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Educational Thesis in 1996

English Experience Classes to Improve Students' Communicative Ability

-Using Actual English Scenes in the Classroom-

Akio Inuzuka at Kariya Higashi Junior High School

Chapter 1　Introduction

　We often hear the word, "Internet," these days. We can easily get information from the World Wide Web (WWW) and exchange e-mail with foreign people. And also trips to foreign countries have become popular. These changes have given us many chances to use English and now we know its necessity. In such a world English language education must not only stress grammar but also communicative abilities so that we can use English in real situations.

　Beginning in elementary school, many students have had chances to talk with a municipal ALT, or Assistant Language Teacher. The students, who entered this April, seem to enjoy chatting with an ALT in Japanese. Although it is good to talk with foreign people without hesitation, I want them to notice how important English is as an international language. Not expecting foreign people to be able to speak Japanese, I want students to feel the necessity of English when meeting with people from many countries, and I want them to improve their English language abilities so that they can talk with foreign people in English.

　I want to improve students' communicative abilities by using the Internet and through conversation practice with an ALT in English classes. In this study, I would like to examine the effective "communication unit," and which students feel that they can really use English, through the study of classes in the seventh grade.

Chapter 2 Outline of the Study

2.1 Hypotheses of the Study

• By developing a real English situation in the classroom, students can feel the necessity of English which in turn enhances their motivation for studying English.
• Students can improve their communicative abilities by participating in activities that improve fundamental conversation skills.

2. 2 Plots of the Study

2. 2. 1 "Communication Unit" including real English situations

I developed the "communication unit." At the beginning and end of the unit, I set up "real English situations." The "real English situation #1" is made of both reading and writing communication exercises. I gave students a chance to exchange e-mail with American middle school students through the Internet. And the "real English situation #2" is comprised of listening and verbal communication exercises. I gave students a chance to talk with Brian, a student from Canada. And then as the bridge activity between these two activities, I set up the "communication practice," which gave students step-up drills, such as fundamental expression memorization, building-up conversation practice, and a communication rehearsal with the JTE, Japanese Teacher of English. Through these activities students repeatedly practised the same theme conversation. And I believed it would build up students' syntaxic ability and communicative strategy and then improve their communicative abilities.

2.2.2 Four devices to support the communication unit

2.2.2.1 Annual "Conversation Card" activity

I use the "conversation card" annually as a convesation drill, which promotes a relaxed atomosphere to talk in English. Students talk to a JTE or an ALT, he answers, the student talks again, and the teacher answers again. Students then receive a "conversation card." After learning the new expressions, they can easily use them in a conversation. I believe this activity helps students to memorize new expressions and to get used to actual English conversation. At the end of the year, students can receive participation points based on the number of communication cards in their possession.

2.2.2.2 Memorization of "Communication Pattern," basic expressions drill

Each topic of the conversation has some patterns of expressions. Even after we learn grammar from the textbook, it is hard to apply it to actual situations. So after reviewing the expressions the students have learned, I added some actual situations, and made a "communication pattern." I then asked the students to recite these expressions. The students were able to use them in conversation practise. Using the expressions as much as possible helped them to memorize the expressions. Even slow learners could learn by heart some easy expressions and were able to have a conversation using them.

2.2.2.3 Steps of Communication Practise

At first, students practise the "communicaton pattern" and memorize them. And then they try their best in the " sudden challenge conversation," using these expressions. Students feel the difficulty involved in the conversation and at the same time they understand that they can communicate after learning the "communication pattern." Then students learn the discourse of the conversation; starting stage, developing stage, and final stage. After that they prepare the contents of the next conversation, and try it in the "conversation rehearsal with a JTE." After fixing their week points in the conversation, the students try the "final challenge conversation."

2.2.2.4 Team Teaching with Three Teachers

In our school, we have one team teaching period out of every four English classes. We do the team teaching classes with another JTE. And every three weeks a municipal ALT visits our school. By combining these situations, we implement team teaching classes with two JTEs and an ALT. In the "challenge conversation" class, the main JTE observes the conversation between students and the ALT, while the sub JTE checks the recitation of the "communication pattern."

2.2.3 The Method of Verification

The main purpose of this thesis is to show how to improve students' communicative abilities by letting students feel the necessity of English and improving their motivation for studying English. So I chose two students who have an interest in English but are passive to conversation in Japanese. I observed how they changed and verified the hypothesis.

Chapter 3 Communication Unit for the Seventh Grade
"Let's Make Friends in a Foreign Country"

3.1 Classes

3.1.1 First period

It is the first meeting about the new communication unit. I said to them,"I got some e-mail from students in a middle school in America. Who wants to correspond with them?" Most of the students raised their hands. They showed a lot of interest. I gave them each one e-mail letter. They looked happy reading the e-mail. The first task was to decode the e-mail. Students used English-Japanese dictionaries. Some English sentences were difficult, so I helped them. But they seemed to enjoy this activity.

