The Language Teacher
October 2001
Engaging University Students in Critical Thinking about the Merits of Their Entrance Exam System
Tim Murphey
Yuan Ze University
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words: Critical pedagogy, entrance exams, learner histories
Learner English Level: Intermediate
Learner Maturity Level: University post-first semester
Preparation Time: Very short
Activity Time: 1 hour in class reading, discussing, and answering a questionnaire. The rest is homework and depends on the options chosen.
One way to bring individuals together is to enlist them in a mission that is bigger than them, a change-effort to improve their own society. It is also nice to find a topic that they all have experience with so they can talk about it with some knowledge and authority. One such topic is university entrance exams. Many students say that the main reason they are poor at speaking skills is because they only studied writing and reading in high school in preparation for the entrance exams. Some or all of the following steps can be used or modified for your particular university so that the students can discuss and write their own entrance exam histories (EEH). They can also serve to teach teachers about a major force in Japanese students' lives.
Procedure
1. Provide students with a reading about the entrance exams (see Box 1 for an example).
2. Explain to them that they might be able to influence university exam makers by writing about their experiences with the entrance exams they took.
3. Ask them to fill out a questionnaire anonymously (see Box 2 for sample questions).
4. Provide students with the results of the questionnaire and allow them time to talk about the results in pairs or small groups (tip: Ask interested students to volunteer to tabulate the results).
5. Ask students to write about their entrance exam experience (see Box 3 for an example) and suggest advice to test makers or propose alternatives.
6. Have students bring their narratives to class to share. Ask them to read one another's and to help in revising the language to make it clearer.
7. Allow students to rewrite their narratives and ask them to submit their narratives to you by email.
8. When you receive the narratives, do a spell check and smooth out any strange grammar, but do not change any of the content. Delete or change any possible identifying personal information (e.g., the name of their HS). Collate and copy the EEHs for your students to read and comment on.
Follow up Options
1. Produce a booklet of Entrance Exam Histories for the class. Provide your administrators with a copy so that they can hear information "from the horse's mouth" about the impact of the exams upon their students' lives.
2. Ask the students to compose a letter to Monbukagakusho to ask for changes to the entrance exam and include the questionnaire data and histories.
3. Make enough copies for another class to read and comment on. This is near peer role model material (Murphey, 1998) and highly motivating to peers with language levels at the approximately same level. Then they in turn could write their own histories.
4. Write an article for your own university's journal (or other publications) about what students say about the EE. Collaborate with other teachers doing the same and create a database of EEHs.
It is probably best to wait until at least the second semester of their freshman year, or later, to do such a project so that students can contrast university education with their HS education. Michael Fullan (1999:18) says that every person is a change agent, whether they know it or not, and they can have an impact on their society; hence, the more students who communicate their experiences and opinions, the greater the impact. Part of learning English is developing new language and classroom identities that shift the way students, their teachers, and administrators see things. Gee (1996) writes of these new ways as Discourses (with a capital D) and contends:
Schools . . . ought to be about people reflecting on and critiquing the 'Discourse-maps' of their society, and, indeed, the wider world. Schools ought to allow students to juxtapose diverse Discourses to each other so that they can understand them at a meta-level through a more encompassing language of reflection. Schools ought to allow all students to acquire, not just learn about, Discourses that lead to effectiveness in their society, should they wish to do so. Schools ought to allow students to transform and vary their Discourse, based on larger cultural and historical understandings, to create new Discourses, and to imagine better and more socially just ways of being in the world. (p. 190)
Understanding these Discourses starts with understanding your own. When there is a strong pedagogy of silence (Yoneyama, 1999) students rarely have this opportunity to explore Discourses. You can give it to them.
References
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies. London: Taylor & Francis.
Fullan, M. (1999). Change forces: The sequel. London: Falmer Press.
Yoneyama, S. (1999). Japanese high schools: Resistance and silence. Amsterdam: Routledge.
Box 1: The Educational System in Japan: Case Study Findings, June 1998 by the US Department of Education in their Executive Summary [excerpt] accessed at: <www.ed.gov/pubs/JapanCaseStudy/execsum.html> The major academic issues raised by teachers, parents, and students centered around the role that entrance exams play in Japanese schooling. Many of our respondents felt that this system has created too much pressure on students and teachers alike. Public schooling, some said, was becoming more about getting into a good college than about getting a good education. Although the Monbusho has advocated more consideration of the individual in education and mandated a decrease in the number of days in the school week, the results up to now have only served to heighten the pressures that teachers and students feel, not relieve them. Severe competition on the entrance exams for admission to elite schools continues to create educational overheating. The juku, which play such a large role in the overall academic picture, are outside of the Monbusho's control. The juku at once support the schools yet were often cited by respondents as the fuel that causes educational overheating. (Later in Chapter 2 of the report). The negative impact of the entrance examinations While Japanese teachers see entrance exams as having a positive impact on student motivation to study, many also felt that these examinations also have a negative impact on the quality of education in Japan. The pressures of the entrance examinations are seen as contributing to a variety of school-related problems, including an over-dependence on juku by students, bullying (ijime), school refusal syndrome (tokokyohi), and a host of other problems. For example, some Japanese argue that teachers are so busy preparing students for entrance examinations that they do not have the time to intervene in cases of bullying. Also, some have argued that, since Japanese schools are so oriented towards examinations, students become alienated and refuse to attend school. |
Box 2: Entrance Exam Questionnaire Please answer the following questionnaire. 1= not at all // 5 = Completely I think the exams accurately evaluated my English ability. 1 2 3 4 5 I think studying for the exams improved my English. 1 2 3 4 5 I think it was a good use of my time to study for the exams. 1 2 3 4 5 I think studying for the exams helped me in my future English classes at university. I think passing the English entrance exams means I have English ability. 1 2 3 4 5 How do you think the entrance exam system could be improved or should be changed? [Leave some blank space to answer or let them answer on the back as well.] |
Box 3: Students' University Entrance Exam Histories Please write a page or two about your entrance exam history for entering university. All reports should be written in English. Deadline: _______ Some of the possible questions that might guide your histories are: How did you study for the entrance exams? What impact did the exams have upon your HS and juku classes and upon your private life? What was good and not so good about how you studied? What was good and not so good about the exam system? How many different exams did you take/pass at different universities? What did you think of the different exams? How would you like the exam system to continue, change, or improve? Please send your redrafted EEH to me by email [Teacher's name and email address]. |
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