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cabbagehead
Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Posts: 46
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 2:03 pm Post subject: "English" at Elementary Schools - did it happen? |
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Two years ago there was a lot of fuss made about the assumption that English would be introduced at elementary schools here. Parents were panicking, schools were panicking and... well that was about it.
Since then I haven't heard a dicky bird about it. My students certainly don't seem to be benefitting from any supposed changes.
So, anyone care to enlighten us? Is English being taught (more?) at elementary schools now? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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lajzar
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Posts: 647
Location: Saitama-ken, Japan
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Im teaching at shogakko. Each class (all grades) gets one hour every 2 weeks, which, I am led to believe, it an unusually intensive level of English for shogakko. |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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That must explain their high level of English.  |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2003 12:34 am Post subject: Re: "English" at Elementary Schools - did it happe |
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| cabbagehead wrote: |
Two years ago there was a lot of fuss made about the assumption that English would be introduced at elementary schools here. Parents were panicking, schools were panicking and... well that was about it.
Since then I haven't heard a *beep* bird about it. My students certainly don't seem to be benefitting from any supposed changes.
So, anyone care to enlighten us? Is English being taught (more?) at elementary schools now? |
I am currently doing some research on this area and though by no means conclusive, according to recent news reports about 56% of japanese elementary schools (public schools make up about 99% of the total number of schools) now teach their 6th graders. I dont have figures for other grades
as Glenski pointed out the biggest problem is lack of training in communicative teaching methodology for Japanese teachers, lack of speaking skills in English by elementary teachers (who after all have been trained to teach half a dozen other subjects, not just English) and lack of funding by the government. In 2000 they provided about 4 million yen (yes. 4,000,000 or $35,000 for the whole country, according to Tom Merner)
The biggest problem is lack of teacher confidence in using English in a communicative way, and the emphasis is still on preparing kids for entry to junior high school and pushy parents pushing their kids to get high test scores in an English test in juku. Numerical test scores rather than communicative fluency are KING in this country.
Also Gordon, Im not sure about your experience with teaching kids, but I can assure you that kids acquire language differently than adults, and you may not see results or progress in kids for a couple of years after you start teaching them. Remember children learning their native language dont start talking in phrases until they are at least 2 and 1/2, in complete sentences at the age of 4. |
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easyasabc
Joined: 13 Jul 2003
Posts: 179
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2003 1:28 am Post subject: Re: "English" at Elementary Schools - did it happe |
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| cabbagehead wrote: |
| So, anyone care to enlighten us? Is English being taught (more?) at elementary schools now? |
I teach at some elementary schools in my city - employed directly by the city board of education. My city started English classes about four years ago which was unusual at that time I believe. I'm not an ALT - I plan and teach the classes myself and the Japanese teavcher usually watches from the back of the class but never says anything because they know I don't want them to.
The hype about English a couple of years ago was when the 'Sogotekina Gakushu no Jikan' was introduced with teaching English as an option.
I'm sure it depends on the schools and the boards of education but I can definately say that the way it is done in my city is pretty much useless. The board of education have no clue about how it should be done, schools have no clue and nobody is interestd in getting a clue. They just want to be able to say that they are doing it. Each year they get funding from the city to have gaijin teachers like me but the way they use those teachers is pointless. Most of the kids I teach only get about 6-7 lessons a year some get less. One of the schools expects me to teach all three classes of the same grade level at once. That means me and about 90-100 children - need I say more about how silly that is.
And I do believe that elementary classes in particular need to be taught by people with training and/or qualifications in elementary education and classroom management, not just people who can speak English. Classroom management is different with younger learners and a group of 40 Japanese ichi-nensei kids sure ain't easy to keep on task if you don't knoiw what you're doing.
This year I was shown a copy of the Practical Handbook For Elementary School English Activities which was produced by Mombusho but it's sitting with some other recyclable trash waiting to be thrown out at the moment. I'd say what I think of it but the word would be beeped out 
Basically the English in elementary schools idea could be great if done properly but quite simply I don't think there is much hope of that. |
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homersimpson
Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 569
Location: Kagoshima
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| Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| Bear in mind that the vast majority of Japanese elementary school teachers have no training in teaching English. Most (?) are about 500 miles from fluency and are now expected to teach English. It is a daunting task. The National Center for Teacher's Development in Tsukuba holds training sessions 4 times a year throughout Japan in order to assist in the training of elemetary school teachers. However, each session is limited to 150-200 teachers, so it's going to take a long time to effectively offer some guidance to Japanese elementary teachers. As others have pointed out, English teaching at the elementary schools is in its infancy. |
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Celeste
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 814
Location: Fukuoka City, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 7:42 am Post subject: |
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I am currently working at the education centre in my city. I give seminars for teachers, as well as make visits to elementary schools. In our city, my colleague and I make visits to about 8 schools on a weekly basis, and we see about 8 other schools on a less frequent basis. In our city there are also 7 pilot schools that have private ALTs there 5 days a week, and all of the students get English class once a week. This summer, our elementary school teachers' English seminar had 85 applicants for 30 places. We run this seminar 4 times a year.
Elementary school English is picking up here in Fukuoka, in part because the parents are demanding it, but also because many of the teachers are really enthusiatic about it. |
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homersimpson
Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 569
Location: Kagoshima
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2003 5:01 am Post subject: |
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| One thing Celeste hit upon is the fact that parents were pushing for English education. Parents, in particular the PTA, wield great influence over what happens at their childrens' schools. |
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