A RECENT survey by Japan's Ministry of Education found the language skills of the vast majority of public school English teachers lacking.
A ministry plan laid out last year called for almost all English teachers to have passed the pre-first level of the Practical English Proficiency Test, also called STEP Test. This spring, the survey was conducted among 22,000 junior high school teachers and 21,000 senior high school teachers. The results show that about 90% of junior high and 80% of senior high teachers failed to pass the exam.
The STEP Test was established in Japan in 1963 and recognized in 2001. The test now has seven grades: first, pre-first, second, pre-second, third, fourth and fifth grade.
English Blitz in Singapore
唯恐落后于亚洲邻国 新加坡大打“英语牌”
SINGAPORE's Manpower Ministry launched its annual month-long campaign aimed at improving people's English ability in May.
In Singapore, public elementary and secondary schools and government businesses are conducted in English, and 71% of its citizens are already literate in English. But Minister Ng Eng Hen wants to do more.
"Other Asian countires are making English language part of their schools' curriculum. In a few years countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea and China may catch up or surpass us in English language ability," he said
No English for Taiwan kids
台湾不许幼儿园向6岁以下儿童教授英语
Taiwan's Ministry of Education recently announced it will revoke the licences of kindergartens that teach in English or offer bilingual classes to children under six years old.
The move has raised fierce criticism from people who believe early exposure to English will boost their children's chances of success later in life.
But Wu Tsai-shun, director of the ministry's department of elementary education, said that kindergarten education should focus on health, games, music, first language and identity.
"A second language is not a priority in the education of kindergarten children," he said.
