Lehrer und Schüler arbeiten zusammen, um das Englischlernen in der High School zu verbessern

*“Like many English teachers, Imanishi had been grappling with a common yet intractable issue in language education under Japan’s schooling framework.*

*Educators are aware that senior high school students* ***have to master a plethora of grammatical topics*** *and that they often feel a wide “gap” between the advanced curriculum and the relatively easy foreign-language classes in junior high schools“*

The issue has always been the curriculum and the failure of authorities to push what is clearly required. The focus on grammar, spelling, and even pronunciation above basic communication skill has, for decades, led to students who spend countless hours memorizing words that native speakers might not even use properly, but then being unable to string even a basic sentence together in conversation.

Its the same rational behind the ongoing use of kanji. In practical terms dropping the archaic writing system would give students roughly 2000 extra hours of study in other areas between the ages of 4-18 – massively boosting its human capital, make Japan far more attractive for foreign investments, and make it far easier for immigrants to integrate smoothly into Japanese society. But the „my generation did it so the next should follow our lead“ way of thinking dominates organizational structures.

English teachers, who are themselves frequently poor at conversation, focus on spelling and grammar because those are the areas they feel most comfortable in, and they probably know at heart that if they prioritized communication skills students might soon outpace them in those abilities. You can’t rely on teachers or schools to promote the change required, it needs strong top-down leadership, which Japan does not have, particularly in the field of education.

All that aside, I’m not really fond of teachers (and especially Ph.D candidates) using students as a testing ground. The ones pictured above are the success stories from the 240 she was using, but that likely means a large number of those encouraged to „study as they want“ squandered their time or used it in well-meaning but ineffective ways, rather than being given more effective guidance that would have benefited them more. There are ethical issues involved in putting your research goals above the well-being of the participants and claiming „but we found **some** interesting results“ doesn’t cut it as a justification.