Part Six
In the Classroom

Opening Remarks
The information in this section is intended to get first time teachers started off on the right foot. Most new teachers will fall back on memories of their own classes at high school or university when looking for teaching styles, but this will not always serve the best purpose. Still, with a little cultural understanding and the right amount of enthusiasm, most of us will not face too many obstacles and can learn to give good language lessons. I have tried to include information or examples that will be of help in this endeavor.
One major target has ben to include practical information that will help teachers in the planning of their lessions and determination of how best to approach specific situations that they will encounter in the classroom. There are a number of ways to approach the structuring of language lessons and we will touch upon some of the major ones. In most cases you will teach lessons that are based on either grammar, vocabulary, function, theme, or situation.
Although the curriculum, syllabus and textbook may be decided for you, you will be responsible in the classroom and have a great deal of input as to the focus of your lessons. The biggest challenge will be how to keep the interest of the students and one way to accomplish this is by designing lessons that based on cooperative learning1.
As mentioned earlier, most students in Japan have studied English and have at least basic knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. The challenge we face as native English language teachers is to make our students more comfortable with the target language, elicit what the students already know, teach useful language, and get the students to realize that there is actually a practical use for English.

1. Determining Level
Unless you have a fair amount of experience, you will probably not be responsible for determining level from the very beginning. This information is only intended as a guide to what to look for when evaluating ability and ascertaining an approximate level of proficiency.
Most schools will evaluate the student's ability at registration time. Good schools and teachers will realize the evaluation or assessment is an ongoing process that should be done at regular intervals to ensure that the student and teacher understand the level and areas of short-coming. After assessment, students can set goals and these goals are a necessary element of success in learning a new language.
Another reason for proper assessment is accurate placement of the student into a class were they will be challenged yet not discouraged. Grouping together students who vary too greatly in target language ability can be extremely frustrating for both the students and the teacher.
There are also several rating systems for language students and you will probably be exposed to others not mentioned here.
The traditional categories: beginner, elementary, low-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate, pre-advanced, and advanced may serve your purposes just fine. Other variations are using a letter or number to represent a student's level at your institution.
The present system at Sony Language Laboratory incorporates a 1 to 10 evaluation scale. Level 1 students are labled absolute beginners, but because of the Japanese education system and other influences, most will have basic knowledge of at least the alphabet and simple vocabulary and phrases. Level 10 students are quite advanced and most will have spent some time overseas and/or using English in the workplace.

A. Level Check/Test
The traditional paper test is probably the most often used form of evaluating competence in language. It is also probably the most misunderstood means for testing language skills. Some things to keep in mind are that these tests favor certain types of students and may not be the perfect tool for checking language ability. You may want to be more creative in your preparation of level assessment materials.
In addition to the variety of testing by paper tests, i.e. multiple choice, true-false, matching, opposites, etc., it may serve your needs to do listening tests using audio or video tapes2 where students respond to questions or passages with answers or explanations.
Writing is also very helpful in determining the level of students. With the education system as it is in Japan, most students will be able to write with a certain amount of accuracy and this type of test is quite useful in checking word order, sentence structure, vocabulary, usage, etc.

B. Interview
In addition to the other ways of checking language competence, you may want to use one-on-one interviews where you will ask the student questions and check their responses. It is a good idea to do this after another type of level check so you have some idea of the student's level and can thus adjust your questioning. This combination is an effective way to check all areas of language, especially oral and aural skills.
You may need to use caution since new students will usually be quite shy and since most Japanese have not been exposed to this kind of testing or experience, most will not excel at this kind of level check regardless of their actual language ability.
Japanese students will also require a little more time in answering and should not be automatically marked down for slow responses. Cultural differences dictate here a more careful contemplation of the answer and this needs to be taken into consideration. Quicker responses will need to be worked on in the classroom.
You should of course try for natural speed, but adjust down if the level is obviously low. Also, the grading system needs to be carefully considered. I usually look for strengths and weaknesses in motivation, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, word order, tense, other grammar, and listening. I have included the following questions which I use in determining level and some comments on possible responses:

What is your name?
It may surprise you to find that some students have trouble with this. Perfect responses will include "My name is . . . ," and have the first name and family name in the correct order. I also ask students to spell their names to check their reaction and to help me with the spelling of difficult Japanese names.

Where were you born?
This question is useful for checking both tense and prepositions.

Were you born in Osaka?
I use this variation of the last question for students who have proven that their level is a little higher. It is useful for checking the students use of positive or negative replies to yes/no questions.

Tell me about your family.
This question puts lots of responsibility on the students and you can use their answers to direct the next few questions. Don't be surprised if a student says "I have one wife and two children." Of course a more natural answer is "I have a wife and two kids," and you can allot more points accordingly. It is also Japanese custom to refer to ones immediate family and sometimes sisters or brothers who have married and moved away are omitted. This is only a cultural difference and not a language weakness.