3.1.2 Second period

I let them try their best to write the replies in English. Students used Japanese-English dictionaries for this task. I asked students to compose English sentences using the expressions they had already learned in the textbook. Slow learners were able to use the sentences in the textbook and quick learners added some other sentences to enrich the content of their letters. I helped them in this stage, too. Once again students seemed to enjoy this activity.

3.1.3 Third period

I made available 6 word processors. Those who had finished writing their English draft started inputting their text. They had practised on the keyboard before, but it seemed hard for them to use it. However they actively enjoyed doing it. And then I sent the completed e-mail as soon as the students finished them.

3.1.4 Fourth period

I told the students about the "final challenge conversation". "Next week, a new student, Brian, will come to our school from Canada. Let's talk with him and be friends." "Really?" they asked. "How old is Brian?" Students seemed to have a great amount of interest in him. "What I know is that he is from Canada. Ask him other questions." I told the students, "The next class will be a conversation practise class with Matt, our regular ALT. Let's do our best during the conversations."

In the second half of the class, I introduced the "communication pattern." After first reading their sentences, they tried to memorize them. And I checked their recitation. Students understood that some expressions came from the previous e-mail reading/writing practise.

3.1.5 Fifth period

This was the team teaching class with two JTEs and an ALT. I divided the students into six groups and took each group next door into a small classroom. Each group was allowed to converse for only 5 minutes. While they waited, they recited the communication pattern. And the sub JTE checked their memorization. I observed the conversation and noticed that sometimes there were periods of silence in the conversation but the ALT helped the conversation a lot. Every student was able to talk with the ALT. And they recited many expressions while they waited, too.

3.1.6 Sixth period

I continued checking students' recitation of the communication pattern. Slow learners tried to memorize easy expressions by heart. While smarter students tried to memorize all the expressions. They seemed happy after memorizing all of them. I asked these students to become a "teacher" so they could then check the other students' recitation. They seemed proud of this.

3.1.7 Seventh period

We practised for the "final challenge conversation." Students chose the topic that they wanted to talk about and then wrote the sentences they were going to use. First, students talked about themselves and then they imagined what the answer from the ALT would be. They would then ask other questions and continue this process. They used the expressions that they had learned when they wrote their e-mail and in the "communication pattern" section. Some students said, "I may be able to talk with Brian."

3.1.8 Eighth period

Students rehearsed their conversation before the final stage. They recited the sentences they had prepared in the last class and then went to the next room to have a conversation with the sub JTE. Some students seemed to have a little bit of trouble answering the questions from the JTE.

3.1.9 Ninth period

The "final challenge conversation" stage came. Brian is actually an ALT from another city. Students met him for the first time. I asked him to pretend that he is a student from Canada. Students seemed tense talking about themselves and asking him some questions. They could not talk easily but they managed anyway. After the class, Brian said, "the students were really good English speakers."

3.2 Verification and Consideration

I chose two students; Miss N and Miss T. Miss N is good at conversation in Japanese but not good at English. Miss T is passive but has an interest in English. I tried to verify my hypothesis through their actions and feelings. I used their class diaries and videos of the conversations.

3.2.1 Did the development of real English situations in the classroom help Miss N feel the necessity of English and did it enhance her motivation for studying English?

Miss N was active during the e-mail exchange with a foreign friend in the "real English situation #1." In her class diary she wrote,"It is wonderful to exchange e-mail through the Internet with foreign people. But because I must use English, it will take time to translate it from Japanese. I will be happy if I can do it with a little bit of hard work. I hope to do many more exchanges. It is wonderful to correspond with friends I have not met before." Students recognized the writers behind each e-mail from pictures. And all the above reasons motivated her to complete her translation even if she was not good at English. The motivation lasted even after sending of her mail. "My first English letter was mess. I could not type it into the word processor. I hope you will set up a "word processor workstation," so I can use it at any time. " She took a lot of time to write the answer in English, so she was unable to type it into the word processor within class time. She was sorry but soon this sorrow developed into motivation for future exchanges.

After that her motivation continued into the next communication practise. She was eager to recite the English expressions even if it was difficult for her. In her class diary, she wrote,"I could recite only one pattern. But I like them because I now know many examples and English words that I will learn in the eighth and ninth grade." "I got three checks of recitation today." "I only got one check. But I am satisfied with the good recitaion. She was able to recite only one third of the communication patterns. But she had the motivation to learn the expressions by heart, one by one.

After the "final challenge conversation," she wrote in her class diary,"Because this is not the first time, I could speak a lot. But I could not speak fluently. If I have another chance, I will make it better." As she is good at conversation, she tried to talk without hesitation. She was satisfied with the conversation but she had a high level of motivation to improve her communicative abilities in the future.

