Special Contribution

Yonago Acta medica 2003;46:57–64

Experiential Education in the English Classroom
Timothy L. Wiltshire
Department of Fundamental Nursing, School of Health Science, Tottori University Faculty of
Medicine, Yonago 683-8503 Japan
In this paper, the idea of experiential education is explored. Language learning has often
been the way by which other subjects or ideas can be learned. In the English classroom,and essentially with any classroom, it is possible to allow students to discover things which
would normally be experienced only outside the classroom. This is possible through video,role-playing and other techniques which help students to empathize with other people as aform of practice before they actually come in contact with anyone. This is especially
important in the medical profession where practicum is an integral part of the learning
process before actual contact with patients is allowed. An explanation and some examplesof teaching in the English classroom are given in the Discussion.
Key words: experience; English; classroom; education; learning methods; teachingin the lower courses of medical school, this may not
be the case, since it is quite difficult to imagine how
students can experience what they will face later onin their professions without using a certain amountof imagination and creativity, and to be able to
make time for this sort of learning experience
without encroaching on other necessary parts ofknowledge gathering such as vocabulary, anatomy,
the various necessary sciences, etc. Of course,
learning vocabulary, for example, can be enmeshedwith a learning situation such as a role play which
can be very effective in the exploration of experience and in the actual usage of language. But what
about the volume of vocabulary learned. This iswhere the student may suffer. Rote memorization isnecessary in this case, I think. On the other hand, it
seems that an experiential lesson, although possibly
weak on the gathering of knowledge in terms of volume, is indispensable when one considers the “other” side of learning: the fuzzy, unclear, subjective,
qualitative and personal side (Holt, 1981).
Without complaining too much about students’lack of free time to think and do for themselves, I

It has often been said that “Experience is the greatest teacher” but does this mean we have to sit aroundand wait for things to happen, or can we push experience a little, try to predict what will happen, orat least ask questions which will lead us to prepare
ourselves for what might happen? It appears that
this idea of “pushing experience” has been on our
minds, at least in the teaching field, for quite awhile. The need for preparation is, of course, astandard, deep-embedded idea in most fields oflearning and especially in the area of language
learning. But how effective have we been in actually carrying out the need for preparation? This iseasy to ask, but difficult to answer because it reallydepends on what our focus has been, and really
whether we have all shared the same focus. Different disciplines have certain traditions whereby
teaching styles reflect the deeper philosophies of
their practitioners (Butler, 1951). In language teaching, although there are many diverging styles andmethods, it is basically common sense to include
some form of conversational material in a lesson, if
not all the time, then sometimes. On the other hand,

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Timothy L. Wiltshire

would like to present some of the ideas which wereused in my classrooms as experiential lessons.
These lessons were done in the hope that students
could have a little time to think and do and breathe
freely while learning some valuable lessons about
themselves and others in terms of experience, in
general. By giving them time to enjoy their lessons
while learning, I feel, through numerous commentsfrom students, that they felt some worth other than
the gathering of knowledge: that they gained some“other” kind of knowledge and insight into people,
how they thought and what they felt (Krishnamurti,
1953). It seems that many of them felt a lightness, ahappiness and more confidence without worry intheir ability to contact people and, above all, to use
a little English. Of course, I have not been unaffected by any of these experiences either. As a matterof fact, I am often pleasantly surprised how nicely
some of my hunches about what students would liketo do have been successful. There seems to be somekind of hidden “subversive element” in having students learn by experience (Weingartner and Postman,1969).

tailored a little differently to what one might create
for a class of Western students. With this in mind,
please read the following as something which could
probably be applied to any cultural group, but was
originally made for Japanese students who are
studying medicine.
The use of videos in various forms can help
students to experience what it’s like to be in a situation or a place without actually going there. Videos
which portray certain ideals, events in history, or
futuristic possibilities are helpful for many reasons,but in general, are good in making a strong impression on students simply because students are very
interested in watching them. In my experience, I
have tried to show videos which are powerfully
emotional and express some ethical point of view,
although I may not agree with that view personally.
Essentially, I try to get the students to think about
ethical issues by showing them a video, and thengive them questions about it. Often, our class hasviewed “Gattaca” which is a movie set in the future
about a young man who is determined to beat the
prejudice of a job system which is based on hiring
people according to whether their births were genetically engineered or not. Those of natural birth
are seen as risks, since they are susceptible to allsorts of diseases and basic genetic faults. Genetically engineered births create almost perfect humans which are more desirable for a higher classwork force. The young man goes through incredible changes in order to fool the system into thinking
he is someone else, a genetically engineered human
who is ready to face a task which most people will
never have a chance to: fly into space and explore alittle known planet. The movie is awesome in its
breadth of idea and emotion and brings up somevery important ethical questions about genetics.
(Appendix A. Note that I also ask students theirpersonal feelings about that movie itself, their likes
and dislikes, etc. These are really warm-up questions to give them some preparation for the morethought-provoking questions further on.) If there istime, some discussion may follow. But this is the
problem in most cases: there may not be enoughtime. Videos normally take almost 2 entire classperiods. To give questions and expect answers the

