THOUGH many cities in Japan are planning to employ native English speakers to help fifth- and sixth-graders learn the language, a recent survey shows that some cash-strapped local governments are reluctant to do so for financial reasons, The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported.
The news paper survey polled education boards in Tokyo’s 23 wards and 17 cities. About 40 percent of respondents said they would hold 35 or more English lessons each year, or at least one lesson per week from April, ahead of the subject’s official launch in 2011. There are 16 cities around Japan that are planning to introduce similar programs, including Kyoto, Saitama, Chiba, Yokohama and Kitakyushu.
The survey also found that, in some areas of Japan, the amounts of resources being allocated to the English-teaching program are insufficient. Some local governments cannot afford to hire English-speaking teachers, which will seriously dampen the effectiveness of the lessons.
For instance, while Tokyo’s Minato Ward plans to have English lessons for fifth and sixth graders as often as twice a week from April, and can afford to spend 5,860,000 yen ($59,300) for one school on average, Osaka only plans to have nine English classes a year at each school and will spend an average of only 120,000 yen ($1,200) per school, about 49 times less than Minato. Yamagata Prefecture’s Shinjo municipal government, which has been told by the Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry to restructure its finances, has scheduled 15 or more English classes at its 10 primary schools, but has no plans to employ assistant language teachers.
“The most effective method for students to cultivate English pronunciation and listening skills is via the speaking and body language of assistant language teachers,” Mejiro University professor Takashi Tada said. “If the classes are badly managed (by inexperienced teachers), students will come to hate English.”
