[EDLING:1686] Re: Japan: Why primary school English puts off students

[Dr. Peter Bettinger]

Dear All,

Professors Otsu's Special to the Daily Yomiuri (June 20, 2006) is quite 
likely to attract more support than he/she might have anticipated. If the 
word "English" was replaced with "French" and the country/area referred to 
was "the Saarland", a Frankish and German speaking area wedged in between 
France and Germany (an area in the past coveted by both France and Germany 
because of its coal mining industry) we would notice that Professor Otsu's 
assumptions are largely beaten by well established facts.

Back in 1959 the Saarland, which after WW II was under a UN mandate and 
economically dependent on France, was reintegrated into Germany. French 
language policy being what it is (even today) the French government 
insisted on an exchange of letters which was to become part of a 
Franco-German agreement. Since then it has been written in stone that French 
had to be the first foreign (yes, they are still using this somewhat dated 
adjective when referring to a modern or living language as opposed to a dead 
language like Latin) language in the Saarland.

This did not seem to bother anyone because this rule was just applied to 
secondary schools. French has been "the first foreign language" there for 
half a century producing students who are familiar with restricted kowledge 
of grammar and written French (as if a living language was a dead one) and a 
more than doubtful mastery of spoken French. Things started changing when 
the Common European Frame of Refernce (CEF)became current tender about six 
years ago. The main problem and real obstacle in an effort to implement the 
CEF is the qualification of teachers whose university education focused on 
literature, the theoretical part of linguistics, grammar and translation. 
How can you expect these teachers, who live just 50 miles from France at the 
most (the Saarland is a tiny "land", about the size of London), to do what 
Professor Otsu - with good reason - expects from teachers at primary school 
level. And I would like to add that anything connected to mastering a 
language is a pre-requisite of any intention to teach a language - above all 
at beginners' level, regardless of the learners's age.

Things changed dramatically  in the Saarland when it became fashionalbe to 
teach what the French call "l'enseignement précoce du Français). They did 
the equivalent of what Profesor Otsu so beautifully describes in his/her 
text. I wish the Japanese had analysed the effects of what happened in the 
Saarland in the aftermath of compulsory classes French (2 hours per week) at 
primary  schools level.

In spite of all kinds of political support and encouragement by both the 
French and the German governments French is fighting a losing battle. Just 
like German in France. Inofficially English has - and by far - been well 
established as the Saarlanders  first modern language (after German and 
Frankish) for as long as politician have been trying to use political 
pressure to help the respective language win.

My short response to Professor Otsu's text would be incomplete if I did not 
mention that throughout Germany English has been intoduced at all primary 
schools as the language to be learnt apart from German (with the exception 
of the Saarland). And they are seeing to it that all the pitfalls mentioned 
by Professor Otsu can, at best, be circumnavigated. As long as you have not 
got the primary school  teachers who are at least as qualified to teach 
English as those who just teach English at secondary schools, don't even 
dream of starting to teach it. If English was French nobody would really 
care about all the drawbacks and long-term effects of bad English taught to 
young learners. They would quite simply start losing interest right from the 
start. The language in question being English it would be a disaster because 
access to a lingua franca (which English may be for some time, like it or 
not, just like Latin was  in Europe, for some time) is one of the basic 
services we can and should supply to those whose future is our job today.


Peter Bettinger

( a teacher of English and French)





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Francis M. Hult" <fmhult at dolphin.upenn.edu>
To: <edling at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 5:14 AM
Subject: [EDLING:1685] Japan: Why primary school English puts off students