Tell me about your mother's personality.
This question is useful for checking vocabulary.

What do you do?
On the surface, this seems to be a simple question, but can be used to check a number of grammar and usage points including tense and sentence structure.

Do you have any hobbies?
A good yes/no question that can be followed up with related questions to find out more about the student's personality and the detail that they go into can be used to grade different areas of language.

What do you do in your spare time?
A variation of the last question for slightly advanced students.

What is your favorite food?
In line with the last two questions.

Tell me how to prepare beef stew.
Now you can check the students facility of giving instructions. Look for time markers such as "first, then, next, after that, finally, etc."

What news item of 1995 grabbed your attention?
Useful at higher levels in checking the student's motivation, attitude and ease in discussing current events.

What is your opinion on sending Self Defense Forces to Bosnia?
As mentioned earlier, Japanese are not usually encouraged to give their opinion in class and some students may have difficulty. Still, this type of question is good for pinpointing the student's strengths and weakness at higher levels.

2. Syllabus Planning
In many situations this task will also be relegated to someone else. Still, it important to see the reasoning behind the plan. As mentioned in Part Two there are different approaches to creating a syllabus. I have tried to introduce at least one example of each type of syllabus, but in most cases you will want to include activities and exercises the work in the four skill areas.
After setting the level of the class, your next step is to decide how you will orient the curriculum. Basically you will structure the syllabi around vocabulary, grammar points, functions, situations, or themes. There are of course hybrid versions that include more than one focus, but you need to be careful of the following points: 3. Deciding on Material
This is another area where you may not have that much freedom. Depending on the amount of involvement on the part of the institution you are working for, you will have a lot of decisions made for you. Still, there may be times when you do have the freedom and knowing what to look for in material will certainly make the decisions easier. Also, knowing what is available may help you in evaluating the material that is chosen for you or looking for supplements that compliment your main text.
A. Published Texts There are a number of published textbooks for ESL/EFL and thanks to increased interest, the number is increasing. The major publishing companies that focus special attention on the ESL/EFL market are Oxford University Press, Prentice Hall Regents, Longman, Cambridge University Press, Heinemann and Lingual House. I have tried to include the currently popular textbooks in my order of preference and/or successful experience.
1. Series The one series that I have had the most luck with is the Interchange series. The main series 1,2 and 3 have similar layouts and work in all four skill areas. There is also an introductory level text. All levels include a teacher's manual and suplementary workbook of superior quality.
Another popular series is English Firsthand and English Firsthand Plus. There is also a lower level book in this series that is aimed at school-age students. The teacher's manual also gives many useful tips and is gaining popularity for its integration of language items based on frequency and usefulness.
Person-to-Person has recently been revised and reprinted and is gaining popularity for its integration of language items based on frequency and usefulness.
Streamline and American Streamline are other popular series with the main difference being the use of American or British English. These text, Connections for higher levels and Departures for lower levels, have a variety of lesson outlines that are implemented on a rotating basis, which is nice for maintaing student interest over a period of time.
Side-by-Side is quite popular in Japan. I have never used this text as a main text, but I often use specific units for supplement as they usually include useful dialogs and good reading sections.
Keynote and Keynote Plus is a rather new series that focuses on certain conversation strategies and topics of interest. My main dislike for this text stems from the repetition of ideas and activities. Other teachers may find that they like this though.
East West and East West Basics may be one of the text that is decided for you. It is not bad for lower levels, but the organization sometimes seems muddled.
2. Low Level Individual Text My favorite is Fifty-Fifty because of its emphasis on the student with the inclusion of lots of information gaps and listening exercises as well as expansion exercises that help personalize the material. The teacher's book also has lots of extra material to supplement almost all of the lessons.
3. Middle Level Individual Text Great Ideas is one text at this level that I have used successfully. The book focuses on speaking and listening tasks and is topic oriented.
Functions of American English is targeted at the same level, but focuses attention on functions. This text also has work on listening but the main thrust is toward practice in communication.
4. High Level Individual Text Non-Stop Discussion is the most useful text I have found for exercising the communicative abilities of upper-level students. The students are presented with short reading assignments in the form of background information and then asked to come to some consensus within their group.
React-Interact also has an intersting format, but I have not had as much success with it. Students are asked to solve certain problems in pairs or small groups.

