It is hoped efforts will be made to arouse children's interest in learning English and carefully nurture their desire to do so.
This spring, primary school students in the third and fourth grade will start engaging in "foreign-language activities" about twice a month, during which they will familiarize themselves with English through songs and games. Those in the fifth and sixth grade have so far taken English lessons once a week, but the frequency of those lessons will increase by one or two each month. They will also engage in new activities, such as reading and writing.
The main pillar of the education ministry's next official teaching guidelines, which take effect in fiscal 2020, is to teach English to fifth- and sixth-grade primary school students as a formal subject. The new measures take this scheme into account. The move is appropriate in that it aims to enrich English learning in advance, with the purpose of facilitating a smooth transition to English lessons as a subject.
It is concerning to see teachers in charge of foreign-language activities hardly possessing sufficient levels to do so. This is because these activities are basically carried out by homeroom teachers who have not learned methods for teaching English.
Although boards of education are training them in this respect, many teachers feel uneasy about their English skills. There are discrepancies among local governments in the placement of assistant language teachers (ALTs) whose native language is English. It has previously been said that this situation could cause a gap in the quality of English lessons.
To improve the quality of English lessons, securing instructors with excellent English skills is indispensable. Next fiscal year, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will nationally assign 1,000 teachers who specialize in teaching English. The ministry has said it will increase the figure to 4,000 in fiscal 2020. The figure exceeds the number of those with licenses to teach English at junior high and high school.
Schedules require ingenuity
Efforts should be made to actively appoint external personnel, such as those who have studied or worked overseas, to teach English in cooperation with local communities.
The education ministry will promote a policy of granting special teaching certificates to ALTs with a two- to three-year teaching record and the ability to guide students. ALTs need to conduct classes jointly with classroom teachers, but they could give lessons alone if hired as teachers.
They could also be expected to help reduce the burden on homeroom teachers.
Securing a sufficient number of lesson hours is another major task facing actual school teaching. This spring's increase of class hours is about half of the increase due when the scheme is implemented on a full scale, but class schedules are already at capacity. Although integrated study hours can be appropriated to English lessons, this is limited to the scheme's transition period.
Fully enforcing the teaching guidelines in fiscal 2020 would further increase the number of classes, making it even harder to find time.
Each school can exercise discretion regarding specific methods for making the necessary time. Attempts to achieve this goal will increase, such as conducting a short period of study in the morning and setting up a fifth period before school lunch hour. Other possible measures that include the use of Saturdays and summer vacation will be expected.
Further pressuring teachers to work long hours must be avoided. Efforts should be made to closely examine what kinds of problems must be addressed, judging the situation surrounding the implementation of the measures during the transition period and exercising ingenuity in determining how to set class schedules.
Facilitating an environment in which children can enjoy learning English from early on -- it is important to make sure this leads to a situation in which junior high and high school students can acquire practical English skills.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 31, 2018)
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