Following on from my quick blurb about Alex Case’s recent post on the mysteries of Japanese motivation in the classroom, I’ve got round to formulating some thoughts on the issue. While it’s definitely not something I can claim to have much experience of, having worked in Japanese classrooms (or the pretence of depending on how you view Eikaiwas) for the last 10 months has definitely given me a whole new insight into what the motivations for learning a language can be for Japanese people. In contrast to my short but intensive time training for a CELTA degree last year, and during which I dealt with learners from a variety of countries and levels, dealing with the motivation of certain Japanese learners on a daily basis can be a totally mind boggling experience, and one that definitely forces you to also reconsider your own reasons, and motivation.
The issues with motivation in a Japanese classroom can be varied – some people come it seems just to tell you how great Japan is, others are obviously after a chat and will seemingly do anything they can to delay any sort of teaching, others yet will take any form of trying to teach them pretty badly, some will want your opinion on anything and everything and yet more come because it seems that learning English is their current hobby. The last one is probably the one that winds me up the most. Don’t get me wrong we all need, and have, hobbie especially in this day and age of over consumption and capitalism, but personally I’ve never once considered learning a language as a hobby. I don’t know, I learnt languages because I needed to, and I practice them because I want to, or need to for work (my current employment being a strong case in point). I can understand why someone might want to learn a language as a hobby, especially if they’re older. It passes time, it can be stimulating and it brings a certain amount of cultural learning with it too.
The problem is… dealing with someone who wants to learn as a hobby can be a massive pain in the neck. After all you’re supposed to be teaching, and learning a language can be quite demanding. When I trained for the CELTA, hobbyist learners were definitely not something you were told to prepare for. Of course motivation is gonna vary depending on the people, but with a hobbyist it can be a bit of an uphill struggle.
Whatever though, part of any work is to learn the finer points of your craft – it seems that the finer points of teaching in this country involve learning to not teach while pretending to teach, and not go mad at the same time. Maybe it’s just me, actually I don’t think it is, but I want to work, not pretend to work. Yes there is a time for everything, and some days I definitely want to avoid work, but by and large if there’s one thing I enjoy about teaching it’s the actual teaching bit. The whole process of exchange, the monitoring, the learning (no one is perfect in this job that’s for sure) and generally the involvement that comes from being a teacher. Something I really enjoyed by the end of my CELTA course (after the first few nerve racking teaching hours), but which I’m increasingly in need of here. I have one class a week in which I can actually teach the way I was taught to, the rest of the time it’s an entirely different ball game.
I said a few days ago that private lessons were the work of the devil. In the Eikaiwa business, private lessons are the bread and butter of the industry by the looks of it. Group classes rarely seem to involve more than 4 people, and even if they do you find that the majority of these groups are hobbyist learners (housewives, pensioners etc…). The only big groups you seem to end up teaching are kids, and well they’re also a world of their own, though they can be incredibly fun. And so you’re left with hours upon hours of private teaching, or man tsu man as the Japanese like to call it (something I still find quite disturbing, considering said man tsu man action can involve me and a kid, or me and an 80 year old woman). And while private teaching can be fun, in terms of interaction it’s pretty damn limited. Now if you’ve got a private student who’s not particularly motivated, than you’ve got a recipe for a horrendously long, and depressing hour. It varies, but personally I find that around half or more of my private lessons are with people whose motivation for learning I always find myself questionning. Now again this is based on my experience and I’m sure it can vary, but from talking to other people who’ve worked in the Eikaiwa world for a while, it seems that these rough stats are the norm. Of course once you’re out of the world of Conversations Schools then things are different – for a start you can have real classes, with a lot of people in them, but you’re definitely still facing problems of motivation (especially with high school and junior high kids). Then again that’s a given anywhere you’re going to be. It’s just that here, and in conversation schools especially it seems to be a hell of a lot worse at times.
