The Teaching in Japan Page




Continuing Education Section



Welcome to our new Continuing Education Section. In this addition to the Teaching in Japan Page website, our goal is to present information and to offer practical advice for those currently working in the field who wish to further their education in order to obtain the qualifications neccessary for career advancement here in Japan. We offer information from a teacher, Paul Hackshaw, who is both currently teaching in Japan and has attended graduate school at an American university in Japan. The Editors of The Teaching in Japan Page send our sincere thanks to Paul for sharing this article with our readers.

Please feel free to send us either comments concerning our Continuing Education Page or your own article related to this topic. We ask that any submissions include a brief bio of the author and that your information be Japan-specific. Also, please be as detailed as possible so that readers can benefit from your practical experience as a teacher in Japan. Please submit your articles to: markf@teachinginjapan.com



Getting Qualified in TESOL: A Guide to Getting a TEFL Teaching Qualification at an American University in Japan.



Paul Hackshaw

Since the early 1980s, an increasing number of English teachers in Japan have, after a few years teaching here, realized the importance of upgrading their teaching skills and academic qualifications to further their professional teaching careers in Japan. Many arrive lacking formal teaching qualifications, perhaps with a three or four year undergraduate degree, with little grounding in ESL or TESOL, and lacking practical teaching experience. By virtue of their nationality they take advantage of their native-speaker competency when they look for their first teaching job. They may work for a few years at a language school, get settled in their teaching routines and working in Japan, but find they reach a formidable obstacle in their employment or career prospects as they realize their present qualifications and skills do not allow them to apply for higher paying jobs, or to move from part-time to full-time (e.g. at universities). Unless these teachers undergo further training or develop extra teaching skills, many teaching avenues remain closed to them. Unable to take a year or two off or to leave their jobs and return to their home country to pursue a post-graduate degree due to family or financial commitments in Japan, and lacking in the required Japanese language skills to study at Japanese universities, many ESL teachers in Japan look to distance learning programs offered by overseas universities for answers to their current needs.

Two American universities, seeing a growing demand have set up branch campuses in Japan in recent years. Because of the recent moves by the Ministry of Education in Japan to introduce communicative English skills into the Japanese elementary school curriculum, there is a great deal of anxiety among Japanese elementary school teachers. These teachers often possess communicative English skills which are either non-existent or rudimentary at best; thus, these Japanese school teachers often lack the skills and training required to teach under the new curriculum. Both this sudden introduction of an oral component in the school curriculum, and the lack of preparation of Japanese elementary school teachers to successfully implement the new curriculum has greatly contributed to many Japanese teachers of English enrolling in the Masters programs offered by a foreign universities here in Japan. These programs have seen a steady influx of senior and junior high school Japanese English teachers wanting to obtain further English teaching qualifications. In the future, this will surely extend to elementary teachers as well. Many Japanese teachers seem to have realized that they lack both practical training in ESL and modern teaching methodology since these disciplines are rarely taught in Japanese universities.

Because of both the economic recession and the bursting of the economic bubble during the early 1990s, many foreign colleges who had set up shop in Japan in conjunction with corporate Japanese partners during the 1980s were forced to file bankruptcy. At the beginning of the 21st century, there are now only two private foreign universities remaining that offer a fully accredited degree course not obtained through an overseas distance learning program. The Columbia University (NY) campus in Tokyo has offered its Master of Arts program in TESL since 1987, and Temple University (Philadelphia), in addition to an undergraduate program offered at its Tokyo campus, has offered its Masters in Education or M.Ed. in TESOL program since opening its doors in 1981.

Temple University Japan and Columbia differ from distance-learning Masters courses in that they both have bricks and mortar campuses, in Japan, employing full-time Japanese staff and foreign faculty. Students studying on programs offered by distance learning (University of Aston, University of Birmingham in Britain, and both Macquarie University and the University of Southern Queensland in Australia) use faxes, electronic email and standard mail for posting of completed assignments. For students undertaking these distance-learning courses, semi-annual meetings are also conducted between students in Japan and tutors at resource centers (such as one in Tokyo and Nagoya for students studying at Aston University, or in Hiroshima for those studying at the University of Birmingham). With regard to tuition, the fees at Temple University Japan and Columbia generally cost more than many of the offshore programs, yet these schools offer many or all the benefits and services of a university education that one would find back home, including easy access to professors and faculty and both library and research facilities. Students meet on a weekly basis during the semester, exchange ideas and teaching methods, work on joint projects , attend blackboard classes, interact one-on-one with professors and other students, while holding down full-time jobs during the day. Classes for graduate students are usually held in the evenings and on weekends to work around the students' busy teaching schedules. These foreign university campuses in Japan have, in many respects, gained a respectable and a loyal following due to the significant name recognition associated with being household names in the U.S. These schools are also well respected in Japan due to the fact they have weathered the storm of the economic downturn; thus, they are the only foreign schools with long-standing programs located here in Japan.

