Quote:
Originally Posted by A.Russell  English education at primary school level in Japan is usually very poor quality. Most primary school level teachers are not able to speak English well (or at all). The vast majority of native speakers in the classrooms are not qulaified teachers, do not have a certificate to teach at a primary school, and are therefore usually used as an assistant. The assistants role could vary greatly between schools and BOEs, but it is not uncommon for them to just entertain the kids and repeat something when the Japanese teacher tells them to.
They would need more qualified and certified English speaking Japanese teachers to improve the situation, and since primary eduaction is very broad with teachers teaching a wide range of subjects, it seems unlikely that there would be enough to go around.
Creating a uniform syllabus is a good idea, though, and would certainly help. |
I agree with most of what you said, A Russell except for the last part. The problem in Japan is that not even the top people in the education department, Mombusho, know how to teach a language. They have had a uniform syllabus in Japan since forever and Japanese still consistently rank at the bottom in tests of English and in using spoken English.
With the current system, the only thing that introducing English into elementary schools will do is make the kids start to hate English at a very early age. I'd hate to be a JHS Japanese teacher of English six or so years down the road.
The English education system in Japan is hemorrhaging and all Mombusho is doing is applying a band-aid or two. And to make matters worse, they are applying the band-aids to the wrong area.