LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Learning to Teach, Teaching
Instruction by StudentsĘ

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toLearn:

Pragmatics

9 - ÙŅ'69ƏņƕĘŸ -Jim Ronald Qkxu\s[
Hiroshima Shudo University ïèƫÑÙ
Email: jmronald@gmail.com

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ALT’s current slogan is “Learning to teach, teaching to learn.” From a teacher’s perspective,these words remind us that we can keep learning and developing, and that part of ourjob is the promotion of learner development. My poster for JALT 2017’s Learner
Development Forum used the same slogan, but with primary reference to the learner rather
than the teacher: language learners learning to teach and, through teaching and reflecting
on their teaching, learning about the subject matter they are teaching, the importance of
their chosen topic, and the challenge of teaching itself. Although this project was conceived
only as a vehicle for learning and learner development, it has given me as a teacher much
more than I expected. Over the past 18 months of reflection, starting with preparation for
an in-house Active Learning poster session at my university, followed by the JALT 2017
Learner Development SIG Forum, and now this report, I have had a real opportunity toexperience afresh both halves of this slogan.
In this short reflective article, I will begin by describing the project, with the help of theposter shown at the LD Forum. I will also address these questions: How, one year later, did afurther class of learners perceive the value of the project? and What may be the value of learner and teacher
reflections on a project such as this?
The participants in this project, 3rd year English Department students at a provincial
Japanese university, were in the second semester of a two-year seminar course, or zemi. In
terms of English proficiency, these students would probably be in the top third of theyear’s 120+ English Department students, with TOEIC scores at the time between 500
and 800. They had chosen one of the two “English-medium” zemi classes, and wererelatively confident English users, but only one or two planned to become teachers, andall were understandably nervous about this teaching project.
In the first semester, these 3rd year students had studied some aspects of sociolinguistics,
focusing mainly on language varieties and choices. In their fourth year they would bechoosing a topic on which to focus, conduct research, and write a graduation thesis. In thisin-between semester, there were two main objectives:
1. For students to gain a general understanding of the focus, scope, and importance ofpragmatics, both with respect to their native language and culture and to Englishspeaking cultures;
2. For students to gain experience and ability in writing a fairly long, structured academic
paper in English.
From 2011, working as co-editor of the Pragmatics SIG publication, Pragtivities: Bringing
pragmatics to the second language classroom (Ronald, Rinnert, Fordyce, & Knight, 2012), I
received a real flood of pragmatics-focused teaching activities that needed looking at,editing, and maybe trying out. Many of these were tested with this class as a way of
introducing various aspects of pragmatics to the class and of demonstrating the relevanceof pragmatics to the students’ lives as language learners and as language users. Three years
later, with the book published and well used, much of this teaching had moved from me

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

to them, becoming a peer-teaching project. In pairs, students bought the book and selecteda chapter from this book of 64 pragmatics-teaching activities. They studied the aspect ofpragmatics treated in their chapter, and then prepared to teach the activity: first to theirclassmates, then to a class of 2nd year students, typically one year younger than they were.
As the peer teaching project developed, so too did the report writing side of the project.
As part of the two-year zemi class, each student spends much of the final year working onan original language-focused research project, which is then written up as the student’s
graduation thesis. Prior to that, by writing a similarly structured, but more scaffolded,
report of their teaching project, the students gain useful practice in preparation for writing
their graduation theses.
Figure 1. Learner Development SIG Forum Poster, JALT2016

