In the Japanese workplace, conflicts are bound to arise due to differences in culture or language. Efficient conflict resolution is key to maintaining a healthy and productive work environment. Here are some tips:

Open Communication

Establish transparent communication for team members to express thoughts and feelings openly. This is incredibly important in Japan as many people are not too comfortable with expressing their own thoughts and feelings. 

Define the Issue

Clearly articulate the problem to ensure all parties understand the conflict's root cause. Using language that all parties can understand can help bypass the potential language barrier issue. In high schools the JTEs often have a higher level of English compared to those at elementary or junior high schools. So it is important when teaching in elementary or junior high school to use easy English or Japanese when presenting a problem or conflict.

Collaborate

Promote a collaborative approach to conflict resolution, involving team members in brainstorming and solution-building. Clearly state your goal in the lesson and the JTE goals for the lesson and work together to come to a solution that satisfies both parties.

Follow-Up

Make sure to follow up after the fact to make sure that all parties are ok with the new changes to the lesson. If there are still some points of contention, make sure to ask the JTE for their end goal for the lesson once more and work towards making the needed changes.

By embracing these strategies, workplaces can turn conflicts into opportunities for growth and foster stronger team dynamics.

 Image by jannoon028 on Freepik

Many of us came to Japan alone and this can be especially hard during the holidays. While being away from family during the holidays can be challenging, celebrating the upcoming winter break in Japan alone doesn’t have to be daunting.

Some activities you can partake in are exploring local festivals, illuminations, and traditional events like Hatsumode. Try a festive KFC meal or join a Nabe party for a warm and communal dining experience.

If festivals and KFC aren’t your cup of tea, you can try connecting within the community:

This means building connections within the local community by attending events, language exchange meetups, or participating in holiday charity drives.

Searching with your local city hall, you can find several winter holiday events that would be the best fit for you. 

Celebrating the holidays in Japan without family may have its challenges, but it also opens the door to cultural exploration and personal growth. Embrace local traditions, savor unique flavors, connect with the community, and use technology to stay close to loved ones. The result can be truly enriching and memorable.

One of the most difficult parts of debating for both native speakers and ESL students is rebuttal. From my experience the rebuttal part for Japanese ESL learners is especially hard since debating is not something that they commonly do even in Japanese. The most important aspect is providing them with a structure to follow. 

To rebut effectively in English debates, here are some essential tips:

Active Listening: Understand your opponent's arguments by actively listening and taking notes.

Preparation: Anticipate your opponent's points and prepare your arguments in advance.

Signposting: Structure your rebuttal by starting with an acknowledgment of the opponent's point.

Address Key Points: Focus on the most crucial aspects of your opponent's argument in your rebuttal.

Provide Evidence: Support your counterarguments with facts, statistics, or examples.

Expand Vocabulary: Enhance your English vocabulary to express your ideas more effectively.

1. Start with Basic Topics

Begin with simple, relatable topics that ESL students can easily understand and express opinions about. Gradually progress to more complex subjects as their language skills improve.

2. Emphasize Vocabulary

Introduce debate-specific vocabulary and phrases, such as "opening statement," "rebuttal," and "counterargument." Encourage students to incorporate these terms into their speeches to enhance their language proficiency.

3. Provide Structured Practice

Break the debate process into manageable steps. Teach students how to outline their arguments, provide evidence, and refute opposing viewpoints. Practice each step separately before combining them into full debates.

4. Foster a Supportive Environment

Create a safe and inclusive classroom environment where ESL students feel comfortable expressing their opinions and making mistakes. Encourage peer feedback and constructive criticism.

5. Incorporate Technology

Use online resources, debate platforms, and multimedia materials to make learning engaging and interactive. ESL students can watch and analyze debates in English, helping them grasp the art of persuasion.

6. Encourage Research

Encourage ESL students to research thoroughly before debates. This not only improves their argumentation skills but also enhances their knowledge of the topic.