Major points to consider when choosing published texts are the quality and organization of the teacher's manual and other materials such as quizzes or reviews. Other factors include the existence of supplementary workbooks, quality of graphics, organization of material, and general flow of the text. It may also be desirable to have transcripts for all listening portions of the text.
B. Supplementary Material Here too there is no shortage. JALT puts out two regular publications called The Language Teacher and JALT Journal that has some excellent supplementary ideas. Seido Language Institute also publishes a periodical called Papers in Language Learning and Language Teaching. These publications are also mentioned in Part Eleven on Resources and if you can find some back issues, you can begin to build up a reserve of extra materials that may come in handy in your classes. Otherwise, we can basically divide supplementary material into two categories, existing and original.
1. Existing Existing supplementary material may come from a variety of sources. The above mentioned publications are only a few of the sources available in Japan. Also, as you use more and more textbooks, you will find certain lessons or activities that really click for you. Most authors or publishers encourage teachers to try out certain lessons so there will usually be now copyright problems with using existing material from other textbooks if you stick to the premise that you are just trying it out.
English language teaching forums and newsletters also generate a tremendous amount of useful material. You will need to spend some time sifting for materials that are relevant to your needs though.
2. Original Some teachers have the time, energy and enthusiasm to create their own material. You will be extremely lucky if you find yourself at an institution where all teachers agree to trade material. You may even create a file for original materials that you can dip into when you need a certain supplement or have time constraints. Main things to keep in mind when making new materials are:
C. Games Games are a useful tool for the language teacher. In the past however, most teachers have thought about games as a time filler or as a diversion. Used properly though, games can be of tremendous pedagogical value and take a more central role in the language classroom3. Games can be used to present or reinforce grammatical points, structure, listening and overall communication. The following are some examples of games that can be played in a variety of classes at different levels and that focus on different skills.
1. Add On Sentences in Circles One person starts with a sentence such as, "I'm going shopping and I'm going to buy a pair of shoes." The next person repeats the first sentence plus one more item, for example: "I'm going shopping and I'm going to buy a pair of shoes and a blue handbag." The game continues with each person adding one item and can go around the circle as many times as you wish. This will of course depend on the size of the circle and the student's interest level.
Other sentence are "I'm going camping and I'm going to take . . . ," "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to pack . . . ," etc. This game gives the students practice in using correct word order, countable and uncountable nouns, and listing nouns with "and" between only the last two items.
2. Hangman Hangman is an old favorite that can be used to check spelling and review vocabulary, set pharases, idioms, proverbs and movie titles.
3. To Tell the Truth Basically this game works like the old television program. You take three students aside and decide on an interesting sentence that could be said by any one of them, but is true about only one. These students join the rest of the class and say the sentence one by one. You tell the class that two of these people are not telling the truth and it is their job to find out who is telling the truth by asking questions and checking response speed, reaction, etc.
Students usually have a lot of fun with this and they get work on many language skill areas.

The main point when deciding on games is the amount and type of language that is used to participate. Look for games that reinforce and strengthen the different areas of langauge. Some games also work better with a certain number of students. To Tell the Truth works better in groups of around ten students, Add On Sentences In Circles is better for six to eight.
Jill Hadfield4 has produced a set of three books of games aimed at different levels that the reader should certainly get their hands on if they are serious about wanting to use games in the classroom.

4. Lesson Planning
It is here that you begin to have more freedom. Since most teachers are left to their own devices in the classroom, you will be able to take the skeleton lesson provided by the school and adjust it to fit your teaching style. As mentioned in Part Two, there are basically five types of syllabi based on grammar, vocabulary, function, theme or situation.
Having a set plan will give the teacher confidence and give the class some direction. This is comforting to students, but it should be kept in mind that classes can stray from a set plan and this is sometimes a good thing. The teacher should be in control and yet maintain the flexibility to let classes drift to other areas if those areas are productive.
For organization purposes, I have grouped my comments and advice into divisions based on the type of syllabus, but you should not feel limited to keeping youir lesons in only one division. The following are just some comments on the different lessons you can plan:
A. Grammar Based Grammar based syllabi, lessons and activities are some of the hardest to plan since it is not natural in everyday communication to limit ourselves to one or two target grammar points. This type of structure may be useful for lower level classes or groups of students aiming at a specific test that requires a deeper knowledge of grammar.
My advice here is simple, stay away from this type of structure unless you are using a successful textbook that has been designed around grammar points and you have supplementary material that reinforce the grammar or structure without boring the students. Practice and Progress (1984) by L.G. Alexander is one of the most successful grammar-based texts that I have ever used.
The trick is how to focus on grammar and yet promote the development of all four language skills. There are of course ways to do this, but careful planning is imperative.
Simple groupings5 can be constructed around present, past or future events, nouns and pronouns, modal auxiliaries, asking questions, the present perfect and past perfect, countable and non-countable nouns, articles, connecting ideas, gerunds and infinitives, passive voice, adjective clauses, comparisons, noun clauses, quoted or reported speech, etc.
Extra advice is to be ready for obscure grammar questions on almost any grammar point. Japanese students have been taught grammar at school and will suprise you with questions concerning archaic usage, etc. This is just one more reason to leave this type of syllabus for the experts.
B. Vocabulary Based This type of syllabus is one of the harder to prepare and execute successfully. Basically, you will try and introduce a set of vocabulary in each lesson. Out of context, these new words will most often not be useful for the students. Students in Japan will have likely spent great amounts of time preparing for exams with their dictionaries, dog-eared notebooks and long lists of vocabulary. For this reason, I suggest structuring your lessons around one of the other types of syllabi and using vocabulary building or reinforcement activities to supplement. Theme based syllabi are especially useful for introducing new vocabulary6.
C. Function Based I have concentrated most of the information on lesson planning in this section as I feel you can relate most lessons to some function. The list of functions can be cross-referenced and added to constantly. As a native speaker of the target language you will be some students' only link to live English and keeping a list of functions and the natural language we use when approaching them will be one of your greatest assets.
It is important to note the overlap between the function and other language items. Take note of the language you use in certain situations and decide for yourself what additional grammar points or vocabulary can be introduced, reviewed or practiced while working with these functions.
Some functions are more intricate and require more practice. Easier functions, or functions that may not hold the students' interest, may be alloted less time and more than one function may be introduced in one class depending on time.
As you gain more experience in the classroom you can also compile your own short list of texts and chapters to help you when preparing lessons based on the functions you most commonly introduce.
There is also overlap with theme-based and situation-based lessons or activities and the teacher should make decisions on when and where to introduce material or ideas from other syllabi depending on this overlap and the relative usefulness of such introdcution.
The entries under each function include all or some of the following information:
  1. a brief description of the need for teaching the function.
  2. the possible level at which the function should be introduced.
  3. some ideas for lesson plans and/or activities that revolve around the particular function.
  4. other relevant information.

