1: Why are Reading and Writing classes conducted seperately in Japan? #2 Why is an English class conducted in Japanese? Thank you.
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Hello. Having taught English in Japanese high schools, I think I can help. In answer to your questions, actually English is separated into one class of vocabulary, grammar, etc. (reading and writing) and another one called oral communication. The oral communication class is relatively new and concentrates on spoken language and conversation rather than on reading and writing skills in the normal English class. It depends on the high school, but there are usually at least 2 hours of English (reading and writing) per week and 1 hour of oral communication. Most Japanese high schools concentrate on preparation for college entrance examinations which only judge reading and writing skills, so not much emphasis is put on oral communication. As for your second question, I think one main reason is what I said above, that schools concentrate on teaching the written language in order to prepare for entrance examinations. Many of the teachers also do not have the ability or are not confident enough to conduct the classes in English. Even if they did, with the very low level of English education in Japanese middle schools, very few students have a strong enough foundation to be able to follow classes conducted solely in English.
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