Name of space: English World Terrace
Location: Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University Affiliated Elementary School, Japan
Website: None
Contact: Clair Taylor, taylor@gifu.shotoku.ac.jp
English World Terrace is an outdoor social language learning space for children located at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University Affiliated Elementary School. It is staffed by a team of university student volunteers and the elementary school’s two Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs).
The playground-style space has an “English Only” language policy which provides the children with opportunities to freely and spontaneously use their developing English with children from other classes and year groups. It is open only during designated lunch breaks. Use of the space is entirely optional—children decide whether to visit English World Terrace or play in one of the other school recreation areas during their recess. When they visit, they can choose to stay until English World Terrace closes, or to leave at any time to enjoy another play area.
Our mission is to immerse the children in English as they play so that language is acquired effortlessly and becomes associated with positive experiences.
The children enter the space by passing through “passport control”, where they have a brief chat in English with the “immigration officials” and receive an entry stamp in their passports. As they walk through the door, a bubble machine fills the air with bubbles. The children move around the space freely, choosing to play in any area. There is an open space with juggling balls and poi sets, a ring toss game, and a Twister® mat, so that children can enjoy physical movement in the fresh air. There are also tables and benches set out with tabletop games such as Dominoes and Jenga®. Some of the games have been designed specifically for English language learners, such as AGO®, Crazy Chefs®, and The Shopping Game®. There are soft bright yellow mats in one corner with a small library of picture books. There are also soft toys and glove puppets. The walls are decorated with animal stickers and a large mural which was painted by a team of university students. The windows are decorated with useful phrases such as: “Can I play with you?” Some of the activities have been designed specifically to develop positive self-talk. There are targets drawn on one wall with washable sidewalk chalk containing positive statements (including: “I can do it!”, “Let’s speak English!” and “This is easy!”) which students throw balls at. There is also an Affirmation Hopscotch Mat—as they play, the children chant “I am…” followed by adjectives (such as “kind” and “brave”) as they hop and jump.
As the children enjoy English through play, the university students gain valuable work experience which stretches their own English and develops a range of soft skills.
Challenges
As an outdoor space, there are unusual challenges in the day-to-day operations, such as dealing with hornet invasions and bat droppings in addition to extreme heat in the summer. The passport control desk, tables, and toys are set up in the school hall during inclement weather.
During the coronavirus pandemic, ordinary activities were suspended (as it was not safe for children to cluster around and touch the same toys). Instead, we operated “English World Dance” in which the student volunteers taught dance routines using only English using a microphone and speaker, maintaining a fun atmosphere with a disco lights machine and the bubble machine.
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