ABSTRACT
Yuko teaches in an elementary school in Japan, where the school administration has chosen one of the textbook packages approved by the Ministry of Education. The textbook package includes the textbook, CDs, story cards, word cards, and teachers’ books (slightly altered copies of the student textbook, and fuller, translated versions with teaching presentation ideas and detailed explanation of the language points to be taught). The ministry had introduced a communicative curriculum, although not mandating what methodology teachers use to teach. The particular textbook in Yuko’s school includes structured reading, cloze, vocabulary translation, and repetition of key points, with major grammar points in boxed text and translated. All exercises have one right answer, allowing for no initiation on the part of learners. The focus is on teacher control of input and student learning, with no opportunities for speaking. But even the teacher’s role is conditioned by the materials so that their own creativity, innovation, and judgement are diminished. The materials also do not lend themselves to pair or group work. Most teachers at her school can in fact use Japanese as the medium of instruction and learners and teacher only use English to complete the exercises in the textbook. Both learners and teacher often prefer this so they don’t have to display their lack of speaking ability in the classroom. They have little motivation to practice English speaking because speaking is not tested in examinations. Yuko, however, believes she should be more responsive to the communicative curriculum and wants to supplement the required materials with more communicative and creative activities. [Murray, research notes]
Task: Reflect
1. Reflect on your own language learning experiences. What types of required textbooks were used? How similar were they to the one used in Yuko’s school? Did teachers supplement the textbook materials? If so, what did they use?
