Japan's 15-year-olds can't string a sentence in English together. Is rote learning to blame?

Plummeting scores in English-language tests among Japanese lower secondary school students have triggered concern that future generations will be unable to communicate in the world's lingua franca.

In nationwide tests conducted in April, just 12.4 per cent of 15-year-olds were able to reply correctly to five spoken questions in English. One required them to listen to a 30-second presentation about using reusable bags when shopping, instead of plastic bags, then giving their thoughts on the issue.

The last time the oral test was conducted, in 2019 - delayed since then due to Covid and with changes to how tests were conducted - the figure for answering the five questions correctly was 30.8 per cent.

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Alarmingly, more than 60 per cent of the 1.9 million students who took the test failed all five questions.

When tested on their reading, writing and listening abilities, the students - quizzed in their last year of junior high school - gave correct answers 46.1 per cent of the time, down 10.4 percentage points from the previous test.

The poor scores have led to criticism that the tests were too difficult or that teachers are struggling to teach children how to express themselves in a foreign language. Some say English is only taught to prepare for university entrance exams, while others point out there are few opportunities for people to speak the language in homogenous Japan.

The education ministry, however, has played down criticism of the poor standards, with an official from its National Institute for Educational Policy Research saying the way the tests were conducted was "too complicated", including the system of listening to a video then expressing an opinion being different to previous tests.

The official insisted that the figures did not indicate that English abilities had worsened.

An editorial by the Yomiuri newspaper on Tuesday called on the government to devise "effective methods of instruction to help students acquire practical English skills", including giving them more opportunities to speak the language.

"The fact that the students' ability to convey their thoughts on their own in English, including writing, was found to be lacking must be taken seriously," it said.

The poor results come just two years after the government adopted new guidelines to help students develop the ability to speak basic English when still in junior high school.

As part of the changes in April 2021, pupils are now expected to know 1,800 English words by the age of 15 instead of 1,200, and be able to understand social affairs and express their opinions on issues in English.

Schools have also been urged to employ native English speakers as assistant teachers, which the government pays for, recruiting people from various nations, including the United States, Britain and Malaysia.

Eric Fior, the French owner of a private language school in Yokohama city near Tokyo, said Japan's emphasis on rote learning was detrimental.

"It is positive that most school English classes now have native speakers, as that is the best way for students to listen and learn how to speak the language," he said.

"The problem is that the students just do not get enough classroom time to practice speaking in English, while I also feel that the rote-learning techniques that are used in schools here are not effective for learning to speak a language," said Fior, who teaches many lower secondary school students.

So-called cram schools are popular in Japan, but teaching tends to lean towards the written word.

"Teaching is typically designed to prepare students to take written tests so they can go to a good senior high school and then university," Fior said.

"That means the students are not analysing their answers and not encouraged to think for themselves, they just have to choose the correct answer," he added. "That does not work when it comes to learning to speak a language and being able to freely express an opinion in English."

Analysts have also suggested that scores may have been impacted by the pandemic, when most pupils had to study online, dramatically reducing in-person language classes.

Whatever the causes, commentators have expressed concern that future generations will be ill-equipped to deal with a more interconnected world.

"The globalisation of society is progressing rapidly, and it is imperative to foster young people who can play active roles on the world stage," the Yomiuri said in its editorial this week.

"Rather than worrying about small grammatical errors on tests and in the classroom, more focus should be placed on developing the ability to interact with people from other countries in a fun and open-minded manner."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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