2. History
•1600 - The earliest record of first contact
between the Japanese and a native english
speaker. The year Tokugawa Ieyasu and
William Adams met.
•1848 - American Ranald MacDonald came to
Japan and taught English to 14 official
Japanese interpreters of Dutch in Nagasaki.
•1865 - Yokohama academy, one of the first
english schools was founded in Japan.
3. English language education
•Private language schools for English are known as
eikaiwa.
•EIKEN Test in Practical English Proficiency (Jitsuyo Eigo
Gino Kentei) often called STEP EIKEN or STEP test. It is
backed by backed by the Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
•There are two stages in the test, the first stage
(vocabulary, reading, listening, and writing) and the second
stage (speaking). Only those who pass the first stage can
progress to the second stage. The second stage is
conducted about one month after the first stage. Applicants
who pass both stages receive certification.
4. English language education
•Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC),
is an English language test designed specifically to
measure the everyday English skills of people working in
an international environment. Highest score: 990
•Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), is a test
of an individual's ability to use and understand English in an
academic setting. Highest score: 120
•TOEIC and TOEFL are both developed by Educational
Testing Service (ETS).
•International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is
an international standardised test of English language
proficiency. Highest score: 9
5. Challenges
Japanese students experience great difficulty in studying
English.. Some of the reasons are:
•Japanese word order
•Frequent omission of subjects in Japanese
•Absence of articles
•Absence of plurals
•Difficulties in distinguishing l and r