The following function list is in no special order, but I have tried to group the more difficult functions lower on the list.

Saying hello
Almost any low level class will begin with a lesson on how to say hello or greet someone. The difficulty is in deciding at what level to introduce what variety of greetings. Classes for absolute beginners and elementary level students should focus on basic greetings such as "Hello, my name is . . . " or "How do you do? My name's . . . " Lower intermediate level students will be ready to digest introductions for a variety of situations including seeing close friends after a long interval, etc. Another focus here should be to help students gain confidence in greeting strangers, friends, acquaintances at differing politeness levels.

Introducing oneself
This function is also high on the list of ways to begin courses. Basically, we can accommodate different levels by just adding the amount of information students give in their introductions. Lessons based on this function should aim at giving students needed confidence in introducing themselves, but also focus on listening for detailed information when listening to other people's introductions.

Asking about people
Interviewing is the most common venue for practice in this area, but we can also begin to use the content of the interviews to introduce or reinforce some of the grammatical points that will be targeted in previous or upcoming classes. For this reason, we can use the function of asking about people on a regular or reoccurring basis. Some possible situations to incorporate are job interviews or interviewing famous people. Giving the students an alter ego is one way around shyness.

Introducing acquaintances
This function is quite important in business as well as other social settings. The distinction between levels of politeness and formality need to be introduced or polished. Situations might include meeting at a party, etc. This function could also include activities aimed at asking detailed yet polite information about people.

Describing places
Students can get valuable language practice in describing their neighborhoods, hometowns, houses and places they have visited. Interviewing is a useful exercise in eliciting the answers that will use the target grammar points and information gaps provide a perfect opportunity for interviewing around this and other functions.

Inviting
This function works best when integrated into some situation based activity such as planning a dinner party, date, golf trip, or other social gathering. A useful exercise as a warm-up may be to have students come up with a list of situations in which they can use this function, i.e. a birthday party, sailing trip, dinner, etc.

Accepting invitations
Don't forget to teach your students to thank the party who has invited them. Their lack of self expression may be misconstrued. Increasing levels of politeness will also distinguish you students.

Declining invitations
In the Japanese culture it is not necessary to give excuses or reasoning when declining invitations. The fact that we do so in English speaking countries is an important aspect to introduce and practice with your students. The following function will also give you some more specific practice with this.

Offering excuses
As mentioned in the previous function, offering excuses is considered appropriate in most cases when declining invitations. The lessons or excercises should expose the students to the variety of ways in which we can offer excuses. Making up elaborate or far-fetched excuses is a fun way to practice this function while eliciting various vocabulary or expressions.

Talking about age
This may be a sensitive issue when talking to certain people and Japanese students should be warned of the offense that talking about this topic can cause if not approached in the correct manner. "Thirty-something" and "spring chicken" are just a couple of expressions you can teach in conjunction with this function.

Talking about plans
This is good practice when targeting the future tense or possibility. Situations that can be incorporated include weekend, vacation, or holiday plans. This is also a useful function for business classes and excercises the use of future tense and language expressing possibility and/or probability.

Talking about hobbies
Presentations are useful in getting students to introduce information on their hobbies. This is especially true of not so common hobbies such as fly fishing or camping. You can set aside a special presentation day when students are required to explain their hobbies in detail. This activity is also useful in exercising a variety of language points and giving the students confidence in speaking in front of others.

