What Amazing Enthusiasm!

A teacher from Turkey talks about her visit to LLL SIG founder Tadashi Ishida's English class for older learners.
　

I am an English teacher at a preparatory school in Turkey, where I have students who range in age between 17 and 19. Although they are energetic teenagers, they sometimes get easily distracted and tend to lose their motivation to study. That is why it is sometimes a challenge to teach adolescents. We as teachers strive to be motivating, lively, and devoted; if not, it might become hard for us not only to teach but also to communicate with our students. Therefore, we try to do our best at the prep school in using teaching practices that motivate students.

To this end, we attend international conferences to meet other teachers and share experiences whenever the opportunity presents itself. My first international trip of this sort was to Japan. There, I met the energetic and hospital Tadashi Ishida. Mr. Ishida invited my mother (who had come along on the trip) and me to his English class. At this time, I would like to share this unforgettable experience with you.

I met Mr. Ishida at the 8th Annual Pan-SIG Conference at Toyo-Gakuen University in Tokyo, where I was doing a poster presentation on contextual grammar teaching. As with all Japanese, Mr. Ishida was friendly and helpful. On the day of the presentation, he was interested in the poster presentation and in learning more about my mother and me. First, he offered himself as a guide and suggested that we explore Tokyo with him. It was a welcome invitation, and we immediately accepted. He first took us to the Emperor's Palace and then to Tokyo Tower. They were great! At the end of the day, he then extended an invitation to my mother and me to visit his English class.

The following day, Mom and I headed for his class. He had explained to us earlier that he was teaching a group of students aged fifty and over, most of whom were retired. Prior to visiting the class, I had thought somewhat skeptically to myself that it might be rather tiresome and boring to teach English to people in that age bracket based on my experiences with my own student, forcing me to rethink my own teaching strategies.

Upon entering the class, we saw about ten students, each of whom was curious to learn more about us and started to inquire of Mr. Ishida about our backgrounds. After replying to their questions, Mr. Ishida introduced us to his students, who were extremely warm and sociable. Before beginning the formal classroom activities, Mr. Ishida Tadashi asked if I would say a few words to the class about Turkey. The students showed amazing comprehension proficiency, understanding the information that I imparted to them in English and, in turn, sharing what they knew about Turkey, its traditions, and its culture.

As the class progressed, I was surprised to witness the unbounded eagerness and enthusiasm of Mr. Ishida's students to learn English. This, in part, was due to the fact that Mr. Ishida did not bore his students with traditional instructional routines but instead used more modern communicative methods and role-plays. To smooth the transition to active English without undue stress or strain, Mr. Ishida neatly printed a basic dialog on the board, which the students then faithfully acted out in pairs. It seemed to be fun and engaging for the students since they were both using meaningful language and assimilating that very language at that same time. The experience was so inspirational to both my mother and me that we jumped right in, becoming active participants in the class, role-playing with the students, and enjoying the warm and cordial interaction.

It was a great privilege to have been invited to and to have participated in Mr. Ishida's class, particularly because I was able to see first-hand a devoted and dedicated teacher in action. He opened his classroom to us, permitting interaction among students and guests, for which I am most appreciative. It is also to his credit that he allowed beginning students to use their English in relevant ways with invited classroom guests. Instead of providing an opportunity only to observe his class, Mr. Ishida opened his classroom to us, further underscoring the importance of communication and bridging cultures with interpersonal contact. As a teacher, Mr. Ishida is to be praised and admired for his ability to motivate his students by helping them use and live the language.

My visit to Mr. Ishida's class was an unforgettable experience. He gave me the chance to interact with and perhaps even teach a little English to a few Japanese students. He says with great modesty that he teaches older students; however, I do not quite view it from an age perspective. In fact, Mr. Ishida's students seemed to be more involved in their studies than some students in universities, and teachers would consider themselves fortunate to have such an enviable group of enthusiastic and willing learners. My mother and I would like to congratulate Mr. Ishida on his extraordinary efforts and to thank him for being the best friend possible on our short trip to Japan.