Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is organized into three parts. Part I presents the current status of secondary English education in Israel, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, especially describing their continuous efforts to establish better curricular and instructional policies but with some expected and unexpected challenges and even failures during implementation of some new and innovative changes. Part II includes Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, which have engaged in specific policy development but with some major implementation difficulties related to their secondary English education. Part III includes papers on the issues of developing secondary English textbooks in Pakistan, valuing secondary learners' views on English teaching and learning in Vietnam, and reflecting regional critical needs in the curriculum and teaching for secondary learners in China.