The Ten Commandmants of Learning English

Back in November, all ALTs (assistant language teacher) in the Toyama prefecture met for two days for a mid-year seminar on teaching English. I went to this instead of school for two days, was going to learn some things about teaching, and meet other ALTs I hadn't seen before. There are two very different sides to these qualities, but I was pretty optimistic at the outset. However, the general consensus of anyone involved in the seminar was that is was stupid, boring, and a waste of time. When I walked in and was receiving papers and folders and information about the seminar, the ALT in charge of handing out the info gave me a huge smile and in a very depressingly sarcastic tone said something to the effect of, "I hope your ready for a really exciting two hour speech!" It was at about eight o'clock in the morning, the beginning of what was quite a long seminar, and we were about to listen to a two hour lecture about teaching English, but the comment hammered my optimism down a bit, and was annoyed at the girl's need to say something clever or whatever.

As a side note about many people that belong to the same generation as me, there are quite a few inside jokes stemming from recent popular culture like facebook and the TV show "Arrested Development." As a result, I have a lot of peers who only know I exist if I'm their friend on facebook and make some reference to "Arrested Development" at least once an hour. I think it makes for a specific demeanor and sense of humor that was ubiquitous for the duration of the seminar.

OK! What does this have to do with the Ten Commandmants of English? Well, this was a wonderful gem that I found amidst a desert of a two hour speech about teaching English. In a handout given to me, there was this list of "commandments" for English learners as well as teachers, but I went with the one for learners, as I think sometimes teachers understand better as learners. Anyway, I lost the paper after copying the list down, so I don't know who to cite or thank, but whoever came up with this idea is a very smart person.

The "Ten Commandments of Learning English" read as such:
1.) Fear not! Osoreruna!
2.) Dive in. Tobicome.
3.) Believe in yourself. Jibun wo shinjiyo.
4.) Seize the day. Isshun isshun wo ikikire.
5.) Love thy neighbor. Rinjin wo aiseyo.
6.) Get the BIG picture. Kousho kara miyo.
7.) Cope with the chaos. Konran ni taishoseyo.
8.) Go with your hunches. Hirameki wo ikase.
9.) Make mistakes work FOR you. Machigai wo ikase.
10.) Set your own goals. Jibun no mokuhyou wo mote.

I had many epiphanies in this seminar, but realizing the importance of this was one of the biggest. Learning a foreign language is hard for most people, and being reminded of these ideas can change a whole lot about one's attitude, which is a whole lot of learning. I believe if I would have had this when I was taking Japanese language classes in college, I would have been a better student and would now be better at Japanese. But that's just hindsight. I use it now and am slowly reaping the benefits.

BUT! This epiphany manifested into a great project, which was translating these into Japanese (Thanks to one of the greatest Japanese Teachers of English on the planet, Mr. Terao whom I work with) and then making a small personal copy for every student at my high school. It was an epic quest in and of itself, as I printed nine copies of the "Commandments" onto sheets of orange paper, cut each one out by hand (the school's big paper cutters are absolute crap) and then lamanated them with a lamanator that the past ALT bought, which is awesome by the way. Yes, two weeks later, about 700 were made and sitting on my desk.

THEN, I gave them to the students. At first they looked at it in a very confused manner. I explained that it was a present for them that I made in order to help them with English. Some were happy, some were bored, whatever. Well, this wasn't just another hand out in English class, this was a precious treasure made with the sincerest of intent for the great task of learning a foreign language. So I began talking to the class in Japanese. I have NEVER had a class so quiet and focused on what I was saying. As soon as I said "watashi" (I), I had them. I explained that I have studied Japanese in college for three years, and practice diligently every day, but I still make mistakes everyday and get very frustrated. But, if you mind these commandments, things can be a little easier. Everyone was very happy to receive them, and I'll be happy to give another round to the upcoming freshmen.

I'd love to explain why I think each of these commandments are so important, but I think this entry is long enough, and who knows what you can come up with on your own.

6 Levels of Cognition for Teachers

After a few mediocre lessons I taught at my high school, I finally decided to delve into one of the many mountains of teaching handbooks that was given to me in my orientation for JET, and I think I found a gem that has helped me out lately .

After a bit of searching, I came across "Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain," which was developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950's to help develop a "classification hierarchy for types of knowledge, cognitive processes, and skills." I'll just go ahead and dive in.

1.) Knowledge
This encompasses observing, recalling data, and knowing information by rote.

2.) Comprehension
This is more about grasping meanings, interpreting information, translating knowledge into a new context, and predicting consequences.

3.) Application
Applying methods, concepts, and theories you have learned into new situations, solving problems using skills and knowledge, and generalizing information.

4.) Analysis
Recognizing patterns, breaking down complex information into components or parts, and organizing information.

5.) Synthesis
Building a more complex idea from a set of components or parts, and organizing information.

6.) Evaluation
Comparing and discriminating between ideas, judging something against a standard or set evidence, and recognizing subjectivity.

So there you have it. Now, for all you teachers, how do your teaching methods address this matrix? When you introduce a new concept to a student, are you forcing their brains to work on all six of these cylinders? If so, they may have a hard time understanding it.

A good example of my mistakes was making Japanese students EVALUATE on level 6 in English right off the bat. My favorite course that I teach is a Language Lab course for second year students, and I basically get to design the class. I work with a teacher who on one day translates a long essay from English to Japanese with the students, and on another day I get to do whatever I want. The essays are about difficult questions and situations one encounters in different cultures. This is the class that focuses on my role to explore ideas of internationalization with the students, which is awesome. We inevitably end up running on level six, and thats good, but I must start the class out a little easier. For instance, having sentences read a dialogue I've written to simply practice reading with each other and getting comfortable in the rythm of speaking English. Then on level two, have them change key words so that they can interpret the situation correctly and begin translating the knowledge into a new context. Then to level three with them writing their own brand new situations to practice applying knowledge to new situations. Now we begin the harder stuff. Maybe for level four I'll start explaining stories about my travels and experiences and they have to break down that complex information and generalize in order to understand. OK, here we go, then I will ask them generalized questions about my experiences and travels, maybe connecting different ideas discussed in class. THEN, finally, I can give them complex essay questions asking them about their opinions.

I don't think this is so difficult, and can actually be very satisfying at the end of a lesson to see the progress made up the cognitive ladder. I think its important to break down each part and go through the steps one at a time , for a relaxed and coherent learning atmosphere.

One goal, one step at a time, one mind.