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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Student Reflection
Student reflection has been an important part of this project. Working in pairs with aclassmate, typically a friend, gave opportunities for supportive discussion and reflection
throughout the project. Three times during the students’ preparation and teaching, eachpair receives feedback: first, from zemi classmates following their teaching; next, from theirteacher on their teaching plan and materials as part of the preparation to teach; and finallyfrom the 2nd year students straight after teaching them. This teaching-related feedback wasamong the many opportunities for participant reflection through the project. Their
reflections on the teaching project as a whole were recorded in the conclusions of theirreports.
Reflecting on teaching.
Many of the students’ comments focused on what they learned about teaching. Hereare three:First, I thought this pragmatics teaching would be easy because I just have to speak andmake the students understand, but this was really difficult. (Makoto)I could learn how to make which the classmate can understand easily and teaching isinteresting because I could share my opinion with others. (Moe)
After this class, I can get confidence to explain pragmatics, especially how to apologize inEnglish. (Chinatsu)
These three comments are of particular interest for the way the reflections, in different
ways, went beyond reports of the activities. In Makoto’s case, he reflects on the unexpectedchallenge of “teaching to do”: finding a way for students to understand, and to be sure enoughof understanding to respond. For Moe, learning to teach was equated with a skill beyond
teaching: learning to express her thoughts in English. Chinatsu, too, reports how doing
this teaching activity gave her the ability to explain and illustrate the topic of her zemi,
something that students may well be required to do when job hunting.
Reflection on pragmatics.
Other comments focused on what the students learned about pragmatics through the
project:
Through our teaching activity, I felt our utterances support our friendship… (Aika)
For example, most students also had trouble refusing in English. I knew that and I thinkthat this topic is an important field to learn for students who are studying English like us.
(Ruka)
Here, too, the responses reflect an increased awareness, and appreciation, of thepractical value of studying pragmatics not simply as an academic subject but as a guide to
the maintenance of good relationships.
Preparing the poster with a class of students going through each stage of the
project.
Finally, there were also comments from students on the value of teaching as a way forthem to learn what they were teaching:
I learned the important things from this teaching class. At first one is the ability ofunderstanding. If I don’t really understand pragmatics, I can’t teach it to the students. And

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if the students ask me about pragmatics or contents of teaching, I need to answer which iseasy to understand. (Chinatsu)
In addition, through this activity, I thought when we had what we wanted to learn or
understand, it was a good way to teach them to someone. To teach someone, first we have toresearch and understand it. Next we consider how we should teach so that they canunderstand it. Then, we actually teach and get the feedback. (Ruka)
Both these students realized the value of teaching as a means of learning andsynthesizing what was taught, and of the motivating imperative to understand the topic
well that is contained within this activity.
Teacher Reflection
As a language teacher, specifically one concerned both with learner development andwith the teaching of aspects of pragmatics as foreign language education, the whole project
has continued to be a worthwhile venture for me. I will conclude by considering what I
have learned from the whole process, stage by stage:(a) preparing the poster over the months as a class of students went through each stageof the project;(b) one year later, using the poster as a resource to introduce the project to a new classof students, and to serve as a guide for me as we proceeded with the project;(c) bringing the poster to the Learner Development SIG Forum, and writing up thisreport, pushed and prodded by readers’ comments as the report was expanded andrevised.
Preparing the poster as students go through each stage of the project.
Putting together the poster as a class of students and I went through each stage of it 18
months ago rendered it a much more reflective and memorable experience than the project
had been the previous year: It required more verbalized reflection on the part of thestudents, it had to tell a story beyond describing the project, and, to be worth doing, it had
to inform the future conducting of this project. For this reason, not only were the stagesof the parallel tracks of teaching and writing up recorded as part of the project description,
but so too were the students’ reflections on these, and my own practical recommendations
for future conducting of the project.
