The Japanese school
A Japanese child's education is divided into three stages: 6 years' elementary school, 3 years' junior high school and 3 years' senior high school. There are both state and private schools and education at state schools is free until the end of compulsory education (15), though a nominal fee is charged thereafter. The school year starts in April and ends in March.
The age range of pupils in the Japanese partner school is likely to be 6 - 12 (elementary school), 12 - 15 (junior high school) or 15 - 18 (senior high school). Private schools may encompass both junior and senior high schools.
Most students begin to study English in the first year of junior high school at age 12. However, there is a new government initiative to introduce English in elementary schools, so the situation is changing. The emphasis at elementary school is on the spoken language, concentrating on listening and speaking skills.
Most Japanese schools will be looking for a link to give students an active context for their study of English. Others, particularly at elementary and junior high school level, see a link as a complement to work through the Integrated Learning Curriculum, fulfilling international understanding, English for communication and ICT requirements.
By default, English tends to be the main link language between Japan and the UK. On the whole, if your link school is:
- an elementary school, the pupils will have limited or no knowledge of English. All Japanese teachers will have studied English at some point and some may be quite fluent. However, many will lack confidence in their ability to administer a link in English. Some elementary schools have regular visits by native speaker English teachers who could be involved in the link. Local international associations may also be able to help. Alternatively, consider making use of the Japan UK LIVE! Project Pages, where language support can be given.
- a junior high school, the pupils will have a little knowledge of English. Most new first years will be studying the language for the first time, but usually have enormous enthusiasm and desire to communicate. By the third year, the most common grammatical structures have been covered and a good, basic vocabulary acquired
- a senior high school, the students will have a reasonable level of English, especially written. They may be less fluent speakers than continental European students of the same age. They will be studying fairly complex grammatical structures and learning advanced vocabulary, but may have few opportunties to speak the language.
If you have questions about setting up a school link, please contact Katherine Donaghy. We also welcome your comments or suggestions concerning these guidelines,
so please email us with them.
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