MEXT Course of Study

Despite policies from Japan’s education ministry (MEXT) designed to promote communicative language teaching (CLT), Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) have tended to continue using yakudoku (grammar-translation) (Nishino, 2011). This phenomenon may be partly due to the lack of CLT-oriented activities in the MEXT-mandated textbooks (Rosenkjar, 2009). However, to date there is a lack of research on the differences between MEXT-mandated and CLT-oriented textbooks. In the context for this study, while grade 10 classes continued to use the regular textbooks, grades 11 and 12 began using materials from a Western publisher. In order to understand the change, the researcher analyzed the textbooks using a framework designed by Littlejohn (1998). Results indicated that a shift was necessary from the teacher-centered transmission paradigm to learner-centered interpretative ways of learning.

Comparing the study of Spanish and Japanese textbooks, relating to the subject of “Artistic, Plastic and Visual Education”, one reaches the basic conclusion that the Spanish model is focused on the teaching of artistic appreciation, whereas the Japanese model is based on the children’s expressive development. Seeing how both models are complementary in their scope of the subject’s instruction, I have determined, by means of studying the reality of Japanese and Spanish schools, to design a methodological plan of artistic education based on the balance between Japanese expression and Spanish appreciation starting from each model’s strong points and good practices. This is the first in a series of four codependent articles that will endow the investigation with a global sense of improvement of Artistic Education through the importation of good international practices adapted to a new context, with a common benefit for both countries. In this specific article the teaching methodology of Spanish artistic appreciation is analyzed via the study of a global early childhood, through actual Artistic Education on the northern part of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. This “good practice” model will take us closer to the Spanish reality in the realm of artistic appreciation Education.

From 2011-2013, the new Japanese Foreign Language Course of Study (CoS) will be implemented to improve foreign language education at the primary and secondary school levels. However, there seems to be a general lack of confidence in effectively applying new national guidelines in local contexts. To address this issue, we review the factors that influence Japanese foreign language education as well as the new CoS revisions. Utilizing literature and personal communication with EFL practitioners, we then put forth the following recommendations for successfully implementing the CoS revisions: (a) adopting theoretical perspectives and pedagogies from successful teaching programs; (b) developing competencies of Japanese teachers of English; (c) reforming assistant language teacher standards and hiring practices; (d) enhancing communication between educators and administrators; (e) integrating a World Englishes perspective; (f) establishing agency and communities of practice among stakeholders; (g) improving entrance examination standards; and (h) promoting more English-immersion education programs.

Recent reforms to Foreign Language Activities policies in Japan have highlighted the importance of facilitating multilingualism and multiculturalism in global contexts. However, many of the most recent elementary school textbooks (2018-2020) for Foreign Language Activities classes in Japan are English Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks focused largely on English language in tourism settings rather than in educational and social perspectives. With inspiration from critical discourse analysis (e.g., Fairclough 1992a; 1992b; 2001), this paper critically examines representations of multilingualism and multiculturalism in four Japanese EFL textbooks used in elementary schools, We Can 1, We Can 2, Let's Try 1 and Let's Try 2 (MEXT, 2018). Findings show that the videos, video activities, and images center Japanese culture, and that countries outside of Japan appear in oversimplified mediums, while minority cultures within Japan are not explicitly represented.

Language policy in Japan is undergoing a major paradigm shift. Starting this April, fifth and sixth graders in public schools will begin taking compulsory English classes. By 2013, all secondary-level English courses are to be taught exclusively in English. The success of the new policy hinges on how prepared teachers are in incorporating its features into their classrooms.
Unfortunately, many instructors lack sufficient knowledge of the policy changes; among more informed educators, there seems to be little confidence in effectively applying the guidelines to their teaching contexts.

This paper addresses these issues by raising awareness of the language policy revisions and exploring how they can be successfully implemented in classrooms. To this end, literature on historical and current perspectives of Japanese foreign language policy will be reviewed. Leading experts in ELT have been interviewed, and their insights on how educators can prepare
for the imminent changes will also be examined.

