発信箱：ペラペラよりも＝玉木研二（論説室）

(Mainichi Japan) December 30, 2008

English education in Japan isn't all about fluency

発信箱：ペラペラよりも＝玉木研二（論説室）

It was in the spring of 2003 that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology put forward a plan to foster English skills in Japanese children. The ministry envisaged junior high and high school graduates being able to communicate in English and university graduates being able to use English in their jobs.

The aim was to have junior high school students reach grade 3 of the Test in Practical English Proficiency, and high school students reach grade pre-2. But that goal is still a long way off.

　＜「英語が使える日本人」の育成のための行動計画＞を文部科学省が掲げたのは０３年春だ。中学・高校を出たら英語でコミュニケーションができ、大学卒は仕事で英語が使える－－を目標に、目安は中学で英語検定３級、高校は準２級以上と。ああ、その道はるか。

Recently, plans were unveiled to teach English at elementary schools and to teach high school English classes in English. We hear that teachers are perplexed over the move.

そして今度は小学校に英語、続いて高校は英語の授業を英語で、となった。先生は困惑しているという。

In the autumn of Japan's defeat in World War II, famed Japanese author Osamu Dazai penned a letter saying, "I'm utterly depressed. I can't do interpreting or anything of the sort. It's obvious that I'll be made to look foolish." As someone who attended Tokyo Imperial University -- albeit briefly -- and made a living out of writing, it seemed inevitable that locals would ask him, "Teacher, what are the Americans saying?" He shuddered at the thought.

　＜ユウウツの限りです。私には通訳も何も出来やしないのですからね。大恥をかくのは明白な事です＞。敗戦の秋、疎開先で太宰治は手紙に書いた。中退であれ元帝大生、文筆で飯食っていれば、地元民に「先生、アメリカさん何言ってんだ」と頼られよう。彼はおびえた。

Apparently, it was actually the English teachers who faced a tough situation. During the war there had been no lessons in the "language of the enemy" and the teachers had no contact with Americans. It was only natural that they couldn't make themselves understood straight away, but it must have been hard for them to endure the stares of those around them, particularly their pupils.

　実際英語教師には災難だったらしい。戦時中は「敵性語」で授業はなく、米国人に接したこともない。すぐ通じなくて当然だが、周囲の目、とりわけ教え子の視線はつらかったろう。

But in the 60 years since then, what has been missing in English education?

　それから６０年以上、何が足りなかったのだろう。

Tadaichi Hirakawa, who was a pioneer in English conversation teaching through his postwar radio program, never received a specialized English education. He was born into a farming family in Okayama, and at the age of 16 followed his father to America, where he had gone to work. As a railway worker, he studied English to survive. He returned to Japan before the war and joined NHK. Following Japan's defeat, he broadcast the Emperor's official announcement in English.

　戦後「カム・カム・エブリバディ」のテーマ曲でラジオ英会話の草分けとなった平川唯一氏は、特に専門教育を受けた人ではない。岡山の農家に生まれ、１６歳で出稼ぎの父を追い渡米。鉄道工員などをし、生きるための英語を学ぶ。戦前帰国、ＮＨＫに入り、敗戦時は天皇の詔勅を英語で放送した。

The first half of Hirakawa's life was marked by chops and changes, and earnestness with respect to English. Lying behind his warm and witty English conversation lessons, no doubt, was an accumulation of tough experiences. I think the true value of language study linked with a person's way of living lies within a lifestyle like this.

英語を巡る懸命、変転の半生。人々を引きつけた温かく軽妙な会話指南の裏地はその積み重ねた苦労だろう。生き方と結びついた語学の真骨頂がそこにあると思う。

If the purpose of the government's action plan is only to make people fluent in English -- which, by the way, is a difficult thing to do -- it is of no use at all. (By Kenji Tamaki, Editorial Writer, Mainichi Shimbun)

　単に（といっても大変なことだが）ペラペラになるだけが目標では、国の＜行動計画＞は絵に描いた餅になるほかない。

毎日新聞　2008年12月30日　0時02分