The Uni-Files

A candid look at EFL life and lessons from a university teacher's perspective.

• Language Wars: This is Japan! Speak Japanese! (2012/01/10)
• On Demo Lessons, English Contests, Heroism, Coddling, and Mental Illness (2011/11/29)
• How to Read... a Bible (?!) (2011/11/15)
• Workshy, layabout teachers should pay back salaries (2011/10/31)
• Has Charisma Man jumped the shark? (2011/10/19)
• Is this really an improvement for Japanese universities? Critiquing a critique (2011/10/ 8)
• It's self-improvement time (with unexpected input from Malcolm Gladwell) (2011/09/26)
• Odds 'n sods; A potpourri of hodgepodged EFL mishmash (2011/09/ 1)
• Students you never forget- In memory of Moe (2011/08/16)
• The Problem with Numbers- Grading Follies (2011/08/ 4)
• O-makase teaching: The 'Leave it to sensei' approach (2011/07/17)
• How to talk to Japanese women- EFL Version (2011/07/ 1)
• Unsolicited advice- a small group project that hits all the right buttons (2011/06/17)
• Putting conversation in its proper place- a few ideas and practices (2011/05/23)
• A response to Tim Murphey's criticism of Japan's university entrance exams- and more on Kumiko Torikai (2011/05/ 2)
• The F word on trial (2011/04/26)
• A response to Kumiko Torikai's Asahi News interview (2011/04/11)
• Scoring burnout points in the 'off-season' (2011/03/30)
• Eikaiwa at 40? In a university?! Something's wrong (2011/03/10)
• Re-tests: How many chances do you expect to have? (2011/02/ 9)
• When is a stone not ... important? (On course reviews) (2011/02/ 3)
• Commentary: Keio's dropping of the Center Shiken and the (non-existent) Monkasho English 'word list' (2011/01/27)
• Curmudgeon time: annoying student challenges and questions (2011/01/18)
• Student opinions on entrance exams- a good idea but... (2011/01/12)
• Testwiseness- the Educational Soul of Japan? (2010/12/24)
• 1) The Post-method era: When ‘bad’ methodologies are good and 2) Adventures are for Infants (2010/12/14)
• Double Dipping- Divergence Duty or Dubious Duplication? (2010/12/ 7)
• Corpses of corpora (2010/11/28)
• 5 Reasons to take English off the Center Shiken (2010/11/16)
• Sending Japanese teachers abroad for English training- Does it make sense? (2010/11/ 8)
• An "interview" with controversial human rights activist Orudo Debiru (2010/10/29)
• Two items: 1. Nobel Prizes, Research and REAL WORK 2. How to avoid a test (and fail!) (2010/10/26)
• Getting a university teaching job- Q&A from a reader (2010/10/19)
• The eight hardest things about learning Japanese (part 2) (2010/10/12)
• The eight hardest things about learning Japanese (2010/10/ 5)
• What if university students don't appear to know even basic English? (2010/09/29)
• Marching and morality (2010/09/21)
• A gap in the university curriculum that you, O gaikokujin teacher, could fill (2010/09/ 6)
• I never meta-cognitive skill I didn't like- and explaining Monkasho primary school policy: More reactions and responses from Hanoi (2010/08/16)
• EFL big shot critiques two presentations- Live from suburban Hanoi! (2010/08/ 7)
• A very brief blueprint for Japanese university English programs (2010/07/30)
• Getting involved- local politics, universities, representation and influence (2010/07/22)
• Riffing on 1) Extreme J student nerves 2) So-called "thinking outside the box", and 3) Self-introductions- Bah! (2010/07/ 7)
• One man, his son, and the J school system (2010/07/ 1)
• Blowing your top and hitting the ceiling- some thoughts on classroom anger management (2010/06/25)
• Introducing Jiro (cheers) and Taro (hiss) (2010/06/15)
• Japanese universities slip in Asia rankings- a few comments (2010/06/ 4)
• J universities as bastions of progressive policy? (2010/05/27)
• Why I never teach grammar tenses (2010/05/20)
• Privacy, transparency and why you must know what I'm looking at on the web (2010/05/13)
• Fixing poor student study habits: Notes to self (2010/04/30)
• A companion piece to "Face Value Not Enough for Choosing Vocabulary" -Daily Yomiuri article of May 03rd (2010/04/27)
• Fear in the TEFL academic community and how it is connected to my utter lack of professionalism (2010/04/20)
• Kaken-hi: The perils of getting what you wish for (2010/04/ 9)
• Classroom Nurse/Doctor discrmination? You bet! PLUS comments on the Foreign Nurses' EPA Trainee Program in Japan (2010/04/ 5)
• ESS- How Tomoyuki lost his groove (2010/03/25)
• Teachers' Meeting! (A 'Morality' Play) (2010/03/18)
• Some exceptional students; and one 'Debito moment' (2010/03/10)
• Putting together a half-decent achievement test (2010/03/ 3)
• University English in Japan: What should we be doing? A delectable template of methodological morsels from MU (2010/02/24)
• Q&A time: Everything you want to know about Japanese medical students and becoming a doctor (2010/02/19)
• Nationalism, 'Moral' Education, and English (2010/02/10)
• A bunch of words about lyrics (2010/02/ 3)
• The Politics of 'Hello' (2010/01/28)
• 'Misses' and 'objectivity' (2010/01/21)
• Japan- Love it, Leave it, 'Change' it, Or...? (2010/01/14)
• Monitoring the classroom- perceptions vs. reality (2010/01/ 7)
• So, just who are we anyway? (2009/12/28)
• Failing- and failing to fail (2009/12/17)
• Feedback on feedback (2009/12/10)
• My attraction to alt.alt and students who don't say the 'right' thing (2009/12/ 3)
• Two mini entries: 1. Grammar, plurality, agreement and 2. Formalized brainstorming (2009/11/26)
• Q. When is a Native Speaker not good enough to be a Native Speaker? A. On the TOEIC test (2009/11/12)
• 1. The image of MEXT and 2. Learning from open-ended conversation tasks (2009/11/ 6)
• Needs analysis nonsense (2009/10/28)
• Universities as glorified high schools (2009/10/22)
• (1) Japanese English teacher stereotypes and (2) boring academic journal writing (2009/10/13)
• Unintentionally positive discrimination, fraternizing, and all that (2009/10/ 8)
• More on conferences and presentations (2009/09/30)
• Drop the puck! It's ELT Conference Season! (2009/09/23)
• Emulating our heroes- and 'Mr. James' (2009/09/ 9)
• Handy-Dandy Guide to Sloppy Cross-Cultural Research (2009/08/31)
• Why I Don't Get Statistics (2009/08/19)
• So, why teach English to medical students? (2009/08/ 7)
• The So-Called Off-Season or No, I am not eating a banana pancake in Kuta as I write this (2009/07/30)
• The Catheter of Damocles and the Perils of Grading 'Effort' (2009/07/24)
• My students' English skills- it's not up to me (2009/07/16)
• Lessons are not lectures! (2009/07/ 3)
• The 'Gaijin Party'- some classroom recipes (2009/06/25)
• The Daily Yomiuri column (and two more grammar puzzles) (2009/06/15)
• English course exemptions and money matters (2009/06/ 3)
• Two grammar puzzles; Plus- What’s so good about working at a university; Plus- the reason older Japanese professors (supposedly) teach teacher-centered lecture-based lessons revealed! (2009/05/27)
• Japanese university students and groupwork/homework (2009/05/21)
• Language Yaritori + 6 Frustrating Student Behaviors (2009/05/15)
• Two rants for the price of reading one blog entry: Global Warming overkill, and positive learning ideas for new university students (2009/05/ 7)
• Notes from the new academic year (2009/05/ 1)
• Contract renewal at the uni; The Ninkisei song and dance (2009/04/20)
• Getting (and keeping) a university teaching job- a few tips, insights and blatant prejudices (2009/04/ 6)
• University jobs, permanency and so-called ‘musical chairs’ (2009/03/26)
• The On-Campus Language Center ‘Solution’ (Or What Is University English Teaching Really About Anyway?) (2009/03/ 6)
• A Day in the Life: The (Not So) Off-Season at the Uni (2009/03/ 3)
• Parody- Armadillo's Blog (2009/02/16)
• Notes and anecdotes from the end of the second term… (2009/01/30)
• Regarding Gregory Clark's comment on foreigners teaching in Japanese universities (2009/01/21)
• Can university teachers teach kids (and vice-versa)? (2008/12/30)
• Is teaching English at a Japanese university a cushy job? (2008/12/17)