You learn to deal with it I guess – I know I have, and I can now handle anything thrown at me pretty much (I still struggle at times, especially during the private lessons). But the main thing is that this lack of motivation you’re faced with will sooner or later start to make you question your own motivation, and that can be a bit*h. I’ve always been of the belief that you shouldn’t do something if you don’t like it and don’t want to do it, ie. don’t moan about your job day in, day out without doing anything about it. Of course there’s some degree of flexibility to the idea, some people don’t have the pleasure of a choice, but by and large if you’ve got a choice than use it, don’t moan. Being here has showed me the other side of this argument. Pretty quickly I found myself moaning about work on the daily, but while I had a choice to an extent I was also pretty stuck and caught by the proverbials balls. My company rents me my flat, I don’t speak much Japanese, and I live on the other side of the world, doing something I have little experience in. Options are somewhat limited to get me out.
So you rely on the motivation – no matter how dire things might seem, you find a way to make it enjoyable again. And I learnt to do that, after a rough patch at the beginning of the year I’ve found myself really enjoying it again, which makes it all a little easier, and eases the rougher pills like money, stupid people etc… But no matter how much effort you put in, faced with certain people and their lack of motivation you soon find yourself questionning exactly what the hell you’re doing here in the first place. I know some people can probably ignore that whole thing and just do the job the way it’s supposed to be done, even if that involves being a token gaijin pet or friend to some random Japanese person. Fair enough, but that’s not me. I’d sooner pack up and leave than accept that kinda fate – though I have done to an extent. Luckily that’s only maybe 2 hours a week, I can live with that for now.
And it’s funny but in his article Alex, an experienced teacher, mentions that solving the mystery of his own motivation in a country that seemingly doesn’t need him could be a bit of a long one. Reading this doesn’t entirely feel me with confidence, though I know he probably means it to be taken with a bit of salt, and only adds to my consternation about the whole situation. It’s not the end of the world, but as far as gripes go in this job it ranks pretty high, alongside gobsmackingly retarded business decisions and managerial BS.
Being an Eikaiwa teacher in Japan (which at times involves being a friend, sounding board, therapist and god knows what else) is a challenge – but not as I imagined it. You’re unlikely to ever provide the kind of educational need as you would teaching refugees in England say, but then again I guess someone as to do it. Being motivated about it could actually be the source for an entire new industry I reckon – armies of therapists and motivational speakers spring to mind. So does violence… :lol: (and no I don’t mean towards students… I mean wearing those face mics like they do is just asking for a smack really).
Rant over, anyone with some experience of this I’d love to hear your thoughts below :smile: .
According to your latest post, you seem to have found your own solution…
The most confusing thing for me for a long time was that Japanese people having that skill of magically knowing what you want to hear (how do they do that??), if you are the kind of teacher who needs to know what your students’ motivation for studying is so you can plan the course, they give you a clear motivation (Going to Thailand on holiday, might have to use English in my work) and off you go. Only later, sometimes much later, do you realise that by drilling them on the language you think they need rather than letting them chat about their kids you have been doing the teaching equivalent of wearing a stupid pair of trousers for weeks because everyone has been too polite and told you they look nice…
But hey, kanji is a stupid way of writing a language too, but at least kanji and Japanese motivation are going to keep on challenging me for at least the next 4 years too. After 2 years in Spain there was nothing left to learn about teaching motivated university students FCE, no more colourful Spanish swearwords to learn and no more different types of ham, so off I went
ha ha nice allegory. yeah I can’t say I’ve really played the game of going by whatever clear motivation they may have, apart from maybe one odd lesson or two where someone’s come in saying they specifically wanted to study something for an exam the next week (which has happened more often than I ever thought possible actually).
I think to me the real kicker has been ten months on the simple realisation that a lot of people are just hobbyists or whatever else, but not learners. And as you’ve said, it can do weird things to your own thinking about why you’re here or doing this.
You’re right though about Japan being the kinda place that can keep on motivating you. As much as things like kanji and all the rest drive me mad at times, I’ve never felt more inspired in my life than since being here, and no matter the ups and downs, the inspiration is always there. Europe’s nice, but it’s just not the same. I do miss some of the cooking though, quite a lot. ha ha.