Preservice and inservice English as a foreign language teachers’ perceptions of the new language education policy regarding the teaching of classes in English at Japanese senior high schools

Abstract

To date, Japan has attempted to create national-level standardization so as to consolidate the quality of education. One reason for this is an awareness of “global competitiveness” (Hargreaves, 1994, p. 5). Knowledge of science and technology is assumed to promote Japan’s productivity and prosperity and to stabilize its national position in international affairs. Thus, the government, especially after the Second World War, carried out a series of education reforms in order to institutionalize “scientific disciplines after Western models” (Figal, 1999, p. 77). As a result, national conformity in the quality of education has made it possible for Japan to claim excellence in basic education founded on the rigid compulsory education system (see Lucien, 2001).