Focus on Speaking and Conversation in English Education　(School assignment)

Recently, English abilities are getting more and more crucial as the Japanese


economy remains stagnant and globalization develops. However, on the whole,


Japanese people are bad at speaking it because only grammar and reading skills are


attached importance to under current English education. Despite ease evaluating those


skills, the government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)


and each school should take speaking and conversation abilities much more seriously


because they are the most crucial to communicate with foreigners or to play active roles


in globalized world. They can improve speaking and conversation education by


introducing English interviews at entrance exams, requiring more speaking abilities to


teachers, letting students verbally practice English, and developing exchange with


foreign schools, even though some people might argue they are hard to realize or cost


too much.



The government and each school should focus more on speaking and conversation


abilities in English education since those abilities are the most important to enable


students to communicate with foreign people or to be active in globalization. At the


moment, most Japanese people cannot speak it even after more than 6 or 7 years of


studying it at school. The reason is simple. In Japanese schools, almost only grammar


and reading are taught. So, students get used to reading something while they do not


get used to speaking and making conversations with somebody else. Needless to say,


grammar and reading are also crucial. But when communicating with someone else, it


makes little sense if they can read properly but cannot speak.


The government and each school can improve their students’ speaking and


conversation abilities in many ways. First, it will work to adopt interviews conducted in


English when evaluating students’ English abilities at entrance exams. One big factor


which makes our English education ineffective is entrance exams focused on grammar


and reading. Schools’ objectives will change if entrance exams start to take speaking


and conversation seriously. Second, it is critical to secure competent teachers with


enough speaking abilities. It is because many of the English teachers in Japan are not


good enough at speaking to be appropriate examples for students. In the sense, the


government’s current policy of increasing the number of ALTs is a good way. Third, they


should let students practice talking in English. This can only be realized with


competent teachers and enough ALTs. Finally, it makes sense to motivate students to


communicate with foreigners by means of more exchange students and ICT. They can


exchange more students with foreign schools and communicating with them during


classes using Skype or other information technology.


Some conservative teachers or education experts might be stuck at the current


“comfortable” system. It is true that teaching and testing of grammar and reading


abilities are easier than those of speaking and conversation abilities. But does the


current English education work well? Looking at the consequence, the answer is


apparently “no”. Few of the Japanese can communicate in English even after learning it


for not less than 6 years. Taking examples of education systems in Korea and North


European counties, they focus more on speaking and conversations than we do, and


their English educations work better than ours does.


In addition, they might argue that it will cost too much to realize those reforms.


Indeed, in the short run, they are more costly than the current “cheap” grammar and


reading education. However, in the long run, those changes will cost less because under


the current ineffective education, Japanese people have to spend a lot of money


studying abroad or going to English conversation schools if they really want to improve


their English. It is also a good idea to change English classes from compulsory to


optional at high schools and universities. They can save up their budgets because the


number of students will decrease in the case. After entering high schools, students are


likely to know if English will be necessary for them or not. Those who want to become


painters, motormen, or janitors might not need English. Even though English is quite


important for “most” people, it’s not necessary for “everyone”.


In conclusion, the Japanese government and each school should be more devoted to


speaking and conversation abilities in spite of the claim of some conservative teachers


and experts. It is because those abilities matter the most when communicating with


non-Japanese people and playing active parts in global stages. To embody this reform,


they can introduce English interviews at entrance exams, improving teachers’ quality,


secure enough time for students to verbally practice, and cooperate more with foreign


schools.[768]