Using the poster as a learning resource and teaching guide.
One year later, the poster served as a very useful aid for introducing the project to thefollowing year’s class: demonstrating the steps and the flow of the two sides of thestudents’ project—the teaching of pragmatics, and the writing up of the report. It also
helped from the perspective of face validity: Although most students were nervous aboutteaching, the poster gave them confidence, to see that the project was well prepared, thatthey themselves would be well prepared before their experience of teaching, and that aprevious class of students had experienced, survived, and valued the experience.
Presenting, writing, responding about the project.
With the project having been already conducted and reflected on, and a poster
produced, the recommendations at the foot of the poster were now “advice to self” that
could be taken for this year’s project. The advice was taken in most cases: More guidance
was given to help students choose activities that were not too difficult; and there was more
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LEARNING LEARNING ÙŲ(ÙŲVolume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017support for writing the literature review. The suggestion, recorded on the poster, that moretime and guidance should be provided for reflection was overlooked, although this could
easily have been addressed, and will be the next time.
The distance served another important role in my own education as a teacher ofpragmatics. It gave me the opportunity to realize that, however good the teaching may
have been, a single teaching session encounter with the target pragmatics topic would not
be sufficient for the students to learn it adequately. To give an example, learning how toapologize in a foreign language involves various types of knowledge: realization that “sorry”
alone is no more adequate as an apology than its equivalent in the students’ first language;
realization that the “contents” of an apology can be identified and listed (admission of fact,
concern for the “victim,” offer of compensation, and expression of intention to not repeat
the accident); learning that—in this case—the contents in their first language and English
are broadly the same; and learning the language to express these contents appropriately inEnglish. This realization resulted in my continuing the students’ topics in subsequentclasses, and even—at the students’ request—including three of the topics in the final exam
for the course.
To bring the poster to the LD Forum, and then to write this report, has provokedfurther reflection on this project, and on the poster as a product of, and instrument for,reconsidering the project. There was, unfortunately, not as much discussion at the Forumas I might have hoped, in part because I had another presentation that coincided with thesecond half of the Forum and I was not able to be present for this. I did, however, receive
two comments that have had a significant impact on this report.
The first was a suggestion to compare the two years of the project, and this has been
done above. In fact, as stated earlier, these two years do not report the birth of this project;
there was at least one complete cycle of the project prior to these. However, the first time
the project was just done, with no written reflection, and only a handout outlining thestages of the project for the students’ benefit.
The second comment received at the Forum is worth reproducing in full, because thiswhole reflective report is a response to that comment:
An extremely interesting project involving students in major extended activities with theirpeers and juniors. It would be interesting to see a meta-reflection by Jim on the first twogroups to undertake, reflect upon, and report on these activities.
Finally, the preparation of the poster and the writing of this report have both been
“pushed reflection,” with extra prods for further reflection from the two readers of this report.
This pushed reflection was also a part of the students’ teaching reports, and were all thebetter for it. Such reflection on practice may seem to be a luxury—there’s often hardly
time to prepare for class, to do the homework, or whatever—but this experience has beena valuable reminder of the importance for both teachers and learners to not simply teachand study, but for both to be reflective practitioners.
Reading through this report and looking forward to conducting this project with thiscoming year’s class, I’ve come to realize that while some students do share valuablereflections on the project (which are included in this report), others do this very little. In
order to help those who are slower in verbalizing their reflections, it may be worth
preparing questions for consideration before the project, to help the learners give focusedconsideration of the value of what they are doing. This might reduce the impact of
discovery, realizing through experience and reflection the value of what was done, but, formany of the learners, it may provide a useful framework for reflection. Questions such as
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In what ways have you been a teacher so far in your life?

