Timothy Walker dot net

In 2018, veteran English language educator David Barker outlined what he saw as the fundamental problems with English education in Japan. He observed that discussions about necessary changes had been going on for decades, with few actual changes to either methods or results taking place. In this article, I will examine the state of English education in Japan to see which of the issues he identified still persist seven years later, adding my thoughts when and where appropriate.

Environmental Factors

Professor Barker noted three environmental factors limiting the success of Japanese students of English: first, that few of them had any practical need for English; second, that students had few opportunities to practice it; and third, that an insignificant number of hours were devoted to English over the course of Japanese compulsory education.

Due to the homogenous nature of Japanese society, where over 97% of the population is ethnically Japanese speaking Japanese as a first language, English proficiency simply is not a necessity as it is elsewhere in the world. The government rightly encourages English as a lingua franca for international business, research, and tourism, but only a small portion of the populace works or studies abroad. Thus, for most Japanese, the incentive to learn English beyond baseline academic requirements simply does not exist.

With the revised national curriculum standards in 2020, MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) expanded compulsory English education in elementary school and took measures to increase student talk time in junior high school. Promisingly, recent reporting suggests that these changes have generated some small improvements.

Materials

Another of Barker’s key criticisms was that ministry-approved English textbooks were not fit for purpose, produced by non-experts and containing awkward and unnatural language. Worse, teachers must follow these texts religiously, with supplemental instruction and even scaffolding discouraged. Author Chris Broad humorously recounts his experience with such textbooks in this video.

My own recent review of educational materials produced by Sanseido Publications and Tokyo Shoseki leads me to believe that quality is improving and that textbooks are utilizing more natural language and a more communicative approach. Further, publishers are at last embracing digital technology and multimedia; while “Dick and Jane” may not be leaving us any time soon, at least they have tablets now.

Teachers

Another fundamental influence on the success or failure of English language learners is, obviously, teachers themselves. Professor Barker lamented the fact that intermediate English proficiency is merely recommended, not required, for Japanese teachers in Japanese public schools. The usual redress for this deficiency is provisioning a native English speaker to serve as an assistant language teacher and “team teach” the class.

This criticism of semi-skilled educators is valid, but as Japan – just like much of the industrialized world – is facing a teacher shortage, this situation is unlikely to change in the near term. Given the demands of the public school classroom, it is little wonder that Japanese workers highly skilled in English would seek out private sector employment. That said, one cause for cautious optimism is that English proficiency is rising among English teachers.

Expectations

Barker concluded his analysis with what he considered possibly the most fundamental problem with English education in Japan: unrealistic expectations. He noted the Minister of Education’s impractical expectation that Japanese high school graduates would be able to debate in fluent English, as well as the use of “inappropriate and excessively difficult texts” which even native speakers would find challenging, particularly at the university level.

Seven years later, these unrealistic expectations remain. Given the significance of English proficiency in high school and university entrance examinations, families of means will send their children to private tutors or cram schools for additional instruction, while those children lacking such resources are left to struggle.

Sadly, I can offer no simple solution to this problem. Like Professor Barker, though, I can continue to advocate for “a drastic rethinking of goals and expectations” and spend my career as an English teacher in Japan attempting to make improvements where I can. I urge all my colleagues to do the same.