Discussion
What follow are some classroom techniques or lessons, created over a long period of study and consideration, which are indicative of the ideas explained in the Introduction. In truth, the actual techniques themselves don’t take too much time tocreate and some careful thought and preparation areimportant. Prediction of student reactions is also
something that has been learned through experienceon my part. What has taken so much time is the
background, the philosophies of teaching (Butler,
1951) and the long preparation to be able to know
how students, and especially Japanese students, will
respond. Students in Japan tend to be relatively
passive in the classroom, compared to those fromother countries. It takes considerable effort for aWesterner to get used to the idea that these students,
as a whole, don’t normally “jump” when asked aquestion or given a task. They must be led carefully
and slowly at first, and lessons for them must be
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following week for homework, then prepare fordiscussion make take up to 4 class periods. Usually,
this sort of video exercise can only be done once asemester and must be carefully timed and planned
according to the class’ schedule in order not tospend too much time on one subject.
Another useful technique for preparing students for “real English” situations is self-createdrole plays. Although this also takes time and careful planning, since many groups of students will becreating their own role playing dramas and will
present them in class, it is the type of lesson that canbe rich in resources stemming from the students’knowledge and background experience rather thanfrom the teacher or from a textbook. (These sources
are good for more structured courses where many
classes depend upon the same curriculum as in thepresent 1st year English courses at Tottori University’s Koyama campus.) Depending upon the students’ major, the contents of role plays will vary.
Since we are in the Faculty of Medicine, most of ourmore advanced dramas will be medically oriented.
Usually, the teacher is expected to give the students
the situation in which they will be doing the roleplay: a doctor meets a patient and discusses treatment, a nurse tries to comfort a patient, a motherdiscusses with the doctor and nurse about her
child’s allergies, etc. An example of a role play,created by 2nd year nursing students, can be seen in
Appendix B1. (This particular role play example
was also used as a source for getting students to
self-correct their English mistakes in grammar andusage by extracting incorrect sentences, and asking
students to correct them. (See Appendix B2.) Notethe differences between the self-corrected examples
and the ones corrected in the dialog as shown inAppendix B3. The difficulty in “correction” isquite a complicated problem especially when language will be used in context, rather than in a oneto-one test type item format which is rather simple
and easy to check.) After correction by the teacher(Appendix B3), if the lesson is not used as a selfcorrecting one, students are then urged to practice,memorize and learn to act out what they have created. Correction comes in the form of short interviews
with the teacher, where the teacher will correct thegrammar and usage, help with the pronunciationand intonation, inflection of words, etc. and thenurge students to internalize and feel what they havewritten so that they can act out the drama. This iswhat is known as learning to act out and is probably
the most difficult part of any language lesson because it calls for exposing yourself to your classmates, a thing which can be very disturbing forsome Japanese students because of their reticence or
shyness. (I prefer to describe this part of the Japanese personality as “reticent” rather than “shy” or“reserved”: I feel that these latter 2 words havesome negative nuance and imply weakness or stiffness, respectively, where the word “reticence” canbe used as a cultural description, a trait whereby
people retain their expression for cultural reasons,at certain times.) For the teacher to expect that students will definitely realize that other cultural systems are at work when they have to speak anotherlanguage can be a great disappointment at times.
Speaking another language may imply that the language learner should try to take on a different attitude towards life according to his or her goals andaccording to a role model, usually the teacher. In
my classes, I would think that some students could
try to imitate an American attitude when they speak
English, although I don’t expect it. If this idea is notmade clear to the students, that they may have tothink and act differently when they speak English, it
may be close to impossible to get them to act out