Keywords: Language policy in Japan, language policy revisions, course of study, elementary school, junior high school, senior high school

日本における言語政策は、目下、大きなパラダイムシフトの下にある。今年 4 月からは、公立学校の 5 年生と 6 年生で英語教育が義務化される。また 2013 年までには、すべての中学校の英語の授業が、英語のみを用いて教授されることになっている。この新しい政策の成功は、教師たちがいかによく準備し、その特色を授業に取り入れうるかにかかっている。しかし残念ながら、多くの教師たちは、政策変化に関する十分な知識をもっていない。より情報を得ている教師たちのなかでも、ガイドラインを実際の授業に有効に適用しうるという自信を備えている者は、ほんのわずかしかいないようである。

このプレゼンテーションではこれらの問題点について外国語教育改訂に関する問題意識を喚起し、またこれらの改訂がクラスルームでの活動においてどのように効果的に実行され得るかについて探るものである。この目的のために、日本における外国語教育方針を過去、そしてまた現在の観点から扱う文献を再考する。ELT の分野における主導的な立場の専門家にインタビューし，現場の教育者達が目前に迫った改訂に対してどのように備えるべきかについての彼らの見識にも考察を加えるものである。

By the comparison of Japanese and Spanish Art Education, we found the Spanish model focused on the teaching of artistic appreciation, whereas the Japanese model is based on the children's expressive development. We support the idea of mixing both models as complementary and necessary methodological change for balance the actual visual education in its scope of instruction of the subject. For instance, through the importation of good school practices adapted to a new context, with a common benefit for both countries. Therefore, this research introduces the Spanish Aesthetic Appreciation teaching methodology model applied to a Japanese Kindergarten as example of the Spanish reality in the realm of Aesthetic Appreciation Teaching Skills and its adaptation possibilities to the Japanese Educational System.

The Japanese education system has been in a constant state of reform, with pressure towards CLT (communicative language teaching) in language education being made as far back as the 1980s. Fast forward to 2017 and there appears to have been little change in language teaching approaches, with the traditional grammar translation remaining dominant. One reason put forward for this stifling development of the reforms is the rigid testing system, which pressures teachers to favor more traditional methods of teaching. Perhaps the most severe test is the National University Center Entrance Exam (Center Test), which is essential for many students who want to enter university. Although this Center Test has an English language section, it is not a language proficiency test. This leads to a language learning environment with a plethora of pressures from reforms, the Center Test and more traditional methods of teaching. This study used a mixed method research approach to explore the pressures of language education in Japanese high schools.

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) introduced a new
English education curriculum in 2009 that took effect in the 2013-14 academic year at the senior secondary
school level. The main educational objective of this new curriculum calls for the development
of students’ communicative competence. Several obstacles stand in the way of full implementation
of this objective. In this paper I discuss the history and contemporary context of English education
curriculum in Japan, as well as the numerous challenges facing the achievement of communicative
competence at the high school level, including some directly attributable to MEXT’s own institutional
shortcomings. Although generally critical of the current situation, the paper concludes on a positive
note and I suggest that communicative competence in Japan is achievable.

In EFL contexts where students' chances to use English are limited to the classroom, minimizing their use of L1 to develop fluency in English is often encouraged in instruction. However, recent studies have reported that students' partial use of L1 in code-switching or translanguaging offers various pedagogical advantages. This research examines advanced Japanese high school students' use of and perceptions toward L1 (Japanese) in translanguaging during communicative L2 (English) activities. Drawing on both quantitative data from a survey answered by 190 third-year high school students and qualitative data from classroom observations and in-depth interviews with nine students from the same group, the study attempted to reveal context-sensitive findings about students' use of L1 in translanguaging in the EFL classroom. The quantitative survey results revealed that all the students, to varying degrees, partially used L1 during communicative L2 activities. Data from classroom observations supported the survey results and identified five salient speech functions of students' partial L1 use in the activities. In addition, the interview data showed students' nuanced reasons for and perceptions toward their partial L1 use during such activities, highlighting a unique communication layer for translanguaging. Based on the discussion of the findings, recommendations for pursuing contextualized communicative language teaching and translanguaging pedagogy in EFL classrooms are provided at the end of the paper.

