The document provides information for English fellows (YEFs) about their role working in the Yokkaichi English Fellows program in Japan. As part of the program, YEFs will work with Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to team teach English lessons in junior high and elementary schools. They will spend their days rotating between 2 junior high schools and 1 elementary school, following typical school schedules of morning meetings, lessons, lunch, and afternoon lessons. YEFs will support JTEs in making English more engaging for students and helping them improve their language skills. The program aims to strengthen cultural and educational ties between Yokkaichi, Japan and Long Beach, California through this educational exchange initiative.

1. 2014-2015
YEF Handbook

2. The YEF program has proven to be indispensible to the children in
Yokkaichi and the Yokkaichi City Board of Education for the work
and efforts of the YEFs. When pupils and students study and spend
time with the YEFs, they can hear “live” English and feel that the
English they have learned in class can be used in real life. English
becomes more than what they hear in movies and songs. Having
YEFs in schools forces them to use English to communicate with
native English speakers on a daily basis, and it motivates them to
study English a little harder. They truly feel happy when they are
able to use the English they have learned. We appreciate YEFs
strong effort for the great affect they have on our students.
When YEFs first arrive in Yokkaichi, they know little Japanese and
have little knowledge about Japanese education. Gradually, YEFs
learn to understand the students here as well as our education
system. The more the YEFs understand us, the more the students
are willing to open their minds to the YEFs, and try to
communicate in English with YEFs better. This desire makes
English more interesting to the students..
To those interested in the YEF program or in the City of Yokkaichi,
please drop by the Long Beach Unified School District or
California State University, Long Beach to get more information.
Manager
Takashi Yoshida
Teaching Guidance Division
Yokkaichi Board of Education
Superintendent
Toshiyuki Tanaka
Mayor
City of Yokkaichi
Tashiro Kazunori
Yokkaichi City
Board of Education
Fifty-one years ago on October 7th, 1963 Yokkaichi established a sister city rela-
tionship with Long Beach, California. Since then, many cultural exchanges have
been made. Many of Yokkaichi’s citizens have visited Long Beach and enjoyed
learning about its educational, medicinal, and cultural achievements. Likewise,
many of Long Beach’s residents have journeyed to Yokkaichi’s port, experienced
our education system, and our way of life.
In October of 2013, an eight person delegation from Long Beach paid a visit to
Yokkaichi to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the sister city program. The fol-
lowing month, representatives from Yokkaichi and I traveled to Long Beach. We
participated in many events, saw various facilities, and met with our counter-
parts in Long Beach. During our stay, we concluded with a new agreement to
strengthen our sister city exchange via education, tourism, and local community
activities.
The city of Long Beach has been kind enough to support the Yokkaichi English
Fellows (YEF) Program, delegating YEFs to our public school as part of this 50
year sister city relationship. This is one of the most important aspects within the
education of our students. It helps their communicative ability in a global econ-
omy.
If you are interested in education you are more than welcome to Yokkaichi. As a
Yokkaichi English Fellow, wouldn’t you like to interact and connect with our stu-
dents? Though this handbook provides only a glimpse of life here in Yokkaichi,
come and see for yourself what our city has to offer. We have many traditional
wares such as our banko ceramics, tea, and the beautiful night view of the pe-
troleum refinery and the Port of Yokkaichi. In addition, we have cultural events,
like the Yokkaichi Grand Festival during summer. We are also home to cultural
facilities such as the Yokkaichi museum and planetarium. We also host the Yok-
kaichi Sports Dome and Toshiba’s state-of-the-art factory just to name a few. Our
city, rich with nature and warm-hearted people, are looking forward to welcom-
ing you.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all the support and coopera-
tion extended to us over the years by the City of Long Beach. We hope that the
friendship between Long Beach and Yokkaichi will continue to prosper.
The subject “English” in our educational curriculum is one of 9
subjects which include Japanese, mathematics, science, social
studies, art, home economics, arts and crafts, music and physical
education. While they are all very important, English is an
essential subject which helps students open their eyes and a means
of communication with people around the world. In order to
make English education more efficient, the Yokkaichi City Board of
Education employs the practice of “team-teaching,” which uses an
English teacher and a native English speaker, the Yokkaichi English
Fellow, in the classroom.
The Yokkaichi English Fellows have helped us greatly to improve
our English education. The students of Yokkaichi have scored
significantly above average on the National English Assessment
Test. When this program started in August 1986, junior high school
students saw YEFs outside of school and they would say,
“Amerika-jin da,” or “It’s an American.” Now they say, “Hi. How
are you? Will you come to our class today?” The YEFs are
essential to the students and the teachers of Yokkaichi.
On behalf of the Yokkaichi City Board of Education, I would like to
express our sincere thanks for the assistance extended to us by the
members of the Long Beach-Yokkaichi Sister City Association, Long
Beach Unified School District and California State University, Long
Beach without which the YEF Program would not have been as
successful as it is now.
To the people of Long Beach:

