Description:

The ALT teaches an English conversation class aimed at adults. Outside the normal lectures, there are other meetings that offer the opportunity for cultural exchange. Those gatherings, such as little parties where students bring simple dishes or outings to the cinema, take place in a very friendly atmosphere.

Objectives:

Offer town residents the opportunity to study English conversation and a place for international exchange

Lesson Content:

The lessons take place every Wednesday from 7:00pm to 8:00pm (beginner's level) and from 8:30pm to 9:30pm (intermediate level). The content of the lessons ranges from grammatical topics such as pronunciation, intonation and verb conjugations to discussions and debates.
The curriculum is quite unique because some of the lessons also focus on culture. We have classes titled "Show and Tell" in which students explain their hobbies, such as pottery or shamisen, and also give a demonstration. In the "International Food Class," the students look up the recipes for foods from different countries, prepare them, and bring them to class, where we then talk about the dishes.

Making the Curriculum:

The content of the lessons is entrusted to the ALT. The ALT asks about the interests and preferences of the students and prepares the classes accordingly.
Some examples of requests from the students are "I want to be able to explain about Japanese culture in English" or "I want to learn English children’s songs" or "I want to know about the history of Canada (the home country of the ALT)" and so on.
The ALT needs about two hours to prepare the curriculum for each class from the end of school till the beginning of the class. The ALT also makes an evaluation at the end of each class. Students comment about the materials and the topics are used to prepare for the next class.

Teaching Materials:

For the teaching materials, the ALT uses extracts from websites [Boggle's World, BBC English One Shop, Dave's ESL Cafe, Language Connection (published every Thursday in the Daily Yomiuri Newspaper), etc.] and predecessor's grammar books. Alternatively, the ALT makes the teaching materials and also, gets ideas from the Japanese Teachers of English (JTE) at the workplace.

Exchange Activities:

Since English conversation classes are part of the community-based local activities, they also function as a way to promote exchange between local citizens (for example, holding a party with the members of the class or going to see a film).

Recruiting Participants and Publicising the Class:

The recruitment of participants was done through the town's newsletter and website. Recruitment was conducted in March and August, during a one-month period each time.
New applicants were given priority when demand exceeded maximum class size.

Dispatching the ALT:

The ALT was given compensatory time off (daikyu) for working outside normal work hours.
The compensatory time off was given on Fridays, which is a working day for the Board of Education, or accumulated and given during the summer vacation, according to the ALT's wishes.

Tobe Town (Ehime Prefecture)

Board of Education

School Education Division

Tel: 089-962-4820

Tobe Town

Central Community Centre

Tel: 089-962-4822

English conversation can largely be separated in two categories: classes held by community centres and classes held by international exchange associations.