Japan's education of the English language is awful...

[Emoni]

(This became an issue on a recent through so before that one gets derailed too far I thought I'd open another spot to continue the debate)

Simply put, the methods and way I have seen English taught in Japan are appalling. I've sat in or helped with classes ranging from elementary to private tutoring, a tour through Nova and how the operation is run, I've helped with English events and training camps for kids, and done 1 on 1 tutoring. I've had a good amount of exposure to the methods of teaching, and while some issues relate to problems elsewhere in the Japanese education system, I have to say English is quite... bad.

The pronunciation of words is almost ignored, reading is focused on and speaking is almost completely left out. Students purposefully make mistakes even if they can speak correctly just so they don't get teased by other students. Words and phrases are used that no English speaking country would ever use, and there is little accountability for learning the language and active and correct use.

Japanese study abroad students compared to many Korean and Chinese study abroad students I swear tend to have the worst English of the group and I am often impressed the most by the Chinese study abroad students, at least those who are lucky enough to GO to college that is! (that's another issue and another forum entirely)

I'd like some feed back about your own personal observations as someone who has visited Japan, someone who has taught English, and maybe as a Japanese person themselves. By no means is American known for learning a second language well! However, when English is such a critical factor for global communication today and is taught as a mandatory subject, I'm always amazed by how poor the results and methods are.

 

[JimmySeal]

Here are two good articles on the topic:
http://www.english-learning.co.uk/jpel.html
http://www.english-learning.co.uk/jptbk.html

 

[Emoni]

Jez JimmySeal, you always have good articles on something huh? Thanks, for finding these. Browsing through these I already see some interesting comments.

 

[Glenski]

I've had a good amount of exposure to the methods of teaching, and while some issues relate to problems elsewhere in the Japanese education system, I have to say English is quite... bad.
The pronunciation of words is almost ignored, reading is focused on and speaking is almost completely left out.

How can you say that speaking is left out in eikaiwas? Or are you referring only to the primary and secondary education here? Even so, JET has 6000 ALTs in the public school system and uses them largely for speaking purposes, and dispatch agencies do the same. Private schools hire PT and FT teachers ostensibly to do that, too. Yes, the Japanese teachers focus on grammar translation, but are you ignoring the foreign teachers?

Reading skills are not focused on at all. Reading and writing only for the sake of passing insipid college entrance exams are the chief focus.

Pronunciation is ignored in many languages. Does your homeland teach proper pronunciation of its official language or of foreign languages? Mine didn't where I lived.

Students purposefully make mistakes even if they can speak correctly just so they don't get teased by other students.

This may be true, but only for those students whose language ability is fairly good, as a result of living abroad. Peer pressure is enormous here!

Words and phrases are used that no English speaking country would ever use, and there is little accountability for learning the language and active and correct use.

Yup, courtesy of the Japanese government's plan to make good English speakers... huh? How's that again?

Japanese study abroad students compared to many Korean and Chinese study abroad students I swear tend to have the worst English of the group

I'll trust you for the comparison. All I can say is, Japanese traditional education does not prepare them to be speakers. Students return from trips abroad and say they are motivated for about 2 weeks, then fall back on their old habits and (lack of) motivation. Been there. Private HS for 4 years.

 

[Emoni]

Yes, I'm speaking of primary and secondary schooling. Not the laughable eikaiwa centers.

From the use of the foreign "teachers" I can't say I've heard or seen all that much. They seem to be highly underused, yet under trained as well. The system I see as a problem, the education system in general and the tests and English teaching methods being the best examples of that.

Again, as for my mention of pronunciation. I'm speaking of even remotely correct pronunciation, without the threat of harassment and purposefully promoting katakana pronunciation.

 

[Yan]

Well, the Quebecer's English education cannot be worst than Japanese's one. Anyway, Japaneses seem to be good in English but it depends of where they're living. A Japanese living in Tokyo has more chances to be bilingual than a Japanese living in a small town, it's the same thing everywhere in the world. Here in Montreal, the bilinguism level is higher than in Saguenay for exemple...

 

[Mike Cash]

Students purposefully make mistakes even if they can speak correctly just so they don't get teased by other students.

I have loooong been of the opinion that the number one obstacle to Japanese learning English is other Japanese.

If you really really really want to be appalled, you need to firsthand watch the sort of "education" given in university to students preparing to be English teachers. That's what I did on my Monbusho scholarship.

 

[Emoni]

Now that I haven't witnessed... I've seen plenty of college classes but not the teacher training ones.

Could you tell us what you saw? I'm curious what research you did.

 

[Glenski]

Japaneses seem to be good in English but it depends of where they're living.

Where do you get the idea that Japanese are good at English?

Emoni wrote:

From the use of the foreign "teachers" I can't say I've heard or seen all that much. They seem to be highly underused, yet under trained as well. The system I see as a problem, the education system in general and the tests and English teaching methods being the best examples of that.

Well, I have been a foreign teacher in eikaiwa, private HS, and university for 10 years. I can agree with most of what you wrote.

As for pronunciation, it is not taught directly, but many teachers will try to help out as the need arises, so it is not fair to say it isn't even remotely touched upon.