She likes to talk, and this enhance her motivation for the e-mail exchange and the challenge conversation with an ALT. I could feel it in her attitude when she recited in English. She had a concrete situation in which to use English, and understood what she should do for that. Even if she was generally not good at English, she wanted to study. So I conclude that this unit actually worked.

3.2.2 Did the development of real English situations in the classroom help Miss T feel the necessity of English and did it enhance her motivation for studying English?

Miss T was active in the e-mail exchange, too. The following is from her class diary. "It was hard to decode the e-mail from my foreign friend. But I now know many things about a foreign country. I want to exchange e-mail and know more about friends abroad." I understand how she had an interest in foreign cultures and in a friend in America. "Word processors have many functions. So it was hard to handle it. As I input the mail, I gradually felt happy. I got excited about sending e-mail to a foreign country. But I could not complete it within the class period. I was sorry." I think only real English situations can give students such exciting feelings, as when they hit the keys on the word prcessor, thinking of their friends abroad.

In the last diary, she concluded. "I want many more opportunities to have conversations with an ALT. I study English so I will be able to speak with foreign people. So I want to practise that. Although grammar is important, how one speaks and how one answers are more important. I know how to act in a situation through the experience of conversation. If I get used to it, I don't have to be tense. So please give me another opportunity." She made her purpose of English study to speak with foreign people, and tried hard in English classes. Her motivation for conversation was not as much as Miss N. After the final challenge conversation, she only said,"I met him for the first time. So I felt tense." But she wants to be able to improve her speaking ability, learn grammar and have better conversations. So for her this communication unit seemed successful.

3.2.3 Could Miss N improve her communicative ability using tasks to improve her fundamental conversation skills?

I compared the two conversations with the ALT.

In the "sudden challenge conversation," the ALT led the conversation. Miss N only said a sentence with three words. But in the final challenge conversation, she introduced herself brightly and asked about the ALT's family with some mistakes. In the converstion rehearsal with the JTE, she asked about the JTE's family and the JTE congratulated her for asking such a great question. This encouraged her. However the ALT answered too quickly. So she seemed slightly disappointed. If she could have expanded the conversation using,"Who are they?" it might have worked better. But contrary, the ALT asked her, "How about you?" And she simply answered. She answered, "There are five." using the expression in the communication pattern. And the topic did not continue. The ALT then changed the topic,"Do you like pizza?" But she seemed to be dissatisfied, she asked an additional question after the conversation, "Do you like table tennis?" She was actively participating in the conversation.

Her contents of the conversation were questions she remembered. But because she is a member of the table tennis club, she asked if the ALT liked table tennis or not. Because she was delighted asking about the JTE's family, she asked the ALT about his family again. She tried to ask what she really wanted to ask. She worked hard on the recitation of the communication pattern, and wanted to memorize the conversational expressions. I felt that she was able to have a wider range of expressions through activities like these. And if she learns how to continue the conversation, she may be able to make the conversation longer. So I believe this communicaton unit was useful for her.

3.2.4 Could Miss T improve her communicative ability using tasks to improve her fundamental conversation skills?

Thinking about Miss T, I would like to compare the two conversations with the ALT, too.

In the "sudden challenge conversation," Miss T's voice was not loud enough and it was difficult to catch her words. Anyway, she could do her self-introduction. But when she was asked the next question, she became stuck. When the ALT asked,"Do you like watching TV?" she only said, "No." Because there was not enough time, the conversation finished. Then in the "final challenge conversation," she was able to talk about herself and asked a question. Having many chances to practise the conversation seemed to work. She just said what she had memorized. But when the conversation stopped, she could ask another question about the same topic,"I like variety program. How about you?" She gave the topic and asked a question. This means she acquired the ability about how to construct the conversation.

Miss T wrote in her class diary,"The combination between the first sentence and the second seems odd, because of the sudden change in the topic. So I was worried." She understood how to continue the conversation. And that understanding appeared in the actual conversation. In the second conversation, her voice became louder and had much more confidence. So I felt that she had a lot of confidence in this converstion and was thus able to continue talking for a longer period of time. I believe that this communication unit worked well, too.

Chapter 4 Conclusion and Future Assignments

This communication unit was the students' first experience with a unit of this kind. However it may be difficult to conclude that they acquired communicative abilities with only one practise. As I mentioned in the consideration, students receive points and can acquire communicative abilities experiencing a unit like this. Students acted more energetically in this unit than in other communication units I have experienced. I could sense their motivation by reading their class diaries. I have not received the e-mail replies yet. But I would like to give them many more opportunities to use English in actual situations.

As for future assignments, setting up communication units over a course of three years of English study seems important. In the eighth grade, "shopping" and "asking directions" situations are possible. In the ninth grade, "introduction of Japanese culture" is possible from my experience. The communication patterns students memorized is a base for the next levels. Reviewing the base and building more expressions helped the students to use these expressions in their own conversations. I want to continue producing new communication units.

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