7. Practice, Practice, Practice

Regular practice is key to mastering debate skills. Host mock debates, organize debates within the class, or even encourage ESL students to join debate clubs or competitions outside of school.

As we are moving into summer a lot of students might be gearing up to take the Eiken test.

Which means that a lot of times we as foreign teachers might be asked to tutor or assist them with it.

For those who do not know the Eiken test has an in person or online interview test. This interview test consist of a reading comprehension section, picture describing section and two opinion questions. 

While most students can do the reading comprehension with not much issue. The biggest hurdle for them comes from picture describing and opinion questions. One method I like to use to help tutor students on passing these two sections is breaking down what exactly they need to answer in order to hit all the points. 

With the picture description, the best method I tell the students to do is start with the prompt sentence, then describe how many people are in the panel, what actions they are doing and (if there are) stating the dialogue. Repeat this process for each panel. To help the students keep track of these three points I provide them with a checklist, so they can check off if they were able to properly hit all three points. By having the students use this checklist when they are practicing at home, it can put them into the habit of answer like so for the test.

Next the opinion questions. This section is usually the section that most students struggle with. A lot of students will tend to over-complicate the answer to the question. However, if you look at the sample answer that the test gives, it’s very basic. In order to successfully answer these questions again the student has to hit three main points. First, answering yes / no or agree / disagree. Second, their reason. Finally lastly, an example to support their reason. I find that the best way for students to practice this without over-complicating it is to strictly follow a checklist. Also making sure that they use simple English to answer. 

If the student has their cellphone on them, you can have them record themselves answering the opinion question and then having the student listen back on it. This will make pointing out what they did good in and what needs improvement much easier for the student to know.

If you are looking for more information about Eiken and how to teach it at a private secondary school in Japan, please check out these videos by our former Chief of English Services and Senior Advisor Peter Ackerly:

After being in Japan for nearly 4 years, one key component of Japanese society is the lack of conversation surrounding headspace. So I think it’s important for us to be able to manage our own headspace.

We’ve all had bad days or days where we just don’t feel like doing anything. I know for me, especially after a long break my headspace tends to be in a weird place. In which I physically feel tired, and mentally blocked. 

Some methods I employ to help manage the lack of motivation and the weird headspace during these periods of time are:

1. Slowing getting myself back into the regular routine. Understanding that it’s normal after a long break to want to continue resting. During this period of time what works best for me is taking naps. Allowing myself to rest and to decompress can help with clearing any sort of weird headspace problems.

2.  Division of work. As work is starting back in full swing, it’s normal for teachers to have a lot of upcoming lessons to prepare for. If your motivation is shot, preparing for lessons can feel like a monstrous task. One way to bypass this is to divide the work. What works best for me is to outline the most important tasks to the least important. Then I make sure to give myself a reasonable deadline to finish the important tasks by. Rather than trying to finish it all right away, I make sure to give myself at least 30 minutes of rest for every 2 hours of working. During that 30 minutes I will do something that can allow me to shut my brain off and to refocus.

3. Understanding that you can only do your best if you are motivated enough and are in the right headspace. Forcing yourself to finish something when physically and mentally you are not there will only add more work for you in the future.

Now that the heat has finally subsided and we’re moving into the sweater season a lot of holidays are just around the corner. When I was working at elementary schools I remember the students being excited for Halloween. 

So fitting in with the October theme, I thought I could focus this month’s post on Halloween related lessons. 

A quick reminder: This works best for younger students *mainly for younger elementary school students*

As a way to get kids interested in Halloween and to also learn more about the holiday one fun activity I do with the 3/4 grades is creating monsters. I usually go over the basic classic Halloween monsters from ghosts to witches and so on. Get the students to become familiar with the English. 

Next all you need is some plastic cups and colorful construction paper. The students will most likely have glue, markers and scissors. Give the students some time to create their own Halloween monster. 

Finally, have the students *who want to* present their creation to the class. Some provided English sentences should be given. Ie: His/her name is_______ . They are a _________.