Describing locations
There is some overlap between this function and describing places, but the focus here will probably be on prepositions. It may be useful therefore to separate the two functions in your syllabus and thus give the students a review of the points covered in the other.

Describing objects
The level at which you are teaching will determine the complexity of the object or objects being described. Describing a pencil will be much easier than describing a facsimile. Also, you may want to focus your lesson or activity on the size, color, shape or uses of the object.

Describing occupations
This is sometimes a useful function to teach in the second or third class when students are getting to know one another better. Caution should also be used if you know certain students are unemployed or working in menial or demeaning jobs that may be embarrassing to explain to their classmates. One point that is sometimes difficult for Japanese students is the difference between "work in," "work at," and "work for." Dream jobs is one useful topic for eliciting a variety of language.

Describing routines
Expressions of frequency are best introduced or reviewed in conjunction with this function. Grammar work on tense and auxiliary verbs is also possible. I like to use an activity in which all students write their schedule and pass them to the front. After the teacher reads each without the name, students try to guess whose schedule it is.

Describing habits
You may also want to review frequency adverbs and/or giving advice in this section. Themes may include health, sports, entertainment, etc. You will probably encounter some overlap with describing routines.

Describing qualities
This function comes up often in a variety of lessons and can include work on explaining texture, color, size, taste, etc. Exercises that include shopping as a theme are also useful here.

Expressing regrets
Phrases such as "I should have . . . ," "Why didn't I . . . ," "I wish I would have . . . ," are just a few that you can introduce. Role plays in which one partner makes a crucial mistake or blunder work great for this function. Students will usually come up with their own situations if you give them the freedom and time to do so.

Expressing obligation
You can introduce expressions such as "I have to . . . ," "I must . . . ," "I need to . . . ," "It is imperative that I . . ," A good exercise is to have students plan a trip or important meeting and explain the things they must do in preparation.

Expressing needs & desires
Island survival may be a good exercise. Check the Handout Five for the Speech Course in the next chapter, Chapter Seven.

Expressing surprise
Japanese students often have difficulty expressing emotion when studying or practicing a foreign language. For this reason, it is important to explain the importance of expressing themselves in the target language and then giving them activities that practice it. Your main goal will be to introduce situations or news that contain suprising elements.

Expressing disappointment
The same can be said of this function. Native speakers may consider them uncaring or cold if they don't properly express themselves. Refer to expressing regrets for more ideas.

Reporting
More important at the intermediate level and above. This function can be incorporated in a variety of activities. Third person speech is the target grammar point and presentation of short news clips is a good exercise.

Asking for and giving directions
Very important in that students may possibly find themselves giving directions in real life. Students can practice asking for repetition and clarifying. Proper attention should be given to this function since giving wrong directions can have dire consequences. This function should also be repeated at all levels and even during the same level.

Apologizing and giving excuses
I am sorry is not the only way to apologize7. Students should be taught that in most English speaking countries, we offer an excuse when apologizing for being late, cancelling an appointment, etc.

Ordering
This function is useful and necessary for all students of a foreign language. You should introduce the different ways to order and stress the importance of confiming.

Ordering over the phone
Talking on the phone is one of the more difficult hurdles non-native speakers will encounter. We don't have the visual clues that face to face encounters afford and confirmation becomes even more important. This offers an excellent opportunity to work on listening8.

Saying good-bye
The variety of expressions that can be used for this function are numerous. Depeding on level, you many want to include a variety of ways for excusing yourself and dirrent levels of formality.

Talking about the weather
This is one of the safest topics and is useful in making small talk. Mock weather reports and information gaps are useful exercises and the focus is usually on present and continuous verb forms.

Giving & accepting compliments
Most people like receiving compliments, but the Japanese are institutionally shy and modest. Denying should be replaced with grateful acknowledgment.

Borrowing
Not common in some cultures, this may still be useful. Exercises I have found useful are nformation gaps in which students try to borrow items which we don't normally lend. These can also lead to hilarious dialogues.

Asking for information
There are almost endless information gaps that can be used for this function. In a department store is just one situation where you can incorporate this function. Also, giving information about a unique national holiday or cultural event may help arouse imaginations.

Asking for & telling price
Important for those compulsive shoppers out there. Role plays that exercise bargaining vocabulary are just one expansion that can be used.

Expressing disagreement
Cultural aspects can also be introduced as disagreeing may differ between cultures. You can introduce terms used for debate and exercise the use of relative clauses.

Giving opinions
As mentioned in the historical overview, students have not been accustomed to expressing their opinions in the classroom. We must show the importance of understanding our viewpoints and how to properly express them. The teacher should also remain culturally sensitive and not demand too much of this. A list of controversial topics will be very useful if kept current.

