Frequency Distribution Analysis of a Survey on English Education and Attitudes of Japanese Mathematicians

One hundred eighteen Japanese professional mathematicians participated in a questionnaire to measure their feelings and attitudes regarding their formal and informal English education. The results demonstrated they felt their English education did not adequately prepare them to undertake research overseas. They were particularly disappointed with their listening and speaking skills. Many respondents felt it necessary to pursue outside studies to increase their oral/aural skills. While they thought their high school English studies were normal, they began to experience a disparity from university, i.e., their English studies were too broad and generalized. They felt they should have had more content based, mathematics related studies. Translation, conversation, hearing, and grammar, in that order, best helped to prepare them for overseas research.departmental bulletin pape