著者

柳沢 秀郎 Hideo YANAGISAWA

雑誌

中京英文学 = Chukyo English literature (ISSN:02852039)

巻号頁・発行日

no.19, pp.37-50, 1999-03-19

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This essay is, for the most part, the basis of the presentation that I gave at Chukyo University's English Department Autumn Research Seminar in November, 1998. In this paper I discuss the point that English education in Japan is still very much focused on traditional teaching methods and learners of English are still failing to become proficient speakers of English. I begin with a brief historical look at English education in Japan and examine how current societal conditions have influenced the adoption of the current system, which in face value, through initiatives such as the JET Program, place an emphasis on improving the communicative ability of students. However, the results of a survey of 104 Chukyo University students shows that students rate speaking and listening skills as their weakest. In addition, a large proportion of students appear to possess no real purpose for studying English. Based on my own teaching experience and by returning to some of the basic principles of the Communicative Language Approach I suggest some ways to help create more meaningful lessons and encourage students to participate more actively in the learning process. I would like to express my thanks to Professors Sakae and Fukuda for assisting me in the preparation of this paper.