In Japan, in 2013, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology implemented a new national curriculum in which teachers of English as a foreign language are to conduct their classes in English. However, these teachers - whether they are native speakers of English or Japanese may not be prepared for this change. Drawing on theoretical perspectives on the role of the teacher in language-in-education policy and planning and the native/nonnative dichotomy in English as an International Language (EIL), this thesis investigates how the new national curriculum affects the way both groups of English teachers perceive their roles in its delivery. Firstly, I conduct a linguistic-pragmatic discourse analysis of the new curriculum and team-teaching resources to determine what roles teachers are expected to fulfil. Secondly, I analyse the curriculum and materials of a senior high school English programme. Finally, I gather data through a sequential explanatory design that targets 21 native English-speaking teachers and 41 Japanese teachers of English, capturing their perceptions of their language use, their professional roles and the new curriculum through questionnaires and follow-up interviews. In this research, I select Japanese teachers of English and native English-speaking teachers from private senior high schools as participants. These teachers are more likely to teach in a flexible school curriculum where native English-speaking teachers have the potential to exercise more autonomy in their planning and teaching

I find that the language of the new national curriculum is non-committal with respect to the quantity of English  teachers should use in the classroom, and ambiguous with respect to how the role of the native English-speaking teacher is articulated. In addition, my analysis of the private senior high school English programme indicates that its organisation has not significantly changed, and the language and content of the textbooks chosen are inconsistent with the national policy directives. Finally, the questionnaires and interviews yielded that teachers struggle to make sense of the expectations of the new curriculum and relate them to their professional roles and identities in their respective institutions.

In spite of successive reforms to Japan’s national curriculum, the Course of Study, communicative approaches have not been widely adopted in Japanese senior high schools where teaching continues to focus on reading through grammar and translation. Prior to enactment of the new Course of Study 2009 at senior high schools in April 2013, the purpose of this research was to further identify, explore, and explain the various personal, social, and context-related factors and their potential influence on grammar teaching in the context of communicative work, a key component in the new curriculum.

Based on preliminary research for this thesis (Underwood, 2012) and an ongoing review of the literature, I conducted a mixed-methods, multiple case-study investigation of teacher beliefs and current teaching practices. I collected data from a purposive sample of four Japanese senior high school teachers at public and private academic institutions, where the focus is on preparing students for entrance to university. Data collection instruments included open-ended surveys, teacher journals, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews. The study drew on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985, 1991, 2005) as the main theoretical framework.

The research found that teacher intentions to integrate grammar with communicative work under the new curriculum were largely informed by context-related factors. Specifically, the findings suggested that for teachers to implement the oral components of the new curriculum, more universities would need to assess oral skills as part of their entry requirements. However, the findings also strongly indicated that even if examinations were to change, for teachers to adopt communicative approaches in the classroom, major structural changes in schools must also occur in three key areas: (1) the establishment of collaborative, in-service professional development, which is relevant to teachers’ contexts; (2) an increase in cooperation between various stakeholders; and (3) the reassignment of English teachers’ extra-curricular duties.

Japan has a long and complicated history of neglect regarding English as a foreign language (EFL) writing instruction in secondary and tertiary education. This is due, in large part, to the perception by teachers, students and other key stakeholders that writing instruction is too time consuming and extraneous to student needs. These perceptions regarding English writing have been influenced greatly by the educational policies of the country, and the local constraints English teachers face in trying to implement these policies. In order to meet the challenges faced by and needs of second language (L2) writing teacher education it is necessary to understand the severe impact of these policies and constraints on the English teachers in Japan’s high schools and universities. This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the context of English writing instruction in Japan by reviewing prior research on English writing practices and teacher education. More specifically, the chapter focuses on three key factors that influence the teaching and learning of English writing in secondary schools and subsequently tertiary education: (a) the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Course of Study (CoS), (b) university entrance  examinations, and (c) local constraints of English writing practices (for example, class size and teacher workload) especially at secondary school level, from the viewpoint of teacher education.

