Globalisation and national communities of communication

by Joseph Lo Bianco (2005)

New Words
-When the ambulance gone, the crowd dissolved.
-He returned to Britain in 1939, having resided abroad for many years.
-A vernacular is the language spoken in a particular area or by a particular group, especially one that is not the official or written language.
-He devoted his energies to the cause of peace.
-They reverted to the subject of finance.
-He is a highly esteemed scientist.
-He is my revered teacher.

Language planning in Japan
Generally, Japanese people cannot speak English fluently, though we have studied English for many years. For this reason, the government and educational board started to focus on speaking at school. As the article said, the national curriculum has been changed. As a result of this, English has been taught as a foreign language at Japanese junior high schools and elementary school students have started to learn English conversation without textbooks since 2001. Before 2001, there were a lot of arguments about starting English at elementary school. Some experts such as linguists and university professors argued that it was too early and they needed to Japanese more at this stage. Then, it was pointed out that students literacy was falling down and the way of speech style was not suitable. However, the national curriculum will be changed again in one or two years and English is going to be a subject at elementary school officially.