It has been quite a disappointing week for Japanese junior high school students after exam reports revealed that very few had passed the English proficiency exam.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in Japan recently conducted a test to determine the English proficiency of their Japanese junior high school students. However, the results were underwhelming.
Because the test was divided into reading, talking, and writing categories, the results for each area were more highlighted. Out of roughly 60,000 junior high school students from across Japan who took the exam, there were only around 20 to 30% who passed English proficiency based on the ministry’s standard. Furthermore, there were about 20% of students who scored zero in the writing test.
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According to RocketNews24, it is unclear what seems to be the problem with regards to teaching and learning English, but the results clearly shows that new methods might probably help which is why the ministry is encouraging students to practice writing their emails using the English language.
But to add something positive to the results, the students who participated in the country-wide exam were still in their third year and final year of junior high school, so this means that those 20 to 30% who passed English proficiency are already ahead of their language courses.
However, Japan should not be so hard on themselves when it comes to learning English. From an economic standpoint, yes, it is beneficial, but many have applauded Japan for sticking with their language even when the rest of the world wants to be like the “West.”
Image via Flickr / Nanak26 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