Asking personal questions
Better left for the upper levels. This can be done interview style and you may find that students are more willing to talk if you assign them an alter ego or personality, i.e. a certain movie star or an angry neighbor.

Welcoming a visitor
Useful in both business and social context. Role plays are just one activity you can use.

Talking about past experiences
Extra practice in past tense, past perfect, past progressive tenses. I like to do timed speaking drills (introduced in the next chapter) in which students first speak for two minutes on a topic such as "My most frightening experience," or "My most embarrassing experience." After listening to their partners stories, they switch partners and tell the same stories in ninety seconds. They then switch again and have just seventy seconds to tell the same story. This activity works on increasing speaking efficiency.

Describing future goals
This function has some overlap with wishes and hopes, but is useful in working on future tense.

Summarizing past meetings
Focus on picking out main points and third person speech.

Discussing holidays
Cultural discussions and other activities specific to the teacher or students' home country can be designed around this function. This function also affords a good opportunity for the teacher to find out about holidays and holiday activities in Japan.

Talking about clothes
May need to exercise caution if there is a great disparity in fashion within your class or the possibility that someone may be offended. This function is also good for all levels and can include work on describing color, patterns, etc.

Making small talk
Important exercise that is useful in breaking the ice and getting conversations going.

Asking for an extension
A little more obscure, but nonetheless important. Offers more work on requesting.

Asking for and giving advice
"What should I do about . . . ," "What would you do about . . . ," "If I were you, I'd . . . ," "Have you tried . . . ," "Why don't you . . . ," "You should . . . ," "You had better . . . ," and "Why not . . ." are most of the phrases you will have to introduce. I like to have students create questions for an advice column and then work together on giving specific advice.

Comforting someone
Some overlap with expressing regret. Be careful about topics that are too touchy since it is not unusual to hit a sensitive spot with individual students.

Note that some of the activities can be used for different functions and that not all functions are useful for all students. As the teacher you may be responsible for determining what is important or interesting for your students.

D. Theme Based You can go much more detail with advanced classes but it is also useful and interesting to discuss themes with lower level classes. The following is a short list of themes that can be used and added to as you gain experience. I have included just a few of the hundreds of questions you can ask on these themes.

Sports
Do you prefer team or individual sports? What do you think of violent sports such as kick boxing? What sports do you think are most beneficial for our health?

Health/MedicineWhat do you do to stay healthy? What habits do you have that may be considered harmful to your health? Do you know any home remedies?

Food/RestaurantsWhat is the most delicious meal you have ever eaten? Compare two restaurants in you town.

TravelWhat items would you take on a trip to Egypt? How about London? Do you like to explore one place or visit many places when you travel?


EnvironmentWhat things can we as individuals do to protect the environment? How much responsibility should government have in protecting the environment?


Volunteer ActivitiesWhat area are volunteers most needed? How can we foster a stronger volunteer spirit in Japan?


HistoryWho is your favorite historical figure? What questions would you like to ask him/her? What differences would you experience if you lived a hundred years ago?


GeographyWhat are the three most exciting places for visitors? Design a city to best take advantage of the geographical surroundings.


CrimeWhat punishment do you think should be administered to a father who has been laid off and is caught stealing a bicycle for his son's Christmas present. Do you believe in the death penalty?


TechnologyWhat technological advancement of the last fifty years do you think is most significant? Which one has changed your life the most?


BusinessWhat are the fastest growing businesses in your area? What businesses have you seen disappear or decline in your lifetime? If you had the start-up capital, what business would you like to start?


SchoolWhat are the most important topics to teach elementary, junior-high, and high school students? Do you think physical education should be mandatory?


OccupationsWhat was your "dream job" when you were growing up? What are the main responsibilities for a hotel clerk, computer salesperson, and an elementary school teacher?


TelevisionHow much television is too much? What was your favorite television show as a child?


MoviesWhat is your favorite movie? What qualities are important in a hero/heroine? Has this changed in your lifetime?


EntertainmentWhat things can you do for entertainment that cost no money? Plan a one-day tour of your town to entertain a foreign guest.


FamilyWhat are the advantages/disadvantages to having a small/large family? Should children be forced to do housework?


Homes/Houses
Describe your dream home. Compare Japanese and Western-style homes.

E. Situation Based These are usually the most succesful lessons for lower intermediate to intermediate level class as the students feel some usefulness for their studies. The following list includes situations that I have had luck with.

At a party
Having students talk to everyone in class is a good way to start any class and using this situation facilitates this aim very well.


On an Airplane
You can introduce problems such as a fight over a window or aisle seat, lost luggage, etc.


At a Travel Agency
Role plays based on information gaps are successful in eliciting conversation in this situation.


Renting a Room or House
This is a useful situation to strengthen comparing and contrasting skills.


Renting a Car
Role plays and dialogue practice are some of the activities I have tried.


