Foreign Language Education

Computers in Language LearningGroup B

Index

Countries◦Japan◦China◦Brazil◦Spain◦Poland◦Netherlands

Personal Experiences

English education in Japan

Satoki Kon

Age at when children start studying English

10 years old (5th grader). *Recently changed

Japanese English Abilities

70 at TOEFLLowest level in Asia

How much Japanese is similar to the English

One of the furthestJapanese have to take 2200 class hours to

speak English fluently

English teachers in school

There are both Japanese teachers and native teachers in class.

Native teachers do not come to every class (once or twice a week).

Special features

English education in Japan attach importance to reading and writing. Entrance exams for college do not usually include speaking and listening test (center test, the common first stage university entrance examination, includes listening test)

That’s why most Japanese have to learn English in crammer or in home by themselves to speak or listen to English well.

English education in China

Shohei Harai

Introduction: why China

Major: Chinese historyMany Chinese friends as rivalsinterest to the educational gaps among

ChineseFierce competition for human resources

acquisition

First step

Compulsory class in primary schoolAbout 6 hours class every week The great deal of differences between

urban areas and rural areas

Higher Education

Every student must attend to English classes

Graduation requirements 托福，雅思

Motivations

Earn more money Attend foreign educational institutes

/U.S./Japan/ AustraliaMany cram schools for IELTS,

TOEFL,GRE,GMAT preparation

English education in Brazil

Diego Ken Yabuki

Foreign Language in Schools

By law, mandatory from 6th year of Primary Education (1998)◦10~11 years old◦Not necessarily English

Until the end of Secondary Education◦17~18 years old

Issues on English Education

Disparity: Public and Private Schools◦Lack of studying time: 1h30m at most per week

(4h recommended)◦Lack of didactic materials and capacitated

instructorsLack of interest/discipline from studentsClasses way too bigDivision by age, not by skill

Proficiency Test Averages

TOEFL (2012):◦Reading: 21◦Listening: 22◦Speaking: 21◦Writing: 21◦Total: 84/120

IELTs (2011)◦Reading: 6.9◦Listening: 6.8◦Speaking: 6.9◦Writing: 6.2◦Total: 6.7/9

Portuguese x English

Relatively similarSame basic sentence structure:

◦Subject => Verb => ObjectCognates and False Cognates

◦i.e.: Vocabulary – Vocabulário (Cognate)◦i.e.: Push – Puxar (False Cognate)

Main difficulty:◦“th” sound

English education in Spain

Eriko Tanaka

When do they start learning English?

When they are 6◦Since 2008◦It used to be 8 before then

English abilities of Spanish people

The average score of TOEFL iBT:Reading 23Listening 23Speaking 22Writing 22Total 89

“Becas Mec” since 2007

A scholarship system for students and English teachers.

More than 150,000 students and more than 10,000 teachers have used this system to study abroad.

English education in Poland

Keisuke Naito

What is important is…

grammar

vocabulary

English

Poland English Education

Start from 3rd year elementary school student

Stories and conversation style textbook

2-3 hours per week

Text book

Text book is decided by teachers.

The Problem is…

How well students can speak English depends on teachers. Therefore, the level is different among students.

My trip to Poland and what I felt there..

It seems that the young tends to be able to speak English.

The elderly in many cases cannot speak English.

The magazines or other goods are written in Polish; convenience store bookstore etc…

Bilingual education in Netherlands

Anna Goense

Bilingual education in the Netherlands

Dutch and EnglishEntrance procedureHalf of the classes in English 365 euro per year extra costs

Bilingual education worldwide

Not always native language and EnglishJapan is recognizing a demand for

bilingual educationInternational schools

Pros

GlobalizationGood way to learn a languageNo focus on learning vocabulary and

grammar rules

Cons

Native language skills might be not fully developed

I disagree, because of entrance examination

The future of bilingual education

From 32 schools in 2002 to 97 schools in 2013

Start at elementary schoolCompetitor of gymnasium English as world language

Language Learning Experience

Satoki Kon

Started at the age of 12When I started studying English, a big

difference between Japanese and English puzzled me. English pronunciation and grammar are very difficult, even now.

Shohei Harai

My personal affairs before entering into this university◦Failed to get credit of English classes ◦No interest to foreign affairs ◦Intention to specialize in Japanese history◦Admired Chinese history

→after attenting to university ・・・

Diego Ken Yabuki

English11~17 y: School12~14 y: Language School14~16 y: Private Teacher20 y: English School in Vancouver (2

months)

Most helpful activity: reading manga

Diego Ken Yabuki

Japanese8~10 y: Improvised Japanese School10~18 y: Nothing (forgetting all that I

learned on the previous years)From 18 y. on: University’s Language

Center

Most helpful activity: watching anime and Japanese drama

Eriko Tanaka

-I started going to English conversation school when I was 10.

-I started learning English at school when I was 12.

-I had been staying in the US for 10 months in 2012-2013.

-I feel my English ability is decreasing rapidly since I came back to Japan.

Anna Goense

Very happy with my decision Speak a second language fluentlyWent on a lot of international school tripsA TOEFL score of 114 without practice

Keisuke Naito

From junior high school.

50 minutes classes×5 per week

The teachers are japanese.

Discussion