Objectives of English in Elementary and Secondary Education : with reference to Tentative SUGGESTED COURSE OF STUDY after World War II

With the progress of globalization, the objectives of English in Japanese elementary and secondary education have been focused on acquiring comprehensive communication abilities in "listening, " "speaking, " "reading, " and "writing, " in order to foster "Japanese with English Abilities." (Monbukagakusho, 2003) Today, English teaching in Japan seems to be in transition, judging from the forthcoming compulsoriness of English in elementary education. In this situation, it is useful for English teaching in Japan to reconsider the objectives of English education. In this paper, the author mainly referred to Tentative Suggested Course of Study in English, which was announced after World War II. Over the years, two objectives, which don't go along with each other, have existed in English teaching in Japan. One is to master "skill" of English as a means of communication. The other is to acquire "culture" to promote "the full (favorable) development of personality" through English learning. This paper shows that the priority of them has been transposed between Tentative Suggested Course of Study in English (announced in Mar. 1947) and Course of Study for Foreign Languages (announced in Mar. 2003). Moreover, the concept of plurilingualism with the idea of "shared identity" can be found in the former, though it is difficult to find it in the latter. One thing, however, is certain: this concept should be considered as one of the most important factors so that we can reconstruct English teaching in Japan.4KJ00004767976departmental bulletin pape