Reconstruction of japanese junior high school students' perceptions of english through the integration of grammar and communication in the meisei summer school project (MSSP)

• Author: Yu Endo
• Position: Meisei University, Tokio, Japan
• Pages: 131-142

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 9 (58) No. 1 - 2016

RECONSTRUCTION OF JAPANESE

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’

PERCEPTIONS OF ENGLISH THROUGH

THE INTEGRATION OF GRAMMAR AND

COMMUNICATION

IN THE MEISEI SUMMER SCHOOL

PROJECT (MSSP)

Yu ENDO1

Abstract: In this paper is investigated the way of teaching English into an

integrative manner by focusing on both grammar and communication,

especially oral communication, in one English class of Japanese students.

Furthermore, it was investigated how such types of teaching influence

Japanese students’ perception of English, their target language. One topic of

controversy is whether or not Japanese junior high or high school teachers

should teach English in the medium of English. For collecting data were

employed research techniques such as participatory observation, video

recording, and informal interview to collect related data from the one junior

high school student, and also from the Meisei University students and

international volunteers who managed the English classes.

Key words: teaching English, grammar, communication, Meisei

University.

1. Introduction

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (MEXT) (2008) issued new

teaching guidelines in 2008. In the guidelines, it states that English teachers should teach

their classes focusing on nurturing “students’ basic communication abilities such as

listening, speaking, reading and writing, deepening their understanding of language and

culture and fostering a positive attitude toward communication through foreign

languages” (MEXT, 2008, p.1). Nevertheless, the English classes I observed during my

Japanese municipal junior high school in 2013 were not focusing on English

communication. They spent most of their class time on teaching new English vocabulary

(using flash cards), explaining grammatical forms, translating English sentences, reading

and practicing pronunciation at a phrase or sentence level. They did not spend much time

on communication activities. Consistent to the above experience I had in the junior high

1 Meisei University, Tokio, Japan, 14m6001@stu.meisei-u.ac.jp.