English Speaking Teaching in China and Japan
204M049 Q. L. Y.
This paper starts with descriptions of some recent new changes that happened in Japan and China's English language education from the view of the Ministry of Education, school teachers, parents and whole society. The changes demonstrated that great attention has been paid on English communicative education. However, most students still can not make comprehensive communication in English even after many years study, which is a common phenomenon in both countries' English language education.
The participants in this study are first year and second year high school students in No 8. High School Xi'an in China, and Kobe High School in Japan. The data showed that there are some similarities and differences in Chinese and Japanese students' English speaking study.
The similarities are large and various levels of English ability classes, the teacher-centered instruction, the common idea of moral value from the influence of Confucianism. And the similarities possibly play an important role in hindering students' English speaking performance.
The differences discussed in this paper are the linguistic elements, the studying method for English speaking, the motivation for English study, the tradition of borrowing words and phrases, the quality and quantity of English teachers and English education levels inside China. All these dissimilarities contributed to different speaking performance between Chinese and Japanese students in different ways, and different levels.
In this research, I will also review three important psychological factors, anxiety, motivation, autonomy, which unconsciously influence the students' English speaking performance. Thus, any program for improving students' speaking ability should be conducted under consideration of those three factors.
This study suggests the possible methods like group work, learner-centered instruction, socioaffective strategies toward large-sized and various-level classes, teacher-centered instruction and the influence of Confucianism, as solutions to overcome the similar problems concerning the English speaking education in the two countries.
This study also proposes that the vital difference between Chinese and Japanese students' speaking study is for Chinese students to do reading aloud and repetition drills. These two effective methods are recommended to Japanese students when they try to succeed in their oral English speaking performance.