At the Grocery Store
A good situation to practice comparing and work with numbers.


At a Department Store
Returning merchadise is one variation on this situation that I like to introduce.


At Customs
Useful for travelers, but limited in applicability.


At Immigrations
Same as above.


In a Bank
More work with numbers.


On the Telephone
You can go into such situations as making reservations, cancelling an appointment, wrong number, leaving a message, making an appointment.


Greeting a Visitor at your Home
Should be different from greeting someone in public.


In a restaurant
More work with ordering, complaining, complimenting, etc.


5. Miscellaneous

A. Correcting Mistakes
Correcting mistakes is one of our most important responsibilities as language teachers. Still, we need to take into consideration the social and cultural differences between Japan and our native homeland when doing so in the classroom. Special consideration should be used when correcting student's mistakes since it is easy to insult, humiliate or discourage students and this is counter- productive to our goal of teaching students the target language and giving them the confidence to use it properly.
There are several ways to correct student mistakes without putting them down or drawing too much attention to their mistake9.

B. Listening/Dictation
Because of the focus in Japan on translation-grammar based learning, there is a definite weakness in listening skills of English among most Japanese. For this reason, you will want to focus at least some attention on listening comprehension activities. Discussion with you will be one exercise of the students' listening ability but there are numerous other techniques for working on this apsect10,11.
The central goal of using dictation exercises in the language classroom is to improve the students' ability to listen for detail. It is important to create a need to listen. Task-based dictation activities will entice students to focus more carefully on listening assignments12.

C. Drills
Drills are an important part of the teacher's repertoire. There are several kinds of drills and you should use the ones you think are most productive in really reinforcing langauge points. It is important to remember not to do one drill too long since they can become boring and this will be counter-productive to our aim of introducing and practicing a particular structure or grammatical point in an interesting way.
Basically, the following order can be used: give students and example, have the class repeat, have individuals repeat, correct if necessary13.

D. The importance of reading
This point cannot be overstressed. If students want to gain fluency in the other parts of language they will have to imprve their reading. I encourage my students to read everything they can get their hands on. Also, I stress the importance of reading in a variety of fields to broaden the vocabulary base. Other areas of language that are benefitted are the structuring of good sentences and the natural use of set phrases.
One activity that can be used as a warm up in intermediate to advanced level classes is having students use headlines to develop news articles on current topics14.

E. Motivating Students
Probably the most important factor in properly motivating students is an enthusiastic attitude on the part of the teacher. Students will pick up on the teachers lead. Other things that can be done to keep the motivation level high are:
1. Require students to keep a diary or journal. The important point to remember is that you must have a regular schedule and give the students some feedback or they are likely to give up.
2. Choose material that challenges the students' intellect and use your own creativity, intelligence and experience in the classroom in order to establish mutual feedback.
3. Set goals a present tasks that lead the students to those goals.
F. Special settings
Here are just a few tips on teaching specific types of classes. In addition to the following information, you will want to find out the students' aims and any responsibilities that are placed on you by administration. One such expectation is when a company expects their employees to obtain a pre-determined increase in proficiency according to a certain test.

1. Ideas for private lessons
You will prabably meet with your private lessons on a regular basis and you should stress the following points: a) It is important to maintain continuity so don't cancel too often, b) Practice or study outside the lessons, and c) Set goals and stick to them. Private students usually pay more for the privilege and deserve extra attention. Keep clear records of material you work on and remember to review and reinforce important language points, etc.

2. Ideas for larger classes
The seating arrangement is one of the biggest obstacles in large classes. The teacher automatically becomes the center of attention since you are standing up front and you will need to use your creativity to think of new arrangements and activities that focus attention on the students and their groups.

3. Ideas for adult classes
These will probably be your most enjoyable classes in that you will be communicating with adults and therefore don't have to worry about discipline, etc. Most adults have some background in English and are usually not that interested in studying grammar except when absolutely necessary. For this reason, your main goal in these kinds of classes will be to find and introduce interesting topics to talk about.
Current news is always good to get you started, but it is a good idea to set some theme or have some other structure for the class and not depend to much on daily conversation to get you through the class. You will have more success and look more professional if you design your lessons with some fundamental principles that the students can either recognize or pick up on.
One of the most successful plans that I have used at upper intermediate to advanced classes is making students responsible for presenting one topic each lesson. You can tell your students to look in newspapers, magazines, on television, or even through the Internet. If the articles are in Japanese, have them summarize the main points in English and have them write two or three opinion type questions to stir up some conversation after their presentation. With bigger classes you may have to divide the class into groups at some point if you want all students to be able to present their topics.

