and in school?
Should ALTs use English and Japanese in class?
How do you prepare for TT classes?
What makes for good team teaching?
ALTs, what do you expect from a JTE?
JTEs, what do you expect from an ALT?