Which language is best at primary school?
The question of whether to introduce English-language education at the primary-school level divided panelists at a recent Osaka symposium but all agreed that more effective curriculums would be essential in raising primary-school children's awareness of language as a whole, including both Japanese and English.
The symposium was held in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, by the municipal board of education, with panelists comprised Prof. Yukio Otsu of Keio University; Yuko Naoyama, a supervisor on the Kyoto Municipal Board of Education; and Masataka Kan, senior specialist on curriculums in the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's school curriculum division.
As the first part of the symposium, Otsu, a psycholinguist who has long opposed making English education compulsory at the primary-school level, conducted a demonstration lesson on language education with about 30 third-year students of the Neyagawa municipal Meiwa Primary School.
The lesson was held under the theme, "Let's explore the world of language."
Otsu introduced students to the layered structure of languages by using simple Japanese words.
He gave them one word and one phrase, "kowai" (scary) and "me (eyes) no," and encouraged the students to add another word to make a three-word phrase.
The students suggested "obake (ghost)," "okami (wolf)," "kyoryu (dinosaur)" and other words, making phrases like "kowai me no obake (ghost with scary eyes)."
Otsu then took an example from those suggested by the students, and asked, "Would it work if I used 'byoki (disease)' to make a phrase?"
He suggested the phrase "kowai me no byoki," which means a scary eye disease.
From the differences between the two types of phrases provided by the students and Otsu, the students learned how the word "scary" can modify different words even with the same word order.
"Kowai" modifies "me" and "byoki" in the two different phrases, and Otsu helped the students to be aware that the two phrases are spoken with different accents and pauses.
They were encouraged to make up a three-word phrase and think about which of the two types of phrase their example matched.
Otsu then suggested another three-word phrase--"okina inu no me"--and asked the students which type of phrase it was. The students divided into two groups, some believing it meant "dog with big eyes," and some "eyes of the big dog." The students learned there are some phrases that can have two different meanings, and that the differences can only be detected by where the emphasis is put by the speaker.
Otsu added that similar problems can be found in English and other languages, saying: "In English, the phrase [okina inu no me] is 'big dog's eyes.' This can have two meanings. When the dog has big eyes, it is spoken as 'big (pause) dog's eyes,' but it is pronounced as 'big dog's (pause) eyes' when it's the dog that is big."
He then finished the class with a pronunciation lesson about the two different versions of the English phrase.
At the symposium following the trial lesson, Otsu explained that the purpose of the classwork he introduced to the third-year students was to help make them aware of the interesting complexity and depth of languages.
He claimed that the awareness could help develop children's abilities to use a language, including foreign languages like English. He said, "For that purpose, it is definitely better to use the children's mother tongue--Japanese, not English."
Otsu believes that English lessons at primary school will be a failure, saying, "Teaching English at primary school does a lot of harm and brings no benefit."
He says the purpose of education should be to help children become interested in the things around them and to develop their interests and creativity, adding, "A language is the best medium for that."
English is clearly one of those languages, but Otsu says it does not suit primary school students. "Some people might consider a foreign language a good way of helping students to become aware of the intriguing complexity of language. However, because children have no fundamental knowledge of the foreign language, it's quite difficult for them to develop this awareness themselves, or for teachers to help them become aware."
So it is better to use Japanese first to get them interested in languages, and after that, English education should be introduced, Otsu said. "By doing so, children can sense and enjoy the differences in the two languages and use both of them better."
In addition, he says it is impossible for children to master English with only a few hours of English classes a week, in which children just sing English songs and enjoy other activities.
Arguing against Otsu was Naoyama, who has been involved in promotion of English education at primary schools in Kyoto. She pointed to a bigger communication problem observed among students at primary and middle schools, saying, "Many children have no experience of communicating with others prior to getting interested in languages."
"I've seen many cases when students are unable to express themselves even in their mother tongue, and aren't even aware of their problem," she said. "They have no ability to listen patiently to others."
As one measure to provide students with opportunities to communicate with others, she claimed English education at primary school could work well.
"By using English, with which most of students aren't familiar, they're inevitably required to listen carefully to what others are saying if they are going to understand, and they have to make a greater effort in order to express themselves clearly. I believe these efforts can motivate students to communicate better with other people."
Asked by Otsu why English should be chosen among the many other languages, Naoyama acknowledged that the language to be used in the classroom did not necessarily have to be English, but she said, "English is best because it is one of the most widely used languages around the world."
Kan, who was formerly involved in the improvement of English education as a member of the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, agreed with Otsu that it is important to help students become interested in languages as a whole.
However, he added that students can freely use their mother tongue without paying much attention to how the language is used. "So students can learn something more about their native language by studying English or other languages and comparing the two," he concluded.
Kan recently visited France to examine that country's English education, and said that according to French education officials, English is taught in part to help students use their native language better, and to develop their respect for French.
"The officials said that they provide children with English education because it is a vital tool to help them prosper in the European Union and the world, not to import British or American culture."
The three agreed that teachers are the keys to the success of language education, saying that they should not become like a language school teacher who only teaches students formulaic phrases. Instead, they urged teachers to develop students' creativity and help them find an interest in languages.