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Do you enjoy learning English?

Fukushima National College of Technology

A: Hello, everyone. Today, we have gathered here to give speeches or presentations in English. Like us, most of you are probably interested in English. We think learning English should be fun! Have you been enjoying learning English recently? How about you guys? (B&C: gesture) Me neither. None of us have been enjoying learning English recently. So, what did you have in mind when you first started learning English?
C: I thought I wanted to have an international marriage.
B: Wow, really? Have you ever had a boyfriend from a foreign country?
C: Not yet, but I’m trying to find one!
A: Then good luck!!! I look forward to going to your wedding in Hawaii or somewhere nice! (C: You’ll see.) How about you, Ayu?
B: I wanted to make foreign friends.
A: I made some foreign friends at a conference in Seoul, Korea. (B: Sounds good.) I enjoyed many cultural activities with foreign people using English.
B: International marriage, making foreign friends, and cultural exchange; they are all good reasons for learning English. English is supposed to be a communication tool, isn’t it?
C: Of course, but somehow, something has changed. Learning English used to be fun…
B: We wanted to find out what other Fukushima Kosen students think of English, so we conducted a survey of fourth year students on October 11th, 2012. First, let’s look at their reasons for learning English (graph 1). 88% of students said that they study English to get the credits for their English courses. A lot of students think of English as just a subject we have to study.
A: Look at the next chart (graph 2). Even though we have studied English for a long time, the survey showed over 80% of students don’t have confidence in their English.
C: As you can see from our survey, motivation toward learning English in our school is low, and most students have a negative image of English. Why? What are the reasons for this change in attitudes?

What prevents us from enjoying learning English?
B: Let’s think about what prevents Fukushima Kosen students from enjoying learning English.
English courses are basically conducted in Japanese, and for the most part, we sit in silence and simply listen to the teacher lecture. We hardly speak English during class. We learn grammar, read textbooks and translate English into Japanese. We are also required to memorize sentences for English quizzes. That’s nothing less than painful for a lot of Kosen students. But if we don’t earn the required credits, we can’t get promoted to the next grade or graduate from school.
A: A lot of students study to get high scores on the TOEIC test. In our school, our TOEIC score is included in our grades. Also, many universities and companies use TOEIC scores as an entrance requirement, or as a qualification for new recruitment and promotion. We spend a lot of time trying to improve our English skills for TOEIC. But the truth is, the TOEIC test we usually take only measures reading and listening skills. So if we put too much emphasis on TOEIC, it is easy to neglect our speaking and writing skills.
C: Having opportunities to use English is important to keep our motivation for learning English. In Japan, however, we have very few chances to use English. This chart shows that more than 90% of Fukushima Kosen students don’t use English outside of class (graph 3). If so, we need more opportunities to use English in class.
A: How about discussions in class?
B: Sounds good, but it’s not easy to do. Typically, Japanese students are not good at expressing their own opinions and don’t like to be different from others.
C: And, we are afraid of making mistakes, especially when we use English.
A: So, what can we do to improve the current situation?

Suggestions
C: Ah, how about this? I think English teachers should conduct classes in English. Most students have the impression that speaking English is difficult. But if teachers used English in front of their students, we could change that impression. English teachers should be our role models as non-native speakers.
A: I think we also need more opportunities to use English. For example, we had an interesting English class in the first semester of this year. The class was called Business English and was conducted by a Japanese teacher. As class activities, we needed to listen to the teacher’s English carefully, read English articles, exchange opinions, and give presentations all in English. At first, it was hard for us to do classwork, but gradually we got used to speaking out in class and most of our classmates came to express their opinions in English.
B: Also we think it’s very important to use interesting materials. For example, some students like foreign music. I am one such student, and English lyrics have helped me enrich my vocabulary. I think interesting materials like movies and magazine articles can make learning English more fun.
A: So far, we have suggested three ways to improve English classes. But there is another thing that we students have to change. That is our attitudes. We should remember that English is a communication tool. We are not learning English only for exams. Learning English opens our eyes to a new bigger world where many lifestyles, values and cultures exist.
C: We should be more proactive and do something by ourselves. Actually, I go to an English circle once a week. There, we do a lot of activities like discussions and watching movies. Through this circle, I made a Canadian friend and when his family or friends come to Japan, we hold a small party. I really love talking with them in English and learning about their culture.
B: I know some friends who keep in touch with foreign friends by using Skype and Facebook. Improvements in communication technology are making it easier and easier to communicate with people living in other countries.
A: There are many international activities where we can use English in Japan. For example, I attended the Japan-ASEAN Youth Leaders Summit 2012 held at this Olympic Center last October. If you are interested in using English in real situations, it might be a good idea to take part in these kinds of activities.

C: Well, our presentation is really close to the end. I am glad to have shared our message with you. .
B: Yes, me too. It took us a long time to prepare for today, but we really enjoyed working on this presentation topic.
A: We are so happy to have been given this opportunity to come here and present our opinions.
C: So now let’s review our presentation. First, we discussed some reasons why we are not enjoying learning English.
B: The reasons are pressures for credits and TOEIC, lack of opportunity to use English, and our Japanese personality.
C: And then, we suggested some ways to improve this situation.
B: In class, Teachers to should, 1. use English, 2, give students more opportunities to use English, and 3 use interesting materials. We also considered what we could do outside of the classroom. 1.English circles, 2 Internet tools and 3 international activities.
A: We think the key word here is “enjoy”. It usually doesn’t matter if you make little mistakes when you communicate in English.
C: Absolutely. So, let us move on to the next stage. English is a communication tool.