3. The experience of working abroad is a wonderful opportunity for anyone. We feel
that being a part of Yokkaichi’s Sister City YEF Program enables you to benefit from
special privileges and experiences that surpass other “Teaching Abroad” programs.
Working as a language assistant in the junior high and elementary school systems
will be your primary responsibility throughout the year. However, you will have
many other opportunities to explore various aspects of Japan’s unique culture.
Living in Yokkaichi is a special experience. Previous YEFs have been delighted
with the warmth and hospitality they have received from the staff at Shidouka,
the students and staff at their schools, and from their new community. You may
wish to attend classes, festivals, and other cultural events during your time here.
Yokkaichi is only thirty-five minutes away from Nagoya, the fourth largest city in
Japan, and it is centrally located for access to many great travel destinations such
as Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kyoto, and Nara.
The YEF Program is both exciting and challenging. Our group is made up of
eleven assistant teachers of various ages, backgrounds, and experiences. Seven
members have been hired through the Long Beach-Yokkaichi Sister City relationship,
which was founded on October 7, 1963. In addition, four members have been
hired through the JET Program. Together, we make up the group of Yokkaichi
Assistant Language Teachers instructing English mainly at the junior high school
and elementary school levels. Each program member’s official title is “Yokkaichi
English Fellow” (YEF).
The YEF program is designed to be a two-year program, which is ideally made up
of half 1st year YEFs and half returning YEFs. In this setting, the continuing YEFs
are there to pass on their accumulated knowledge and pedagogies to the new,
while the new YEFs bring with them fresh ideas and methodologies. Thus, each
year the YEF program is enhanced and always changing in order to strive for better
English education in Yokkaichi.
We welcome you in joining us in this unique teaching opportunity.
The primary responsibility of the YEF position consists of team teaching
English in Yokkaichi’s public elementary and junior high schools. However,
we also have a host of other job responsibilities. The YEF program is part
of the Teaching Guidance Division (Shidouka), which is a division of the
Board of Education, and a part of the municipal government. Hence, as
YEFs, our home base is an office in city hall. As YEFs, we perform a variety
of different jobs, in a variety of different settings.
YEF Welcome