their role play in a convincingly natural way.
Other ways to help students expand their awareness and experience through the English medium
really depends upon the creativity of the teacher(and often a combination within the teacher-student
relationship). What is important is that the lesson
should have a clear goal and make some positive
impression on the students. One interesting andsurprisingly successful learning task for 2nd year
medical students focused on the use of herbs inmedicine. The lesson wasn’t designed to convince
students to believe in herbs as one possible treatment for sickness, but to give students the opportunity to explore their immediate surroundings, findsomething they normally take for granted and investigate information about it. The task: go outside
59Timothy L. Wiltshireand find a plant in any form (flower, stem, leaf, etc.)
preferably a plant you are unfamiliar with (andpreferably before the office people cut all the weedsdown), find out its name in English, Japanese andLatin, draw a picture of it, discuss its reported medical uses and describe some story or myth associatedwith it. Many of the students’ reports were very interesting, but the most satisfying and the most successful part for me, was to read what some students
wrote, to paraphrase: “I never even looked at theweeds around the school. They all looked the same.
Now, I realize that there are different ones and each
may have some special value.”
In many classes, to emphasize a need for future medical professionals to develop empathy for
their patients, a “blindfold test” was done. In thisexercise, students made groups of 3 or 4 people.
Each person had to take turns being “blind” bywearing a blindfold, and then having to do various
things like open and close a door and a window, geta drink from a water fountain, get on an elevator,
dial a number on a mobile phone, buy somethingfrom the vending machine, etc. The rest of thegroup would assist (but interestingly often hindering, sometimes as a joke) the progress of the “blind”
person. Questions on the experience of being“blind” and assisting the “blind” were posed to thestudents when they finished. (Appendix C) These
questions included how the students felt to be unable to see, and what were the most difficult tasks to
do. Difficulty of tasks varied, some students saying
they had more trouble dialing phone numbers, or
writing their names, while invariably the majorityof students felt some level of fear. Some were not
as afraid as others, but this sometimes depended on
the type of assistance which was given. A good,caring assistant tended to lend a positive effect tothe person who was unable to see, while those who
didn’t try or tended to sabotage the “blind” person’s
efforts tended to have a negative effect (unpublished oral presentation in Japanese*). For those who
worked at the exercise, they benefited by learning
about how blind persons feel and, I hope, this would
extend to empathy towards people with other mala-dies as well. It is hard to have someone pretend to
be a heart attack patient, with all the pain, worry andsuffering involved in the process. But to let someone experience being unable to see can have a realeffect on a person which can cross into other areasof life, provided the person makes some effort toextend that feeling to those areas. Being “blind” fora little while may be enough for some people tounderstand that all is not well with everyone all thetime, no matter what the problem is.
Some other experiential activities which werequite interesting for students were “Spy at the Hospital” where each student was asked to observe theactivities in a hospital or clinic for a short period oftime (about 1 h) and to report on the positive andnegative points of how the patients were treated,“Change Partners” where students were seated witha student they normally had no relationship to inclass and interview them about their family, where
they were from, what they liked and disliked, etc.,and “Daydream” where students were asked to takesome time on a nice day to look at the clouds anddescribe what images they could see. In some cases
in “Daydream” and for reasons unknown to me, afew students had recall of forgotten memories. This
was an unintended effect of the exercise, but a positive thing, a surprise, whereby a student would remember something, usually about a family member. One nursing student wrote that she remembered her grandfather and how nice he was to her. He
also used to tell her to look at the clouds and dreamand to find out exactly what she wanted to do with
her life. This is how she decided to study nursing.
She promised that she would go to visit his grave
which she had not done for a long time and which
she had totally forgotten about until she looked at
the clouds on a sunny afternoon.

