ABSTRACT
Evolving from my previous studies (Kobayashi, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013), this chapter addresses the issues of: (1) Japan’s decades-long poor English education, (2) Japanese senior high school students’ notions of English study, (3) Japanese college students’ notions of English study, and (4) the Japanese government’s notions of internationalization of higher education.
In the first section, for example, research findings and discussion of Japan’s English policies from the 1970s to the 2010s are reviewed to revisit the educational factors behind Japan’s flawed English education and a more recent critique of Japanese lawmakers’/teachers’ exploitation of English classes as a venue for so-called Japaneseness education. The latter part of the discussion suggests that a better understanding of English education policies and current/former English learners (e.g. parents) calls for the integration of sociopolitical and longitudinal perspectives into the discussion.
The present chapter ends with the possibility that the next decade would witness the evolution of Japanese learners of English and their English study purposes as the Japanese government continues devising ever more stringent and hierarchical policies for higher education while providing supposedly equal opportunities for English study in primary and secondary education.
