considering that i've been hired under the JET programme to provide japanese students the opportunity to hear native english being spoken as well as to give them someone to communicate with in english, i've definitely been trying as far as possible to use as little japanese as i can. The Brit at school festival commented that it's interesting how while he always tries to speak to students in japanese (to practise his japanese), i speak english to them as far as i can. he says that he doesnt see the need to speak to them in english outside of the classroom - and he didnt know that all japanese students learn english in school - and so communicates in japanese on other occasions.
however, i feel that firstly english should defnitely NOT be confined to being a classroom subject, and that by speaking to them in english outside the classroom, it demonstrates that english is a living language that can be used on any occasion. moreover, i can practise my japanese with other people on other occasions, whereas the students wouldnt have much opportunity at all to use english or even hear english unless i speak and try to make them respond in english. added to the fact that i've been hired to speak english, english should definitely be what i speak to the students. in addition, that japanese ability isnt a requirement to work as an ALT further reinforces the idea, in my opinion, that english should be used and not japanese.
of course, that i'm writing the above at all means that i'm really having second thoughts about that (i'm not using 'beginning to have' because it's been there for sometime). already, i feel that sometimes i use too much japanese, because i have a choice whether to use japanese or not, which is more than what those ALTs who know no or less japanese than i do have.
however, i'm actually wondering whether i should even be increasing the amount of japanese i use, believe it or not.
at the orientation, some ALTs who were giving speeches said that they sort of try to hide their japanese ability from the students in a bid to make the kids use more english, but right from the second week i did away with that resolution because it's quite impossible to do so with the level of english among my kids. and i do feel that a moderate amount of japanese used does help because the students can communicate with me, even if it means me saying something in english, repeating it very slowly and translating it into japanese if necessary (as it is most of the time). moreover, it's very frustrating for them - and you can see it - when they want to say or ask something but cant express themselves in english. they end up giving up altogether because communicating just requires too much effort, and i think that them NOT using english to clarify something is better than them not asking at all.
but i wonder if i should be using more japanese, mainly because there's the possibility that speaking more japanese will lead to the students being more willing to talk to me and becoming more familiar with me, and when that familiarity and willingness to chat with me in general has been established, i could then perhaps try to make them use more english. the reason being that yesterday, i ended up talking to a class entirely in japanese - i dont know how it came to that, but it happened nonetheless - while the main teacher went to zap some notes for them, and wow the class was so hyper and lively when that happened, and i think the atmosphere in the classroom improved a fair bit after that brief episode!
and today, one of the teachers actually said that she hopes i can use as much japanese as possible for the writing class that we take together. i guess the rationale is that they're to be trained in writing (rather than listening or conversation), so japanese can be used to explain grammar and the usage of words, etc. i dont really know how that works, but she said that she was really happy to discover that my japanese is rather good (which it isnt, but well if she says so.... heh).
and this all makes me confused! i think there's a fine line between using enough japanese and using too much, yet i have no idea where that line is. i dont want to fall into the same trap that some Japanese teachers of english make by using too much japanese in class, yet i dont want to discourage the students from making full use of my presence here as a foreigner ALT in japan. i think it definitely helped somewhat, when i explained to yesterday's class - in japanese - in response to their comment that my japanese is very good so why do i keep speaking to them in english that the reason why i'm here is because they dont have much chance to speak or hear english, hence i try to use as much english as possible. i think they sort of get the idea now, i hope. but whatever it is, english has to be the medium of teaching in english class, as that's how kids learn! so i dont know.
i'm really wondering about this, because i dont know how the rest who dont speak japanese get on in their classes. if it's just me who's having these dilemmas, something must be wrong perhaps? the rest of them get along with their students fine without using japanese i think. then again, it could just be the students in this school, because i dont see The Brit - and he's a white male, see here for the significance of that - having students clamouring to talk to him either.
わからへん！！
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