4. During your time at school, you will be team teaching with Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs). Team
teaching means a YEF and JTE work together to plan lessons, which you will jointly present to the JTE’s
students. Team teaching between YEFs and JTEs has been going on in Yokkaichi for many years. Our office has
a number of helpful resources on the subject, and you will receive some training to assist you after you arrive.
As YEFs our goals are two-fold. We assist the JTEs in integrating oral language skills into their classroom.
Additionally, we make the study of English more lively and relevant so that students are motivated to
continue their studies. Some JTEs will place higher value on the language aspect, requesting more serious
activities that focus on listening or speaking skills. Other JTEs prefer to focus on our motivational role,
asking us to create fun games and activities that students can enjoy.
The role of the YEF in team teaching varies greatly from school to school and
from teacher to teacher: you may be in charge of the entire lesson, or limited
to the simple task of reading for pronunciation. The degree to which you will
be responsible for the lesson is at the discretion of the individual JTE. JTEs also
vary widely in the amount of specific instructions they will provide you with.
Some will simply tell you to play a fun game for review, and others will hand
you finished lesson plans; most will fall somewhere in between. Often, they
will have a specific grammar point or set of vocabulary words they want to
cover and will ask you to develop lessons to support them.
Advanced planning and effective communication are both critical for successful
team teaching. When you meet with a JTE to plan lessons, it is great to have
some ideas for lessons and activities already at hand.
It is the JTE’s classroom and you are there to support the JTE’s efforts. It is
important to remember that you are an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT).
There are times you will be tasked with heading a lesson, but the JTE is still
in charge. This may be particularly disorienting for those who come from a
professional teaching background. Curriculum, long term planning, grading,
and classroom management are all mainly the responsibilities of the JTE. The
YEF position offers rewards and challenges that are quite different from those
of leading your own classroom.
As a YEF, your main focus is creating a team teaching environment with your
JTE to create an engaging and fun experience for students learning English.
Occasionally, you may need to support your JTE in classroom management
and classroom resources.
A good relationship with your JTE colleagues will assist you in your work and
will become an invaluable resource to those with limited experience with
Japanese and its culture. If you need anything while you are at school, it is
best to ask the JTE. Good communication with JTEs helps you stay informed,
even when you can’t understand announcements and can’t read the daily
bulletin. The JTE is also your contact for official business. If you want to attend
a school function or event outside of your working hours, they can help you
secure the necessary approval first.
Here in Yokkaichi, many precious relationships and
memories have been established between YEFs, students,
and teachers. It made me realize just how lucky we are
to have YEFs in Yokkaichi. Students have experienced
effective English classes and different cultural exposures
through YEFs. I hope that you will contribute to this
as well as bring home some of your own unforgettable
experiences during your stay in Japan.
Ayako Yamaji
Supervisor
Yokkaichi City
Board of Education
JTE

5. Scheduling
There are 22 junior high schools in Yokkaichi. Each YEF is assigned two
Junior High Schools. YEF’s rotate between the schools on an individualized
schedule, depending on the size of the school. Usually you will be
visiting each school for a few weeks, 2-3 times a trimester. In addition,
each YEF will be assigned 1 elementary school to teach once a week
during the year. Your typical workweek will be M~F; from 8:30AM to
4:15PM. Lunchtime is around 12:15 to 1:00 p.m.
Your class schedule will be different depending on the school. There is
a head JTE at each school in charge of planning your weekly schedule.
Normally, you will receive your teaching schedule at least a few days in
advance, but often some initiative on your part may be necessary to
assure that you get plenty of time to plan.
School Year
The school year is divided into trimesters, which run loosely from April
through July, September through December, and January through March.
When you arrive in Yokkaichi, your students will have already completed
their first trimester of English instruction. Also, since the second trimester
will not begin until September, your first month of training will take place
at the Board of Education in City Hall. (This is a nice time to get oriented
and to get to know your co-workers before the academic year begins.
More about this part of your job will follow.)
Curriculum
The Ministry of Education (Monbukagakusho), which tries to keep
education standardized in Japan, sets the Japanese curriculum. The
textbook and instruction closely mirror this curriculum. JTEs teach directly
from the textbook with only their presentation styles differing. When you
rotate from school to school, you will find students are studying about the
same thing around the same time.
Climate
Winters are cold and summers are hot in Yokkaichi. The teacher’s room
will have A/C and heating, but the classrooms will not. It is uncomfortable
at times, but you will acclimate to the weather if you dress accordingly.
Relationship with JTEs and Other Teachers
You will find teachers to be kind and friendly, as well as very eager to
help you if any problems arise. A teacher’s room seating chart will help
you get acquainted with everyone. Often YEFs develop wonderful
friendships with not only the JTEs, but with the other teachers as well.
Teaching Attire
A suit is required for the first day of work and for various occasions
throughout the year. The rest of the time business casual is appropriate
(collared shirts). Casual attire, such as jeans, sleeveless shirts, shorts, low
cut blouses, T-shirts and anything else deemed inappropriate by the Board
of Education, should not be worn. Slip-on shoes that have not been worn
outside are required for school, as are a new pair of tennis shoes for the
gymnasium.
Teacher’s Room
At every school there is a teacher’s room where you will spend time when
you are not in class. It’s common to see students in the teacher’s room
before school, between periods, & after school. This is a good place to
interact with students & get to know them. Tea and coffee are available, but
snacking is generally frowned upon. Please do not smoke at the schools;
smoking is not allowed at school.
Classrooms
Students are each assigned to one classroom, where all their classes are
held. Most students are reasonably well behaved; however, just like in
your home country, occasionally discipline problems will occur. Be aware
that some Japanese teachers approach classroom management radically
different from American teachers.
Your Presence at School
You will find a lot of excitement about your presence at school. Some
students and teachers will be eager to talk with you but others may be shy
about speaking English. Your effort and initiative are helpful to overcome this
barrier in the classroom. It’s important that the students gain confidence
and are willing to use what they have learned in real English conversa-
tions. Have fun with the students and show them there is more to English
than studying and tests.

