The importance of building a "safe space" for students to speak as much English as possible
Increasing English study motivation!
What kind of results have students shown through team teaching lessons?
Mr. Tominaga:
I think "moderate pressure" is important to an English lesson. In their first lesson in their first year, students are asked questions by the ALT at a natural speed and in rapid succession. In addition, they read teaching materials related to the team teaching lesson beforehand. This leads to a stance of preparation where they think about what they'll be asked as they don't know what they'll be asked during team teaching time. This time we had 20 pages for them, and one student said they spent 6 hours preparing. Making them feel like they need to put in that much effort is an environment you can only really create through team teaching. If you don't have any time for a native speaker to teach them, student motivation for English study may not advance to that level.
Do team teaching lessons have a good effect on other English lessons?
Mr. Tominaga:
Even in classes I teach by myself, I feel that the students possess the will to speak English as much as they can. In a sense, this attitude takes the team teaching lessons as the main event of the week, and in anticipation of this students are proactive in speaking in other English lessons. This must come from a feeling of wanting to understand the English spoken to them at an uncompromising, natural speed once a week.
Do you have any specific examples of team teaching lessons improving student English ability?
Mr. Tominaga:
In April every year, students at my school take the TOEIC. One student raised his score 450 points over three years, ending up with a score around 915. It is not uncommon even for students that stay in Japan their whole lives to raise their scores to around 800 points. First their listening skill increases rapidly, followed by their reading skill. In other words, they raise their overall English ability.
In conclusion, do you foresee any challenges related to team teaching going forward?
Mr. Tominaga:
Lessons where the students focus on writing are a challenge for Kokusai High School. They show their written work to the ALT, and seeing the work of every student can't be accomplished in one lesson alone. Even if students hand in assignments they've slaved over, it's hard to get the ALT to check each one thoroughly. The ongoing challenge is to figure out how to deal with this fact going forward.