> The Daily Yomiuri
>
> http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20060630TDY12002.htm
>
> Why primary school English puts off students
>
> Yukio Otsu Special to The Daily Yomiuri
>
> My interview on primary school English appeared in the May 25 issue of The
> Daily Yomiuri in "The Language Connection" in the form of a response to 
> Akita
> International University President Mineo Nakajima, whose interview was
> published on May 18. The original interviews were conducted for The 
> Yomiuri
> Shimbun in Japanese and were translated into English by a Daily Yomiuri
> translator.
>
> It has come to my attention recently that a couple of responses have 
> appeared
> in the "Letters to the Editor" column, and I would like to respond to Jim
> Dunlop's letter of May 30 criticizing my position. I will focus on two 
> issues.
>
> I suggested that English education at the primary school level will lead 
> to an
> early dislike of English on the part of students. Mr. Dunlop says this
> is "unfounded." This is not true. On a recent TV program produced by NHK--
> titled Oya to Ko no TV Sukuru (TV School for Parents and Children), aired 
> on
> June 17--it was reported that about 70 percent of all primary school 
> teachers
> involved in English education at public primary schools in Kanazawa, which 
> is
> one of the municipalities most enthusiastically promoting English 
> education at
> primary school level, confessed that some students had been left behind by 
> the
> studies. The program also reported that some teachers were seriously 
> concerned
> that early English-language teaching was making students antagonistic 
> toward
> the language.
>
> Hoping that one of the three languages that he is familiar with is 
> Japanese, I
> would also like Mr. Dunlop to refer to Rikkyo University Prof. Kumiko
> Torikai's newly published book, Ayaushi! Sho-gakko- Eigo (Primary School
> English in Danger; Bunshun Shinsho), where he will find some relevant 
> facts
> and statistics.
>
> It would be worthwhile to add that English education at the primary school
> level has led to a dislike of English on the part of the teachers as well. 
> I
> have received more than 400 e-mails from primary school teachers all over
> Japan. In their e-mails, many teachers express their concerns about 
> teaching a
> subject with which they are not familiar, and some even mention that they 
> do
> not feel like going to school on the days they have to teach English.
>
> Why does English education at primary schools cause students to dislike
> English? The primary reason is that in most cases activities are limited 
> to
> singing songs, chanting, and learning fixed expressions. Such activities 
> might
> be fun for students for a short while, but they soon get bored. This is
> natural because these activities are not creative.
>
> To guarantee the creativity of language activities, one should learn 
> grammar.
> Why does the Education, Science and Technology Ministry not encourage 
> grammar
> teaching? Because teachers cannot teach grammar, which requires knowledge 
> and
> skills. Remember that, in most cases, it is the homeroom teachers who are 
> in
> charge of English education at primary schools. In fact, in some advanced
> districts, they use middle school textbooks for primary school students.
>
> We should remember that the first step in foreign-language teaching is the
> most difficult part, requiring much knowledge and many skills. It is not 
> the
> kind of thing that nonprofessionals--regardless of whether they are native
> speakers of English or not--can ever dream of being able to handle.
>
> The second issue is Mr. Dunlop's criticism of what he calls my 
> "linguistically
> nationalistic agenda." He should be aware that what I insist on as being 
> of
> utmost importance at primary schools is to establish a firm foundation in
> one's "mother tongue" or "first language," not a "national language"
> or "language of one's mother nation."
>
> In the original interview, I used the word "bogo" (mother tongue)
> not "bokokugo" (the language of one's mother nation). The concept of 
> "nation"
> is not involved in my objection to English education at primary schools.
>
> I am fully aware that there are some intellectuals who claim the 
> superiority
> of the Japanese language over others, but be assured, Mr. Dunlop, I am not 
> one
> of them.
>
> A final word. I am not saying that English education is not necessary. Nor 
> am
> I claiming that the current system of English education in schools has 
> been
> successful. I agree that the current education curriculum is not 
> functioning
> well, leading to much dissatisfaction on the part of the learner, leading 
> to
> such comments as, "I've studied English for ten years, but I cannot 
> express
> myself in English even a bit."
>
> Hence, reform is necessary. However, what is needed is not to start 
> learning
> English earlier at the primary school level, but rather to enrich English
> education from middle school through university. To be more concrete,
> refresher programs for English teachers, more English lessons per week at
> middle and high schools, and smaller class sizes are necessary.
>
> These require lots of energy, time, and money. If we apply the energy, 
> time
> and money we are to invest in primary school English to the aforementioned
> purposes, we would have a much better future.
>
>
> Otsu is professor of psycholinguistics at Keio University.
>
> (Jun. 30, 2006)
>
>
>