In this article, I would like to share my experiences with the Master of Education in TESOL program at Temple University Japan. I started the program in 1990 and completed the course entirely at the Osaka campus and graduated with an M.Ed. in 1994. Going back to school and acquiring a graduate degree in TESL requires a considerable investment of both time and money; thus, it is a big decision for many teachers wanting to upgrade their qualifications. It involves choosing from many different options, with courses offered from institutions in different countries with different education systems and in an academic culture perhaps different from one's own. Studying at a branch campus in Japan is ideal for those who lack confidence in their study skills, or are wary to start on a distance-learning course where human interaction with the professors is less frequent and the onus on self-study and self-discipline is greater. There are invariably questions that a prospective applicant may ask before seeking entry into an MA program. Rather than a subjective endorsement of any single program, I will describe in factual terms the program I studied in while also referring also to the Columbia program, though some aspects related to these two may apply to offshore distance learning programs as well.

What are the requirements for admission to a graduate TESL program?

The students enrolling in the program need to be university graduates with at least a Bachelors degree with a B (GPA 3.0) average. Enrollees at Temple University Japan are required to complete nine credits before being accepted for Matriculation into the course, native speakers of English must take the Millers Analogy test, which measures logical thinking and reasoning. Japanese students require a TOEFL score of 575 or higher before they can enter the Masters program. A large majority of the students studying in the program are non-native speakers. 73% of the student faculty in the undergraduate and graduate programs at Temple had Japanese nationality at the time of my studies, and about 50% of the students in the graduate classes I attended were Japanese. Many were adult students who had been away from formal study for ten-fifteen years, but were working in high schools as English teachers. For those returning to academic study after a long interval, Temple Japan also offers a three-credit introductory course focusing on developing academic study skills for students: how to write academic papers; read journals in English, and preparation for academic study and publication.

How many credits are required to graduate from a Master's course?

To complete the Temple program thirty credits are needed to graduate with the Master's degree. These may be completed in part or in whole in Japan, at the main campus in Philadelphia or at one of their other branch campuses worldwide. The programs in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Osaka consist of five compulsory three-credit courses for all students: Methods I and Methods II; Sound Systems; Applied Linguistics and New Grammars. In addition to these courses, students are able to choose five elective courses. Some of the elective courses that have been offered in the past include: Introduction to the Study of TESOL, Teaching Writing Across Cultures, Cross-Cultural Pragmatics, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Teaching Beginning-Level Japanese , New Techniques in Teaching Writing , Classroom Research in Language Acquisition, History of the English Language , Language Testing, Teaching Reading , Teaching Listening and Speaking, Teaching English in the Elementary School.

When are courses held?

Courses are held both in the Fall and Spring Semesters and during two Summer Sessions: The Fall and Spring courses are held once a week for twelve weeks in the evening while the Summer Session courses are held twice a week for approximately seven weeks during both Summer Session I and II. To earn extra credits, students can also select from several weekend seminars held during each semester. These are taught by leading ESL experts renowned in their respective fields. Temple University Japan offers three Special Lecturer series each semester, and in each course, there is a guest lecturer invited from overseas who spends about 15 hours over two days with the students. The first three hours on the Saturday afternoon of the seminar are free for all to attend, and after this first session, serious students can register for the whole weekend. On the whole, the classes I took part in were relaxed and friendly with anything from 20-60 people in attendance for the whole weekend. Many times a small group of participants could personally interact with each lecturer and freely ask questions. The course usually finished with a take-home assignment or test to be completed and sent back by post or e-mail. These three weekend seminars could be combined to make one three-credit course. Students in the Columbia MA program, are required to complete 34 credits for graduation. At Temple, the credit requirements are as follows:
A. Core courses ( min. 7 credits required)
B. Practica (min. 4credits)
C. Other TESOL courses (6 credits)
D. Applied Linguistics (6 credits)
E. Out of Program Courses (9 credits, taken during 3 Summer Sessions)
F. Final 2 credits (can be taken from A-D above)

What is the cost of completing the program?