4. Ideas for younger student classes
All I can say is, "good luck." For cultural reasons, most parents in Japan don't usually discipline their children to a great extent. For this reason, classes of young children may be your biggest challenge, especially if you are alone. English class may just be looked at as a chance to play and unless you take firm control, they can get out of hand rather quickly. I offer the following advice:
5. Junior/Senior High
There are a couple of formidable obstacles in these classes. First, most students will be currently studying for entrance exams or will be in the near future and will thus want to focus on English that will help them pass those exams, i.e. grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Then, because of age, many students will be shy and being forced to speak English in front of their peers would be a fate worse than death.
I suggest care in planning activities that keep students' attention and focus on some specific task, but that do not force them into embarrassing situations. Small groups will be more successful than larger ones.

6. College/University
Remember that, despite a lack of aural and oral skills, you are working with young adults with young-adult thinking skills, organizing skills, social skills, curiosity and sense of adulthood. Lewitt warns15:
Don't talk down. Don't use books that talk down. Don't give exercises and tests that talk down. And don't ever think that they don't know when they're being talked down to. They do. And they hate it.

7. Company Class
The difference in language ability can be greater at companies unless they have the resources and will to conduct several classes. You will need to plan lessons that take the gap in understanding and productive ability into account and use some strategy that both challenges the upper level students and does not leave behind the lower level students.
Another problem you might be faced with is having a class that includes superiors such as section chiefs, managers, etc. Subordinates will be very reluctant to show up their bosses and you need to design around this as well.

F. Common Activities
There are certain techniques that you will use on a regular basis. The following two are quite common, but keep your eyes open for other useful strategies that work for you.

Information Gaps
Information gaps are a useful exercise to get students talking. They are usually clear cut and easy for students to grasp and can therefore be used at almost any level. The target grammatical point can be shifted and the number of students involved can be varied although two or three is usually preferred.

Role Playing
These are activities where students act out certain situations in the role of another person. These activities require a great deal of preparation and lead-in to be successful. You will find role playing cards or situations in a number of text, but you may want to create your own sometimes as well.
Because most Japanese will not have experience with this type of activity, and the shy factor, you may want to have a model dialog prepared and have students read it a few times in preparation before attempting their own. Gradually, you can wean them off prepared dialogs and demand more creativity.

Conclusion
In this section you were introduced to some practical ideas for the classroom. Despite the amount of freedom you have in deciding text and syllabi, you will be in charge in your class. It's a good idea to build up your repotoire of teaching methods so you can adjust to the different classroom sittings and needs of your students. Remember that most students in Japan will have at least some background in English and that your lessons should be geared more to the practical side of the language to both catch the interest of your students and to offset their esoteric knowledge of the language with something that they can use.

Notes

[1] Bossert, S.T. Cooperative activities in the classroom. In E.Z. Rothkopf, (ed.), Review of Research in Education. Washington, D.C., American Educational Research Association. 1988.

[2] Richards, J.C. Listening comprehension: approach, design, procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 17(2), 219-240. 1983.

[3] Steinberg, J. Games Language People Play. Ontario, Dominie Press, 1991. [ ] Beile, W. Towards a Classification of Listening Comprehension Exercises. in Audio-Visual Language Journal, 16, 147-153. 1978.

[4] Hadfield, J. Elementary Communication Games, Intermediate Communication Games, and Advanced Communication Games. Surrey, Nelson House, 1984, 1990, 1987.

[5] Betty Schrampfer Azar (1992) uses these groupings in the organization of her popular book.

[6] Helstijin, J.H. "Retention of Inferred and Given Word Meanings: Experiments in Incidental Vocabulary Learning," in Arnaud and Bejoint. 1992.

[7] Bryden, D. Apologizing and Speculating Activity: Excuses. Language Teaching Ideas. Vol.1, No.3, 10.

[8] Beile, W. Towards a classification of listening comprehension exercises. in Audio-Visual Language Journal, 16, 147-153. 1978.

[9] Jerry O'Sullivan (1994) gives a good explanation of the reasons behind a careful approach to correcting mistakes on page 140.

[10] Driven, R., and Oakeshott-Taylor, J. Listening Comprehension (Part I). State of the art article. Language Teaching, 17, 326-343. 1984.

[11] Driven, R., and Oakeshott-Taylor, J. Listening Comprehension (Part II). State of the art article. Language Teaching, 18, 2-20. 1985.

[12] Porter, D. and Roberts, J. Authentic Listening Activities. In M. Long & J. Richards Methodology in TESOL, pp. 177-187. New York, Newbury House. 1987.

[13] Pages 60-68 in Harmer (1994) outlines this and other methods of drilling students on a variety of language items.

[14] Orleans, M. Headlines: Count on Them to Warm Up Your Composition Students. Language Teaching Ideas, Vol.1, No. 3, 8-9.

[15] Lewitt, P.J. The Means of Meaning: A Why and How of Teaching Content in The Lnaguage Teacher. Vol. 19, No. 11, 33-44.

Part Seven - Specialty Classes/Courses