6. 10 Minute Homeroom
7:15am
Leaving for school
8:15am
Arriving at school
8:25am
Teacher’s meeting
8:35am
Homeroom and reading
8:50am
Team teaching (4 periods)
12:40pm
Lunch
1:00pm
Cleaning
1:20pm
Team teaching (2 periods)
3:20pm
Lesson planning or clubs
You will usually leave home between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.,
depending on the distance of your school and the weather. You
might ride your bike, take a bus, ride the train, walk...or all four.
You will arrive at your school about 10 minutes before the
teachers’ meeting. You will first get settled at your desk, which is
with the other teachers’ desks in the teacher’s room.
Every school begins the day with a teacher’s meeting which lasts
about 10 minutes. Your attendance is required.
Most schools begin with a short homeroom or reading period. This
is a good opportunity to make final preparations
before classes start for the day.
You may begin team teaching first period after homeroom. Classes
are usually 45-50 minutes with a 10 minute break in between. You
will usually teach about 4 classes per day. During the class periods
that you are not teaching, you will likely spend your time planning
lessons with the JTE.
Normally you will have 20 minutes for lunch and another 20 minutes
of free time. Most teachers are assigned to eat with their homeroom
and with their permission you may take your lunch and eat in the
classroom with the students as well. Please bring your own lunch to
school because school lunches are not provided.
At some point in the afternoon there is usually a scheduled cleaning
period of about 15 minutes called Souji. There are no janitors in the
public junior high schools. Teachers and students are responsible for
cleaning the school. You are encouraged to assist teachers and
students during the cleaning period.
The last two periods of the day are after lunch. (Typically there are
two schedules at each school, one with 5 periods, one with 6.) Again
you may be teaching, or you might spend your time planning lessons
with the JTE, correcting papers, or doing office work.
After the last class, there are a variety of club activities that you can
participate in if you are not planning lessons or working with small
groups of students. If you have time, it can be rewarding to
participate in clubs and use the opportunity to communicate
informally with the students.