The current cost of completing a three-credit course is approximately 190,000 yen per 3-credit course, and 64,000 yen for a 1-credit Special Lecture series seminar. Including matriculation and graduation expenses the total cost is about 2,000,000 yen for 30 credits. According to the Columbia website, the MA at Columbia costs 79,000 yen per credit, with 34 credits needed for completion of the program or 2,686,000 yen in total. Because of the cost of teachers salaries, expanding facilities and other issues, students embarking on the program can expect an incremental increase in tuition fees every year. For example, when I started in 1990, a 3-credit course cost 167,000 yen, but now it costs 190,000 yen. This does not include the cost of textbooks, photocopies, commuting to and from school etc.

What is the course-load like?

As most of the students are full-time teachers working in high schools or universities, and conversation schools, and the individual courses are identical to the courses offered in the home campus, the workload is quite large as graduate courses go. An average 12-week 3-credit course would require reading 1-2 books and/or a reading packet of 20-30 academic papers to complete by the end of the course. Depending on the teacher and the course, coursework could include a mid-term test, an end of course assignment and a project. A B-average was necessary to graduate from the program, and no Incompletes were accepted. Normally students were expected to read one or two academic papers per week and/or a chapter from the course text. At the end of the course, students completed either an end of term test or a final project consisting of a 15-20 page report with cited references and evidence of broad reading around the topic.. The Columbia program consists of courses, workshops and practice offered throughout the year, holding classes full-time in the summer vacation, during mid-July to mid-August, and during Spring and Fall sessions. The classes meet on Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the Spring and Fall sessions. All lectures are conducted in English, except in some experimental language learning workshops.

How long does it take to complete the coursework?

In the Temple program, there is no dissertation or thesis requirement for graduation from the program. Individual rates of progress vary, but students were allowed to complete the individual course requirements working at their own pace. Generally speaking Temple University Japan allows students to take up to five years to finish their degree with special permission from the university for longer periods, or if students want to take a leave of absence. According to the official Frequently Asked Questions in the booklet issued by the university, the average length of time taken to complete the program is two and a half years. The Columbia MA program takes seven semesters, or three full summers to complete the required coursework.

What is required to graduate from the Masters program?

In the Temple program as well as completing thirty credits required for graduation, students take a five-hour Comprehensive examination near the end of the program; this exam tests what the students have learnt during the course of their studies. The exam was designed to allow students to take a broad comprehensive overview of the ESL field based on their personal experience, observation and readings. The questions are in essay format and students were asked to relate their practical experiences to the various theories contained in the readings. Students were encouraged to disagree with things they read, as long as they could provide citations and documentary proof and support their ideas. Non-native speakers of English in the Columbia program are allowed to enter the program with a TOEFL score of 550 or 213 on the Computer Based test, but must increase their TOEFL score to 600 (CBT 230) in order to graduate from the Masters program. Failure to do this means that students must enroll in supplementary courses to improve their TOEFL score.

What is the ratio of practical application to theory in the program and how does it relate to individual teachers?

As many of the students were working in many different types of teaching situations e.g. junior or senior high schools, universities, English conversation schools, company classes etc, students in the program were encouraged to apply the background theory from the readings to their own particular work situations as it pertained to them. Many of the classes were "hands-on" with teachers working individually or in small groups with practical assignments requiring teachers to gather and analyze data taken from their own experiences. Teachers were asked to write assignments based on the their interpretation of class readings and practical studies and to share their findings with other class members. Thus, teachers were able to combine current practical teaching ideas and theory with instant feedback from other students in similar teaching situations.

What can I do with my degree after graduation?

As I mentioned previously, many of the students in the program are already practicing teachers, prevented by lack of training and certification from earning promotions or salary increases but at the same time wishing to upgrade their practical and theoretical knowledge of English teaching. For native or non-native speakers of English, a Masters from a foreign university such as Temple or Columbia, or an overseas distance learning program will enable part-time university teachers to apply for full-time jobs or even tenure at an institution [Editor's note: recently, an MA seems to be required to even get part-time work at the university level]. Some students in the program came from outside the ESL teaching field, seeking a career-change and a break into the English teaching field. Some of my colleagues on the M.Ed. course were former or current nurses, housewives, and retired office workers working their way through the course. In addition to the Masters program, Temple University Japan also offers its graduates the chance to enter into a Doctoral program in Education. Temple University has also been accepting cohorts of doctoral candidates at both the Osaka and Tokyo campuses since 1998 (Tokyo has been offering the doctoral program since 1998). Each cohort contains approximately eighteen to twenty candidates, working towards the Doctorate in Education. Entry into these doctoral courses is highly competitive, but those who complete the program can be assured of tenure-track positions at universities, or becoming leaders in their field. Several of the Doctoral graduates are currently teaching at Temple University Japan. To date, at least thirty-five candidates have graduated with Doctoral degrees from Temple and are active in academia throughout Japan. At present Columbia University in Tokyo does not offer a doctoral program.