• Language Wars: This is Japan! Speak Japanese!
• On Demo Lessons, English Contests, Heroism, Coddling, and Mental Illness
• How to Read... a Bible (?!)

• Q&A time: Everything you want to know about Japanese medical students and becoming a doctor
    - Mike Guest
    - Chaz-Rae
    - isabelle
    - Mike Guest
    - Al
    - Mike Guest
    - Anna
    - Mike Guest
  
• Language Wars: This is Japan! Speak Japanese!
    - Colin Graham
    - Tristan Scholze
    - Mike Guest
  
• On Demo Lessons, English Contests, Heroism, Coddling, and Mental Illness
    - Niko
    - Mike Guest
    - Mark Howarth
    - Mike Guest
    - Mark Howarth
    - Hans Albanese
    - Mike Guest
    - Hans Albanese
  
• Has Charisma Man jumped the shark?
    - Diane Tincher
    - Rose O'Rourke
    - Mike Guest
    - David
    - Roslyn Appleby
    - Mike Guest
    - Lachlan Jackson
    - Mike Guest
  
• It's self-improvement time (with unexpected input from Malcolm Gladwell)
    - Tristan Scholze
    - Jason Lowes
    - Mike Guest
  
• More on conferences and presentations
    - Fellow teacher
    - Mike Guest
    - Matt Coomber
  
• Workshy, layabout teachers should pay back salaries
    - Frodis
    - Erika Kono
    - Craig Tidwell
    - Martin Fitch
    - Mike Guest
    - Ralph Bosman
    - Mike Guest
  
• Monitoring the classroom- perceptions vs. reality
    - stephen
    - Mark Howarth
    - Mike Guest
    - Ricky
    - Chris Quinn
  
• Putting together a half-decent achievement test
    - Bernie Panzo
    - Chris Quinn
  
• Q. When is a Native Speaker not good enough to be a Native Speaker? A. On the TOEIC test
    - Jon Hodge
    - treblekickeresq
    - Chris Quinn
  

• Amusement/Fiction (6)
• Conferences (6)
• Culture (5)
• Grading (10)
• In the real world (7)
• Management (16)
• Testing (12)
• University (51)
• Activities (19)
• Courses (17)
• ELT university society (12)
• Grammar and vocabulary (18)
• daily workload (12)
• methodology (33)
• publications and research (8)
• rants (25)
• research (16)
• the political side (23)
• the students (36)
• what you didn't know... (14)
• working conditions (13)
• contracts (5)
• foreigners in Japan (18)
• internationalization (8)
• theory (15)