Conclusion
Drawing from students’ experiences in class by using some of these teaching techniques, it appears
there has been some success in getting them to ex-* The importance of empathy for future health professionals. Presented at the Department of Fundamental Nursing,
School of Health Science, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine; 2002 December 18; Yonago.

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from. Also, many thanks to Tomoko Yasumaru for doing
all the editing of this paper and many other papers which
are periodically entered into the Yonago Acta medica.

perience things in a classroom which they normally
would not get the chance to do unless they actuallywent out into the world and experienced them first
hand. This seems to be the nature of the language
classroom as opposed to a classroom focusing on a
specific subject, especially one like medicine.
Learning a language, although difficult and demanding the need for memorization and long study,
often lends itself to eye-opening experiences (Holt,
1981). But isn’t this also true of the study of specialties as well. I have heard students say thatlearning about the human body makes them moreaware of their health, and less likely to destroy it bysmoking or drinking too much or eating bad food.
With creativity, and this has been proven from time
to time, it is possible to change the way many subjects are taught so that they are more interesting
and, thus more enjoyable to the student. And although lecture and rote memorization are necessary
to a great degree, do they have to be the normal
teaching medium in every classroom? Can students
be allowed to experience what it’s like to be adoctor, nurse, technician or researcher before they
become one? Real life situations in medicine holdmany legal difficulties and other serious problems
which have to be faced some day. Will lecture beenough to prepare the students for what is ahead? Is
it possible to allow more role playing and soulsearching in courses where students can get a tasteof some of the realities which they will face in their
future? In traditional medicine, these things havenot been explored to a great degree because of theseriousness of the subject. Language can be playedwith. Matters of life and death cannot. But still, I
believe some preparation in the form of experiential
education is one way to help future professionals,
and especially those in medicine, to achieve a better
degree of success and confidence in their abilities
later on in life.

References
1

2
3

4

Butler JD. Four philosophies and their practice ineducation and religion. New York: Harper andBrothers, 1951.
Holt J. Teach your own. New York: Dell Publishing, 1981.
Krishnamurti J. Education and the significance oflife. Bramdean (United Kingdom): Krishnamurti
Foundation Trust Limited, 1953.
Weingartner C, Postman N. Teaching as a subversive activity. New York: Dell Publishing, 1969.
Received & accepted, July 28, 2003
Corresponding author: Timothy L. Wiltshire

Appendices
Appendix A
Questions for the movie “Gattaca”
1. Who was your favorite actor/actress? Why?
2. Who was your least favorite actor/actress? Why?
3. What was your favorite scene in the movie? Explain.
4. What was your least favorite scene in the movie?
Explain.
5. Do you think this sort of genetic prejudice will bepossible in the future? Explain.
6. How do you think this movie views genetic engineering, positively or negatively, or is it equally balanced? Explain.
7. How does this movie show that perseverance can bestronger than heredity?
8. Why do you think the real Jerome killed himself at
the end? Do you think he was justified in doing so or
do you think he could have found a reason to live?
Explain.
9. What do you think happens to Vincent when he getsback from space? (For example, he marries Eileen,
has lots of babies, etc.)
10. What do you think is Vincent’s future with his family? (For example, he makes friends with his
brother, sees his parents, etc.)

Acknowledgments: I would like to express gratitude to
all the people who have supported my teaching over theyears here at the Faculty of Medicine, especially former
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Kenzo Takeshita,
and to all my colleagues who I co-teach with and learn

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Timothy L. Wiltshire

Appendix B1 (Role Play – Original Version)
The Hospital — A Drama
Nurse:
Doctor:Mother:Doctor:Child A:
Nurse:
Doctor:Child B:
Child A:Child B:
Mother:Child A:
Mother:Child B:
Nurse:
Doctor:Nurse:
Mother:Doctor:Mother:Child A:Child B:

Please come in.
What’s the matter?
She have a poor appetite.
I try to examine your child. Do you feel any pain?
No.
Please come out of the room and wait a minutes. Please come in only mother.
There is nothing wrong with your child.
I found that she was eating snack too much before dinner.
Oh . . . Great heavens!
So, it’s natural that you should not eat too much dinner.
Really?
Eh? Let me see . . .
Oh, you are a bad boy. You shame on me.
Ouch! Help me mother!
Oh. Good heavens!
Carry him here! Hurry up!
Yes.
Oh please. Don’t kill my daughter please.
Don’t worry. You daughter broke her leg. An average man don’t die such a thing.
No, she will be die.
Mother don’t be exciting so.
Yes, please be calm.