More than three hundred students have already been awarded their M.A. degrees through the Columbia program, and over four hundred from the Temple Master's program, and there is a thriving Alumni Association which occasionally runs workshops and provides a supportive network for its members. Many Temple graduates get together for a dinner at the annual JALT conference.

What are the pros and cons of the program?


Daniel Dunkley (1997) in his article on distance learning programs, offers some useful points to consider when making a decision on which distance learning program to choose, some points are also applicable to studying at a branch campus in Japan. Before embarking on a Master's program he asks you to consider the following:

As with any postgraduate program, a student thinking of embarking on a postgraduate program must weigh up numerous factors that will determine which course they will enter: cost of tuition, books, travel expenses to attend classes etc; "convenience" for the student e.g. the location of the campus--does it require extensive train travel, and does it fit in with the teacher's busy work schedule? The particular course of study, the reputation of the institution, the ease of transfer of credits will also be important factors. These considerations will vary from program to program and for individual teachers. (On a personal note, the deciding factor for me doing my degree at TUJ was that despite the relatively high cost of tuition it was possible to complete the degree while attending to my regular job, it did not greatly interfere with my teaching schedule, avoiding the need to travel overseas to meet residency requirements or to meet professors. Branch campuses also are in the process of developing extensive library facilities to include a wide selection of books, journals and academic articles for writing publications and assignments. Professors at TUJ are very accessible, friendly and helpful, and there is the chance to interact regularly with other students and staff. Many students in the program form small study groups when preparing assignments and for the final Comprehensive Exam. There is also an active graduate alumni association whereby present doctoral and former graduate students of the program throughout Japan can also network with other teachers for jobs and contacts).

Time: Can I afford two or more years or give up most of my evenings or weekends to complete the coursework? Am I free most evenings when classes are held?

Money: Can I afford to complete the course? The Temple program costs over two million yen over several years and the Columbia program about 2.7 million yen over three summers. (Graduates and alumni of the TUJ program are permitted to audit weekend seminars for free and attend regular 3-credit courses at a significant discount).

Entrance requirements: Do I have the necessary tertiary qualifications e.g. a good Bachelors degree; G.P.A. scores; academic transcripts and developed academic writing skills? If I am a native-Japanese speaker, do I have a TOEFL score of 550 to enter the course?

Location: Do I live near a campus and/or would I be able to attend classes regularly? Will commuting be a problem when deciding to attend classes? Will I have access to the library or resource materials for completing assignments?

Resources/Equipment: Do I have access to email, personal computer and word processor facilities? Is there a convenient (university) library for obtaining research materials and journals?

Goals and Motivation: Am I sufficiently interested and motivated in teaching, and the course content appeals to me such that I want to devote considerable time, energy and financial resources to completing the program? Am I motivated enough to research numerous articles on ESL to increase my knowledge about teaching? What kind of job, or area of specialty do I want to pursue, after graduation? If I am Japanese, am I confident of my academic reading and writing skills ?

Conclusion

As a graduate of the Temple M.Ed program, a practicing English teacher with over a decade of teaching experience in Japan, I can recommend these courses for those new teachers coming on the JET program or new to teaching, as well as to 'older' teachers, thinking of upgrading their qualifications or job skills, perhaps wanting to get their 'foot in the door' for pay raises or promotions, or seeking full-time university positions. Although these graduate degrees are expensive to complete compared to overseas courses, I think the long-term benefits, from personal development, higher salaried positions, and potential job security not found working in many conversation schools outweigh the short-term effort needed, not to mention the personal human contact with staff, faculty and working with other students every week. Many of the teachers on staff are always available to help students. The campuses also provide access to a wide selection of resources and books on ESL, and the online ERIC research database for locating back-dated articles which are stored on microfiche. I found the content in the courses, though at times challenging, to be extremely beneficial in improving my teaching, immediately applicable to my day-to-day teaching situation.

References





Universities Offering Post-graduate Diplomas/Masters/Ph.D by Distance Learning

Foreign Universities in Japan






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