I'm eager to hear of Mike's experiences. All I can tell you is what I have read about the academic training for Japanese teachers of English. Poor. I can't find an article right now that would explain in more detail, but let's just say that the most popular major is literature, and that there is very little if any EFL training.

Interns that cycled through my old HS got a whopping 2 weeks to observe and learn something and present a lesson or two. Pitiful overall.

 

[Emoni]

Well, while I'm not aiming to be an English teacher, my career goal of college professor DOES require that I know how to teach. Hence why I went and sat in on classes. Knowing a subject and being able to teach it truly are two different things.

I'm also very eager to hear more about the training.

 

[Mike Cash]

I was in the English section of the Education Department at a national university.

The most appalling classes I sat through were ones where the professor handed out xerox copies of research papers that even though they dealt with teaching English to foreign learners struck me as being of marginal relevance to teaching junior high and high school kids in Japan.

The "instruction" consisted of having the students take turns reading aloud a paragraph at time and translating it "on the fly" into Japanese, which the other students worked furiously to copy down into their notes.

Let's just say that after a year of sitting in with university students preparing to go out and be English teachers in junior high and high schools, the piss-poor quality of English education in Japan no longer struck me as being a mystery.

 

[Glenski]

Japanese teachers have either an Advanced, first- or second-class teaching certificate. Teachers are encouraged to work towards higher level qualifications by engaging in ongoing training. On completion of training, teachers in elementary and junior schools with a bachelor's degree are awarded a first-class teaching certificate, and those with a junior college certificate are awarded the second-class certificate. At senior high schools, teachers with a Master's degree are awarded a first-class teaching certificate, and those with a Bachelor's degree the second-class certificate.

After obtaining the teaching certificate, the final hurdle for a teacher at a public school is to pass an examination set by the prefecture to be appointed a teacher. Once this examination has been passed the teacher may work in any school in that prefecture. However, the license is only valid for one year and if they fail to find employment in that one year, they have to take the exam again. If applying for a position at a private school, the school will set their own requirements for employment.
Teaching Methods

Teaching in Japan is sometimes considered rigid and unchanging. Although the curriculum is set by the State to the point where content and time to spend on each subject are clearly laid down, the actual teaching method itself is completely up to individual teachers. However, it is often considered that cultural factors and particularly the teacher training schools encourage standard methods of teaching, reducing the ability of teachers to develop individual methods. This is another area on which the present overhaul of the education system is focusing.
http://educationjapan.org/jguide/school_system.html

Here's a good reference in general terms for teacher training.
Japanese Education System - The Teaching Profession

 

[hirashin]

konnichiwa

Emoni san, konnichiwa. Nihonjin no Hirashin desu. Douzo yoroshiku.

I totally agree with you, Emoni san. In this country, the education of the English language is a disaster. Virtually all the students here are forced to learn English and most of them learn some English words reluctantly.

In most of the English classes at junior high and senior high, Japanized pronunciations are usually used as you said. Also, it is not unusual that the English teacher can't communicate in English with people from English speaking countries.

I think the time will never come when many people here can speak English fluently, because we don't need English in everday life.
Only a few people who try hard to be able to speak the language acquire the ability to speak it fluently.

There are a lot of people who attend eikaiwa school here. But most of them don't improve their English. That's all right. They just want a little conversation with foreign people. Using a foreign language is fun to them.

I hope I make some sense.

Hirashin

 

[Emoni]

Very interesting and depressingly confirming posts here.

I agree that it is the rigid state run education system in Japan that is at the core of the problem with English education. The same problem exists in other areas as well. America has s#%$ for an education system as well, but at least that tends to change once you hit the university level.

I have only tutored a dozen times or so in various subjects and English, but I can honestly say that most English teachers I saw I could easily do better. That should NOT be the case for someone who has not even trained for it, and by no means am I bragging in anyway. Of course, everything depends on the teacher, the students, and the school and I'm sure SOME English classes are good... but I have few hopes that there are more than a couple that are.

The most impressive students speaking English in Japan are those who were taught by the parents or learned through a different method. I met one 7 year old girl who knew English at the level of a 12 year old American due to absolutely LOVING the American Sesame Street show which her parents got for her. Screw the Japanese English System, All Hail BIG BIRD!

 

[tokapi]

My J-male friend once said to me during Skype chat that native Japanese ( ones living in Japan ) spend lifetime study English,but majority never could master the language.

I asked him,someone who is a ' fluent bi-lingual " Japanese,as to why his fellow countrymen ( or women ) can't reach same English proficiency level as the other 2 NE Asian ethnicities.He couldn't give me an answer,I guess he's also cluecless.

日本は英語不得意な国ですしね～ 人によりますけど.

 

[Glenski]

The best Japanese speakers of English I know are those who have been abroad for extended periods of time.

 

[Emoni]

That tends to be the case for me too Glenski; however, I have run into a couple who I could have swore spent years abroad but didn't and somehow their English was vastly superior, sometimes sounding like a near native speaker. I always wondered how, it was that good but we're talking 1 in a couple million.

 

[Glenski]

Well, me, too, Emoni, but my examples of such highly fluent people are newscasters who have received professional training.

 

[YouHeDad]

I don't know about teaching methods but you can certainly see it as you walk around and talk to people. Koreans and Taiwanese are much better as a whole.