On Teaching Japanese Language

Foreign language learning is experiential. It ferries learners on a big bus ride where they may ‘see’ more along the way rather than what they benefit upon reaching their destination. Teachers should see it as pragmatic, valuing the content of their course- seeking and reflecting on why they need to learn the language and what they need to learn in the language. My experience for five years on different classroom settings and different cognitive levels of learners gave me the nudge to go FUNCTIONAL. I always tell my students the old adage of linguists, ‘the language you use is the language you know’..For what better way can we really assess the competence of our learners if they cannot use it outside the four corners of their ‘warm’ yet predictable classroom. I put a challenge more on developing students’ lingual ability.

As I entered Graduate School (as a student in Language Teaching), my practice and beliefs were strengthened. I was no adherent of the Grammatical approach, not that I shun it entirely, but for students, the process of getting to the point of the lesson was more exciting than the grammatical knotting at the end. Dialogues were either done by pairs or group after a discovery of what the first presented dialogue is all about. Students would normally pattern their ‘new’ dialogue from what the teacher has presented. That’s just normal. It is, I believe, a rote learning strategy done leading to mastery. In one school where I teach, grammar was lain on the student’s textbooks with inadvertence. I made it a supplementary for the activities I make and I have proven that the results were more satisfying.

Motivating and assessing learners’ knowledge from shared activities are my usual starters. What better way to assess teaching but through the concrete performances of the students. The school believes that the yearly Japanese Proficiency exams are the foremost goal to work over. Companies do look upon graduates with high Proficiency level, or better yet with a certain level. I concur to their idea but it should be the means of getting there that is more important. Learners should savor the language. Enjoy it and the rest will follow.

A language with three writing system, ambiguous in utterance (or expression), and reflective of its culture- are what makes the Japanese language a challenging foreign language to learn. My personal history with the language was my impetus to become functional and communicative as a teacher. I learned not from the book first, but through the actual ‘encounter’ with the language. It was all self-discovery and practice with the native speakers that led me more to liking the language.

I have learned that it is not wise to correct students when they commit grammatical errors while talking. This was believed to be relative to what Stephen Krashen pointed out in his Monitor theory. The conscious student builds anxiety over the idea of committing more errors. This would put a halt on the student’s interest for pursuing the language. This is particularly true with students who see themselves as not that integratively motivated. The grammar supplement should be done in the later part of the instruction and checking of its understanding should fall on the written assessment. Grammar would like be a spring roll wrapping holding everything for a good bite.