Category Archives: ALT

Is there any need for Assistant Language Teachers?

Posted on 24/10/2010 by alexcase

Longstanding rumours that the Japanese government are thinking of doing away with JET (the famous scheme for putting foreign graduates into schools as “human tape recorders” or “genki” sources of fun and games) have been followed by news that the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, JET, Teaching English in Japan | Tagged | 2 Comments

Losing my best students

Posted on 06/11/2009 by alexcase

Getting back to my paranoid fears of the last post (because a blog might be time consuming and pay nothing, but unlike seeing a therapist it’s free), there definitely does seem to be one kind of student I have lost … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Classroom management, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Eliciting, JET, Pairwork and groupwork, Problem students, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching shy students | 3 Comments

Letter from a reader- Resistance to games

Posted on 25/03/2009 by alexcase

Will ponder on this and try to get something down myself at the weekend, but was hoping others could also help to with advice, recommended books and links etc: “Hi there Alex. My name is H***** ************ and I have … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching teenagers, Teaching young learners, TEFL games | 5 Comments

TEFL quotes of the year 2008

Posted on 24/12/2008 by alexcase

In reverse order by when they appeared on the blog (the first two are new): “Now Skinner did reign in the land of psychology, and it came to pass that Chomsky smote Skinner and begat Krashen, and Krashen begat Long, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, CELTA, History of English teaching in Japan, Kaplan, KOTESOL, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL chains, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury, TEFL in the UK | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The first English teacher in Japan

Posted on 07/01/2008 by alexcase

… was called Ranald MacDonald (no relation to the most famous American clown in Japan*, I believe) and was also the first English teacher to discover that Japan can be both an adventure and safe and pleasant, being at least … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, JET, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan | Tagged | 3 Comments

2007- A year in Eikaiwa

Posted on 06/01/2008 by alexcase

2007 was yet another year in which the world of TEFL made its way into the consciousness of the general public for all the wrong reasons (a crack down on teachers in Korea, English teaching sex offenders etc. etc), and … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Gaba, Interac, Nova, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching in Japanese universities, Teaching Japanese primary school children, TEFL | 6 Comments

Japanese education explained

Posted on 28/12/2007 by alexcase

Why is education usually such a national and personal priority in Japan? Why is which university you go to so important in Japan? Why do Japanese students fall asleep in class? Why are Japanese Junior High School kids so different … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching Japanese primary school children | Leave a comment

Why are there so many bad English teachers in Japan? Part Three

Posted on 14/08/2007 by alexcase

Here is the next part of my serious attempt at examining why there might be so many bad teachers in Japan. Having already examined why worse teachers might come out to Japan, now it’s time to examine: Why do good … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Business English and ESP, CELTA, ELT publishing, IELTS, Learner motivation, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Japan, Technology, TEFL, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications, TEFL working conditions, TESOL, textbooks, TOEIC | 4 Comments

Teaching in God's land

Posted on 12/08/2007 by alexcase

There is a whole lot going on in this recent story about a feud over a foreigners’ cemetery in Seoul, but the thing that struck me most was how nationalism is tied up with almost everything is Korea. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL, TESOL | 2 Comments

Speaking Spanish in the English class

Posted on 10/08/2007 by alexcase

I was recently reading a piece on David’s English Teaching World that lay into the endless debate about L1 in the language classroom. I’d never thought about the link to the publishing industry of an English only policy before. In … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Alternative teaching techniques, Classroom management, False friends, Learner training, links, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching low levels, TEFL, TEFL blogs, Using monolingual dictionaries | 1 Comment