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Staff writer Many public elementary schools are expected to start teaching English in April when the trial period begins for "comprehensive studies," a new curriculum under the Education Ministry's revised teaching guidelines, that take effect in 2002. From the third grade, schools will utilize three hours of class time a week to do original programs, on themes such as English, computer education, environmental studies or social welfare, that are not covered in other subjects. The ministry takes the stance that English should not be introduced as a required subject in elementary schools because experts are divided on the issue. Opponents to the early introduction of English education say it would only increase the burden on children and it is more important to teach Japanese before teaching a foreign language. However, some municipalities are already taking up English on their own during homeroom hours. Tokyo's Chuo Ward is one of the pioneers in such efforts. The Chuo Ward Board of Education introduced a unified English program at all its 16 elementary schools three years ago. The ward has signed a contract with the Institute for English Communication, a private language school, to develop and teach the program in each grade. Although the classes are held only once per term, children learn basic greetings and conversation forms that enable them to talk about themselves and ask and answer questions before they reach the sixth grade, said Keiko Shinjo, supervisor at the board of education. "We want to expose children to a different language and culture from an early age so they will be ready to really study English in junior high schools," she said, adding that all junior high schools in Chuo Ward send selected students to Australia in the summer to study English. During one session in a first-grade classroom at Arima Elementary School, Matthew de Wilde, an Australian teacher, taught the names of animals and fruits and common questions and answers. "What fruit do you like?" de Wilde asked. "I like cherries!" student Riho Ikezawa answered cheerfully. Another student asked the homeroom teacher, "Do you like grapes?" The teacher said, "Yes, I do." Throughout such classes, de Wilde uses only English, but he uses picture cards and gestures so pupils are able to understand his meaning. "English classes should be 100 percent English. You don't need to use Japanese to explain," de Wilde said. "I always hear in Japan that 'we've studied English for 10 years but can't speak at all.' If they know it, they should change the way it's taught." The problem with English education at junior high schools is the focus on reading and translating into Japanese, according to de Wilde. "There is simply not enough English being spoken. ... Until that changes, we won't see much improvement in communication skills." In Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, two native English-speaking teachers were hired to teach English at all public elementary schools and some kindergartens, with course lengths ranging from five to 15 times a year, said Shigeru Koyasu, supervisor at the Chiyoda Ward Board of Education. Many schools in the ward plan to increase the hours used for teaching English after the introduction of comprehensive studies, Koyasu said. Being at the heart of Tokyo, "Chiyoda is a good place to teach English because many foreigners as well as Japanese who have lived abroad live here," he said. "We want to ask those people to help in comprehensive studies." Other municipalities, including Yokohama, Kyoto and Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, along with Tokyo's Minato and Edogawa wards, are known to be active in English education at elementary schools. While these trailblazers are gearing up for English, other interested schools are still wondering who teaches it and how. At public elementary schools, homeroom teachers cover all subjects, except music and art, in upper grades. But they are not trained to teach English. Ritsuko Nakata, founder of IIEEC Teacher Training Center, said many teachers are at a loss when it comes to teaching English to children. IIEEC is a private training institute for English teachers. Nakata said Japanese homeroom teachers can teach English if they get proper training, even if only for a short time. "But that doesn't mean anyone can teach English. They have to want to do it. "It's also important that public schools make use of professional teachers from private language schools," she said. Nakata, a U.S.-born expert on teaching English to children and a member of the education minister's panel on English education, said children should learn "correct" English from the beginning. Children can learn grammar and pronunciation and to speak naturally under systematically designed programs, she said. Katsutoshi Ito, a professor of linguistics at Kanagawa University, said at a recent symposium that between the ages of 4 and 8 is the best time to start learning a foreign language, because children of that age have a strong ability to comprehend language by listening. "It's best to start at elementary school, while children have an ear for English," Ito said. The symposium, titled "Teaching English to Primary School Pupils," was held earlier this month by the Institute of International Education in London, a British education body. At the symposium, Yuri Kuno, a lecturer at Bunka Women's University who has taught English at a private elementary school for many years, criticized the view that teaching English at early ages undermines the study of Japanese and other subjects. "How can you not learn Japanese with only one hour a week or so of English?" she asked. "It's much more important that children learn there are other languages, like English."