Appendix B2 (selected items for students’ self-correction)
1. She have a poor appetite. > She has . . .
[subject-verb agreement]
2. Please come out of the room and wait a minutes. > . . . wait a minute.
[singular-plural usage]
3. Please come in only mother. > (various possibilities for correction, e.g., Could the mother come in alone please?)[word order/word usage/stylistic expression]
4. I found that she was eating snack too much before dinner. > . . . too many snacks . . .
[word order/singular-plural usage]
5. Great heavens! > (various usages, e.g., Oh, my! etc.)[archaic usage]
6. You shame on me. > (various possibilities for correction, eg. You make me look foolish, etc.)[grammar/expression]
7. Help me mother! > Help me, Mom!
[punctuation/usage]
8. Doctor: Carry him here! Hurry up! > Bring him over here. Hurry!
[grammar/usage]
Nurse: Yes. > OK.
[usage][grammar]
9. You daughter broke her leg. > Your . . .
10. An average man don’t die such a thing. > The average person doesn’t die from such a thing.
[usage/grammar]
11. No, she will be die. > No, she is going to die.
[grammar]
12. Mother don’t be exciting so. > Mom, don’t get so excited.
[usage/grammar]
13. Yes, please be calm. > Yeah, Mom. Take it easy.
[grammar/usage]

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Appendix B3 (Role Play – Corrected Version)
At the hospital — a mother, Ann James, and her children, Sally and Kelly, go to the doctor to find out why one of thechildren, Kelly, has a poor appetite
Nurse Haynes: Hi. You can come in now. The doctor will see you in a few minutes.
Mrs. James: OK, thank you.
(After a few minutes, the doctor comes into the examination room.)
Dr. Seuss: Hello! I’m Dr. Seuss. What seems to be the problem?
Mrs. James: Well, it’s my son Kelly. He doesn’t want to eat anything.
Dr. Seuss: (To Kelly) OK, let’s have a look at you. (The doctor examines Kelly’s abdominal area bypressing in various places) Do you feel any pain here? Here? Or here?
Kelly: No.
Dr. Seuss: OK. Let’s run some tests on Kelly and see if we can find out anything. (To Mrs. James andSally) Can you wait a little while? It shouldn’t take very long.
Mrs. James and Sally: OK.
Nurse Haynes: Could you wait in the lobby, please? We’ll call you when the examinations are finished.
Mrs. James and Sally: OK.
Sally: (To her mother) Is he going to be OK?
Mrs. James: (Voice shaking, worried look.) I hope so. I always worry too much about these things.
Nurse Haynes: Mrs. James. Could you come in, please?
(Mrs. James and Sally go into the examination room.)
Dr. Seuss: I’m sorry, Mrs. James, but I can’t find anything wrong with him.
Sally: I know what the problem is. I caught him pigging out on candy before dinner.
Kelly: Uh-oh . . . I’m in trouble now.
Sally: So, of course he doesn’t want to eat anything.
Mrs. James: Kelly, is this true?
Kelly: Huh? Well, uh . . .
Mrs. James: Oh, you are such a bad boy. I knew it. You make me look like an idiot bringing you here to
the doctor for nothing.
Sally: (Sally’s foot gets caught in the chair and she twists it.) Ouch! Mom, help me!
Nurse Haynes: Oh, my!
Dr. Seuss: (To Ms. Haynes) Let’s bring her in here and put her on the bed! Hurry!
Nurse Haynes: OK.
Mother: Oh, please. Don’t kill my daughter.
Doctor: Don’t worry. She only broke her leg. The average person usually doesn’t die from such athing.
Mother: No, she’s going to die, I know it.
Kelly: Mom, don’t get so excited.
Sally: Yeah, Mom. Take it easy. Ouch! It hurts!
Kelly: Good. That’s what you get for telling on me.

63Timothy L. Wiltshire

Appendix C
Blindfold Exercise

Pre-questions
A. What would it be like to be “blind”? Will you be able to trust someone to help you?
B. What would it be like to help a “blind” person? Could they trust you?

Activities
1. Make a group of 3 or 4 people.
2. One person in the group must pretend to be “blind”. The other persons in the group must help the person to dovarious things such as:a. write his or her name;b. open, close and lock a door and a window (try different kinds of doors and windows);
c. get a drink of water from a water fountain;
d. count money and try to tell the difference between coins and 1000, 5000 and 10000 yen bills;
e. use a pay phone, a mobile phone, send e-mail, etc.;
f. close a curtain and blinds;
g. use an elevator;
h. buy a drink from a vending machine;i. etc.

Follow up questions
1. On a scale of 1 to 5, how much could you trust your guide(s)?
2. On a scale of 1 to 5, how difficult was it to help the “blind” person?
3. How did you feel, in general, being “blind”?
4. What do you think are good techniques for helping a blind person?
5. What things did you do well and not so well as a blind person?
6. What things do you think are impossible for a blind person to do?

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