Fresh blow as Japan struggles to improve English fluency

Japan has once again seemingly failed to incorporate English speaking and writing into its national college entrance exam, even amid a decade-long decline in the English fluency and literacy needed to boost internationalisation and global research.

The 2020 EF English Proficiency Index ranked Japan 55th out of 100 countries and regions in the world, with a “low” level of proficiency. This marks a stark drop from 2011, when Japan was 14th in the world and had a “moderate” level of English.

A panel set up by the Education Ministry was expected to release detailed recommendations on the issue this summer. Currently, the entrance exam includes only English reading and listening comprehension.

But the panel has seemingly already said that the National Center for University Entrance Examinations will not develop the missing portions of the test, the Japan Times reported. The panel also dismissed an alternative of using outsourced private test providers, saying it would be “too difficult”.

Various proposals for fixing the test have been debated, and rejected, since at least 2019.

Masahiko Abe, a professor of English at the University of Tokyo, told Times Higher Education that the authorities were finding it difficult to incorporate “open-ended” questions into the rigid exam, which involves 500,000 candidates filing into mass testing halls at the same time each year.

“They lack facilities and qualified examiners to mark skills like speaking or writing – and even if they are marked, the results may be unreliable,” he said.

However, reliance on fee-charging private exam operations might create an “unfair” situation for rural or low-income students.

Professor Abe felt that the focus should not be on the exam, but rather on improving English in general.

“Politicians believe that if you change the test, you will improve students’ skills. But in fact, you need to change the classroom,” he said. “If all students do is study for a specific oral test, they still won’t have the skills they need.

“Many graduates are frustrated in their careers because they cannot communicate with their overseas colleagues in English. And those who have taken an academic path may not be able to write the way they want to,” Professor Abe said. “This may do damage to the reputation of universities, whose rankings may depend on the numbers of articles or conferences held in English.”

Futao Huang, a professor at the Research Institute for Higher Education at Hiroshima University, told THE that the situation could lead to fewer Japanese students going abroad for study or even short exchanges. “This would inevitably have a negative impact on the quality of Japanese graduates,” he said.

“On the one hand, it would become hard for Japan to foster graduates with global perspectives and who are able to be active globally. On the other hand, it would create more challenges for Japanese universities in attracting the best international students from English-speaking countries.

“In the future, it will also have a negative impact on young researchers, if they undertake internationally collaborative research with scholars outside Japan,” Professor Huang added.

joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com