金沢大学外国語教育研究センター = Kanazawa University Foreign Language Institute
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of classroom observation conducted at four Ishikawa Prefectural high schools during a public observation week in Kanazawa City, Japan. The observation was conducted in order to find the level of government Course of Study implementation in English language classrooms. The observers found that although there are teachers using mainly English, or using English and Japanese, still about 40% of teachers use mainly Japanese during their observation. Although students almost exclusively use Japanese among themselves, observation results indicated that spoken language patterns for teachers and students were quite similar, which might suggest that students emulate their teachers and might try to speak English if teachers used it more. In terms of structural formation of learning activities and integration, oral interaction and oral production activities in pairs and groups were observed in majority of classes indicating that students are well used to some forms of language activities. However, integration of skills was not yet developed. To ensure a smooth transition for these students, properly-structured and well-considered scaffolding instruction, along with quality input, is strongly encouraged. As it is a very limited observation, further research is needed in devising an effective observation technique