7. Elementary School Visits (year-round)
Once a week you will be teaching at an elementary school. A typical day consists of
5 or 6 classes and lunch. Our goal is to introduce the children to English and foreign
culture. We will carry our classes based on recently developed curriculum that utilizes
chants and songs to encourage students to speak out in English, as well as CDs, picture
books and other visual materials. YEFs are expected to buy lunch from the school and
eat with the students.
Speech Contest
Another privilege you have as a YEF involves working with students from your schools
who will be participating in various English speech contests in Mie Prefecture. It is a
joy to have the opportunity to work individually with these students and see the results
of their enormous effort and enthusiasm.
In addition to instructing students, you may participate as judges and commentators for
the speech and composition contest sponsored by the English teachers of Yokkaichi.
Open Class
At least once a year, each YEF will host a class where members of Shidouka, YEFs and
others will observe you. This gives the observing YEFs a chance to get ideas. It is also
a chance for the other YEFs to provide you with feedback about what worked or didn’t
work well in your class.
New Crown Meetings
The junior high school English textbook you will be using is called New Crown. Once
or twice a trimester, every YEF will make their own lesson and present it in a monthly
meeting. In these meetings YEFs will discuss the new activities to exchange ideas and
make them better. After revision, the lessons are then added into one of the YEF’s best
teaching tools, the YEF Activity USB Drive (a collection of past and present YEF-made
lessons). You may also be involved in updating and revising these past lessons
Trimester Planning Sessions (Chosekai)
Before each trimester begins, you will meet with the other YEFs and at least one JTE
from your jr. high school and one homeroom teacher (HRT) from your elementary
school for a schedule planning session. During these sessions, you will be confirming
your schedule of school visits for the upcoming trimester. In addition to scheduling,
these sessions also serve as a forum for the JTEs and YEFs to exchange ideas in order to
improve the team-teaching methodologies used in the classroom.
Teaching Adult English Seminars (Kenshu)
You will be teaching beginning, intermediate, and advanced level English seminars at
different times throughout the year. These seminars are designed to help teachers of the
City of Yokkaichi brush up on their English language abilities.
Kindergarten Visits
During the junior high school testing days of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters, the 11
YEFs go to 23 kindergartens. These visits expose the students to English through lessons
based off of English
Your first 45-50 minute lesson at all of your junior high schools will be a self-introduction lesson. This
basic lesson will be repeated anywhere from 35-40 times. Your students will want to hear about you.
They will be interested in your family and your hobbies, as well as your likes and dislikes. You may want
to share interesting information about your city, state or country. Both the ordinary and the unusual are
capable of bringing a lesson to life.
Seemingly mundane items that highlight day-to-day reality in your home country are very popular. You
might want to gather some materials about your community. Bringing enough flyers to hang at school can
be very helpful. Try stopping by your city hall for brochures or other materials about your city and its
attractions. Students are interested in images of everyday things like houses, stores, restaurants, post
boxes, signs in English, the beach, local landmarks, et cetera. Students are especially interested in what
you looked like when you were in junior high school!
We encourage you to bring the items that you think will be appropriate and make your classes fun and
exciting. Most JTEs will gladly welcome your presentation materials in the classroom.
In the past, YEFs have brought some of the following materials to Japan for their self-introduction, and for
lessons throughout the year
advertisements
bus schedules
catalogs
flags
foreign currency
holiday decorations
magazines
yearbooks
maps
menus
newspaper articles
pictures
picture books
postcards
posters
recipes
reward stamps or stickers
song lyrics
Self Intro

8. Lastly, remember that you are an employee of the City of Yokkaichi
and your behavior reflects on the city as a whole. Unless you are
ethnically Asian, your face will tend to stand out in town. Foreigners
in Japan are not that common, and a single action on your part may
contribute significantly to someone’s opinion of foreigners in general.
Please be aware that you are an ambassador of your country at all
times.
When we are not teaching we are assigned to our office at the Board of
Education. This office (the Teaching Guidance Division) is called Shidouka.
In Yokkaichi, kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools are under
the auspices of the city government. The chain of command at the office
begins with the Mayor, followed by the Superintendent of Schools, and two
Vice Superintendents. Several offices are under their supervision, including
our office, Shidouka. Shidouka has a manager and two vice-managers as
well as about 16 other regular employees, with whom the YEFs share office
space. One of Shidouka’s regular employees is Ms. Yamaji, who is our
supervisor.
The YEF program is continually being enhanced and developed thanks in
part to the YEFs, the English teachers of Yokkaichi, and under the leadership
of Ms. Yamaji and Kacho supervising the entire program. Ms. Yamaji is the
direct supervisor, translator, and coordinator of the YEF program. It is her
responsibility to assess the needs of the program and to utilize each YEF
effectively. Speaking English and teaching English are two separately
distinct things. For this reason, and to give the YEFs opportunities to study
how to teach, she is responsible for organizing team-teaching workshops,
lesson planning workshops, and the YEF’s open classes. The members of the
YEF program share many responsibilities, and as a team, are able to meet
the needs of the YEF program by utilizing the strengths of every member
effectively.
The other members of Shidouka are warm and friendly, and want you to
feel welcome in Yokkaichi.
On the days we are assigned to work at City Hall, our workday is from 8:30
to 4:30. During this time, you will work with other YEFs to plan and teach
English seminars. Your first month in Yokkaichi will be spent at the office.
After that, the amount of time you spend at the office varies greatly.
Shidouka
Good Luck!

9. Yokkaichi City Board of Education
YEF Program
1-5 Suwa-cho Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken, Japan 510-8601
Phone: 011-81-59-354-8255 Fax: 011-81-59-354-8475
city.yokkaichi.mie.jp