On Questioning

By Scott Lothes

"Did you hear what happened on Friday?" Yamamoto-sensei asked me shortly after I'd entered the part-time teachers' office.

"No," I replied, maybe a little too curtly. I wanted to hear about whatever it was that happened on Friday, but not just then. I had a class in 20 minutes, and I had realized on the way to school that I had forgotten to finish my comment cards about those students' last presentations, comment cards that I needed to give back to them in class, in 20 minutes. I had to work fast, and was in no mood to chitchat.

"Well, you know Kumada-kun," Yamamoto-sensei began, a little too slowly for my tastes.

Kumada-kun is the best high school English student I teach. He is the one shining exception to the students who sit stoically and soundlessly through every class. Yamamoto-sensei has him in class four days a week. I come in to help her on Tuesdays.

On my very first meeting with the class, back in April, I introduced myself and fielded questions from the students in English. The students were sitting in groups of three, and near the end of class, I roamed from group to group, trying to engage the students in conversation. I was quickly learning that while these students' reading, listening, and writing skills were very high, their practical communication skills were, for the most part, pretty low. They answered my questions with single words, and seemed anxious for me to move on to the next group. None of them made any attempt to initiate conversation. None of them, save one.

"Do you like American punk rock music?" a voice with surprising confidence asked me from behind.

I turned to face a beaming young man with glasses and short hair that looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

"Yes," I replied enthusiastically. Maybe that was a slight embellishment of the truth, but I immediately wanted to give this student everything I had.

"Do you know Green Day?" he ventured.

"Yes, of course! Do you know The Offspring?"

"Yes!" His eyes sparkled.

"I like to sing one of their songs at karaoke."

"Really?!?!"

We talked until the end of class, and then I gave him my email address. He wrote me several times before he got busier with his classes and encountered computer problems. Even after that, he was the one student I could always count on to ask questions in class. He often challenged both Yamamoto-sensei and me with his probing queries, which we did our utmost to appease. For one week in June, he met me every day at lunch to practice interviewing for the EIKEN English comprehension exam. Three weeks later, he shared his joy at easily passing the pre-2nd grade interview, and his dismay at failing the 2nd grade interview by only two points. He shared these with me both in conversation, and by showing me the English diary he was keeping. I told him to come back again before the next test and we'd try again for that 2nd grade ranking. Following summer vacation, he even joined Yamamoto-sensei and me for lunch a few times in the part-time teachers' office.

Now, in that same office, Yamamoto-sensei was explaining that on Friday, two of the girls in our class had complained to her about Kumada-kun.

"They say his questions in class distract them from learning the material."

My own mind was still too distracted by the comment cards to react quickly and strongly enough to that statement.

She went on, "so I had to talk to him, and ask him to stop asking questions in class."

By now I had forgotten the comment cards. I needed to think of something to say, strong enough, but still professional.

"I think that is very unfortunate," I lamented at length. "His questions were often the best parts of our classes."

"I know," Yamamoto-sensei agreed. "Maybe I don't like it either, but if he is distracting the other students..."

Many of the other students seemed to go through class half asleep. The only thing I could see Kumada-kun distracting them from was their naps.

"Well, I think he is an excellent student."

She went on, "I think in America he would be a very good student, but maybe in Japan, he doesn't fit in so well."

"I really appreciate the questions he asks."

"Maybe I prefer that way, too, but here, he cannot be a distraction to the other students."

I was disappointed, but not surprised, with our 4th period class. Kumada-kun spent the entire class with his head down on his desk, not even following the worksheets. The one time I called on him with a very easy question, he replied curtly with, "I don't know."

I was facing a small moral dilemma at the end of class. Should I stay and talk to him, even though it might mean disagreeing with my superior in front of a student? I decided to do the western thing. In fact, it really wasn't much of a decision at all.

"You look tired today."

"I'm not."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Look," I said, sitting down in the desk next to him, "Yamamoto-sensei told me what happened on Friday. I am sad. I think you are a very good English student, and I do not want you to give up in this class."

He looked at me, expression unchanged.

"Do you understand?" I added at length.

"Yes," he nodded. He rehashed the events of Friday, then added, "so, today, I decide it is best for me to be quiet in class."

"But you need to keep learning!" I rebutted. "Besides, in America, you will need to ask lots of questions."

"This is not America. This is Japan, and I need to be quiet."

"I thought you wanted to study in America!"

"When I get to university, I hope to study in America."

"Then you cannot give up in this class."

He considered this for some time, then chose his words carefully, "Now, you come to give me encouragement, so I am happy."

He didn't look or sound very happy.

"I like the questions you ask in class, and I wish you could keep asking them. Unfortunately, this is not my choice."

"So, you disagree with Yamamoto-sensei about this?"

"This was very difficult for Yamamoto-sensei. She did what she had to do. But you must do what you have to do. Keep asking questions!"

"I must be quiet in class."

"So be quiet in class! But pay attention, then ask me questions. I hope you will still eat lunch with me sometimes, and I hope we can still study for the next EIKEN test together. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said, this time without hesitation. "Thank you for this," he added. This time, I think he meant it.

"I am sorry for today," he concluded.

"It's okay." I patted him on the arm, and then rose to leave.

"Ganbatte, kudasai!" I admonished as I left. Fight!

Fight all who oppose questioning. (2006)