In a rapidly globalizing society, the importance of communication skills in English, the international common language, continues to grow. Being able to communicate in English is not limited to a specific occupation or region, and is required in a variety of situations throughout your life, expanding your possibilities in life. Based on this social background, the government is promoting English education reform.
The main axis is the perspective of "what can you do" using English. It is assumed that the knowledge and skills acquired in English learning will be utilized in actual communication situations, and that students will be able to think, judge, and express themselves. , essential English proficiency is required.
Of course, the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing—the so-called “four English skills”—were positioned as important elements. It overlaps with what the Council has been working on for a long time.
- Comprehensive study of four English skills
- Issues and Future of Traditional English Education
- The goal of nurturing the four English skills in a well-balanced manner ― “I can do it”
- Classes that nurture the four English skills in a well-balanced manner
- Reasons why English 4 skills evaluation is required
- English Four Skills Test and Assessment Literacy
- As an authority in English education
Comprehensive study of four English skills
In situations where language communication takes place, there are "listener", "speaker", "reader" and "writer", and we always use one or more of the skills of "listening", "speaking", "reading" and "writing". In order to communicate one's feelings and opinions more effectively, these four skills can be appropriately selected or combined according to the purpose, situation, and situation to accurately understand information, thoughts, etc. must be communicated to
At the British Council, it is effective to comprehensively and practically learn the four skills in order to be able to communicate naturally and smoothly in English as well as in your mother tongue, and to acquire truly fluent English. I believe it is. Especially in "speaking", in addition to public speeches and presentations, a wide variety of "exchanges" that are improvised in real life. It is necessary to keep in mind the expression in various genres up to calligraphy.
Issues and Future of Traditional English Education
Up to now, the course of study has aimed to develop the four skills in a well-balanced manner, and in high schools, we have increased the proportion of English exposure in classes, aiming for classes in which students themselves use a lot of English. This is a very important approach because in Japan, the use of English outside the classroom is very limited. However, according to a survey* conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the results show that speaking and writing activities are not sufficiently implemented.
It has been pointed out that English learning and teaching in Japan so far has focused on ``knowledge of vocabulary and grammar'' and has focused on ``grammatical translation'' and ``overemphasis on reading comprehension''. This is related to the fact that university entrance exams and high school entrance exams focus on two skills (listening and reading), and speaking (interaction) skills are rarely measured. Although English is a "skill," it is not actually intended to be used, and conventional learning and teaching with the final goal of "entrance exams" does not foster true communication skills. enough.
Under the new curriculum guidelines revised in 2020, efforts are being made to develop a more balanced “usable English” throughout elementary, junior high, and high school. To that end, it is necessary to practice consistent overall teaching goals, actual classes, and evaluation.
*Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology "Report on English Proficiency Survey for Improving English Education"
The goal of nurturing the four English skills in a well-balanced manner - "I can do it"
In communication in social life, we send out information and opinions according to various situations, purposes, and situations we encounter in our daily lives, and solve problems while communicating with others. Such skills cannot be properly measured from the conventional perspective of "correct" and "incorrect".
Therefore, what is needed is an index to measure foreign language proficiency that evaluates proficiency according to what you can do, rather than judging ability based on numbers. Overseas, it is common to use the Common European Framework of Reference for the Learning, Teaching and Assessment of Foreign Languages (CEFR) created by the Council of Europe. The CEFR is expressed in terms of "what can be done with the language (Can-Do statements)," and because it enables a more accurate understanding of specific abilities to be used, it is being used by education ministries in Asia and around the world. have adopted this metric. In Japan, too, the new Course of Study sets goals in line with the CEFR, and since English is the common international language, it is very meaningful to use the same indicators anywhere in the world.
- About CEFR
- CEFR and language levels (video)
Classes that nurture the four English skills in a well-balanced manner
In order for children and students to acquire the four skills of English in school education, it is important to make classes "a place to use English". It is also required to set up various situations and perform various language activities.
If classes were to focus only on improving grammar and vocabulary, it would be, so to speak, training by the pool and increasing knowledge of how to swim in order to become able to swim, and actually practicing in the water. It's the same as not doing it, and it's not going to make swimming fun and safe. In Japan, opportunities to come into contact with English in real life are limited. That is why the role of teaching is so important.
In order to nurture the four skills in a well-balanced manner, it is effective to break away from the all-English approach, which emphasizes the amount of English spoken by teachers, and promote English-Rich classes in which both teachers and students use English in a rich manner. It is important for teachers to be able to provide concrete and step-by-step support (scaffolding) in daily classes, based on the usage situations and situations for each skill, in accordance with the learning process. In this way, in addition to a certain level of proficiency in English, teachers are required to have practical teaching skills to enhance students' language activities using English.
Creating English Rich Classes
- Video: Teaching Speaking (Interaction)
- About English teacher training
Reasons why English 4 skills evaluation is required
The new Courses of Study aim to develop the ability to effectively use English in practical situations, rather than limiting it to a single piece of knowledge. To that end, it is necessary for all students, from elementary school to junior high school, high school, and even university, to share the goal of "what can be done using English." This means that we have made a major shift to focus on essential English proficiency, not just ``grammatical knowledge'' and ``simple English conversation''. In this trend, the use of qualifications and certification tests for the four skills can be said to be a natural trend in evaluating English proficiency and in entrance examinations. In the 2019 "National Academic Ability and Learning Status Survey (National Academic Ability Test)" for third-year junior high school students, English is required to evaluate four skills.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese junior and senior high schools do not sufficiently carry out language activities such as "speaking" and "writing," ・It has been pointed out that there is a problem in expressing appropriately according to the situation. This may have been related to the lack of opportunities to practice and assess the power of 'interaction'. In addition, it is said that the English proficiency of Japanese people as a whole has the same tendency in "speaking" and "writing".
Reason why you can't speak
Is it a good idea to prioritize reading and writing?
English Four Skills Test and Assessment Literacy
Incorporating the English 4 skills test is very effective in developing usable English skills. However, the effects of the introduction of the 4 skills test are premised on understanding the purpose, required skills, and characteristics of each test, and thoroughly examining them. The large number of 4-skills tests in the world have different purposes, targets, formats, evaluation criteria, etc. It is important to fully confirm what skills the exam to be introduced requires of the learners, and to work on learning after understanding the abilities required of the students themselves. Instead of setting the exam as the goal, I would like to imagine how I would like to be able to use it in the future, and then choose an exam that will help me develop that ability.
Against this background, there is increasing interest in the "assessment literacy" of teachers around the world. “Assessment literacy” refers to the ability to fully understand the characteristics of the exam and the skills required, and the ability to appropriately link learning goals/instructions with assessment. By improving assessment literacy, teachers can avoid falling into mechanical test measures that aim only at the test in front of them, for example, and focus on the original goal beyond the test, You can choose the evaluation method.
- About the English proficiency evaluation test "IELTS"
- About the English proficiency evaluation service “Aptis”
- BCT-S - Speaking Test for College Entrance Examinations
As an authority in English education
Improving English skills that can actually be used has been a philosophy of English education that the British Council has upheld since the beginning. Based on this, we have provided IELTS and other English proficiency evaluation systems, as well as various services that support the improvement of the quality of English education.
Today, due to the reform of English education promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the direction in which English education should aim is once again attracting attention. The British Council will continue to contribute to the improvement of the quality of English education in Japan, with the aim of helping students to acquire English that can be used around the world.