Observation

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the classroom observation of teachers’ use of traditional and new English language textbooks in a Japanese engineering college (Kosen). In these colleges, students (aged 16–20) study a mixture of engineering and general education subjects for five years. The Kosen where I worked replaced traditional ministry-approved English textbooks with materials from a British publisher for the compulsory English credits in grades 2–4. The new textbooks sought to change the focus from teacher-fronted grammar translation and reading comprehension to learner-centred communicative activities emphasising listening comprehension and meaning- oriented conversation practice. However, policy change does not automatically equal shared ownership and adoption by practitioners (Fullan, 2007). Therefore, in order to explore the nature of the acceptance and implementation of the new textbooks by four Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) in the Kosen, I used a combination of interviews (see Chapter 4) and observations. Although the interviews formed an integral part of the data collection and analysis, this chapter focuses on the observations.