•

In what various ways can you imagine that you may be a teacher in the future?

•

Do teachers learn through teaching?

•

How could the amount learning gained through teaching be increased?

•

What do you imagine is easy about teaching pragmatics? What is difficult?

If these questions are printed out, the students could answer these questions at the
beginning of the project, then return to these at the end, as they reflect on the value ofwhat they have done.
Finishing this report with a list of questions may give an impression of unfinished work,
yet it is appropriate that it does give this impression: The report is finished, but the project is stillwork in progress. We are still learning to teach, teaching to learn.

Reference
Ronald, J., Rinnert, C., Fordyce, K., & Knight, T. (2012). Pragtivities: Bringing pragmatics tosecond language classrooms. Tokyo: JALT Pragmatics SIG.

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Reader Response to “Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn:
Pragmatics Instruction by Students”
Elisa Acosta, Asia UniversityT

he project as a whole is a great idea especially for students who want tobecome teachers. It lets them notice how much preparation it takes to beable to explain topics to another person. It also enhances students’awareness of the topics they have chosen, as well as providing chances forstudents to practice giving feedback to each other and work together as agroup. The project is multi-dimensional and serves as a way for students to learn
as they teach.
One particularly positive feature of the project is that it makes students
aware of what goes behind a pragmatics topic or event. Jim gives theexample of apologizing and how it involves more than merely just saying “I amsorry.” These events are not easy to explain. In some cases, students as teachers
might have to provide extra examples to be able to make other students
understand their topic. Students also need to make connections between thesociolinguistic norms of their culture and those of Anglophone cultures forapologizing. They need to understand the content very well to be able topresent it successfully to their classmates. I also like the idea that the students
present twice as this gives them opportunities to develop their ideas and/or
add extra examples. Students give each other feedback and can makechanges to the project without it affecting their final grades.
Jim, you mentioned students having problems coming up with their own
reflections, especially with verbalizing their opinions. You suggested using
questions. I thought it might also be helpful to have students keep a journal tocollect their ideas, emotions, sources, and opinions all in one place. Anytime
they work on the project students could be encouraged to take five minutes
to reflect on what they did, did not do, and/or what they want to accomplish
during the project. By keeping a journal students can document and visualize
more easily the progress of their project. They could keep all their ideas in one
place and keep track of things that worked or did not work. If the students everfelt they were stuck and needed some form of help, they could write theirthoughts down and look at them later. They could also share the ideas with aclassmate and get other opinions than the teacher’s. The journal might evenhelp students in the future when writing their graduation theses after they finish
the pragmatics project. This could benefit both you and the students. As ateacher, you can keep track of their progress and the students can keep trackon the development of their ideas. It may not be easy to implement, but if it’sdone with third and fourth year students it might work. I would like to hear how
you and the students feel before and after the project is completed. It would
also be good to know about what changes you will implement for future
projects. Thank you for sharing this project with us, Jim.

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Reader Response to “Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn:
Pragmatics Instruction by Students”
Sarah Morikawa, Chiba UniversityIn his short reflective article, Jim Ronald describes a project in which students
need to research one aspect of pragmatics, and teach other students aboutthat aspect. During the process, the students receive feedback from bothstudents and teacher, then write a paper on their experiences of learning andteaching. In this cycle of preparation, action, and modification, reflection is an
essential ingredient at each— stage both for the teacher and the students.
Through reflection, teachers can revise goals and improve their input, whilestudents can review their performance, identify paths towards improvement,
and increase their motivation.
As a teacher, I would like to reproduce this type of “zemi,” particularly in our
English Support Centre (ESC) where workshops and classes are elective anduncredited. For this reason, two points in the article were of special interest tome. Firstly, practical information and ideas, such as using a poster as a tool for
explanation of the course, are very helpful. I have developed courses andworkshops over a number of cycles, modifying the contents and aims at theend of each semester, but have not used an introductory poster before. As Jim
says, it would be very effective to show the students, in visual form, how thecourse or project will proceed. I was also interested in details about the students
that were not mentioned in the article, such as the number of students in theclass; the aspects of pragmatics students chose; and types of input andfeedback. It would be interesting to find out whether/how the project could
be developed in different situations, for example, in cases in which
participation is entirely voluntary.
Related to this is the issue of motivation. When students use teaching as ameans of learning in a university context, what motivates them? For some, it
may be that they have to do the task in order to earn credits, while, for others,
this may involve a sense of responsibility or the anticipated feeling ofsatisfaction when they have communicated successfully. Some of Jim’s
students appeared to be motivated to learn about their aspect of pragmatics
in order to teach it to others effectively. It would be interesting to investigate
the combinations of different influences on motivation, as this would be an
important factor if students were not on a credited course. When it comes toreflection, Jim mentions that some students were more motivated to reflect,
whereas others were less so. Jim’s idea of providing a framework with questions
relating to teaching in other areas of life is useful, as this would bridge the gap
between class and “real life.” I would tentatively suggest some more specificquestions or prompts to elicit more specific information e.g., “What did you
learn by teaching pragmatics that you might not have learned if you had only
studied by using the textbook?” and “Why do you think so?”In the ESC at our university, students form groups, in order to study for exams
such as IELTS or TOEFL iBT. Usually these study groups decide on a group aim forthe week such as improving their reading speed or increasing their spoken
accuracy, work individually toward that aim during the week, then reflect on
their study methods and results, before reporting back to the group. One
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students in study groups do not like to spend much time on reflection about
their own study methods or strategies even if they find their group members’
reflections helpful. Many comments on reflection feedback sheets from ourstudents are practical and basic, e.g., “I could improve my speaking using
these materials.” Further comments on how or why s/he improved were notincluded. Students may have kept reflection basic because they lacked theEnglish to write specifically, or did not want to spend the time needed to do so.
For this reason, bilingual feedback may be more productive, and clear
guidelines or prompts should help students to add depth to their reflections.
All in all, responding to Jim’s project has led me to consider trying out a more
systematic way of encouraging students to learn by teaching on a wider scalein our centre and to investigate to what extent teaching activities impact on
the students’ motivation.

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