I recently started a new position, and after the first stretch of teaching, I wanted to note a few early thoughts. These are very much initial impressions, and I expect my understanding to develop over time as I settle in.

1. Adjusting to Different Proficiency Levels

One of the most immediate differences has been the overall proficiency level of students. At lower levels in particular, tasks require more careful setup and support. Activities are finished quite quickly, which means lessons need a greater number of shorter activities.

This has all kinds of implications for pacing and teacher energy. Lessons have felt quite intensive, with a need for sustained attention to scaffolding, modelling, and choral drilling. My voice took a bit of a battering during the first week or so and I got a pretty bad sore throat, from which I fortunately recovered fairly quickly.

2. Student Motivation and Classroom Behaviour

Since students are mostly enrolled in compulsory English classes, engagement can vary, and maintaining focus during activities requires consistent monitoring and encouragement. There is also a noticeable emphasis among some students on completing tasks efficiently. This occasionally comes at the expense of actually using English to complete tasks in communicative activities. It is necessary to consistently encourage and support the use of English to ensure students remain on task.

At lower levels, clarity of instruction is especially important. I have found a much greater need for ICQs (Instruction Checking Questions) to make sure the class know what they have to do. Even simple instructions can take time to process, and I have occasionally drawn on (my rather limited) Japanese to support understanding. This has helped maintain lesson flow, although I am aiming to balance this with maximising exposure to English.

3. Homework and Out-of-Class Learning

Students are assigned a substantial amount of homework, including e-learning components and vocabulary study. In practice, completion rates, particularly at lower levels, can be uneven. One approach that has been suggested is to allocate some class time for students to begin homework tasks. Whilst I am sure that this can help ensure engagement, it also raises questions about how best to balance this with time for communicative work during lessons.

4. Materials and Pedagogical Orientation

The course textbooks and materials differ from those I have used previously, and becoming familiar with their structure and sequencing will take some time to adjust to. There is a strong focus on bottom-up listening skills, including suprasegmental features, which play an important role in supporting beginner learners. At the same time, my early experience has highlighted the value of incorporating tasks that create a clearer need to communicate. I am interested in exploring how task-based elements can complement the existing materials and support more meaningful language use in class. This is something I hope to develop further and will return to in a future post.For now, I am working within the materials, experimenting with different activities, and identifying what works best.

5. Institutional Systems and Processes

As expected, institutional systems differ from place to place. While I have prior experience with Moodle, the platform is used more extensively here, with a wider range of functions available to instructors. Becoming familiar with these features has taken some time. Some textbooks have their own LMS for students and (I am pleased to report) that there is an extensive reading element via the online platform XReading. There are also additional internal systems for tasks such as attendance tracking. I am still in the process of learning how all these systems operate, although I expect this will become more straightforward with regular use.

6. Research Directions

This transition has also prompted some reflection on my research interests. Much of my previous work has focused on supporting independent learning outside the classroom including goal-setting approaches such as SMART goals. In the current context, where motivation and proficiency levels vary, I may need to adapt this focus. At the same time, there appear to be clear opportunities to continue developing work in areas such as extensive reading and listening, potentially in ways that fit more closely with students’ immediate needs.

7. Settling In

As with any new role, there is an initial period of adjustment. The range of new variables, from student needs to institutional systems, can feel demanding at first. That said, things are already becoming more familiar, and I am finding a rhythm. For now, the priority is to take the time to understand the context fully, experiment thoughtfully, and avoid rushing to conclusions. There is plenty to learn, and that process is very much underway.

I am very grateful for the Golden Week break in Japan which has given me a few days to unwind!