Yes, yes, I know I'm going to get a lot of "You're just an ALT you don't know what you're talking about" replies, but hopefully there will be some useful ones mixed in.
Our JTE is in his late 70's and has a low command of English. He generally explains everything in class in Japanese, and English is sparsely used aside from rote repetition.
For those who are familiar with pedagogy, he''s an adherent of the grammar-translative method; he starts off by explaining in Japanese what we'll be doing, he then explains the sentence structure and other grammar points in Japanese, and then has me model a few pre-selected sentences in English, which the students repeat. He then spends 10-15 minutes explaining it further in Japanese, complete with Japanese handouts.
I have tried to explain to him the Direct Method and Communicative Approach, which are widely supported by results-based studies and well established globally as standard language acquisition methods. But his response is that it's too difficult and the students may be confused. I honestly think it's a combination of him being set in his ways, and also him not having a strong enough ability to use English.
What do I do? Yes, I know the "safe" answer is to just go along with whatever he says because he's Japanese and I'm just a foreigner. But the kids are simply not learning the language, and if I were a parent I'd be quite upset my child was getting a substandard education simply to maintain the wa. There's also the reality that when these kids move on to JHS in a year or two and are clearly unprepared, it's going to look bad on our company and I'll be out of a job.
I'm just really frustrated and so is the other ALT at my school. These kids deserve better.
by HotAndColdSand