The Plan for an English Language Education System under Occupation in Japan: Focusing on the Establishment of “Foreign Language Education” in New Lower Secondary Schools

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  • 占領期日本における英語教育構想—新制中学校の外国語科の成立過程を中心に—
  • 占領期日本における英語教育構想 : 新制中学校の外国語科の成立過程を中心に
  • センリョウ キジツホン ニ オケル エイゴ キョウイク コウソウ : シンセイ チュウガッコウ ノ ガイコクゴカ ノ セイリツ カテイ オ チュウシン ニ

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Abstract

 The purpose of this paper is to clarify the plan for an English language education system under occupation in Japan, focusing on the establishment of foreign language education as a subject in new lower secondary schools, using the PWC Papers, SWNCC Papers, SFE Papers, GHQ/SCAP (CI&E) records, Trainor Papers, “Sengokyouiku-shiryo” (“Postwar Education Materials”), and Haruyama Papers. <br> The results are as follows;<br> The draft written by Gordon T. Bowles, a member of the Department of State, on 23 October 1945, stated that equal educational opportunities, expansion of secondary institutions and expanded teaching of the English language should be realized to ensure the completion of the Potsdam Declaration. The points of this draft were adopted at the recommendation of the SFE. Introduction of “Foreign Language Education” to new lower secondary schools was implemented by CI&E, having accepted SFE's recommendation. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education was reluctant to introduce “Foreign Language Education.”<br> At the beginning of drafting the “Course of Study for English,” Aoki Seishiro, chairman of the editorial committee for the Courses of Study, did not take a positive attitude towards the implementation of foreign languages. Under the instruction of CI&E's members, especially the linguist Abraham Halpern, it was Shishito Ryohei who wrote the “Course of Study for English.” In addition, the Institute of Research Language Teaching (IRLT) cooperated with the CI&E. IRLT offered its knowledge concerning phonetic symbols.<br> The School Education bill was drafted by the Bureau of School Education of the Ministry of Education, in which Foreign Language was not stipulated as a subject of the new lower secondary schools. The Bureau continued to maintain a halfhearted attitude toward “Foreign Language” until the new lower secondary schools started. Therefore, the “Course of Study for English” and the School Education bill diverged.<br> The results of this research indicate that the plan for an English Language Education System under the Occupation in Japan, which established the subject of “Foreign Language” in the new lower secondary schools, was the plan for English education policy offered by the US government during the occupation.

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