DURING the Japanese prime minister’s recent visit to Washington DC, US, about 60 American JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program alumni traveled from all over the US to see Shinzo Abe. This was the first time for a serving prime minister to meet with American JET alumni, The Guardian has reported.
Established in 1987, the JET program invites university graduates from overseas to participate in international exchange and foreign language education throughout Japan. The program offers participants the opportunity to serve in local government organizations as well as public and private schools. Over 46,000 people from 55 different countries have participated in the program since its inception.
While few people dispute JET teachers’ contribution to public diplomacy, some educators in Japan accuse them of failing Japanese schoolchildren in English.
Japanese children start formal English study at age 12. A native-English-speaking assistant teacher usually works alongside a Japanese teacher of English. Many Japanese teenagers leave school with a solid knowledge of grammar but an inability to sustain a basic conversation.
In an article in the Daily Yomiuri, James W. Porcaro, a professor of English at Toyama University of International Studies, calls for abolishing the JET scheme.
Tomohiro Taniguchi, a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman, acknowledges that the education system had done little to improve pupils’ English communication skills, but says the JET scheme was not to blame.
“JET has done a very good job in opening the eyes and minds of an otherwise closed mindset in rural populations, and that’s a good infrastructure around which to build any skill, including language skills,” Taniguchi said. “You can keep the JET scheme going while trying to improve the obviously poor skills of some Japanese teachers of English. But I have to admit that while JET has been successful in forging people-to-people ties, that hasn’t always translated fully into the quality of English teaching in public education.”
