Teaching EIKEN from the UK?

[MelonPan]

Does anyone have any tips on how to teach the speaking component of the Japanese government's EIKEN exam? There seems to be little guidance for native speaker teachers outside Japan on the criteria for assessment, band descriptors, and how to plan engaging lessons focussing on key language requirements. The official website is only useful up to a point.

Thank you/ arigato.

 

[Tdol]

People in Japan who want their language skills to be recognised internationally tend to take exams like TOEFL, TOEIC and IELTS, so it may be harder to break into this market from outside.

 

[MelonPan]

Hence my question.

 

[jutfrank]

Hello MelonPan

What sort of tips are you looking for? I'm not at all familiar with this exam but I imagine the assessment criteria are more or less the same as with the other big international exams. If the level of EIKEN Grade 1 is equivalent to a CEFR C1, then I'd advise you to do lots of practice with your student: Give him some sample questions to answer, assess his answers for grammatical/lexical range and accuracy, pronunciation, organisation, cohesion, and content. Make sure you use real EIKEN questions to do this. Once you've diagnosed his current level, you'll have a better idea as to the kind of input he needs, whether that be topic vocab, functional stuff (e.g. language for expressing opinions), pronunciation work, etc. As with any other student, the approach should be: find out what he can't do with respect to what he needs to do, then teach him how to do it.

To give you more useful and specific advice, it might help us to know how much experience you have. Are you generally easily able to tell which features of language correspond to a C1 (advanced) level?

 

[emsr2d2]

focussing focusing

 

[MelonPan]

I would respectfully ask that you do not correct British English spelling. It's unnecessary, impolite, and hardly welcoming to a new member. Many thanks.

 

[MelonPan]

Hello MelonPan

What sort of tips are you looking for? I'm not at all familiar with this exam but I imagine the assessment criteria are more or less the same as with the other big international exams. If the level of EIKEN Grade 1 is equivalent to a CEFR C1, then I'd advise you to do lots of practice with your student: Give him some sample questions to answer, assess his answers for grammatical/lexical range and accuracy, pronunciation, organisation, cohesion, and content. Make sure you use real EIKEN questions to do this. Once you've diagnosed his current level, you'll have a better idea as to the kind of input he needs, whether that be topic vocab, functional stuff (e.g. language for expressing opinions), pronunciation work, etc. As with any other student, the approach should be: find out what he can't do with respect to what he needs to do, then teach him how to do it.

To give you more useful and specific advice, it might help us to know how much experience you have. Are you generally easily able to tell which features of language correspond to a C1 (advanced) level?

Hi,

Tips I am looking for:

- how to present a lesson, from eliciting through to open speaking stages, in order to meet the criteria for Eiken. Both with large groups and 1:1 students.
- Band descriptors: similar to, or the same as, IELTS or Cambridge? If not, then how to differentiate between speakers of different levels. Which criteria are being tested in speaking: grammar, lexical resource, cohesion, pronunciation, other things?
- Question types: opinion, speculation, compare/ contrast; how many exist? What can the student be told to expect?
- Exercises that can be done autonomously to prepare for Eiken. Do any course books exist, either physically or online? Can students join any forums to practice outside the classroom and swap ideas?
- Teaching resources: teachers' books, teachers' forums, online guidance which does not require a knowledge of Japanese?


I have over 20 years' experience including IELTS and Cambridge but as I have said, no Eiken.

 

[5jj]

I would respectfully ask that you do not correct British English spelling. It's unnecessary, impolite, and hardly welcoming to a new member. Many thanks.

Please try not to be so sensitive. I was surprised to learn today that some dictionaries give 'focussing' as an alternative to 'focusing'. The form with a single 's' is by far the more common version in BrE.

 

[Tdol]

One problem seems to be that most of the Eiken textbooks almost all are Japanese editions, so will be difficult for non-speakers to use.

 

[SusanKuhl]

Thanks for your suggestions.