Cultural Explanation & The Passive Voice

Designing a Culture-Based English Unit for Japanese Junior High Students

Bridging the gap between grammar and culture: Helping students move from personal opinions to professional explanations. 

Context
This instructional unit was designed for Japanese junior high school students studying English as a required subject in Chuo Ward, Tokyo. This 8 day unit met twice per week and culminated in a public-facing cultural presentation intended for a non-Japanese audience.

Software  Stack
PowerPoint, Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Google Workspace

Typography
Primary (Accessibility): UD Digital Kyokasho Textbook
  ・Rationale: Maximum legibility for non-native learners

Secondary (Institutional): MS Mincho + Adobe Garamond
  ・Rationale: Established formal aesthetic for institutional documentation

The Instructional Challenge

My students were actually very good at basic English, but they were stuck in a 'first-person loop.' Everything was 'I think' or 'I like.' When it came time to explain something complex like a Kotatsu or Karuta to a foreigner, they lacked the tools to sound objective.

The biggest hurdle was the 'Suffering Passive Voice.' In Japanese, you often use the passive voice when something bad happens to you. My goal was to show them that in English, the passive isn't about feelings, it's a professional tool for facts.

Design Approach

This unit was developed using Backward Design (Understanding by Design). The final performance task was a cultural presentation for a non-Japanese audience which was defined first, and then all the instructional steps were designed to support that outcome.

Rather than teaching grammar in isolation, the unit integrated:

• grammatical form

• communicative purpose

• cultural explanation

• visual and oral presentation

The design emphasized meaningful use of language over mechanical accuracy alone.

Language Focus: Passive Voice for Objective Explanation

Target Structure:
English passive voice (be + past participle)

Communicative Function:
Objective, impersonal explanation used in expository contexts

A key design decision was the use of the English passive voice as a tool for cultural explanation. For Japanese learners, the passive form (受身形) is often associated with personal impact or “suffering.” This unit intentionally reframed passive voice as a neutral structure used for general description, similar to language found in museum labels, guidebooks, or encyclopedic entries.

By using cultural objects as grammatical subjects (e.g., sushi, kotatsu), students practiced shifting their focus away from the speaker and toward the information itself.

Learning Goals

By the end of the unit, students were able to:

• Explain a Japanese cultural practice using English passive constructions

• Write a structured, multi-paragraph expository essay for a non-Japanese audience

• Transform written explanations into a visual poster that supported comprehension

• Present cultural information orally using visual support

Instructional Sequence

1. Cultural topic selection

2. Analyzing model sentences using the passive voice in authentic contexts

3. Guided writing scaffold for an explanatory essay

4. Visual synthesis through poster design

5. Oral presentation supported by visual media

The sequence intentionally delayed free speaking until students had internalized their written structure, this reduced the cognitive load on the students and increased confidence during presentation.

While the screenshots shown focus on the initial language and concept-building module, the full unit consisted of five sequential modules progressing from grammatical framing to guided writing, visual poster design, and scaffolded oral presentation practice. 

Learner Experience

1.  Analyzing the Mental Shift 

Before writing, we looked at paired sentences, Japanese vs. English. I wanted students to see that while they often use the passive voice to talk about being "bothered" (the suffering passive), a guidebook uses it to state facts. We moved from "I play Karuta" to "Karuta is played," focusing on the game as the star of the show.

2. Scaffolding the Essay 

To keep the focus on the content rather than the struggle of grammar, I provided a four-paragraph structural framework. This wasn't just a "fill-in-the-blank" sheet, it was a roadmap that forced them to organize their thoughts logically: History, Rules, Competition, and Modern Appeal.

3. Visual Synthesis & Public Presentation

 The final step was turning that text into a professional poster. This was a strategic choice, as having a visual anchor in front of them during their oral presentation acted as a "safety net." It took the pressure off memorizing lines and allowed even my lower-confidence speakers to present their cultural topic with actual authority.

Assessment Strategy

I didn't want a one-off test. Instead, I used a layered, performance-based approach:

• The Drafts: I focused on formative feedback here, catching grammar "hiccups" early while students were still drafting their essays.

• The Final Artifacts: The summative grade came from the poster and the presentation.

• The Criteria: It wasn't just about perfect grammar. I balanced my rubrics between linguistic accuracy (did they get the 'be + past participle' right?) and communicative effectiveness (did they actually explain the culture clearly?).

Outcomes & Observations

The most rewarding part was seeing the "Subjective-to-Objective" shift in real-time. By the final week, students weren't just saying "I like Karuta"; they were sounding like experts.

During peer review, I overheard students correcting each other, not just on spelling, but on tone. They were identifying when a sentence sounded too personal and helping each other flip it into that professional, "museum-guide" style. The poster also turned out to be a massive win for my shyest students, as having that visual anchor on the wall meant they didn't panic when it was time to speak.

Artifacts: Student Performance Samples