The Education of foreign Language in Childhood

Language acquisition is an essential requirement for internationalization. But it is very hard to acquire a foreign language. It is difficult to say that foreign language education has been successful in Japan. Thus there has recently been a movement in the Central Education Council to propose the teaching of English conversation from elementary school. This paper questions from various angles whether it is meaningful to teach a foreign language from elementary school. With examples drawn from elementary schools specially designated as model schools by the Ministry of Education, I have shown that, despite the great efforts of the teachers, many problems concerning foreign language education at the elementary level remain. "Why English?" "What is 'language'?" "What is a 'mother tongue' and 'regional dialect'?" There are some of the questions that can be raised. In this paper, I focus on the "sense of order" which lies hidden within language, which forms the basis of human abilities, and indicate the view of humanity which lies at the basis of morality and culture. I indicate the problem inflicted on the nature of children by the public and collective teaching of a foreign language from an age in which they acquire their native tongue. In particular, I propose that we must seriously consider the possibility that it may violate the unique character that each child possesses