An Elder’s Motivation
First, let me express that I have a keen interest in visiting small, local onsen and sento. It’s an interest that I developed almost as soon as I moved to Japan. I try to visit one at least once a week, often twice a week, and have thus become a regular at a few different places as I’ve lived in different parts of Japan.
Being a regular, you tend to develop relationships with other regulars in the same way you would if you had a local watering hole. Most of my relationships were not initiated by me, as I’m often shy and not exactly looking to strike up a conversation while I’m in a bath. As such, most of my conversations and relationships were initiated by others. Surprisingly, at least to me, is that those conversations and relationships were almost exclusively with older men looking to learn or practice their English.
I often wondered why older men made up the vast majority of people who seek to converse with me at those times. I quickly realized many Japanese people were hesitant when it comes to speaking English, so why did it seem like there were so many elderly people who broke from that mold?
For the most part, I never did any research beyond asking some of these people why they would speak to me, and why they wanted to learn English. Most of them were simply curious, and loved to talk as well as meet new, interesting people. Some of them actually had almost no English experience, and just said what they could out of a simple desire to communicate. They were also almost always retired, or working a lot less now that they were older.
That’s when I realized that at some point, their desire to use English had started to emulate the desire I often see in children when they try to use English. Curiosity, and a genuine desire to communicate with others, had eventually overpowered their hesitancy at making mistakes or embarrassing themselves.
I still don’t really understand why this happens. Do they simply have more time on their hands in the same way kids do, and thus their curiosity blooms? Do they realize the limited nature of life, and give up on the often-restrictive nature of hesitancy and embarrassment? Is it something else entirely, or perhaps a combination of a bunch of things?
I have seen this same thing in other, younger adults. They tend to be the type that has an interest in travel and language. For them, speaking and learning English has often developed into a sort of hobby. This is when I started to feel like I was beginning to understand this phenomenon a bit more.
My theory is that one needs an equal or greater force to replace the hesitancy and embarrassment. Without it, most simply don’t see any value in going out on a limb and risking themselves. However, children can overpower it with curiosity, a desire to learn, and the fun nature of early childhood English language education that features games and songs. Older people can overpower it with a similar curiosity, and a desire for communication. Other adults overpower it with a desire to partake in something they enjoy and find interesting.
Of course, everyone is different, and no two reactions to English language communication and education will be exactly the same. I do however believe that these insights are valuable, as teaching English to those who don’t find it fun, aren’t curious or particularly interested in travel and language, or don’t have the desire to communicate as strongly can still benefit greatly from English language education, and are often forced to partake in it anyway.
So, how do we use this to more effectively teach English to, and encourage English use and practice with those that don’t have that thing which can overpower their hesitancy and embarrassment? My only answer is to find that thing, whatever it is. As teachers of the English language, I believe it is at least partly our job to help our students with that discovery. Provide stimuli of an extremely wide variety, explore topics in English that aren’t related to the English language at all, and simply do whatever you can to find that hook. Find it, and you can turn English language education into something that every single one of your students will look forward to.
people. Some of them actually had almost no English experience, and just said what they could out of a simple desire to communicate. They were also almost always retired, or working a lot less now that they were older.
That’s when I realized that at some point, their desire to use English had started to emulate the desire I often see in children when they try to use English. Curiosity, and a genuine desire to communicate with others, had eventually overpowered their hesitancy at making mistakes or embarrassing themselves.
I still don’t really understand why this happens. Do they simply have more time on their hands in the same way kids do, and thus their curiosity blooms? Do they realize the limited nature of life, and give up on the often-restrictive nature of hesitancy and embarrassment? Is it something else entirely, or perhaps a combination of a bunch of things?
I have seen this same thing in other, younger adults. They tend to be the type that has an interest in travel and language. For them, speaking and learning English has often developed into a sort of hobby. This is when I started to feel like I was beginning to understand this phenomenon a bit more.
My theory is that one needs an equal or greater force to replace the hesitancy and embarrassment. Without it, most simply don’t see any value in going out on a limb and risking themselves. However, children can overpower it with curiosity, a desire to learn, and the fun nature of early childhood English language education that features games and songs. Older people can overpower it with a similar curiosity, and a desire for communication. Other adults overpower it with a desire to partake in something they enjoy and find interesting.
Of course, everyone is different, and no two reactions to English language communication and education will be exactly the same. I do however believe that these insights are valuable, as teaching English to those who don’t find it fun, aren’t curious or particularly interested in travel and language, or don’t have the desire to communicate as strongly can still benefit greatly from English language education, and are often forced to partake in it anyway.
So, how do we use this to more effectively teach English to, and encourage English use and practice with those that don’t have that thing which can overpower their hesitancy and embarrassment? My only answer is to find that thing, whatever it is. As teachers of the English language, I believe it is at least partly our job to help our students with that discovery. Provide stimuli of an extremely wide variety, explore topics in English that aren’t related to the English language at all, and simply do whatever you can to find that hook. Find it, and you can turn English language education into something that every single one of your students will look forward to.
J.B – Kishiwada ALT