The gaps in content, language, and teaching style between high school English classes and Oral Communication classes often send students mixed messages about both the purpose of English education and the nature of the language itself. MEXT’s updated Course of Study may perpetuate this dichotomy, especially in schools planning to include the optional “English Conversation” subject. a model for this was proposed drawing on Engeström’s Activity Theory (1987) inviting learners to view English as a communication tool in real-world tasks. Results presented come from a student survey and teacher interview data demonstrating a range of perceptions regarding English-OC connections. We then shared the team’s sincere efforts to 1) set communication goals for English I lessons, 2) collaborate on and share plans and materials, 3) increase the use of English in class, and 4) interact more meaningfully with students.

This paper discusses the impact of the Ministry of Education’s new national senior high school Course of Study for Foreign Languages on collaboration between Japanese teachers of English and native speakers of English. In consideration of the new curriculum’s request that classes be conducted in English, and its reorganization of all English subjects, the current paper draws upon frameworks in language-in-education policy and planning (Kaplan & Baldauf, 2003; Liddicoat, 2004) and highlights potential issues concerning its implementation at the local level.

Teacher agency, or teachers’ “action potential” (van Lier, 2008), is more commonly viewed by researchers as having a reciprocal relationship with the particularities of their institutions or contexts. This view is further illustrated when contrasting native and non-native English speaking teachers (NESTs and NNESTs) and their interpretations of policy reform. Studies have established that language-in-education policy (LEP) measures may pressure NNESTs to upgrade to more communicative approaches, and may position NESTs as potential change agents who can facilitate policy reform through their perceived linguistic “superiority”. However, the manner in which the NEST-NNEST dichotomy is reflected in teacher perceptions of agency in LEP reform is under-explored. This chapter analyses open-ended questionnaire comments and in-depth interviews with NESTs and Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), exploring their perceptions of their agency in the implementation of an initiative launched in 2013 for teachers to conduct English classes in English in Japanese senior high schools. Findings show that the notion of NEST as change agent is challenged, and teachers, regardless of background, equally detect restrictions in their agency due to a combination of professional beliefs and experiences, self- perceptions, and contextual constraints.

The 2013 MEXT senior high school English curriculum presents a valuable opportunity
to adopt innovative approaches in further developing the communicative competence of EFL learners. However, the goals of the new curriculum raise significant concerns regarding the preparedness of both native-speaking (NS) and nonnative (NNS) speaking English teachers to collaboratively enact the new policies. In an effort to explore these concerns, this presentation will review the current research literature on complementarity in NNS-NS English teacher collaboration, pinpoint specific challenges for NSs and NNSs in their current roles in policy implementation in Japanese senior high schools, and examine local efforts to enhance NNS- NS collaborative teaching practices in time for 2013. Possible avenues for more sustained, meaningful collaboration at the institutional level will be discussed.

The senior high school reform initiative in the Japanese national curriculum for foreign languages, implemented since 2013, has required Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to conduct their English classes in English. However, JTEs are provided with little information about the professional development (PD) they will need to carry out this initiative at the classroom and institutional levels. This chapter seeks to investigate the struggles JTEs face with respect to teaching English in English in their classrooms and schools to determine the types of educational support JTEs need. Quantitative and qualitative data from 40 JTEs in senior high schools in the metropolitan Tokyo area is presented. The results reveal that when it comes to the delivery of this initiative, key areas of PD and support for JTEs will include how to make confident language choices in their classrooms, and how to promote a culture of change in their respective institutions, even in the midst of institutional pressures to prepare students for university entrance examinations.

This presentation examines how Japanese teachers of English and native English speaking teachers make sense of the current Course of Study for Foreign Languages in Upper Secondary Schools, particularly the requirement that English classes be taught in English. It illustrates how teachers  inteepret policy through their own cognitions, the institutional context, and their identification with the policy reform message being conveyed. To illustrate the complexities of how teachers come to see their roles in policy reform, I draw upon a sociocultural model of cognition in policy implementation (Spillane, Reiser & Reimer, 2002) and perspectives in language education policy in education that see teachers as key brokers in policy implementation (Menken & Garcia, 2010). I conclude that teacher education in Japan must play a key role in providing teachers with knowledge and awareness of how to negotiate  policy reform initiatives with their knowledge of the local context. This local knowledge must be shared by native English speaking teachers and Japanese teachers of English alike.