Poor English Skills in Japanese People - Essay Example

Overcoming Japanese EFL Learners’ fear of speaking English Today, learning English has become extremely important in any country. With English becoming compulsory subject in most schools, the problem of language anxiety has emerged as a common problem among Japanese EFL learners. Some common factors attributed to such anxiety are fear of losing one’s cultural identity, lack of confidence along with Japanese learners’ cultural traits like shyness and reticence. The three main reasons behind language anxiety are communication apprehension, social evaluation and inter-learner competition. Moreover Japanese educational process focuses more on evaluation framework which is unlike Western process of education, and this instills fear of committing errors in Japanese EFL learners. Therefore, EFL teachers should focus on creating informal ambiance within the classroom and establishing positive relationship among students from different cultural backgrounds so that Japanese learners can shed their language anxiety in front of others. Introduction Today, English has become a common language to be taught in schools all over the world. For this purpose, schools are making broad use of technology in combination with second language theories. The idea is to adapt the best available practice that can enhance learning of English as second language. Any process that has been proved by previous research to yield best results is regarded as the best practice. It essentially includes “commitment of a teacher who is willing to use the knowledge and techniques at his or her disposal to ensure student success” (Li, 2013, p.218). Proposal Foreign language anxiety is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon among learners, and it is rapidly gaining attention among researchers for its significant impact on a learner’s ability to learn and retain a new language. This paper focuses on Japanese EFL learners’ fear of speaking English. Recommendations have been provided on how to overcome such fear. Poor English skills in Japanese people Although English has become a compulsory subject in most secondary and tertiary institutions in Japan, it is still an extremely common phenomenon that Japanese people exhibit poor English communication skills. Every year, millions of dollars are spent for making Japanese people proficient in English with the help of native or non-native English speaking teachers. Many Japanese students even travel to Western countries to learn English. There are many accepted theories that tend to explain poor English speaking skills among the Japanese. One such theory blames the geographical location of the country that isolates it from other English speaking countries thereby providing fewer opportunities to the Japanese people to interact with foreigners. Moreover, Japanese education system focuses more on examination results than actual quality of learning. Most of the teachers in Japan are ones who have knowledge about English language but are not fluent in speaking the language as a result of which they lack the confidence in how to teach speaking. Also, there are certain cultural traits in the Japanese people like shyness, reticence and apprehension that act as hindrances in their learning process. There are also some researchers who claim that Japanese people have such brain constitution that make them innately incompetent in learning English (Nagatomo, 2012, pp.15-16). Language anxiety in Japanese EFL learners In spite of all the above theories attributed to poor English skills in Japanese people, one major attributed reason is their language anxiety. Cutrone (2009) has explored the language anxiety that affects the oral performance of Japanese EFL (English and Foreign Language) learners. Studies have suggested that the level of anxiety that a student suffers while learning a foreign language is greater than the anxiety he or she suffers while learning any other subject. Since any research regarding language anxiety is still in nascent stage therefore, it has not yet been clearly defined. However, Gardner and MacIntyre (1993, p.5) has defined language anxiety as “the apprehension experienced when a situation requires the use of a second language with which the individual is not fully proficient”. Various researchers have concluded different effects of language anxiety. While some studies have shown that a certain degree of language anxiety can enhance the performance level of learners, there are others who argue that language anxiety at all times have a negative effect on the learning capacity of the student. Some studies have also established a relationship between language anxiety and the communication strategies of learners in a class. For instance, it has been studied that anxious students exhibit less activities like speaking and writing in class than relaxed students. In general, there are three reasons that have been attributed to language anxiety. First, there is communication apprehension which means students are afraid of doing conversation in second language since they remain unsure that they will not reach the anticipated level of communication. This kind of language anxiety is very common in oral EFL classes in Japan. The second attributed reason is social evaluation which indicates that second language learners remain apprehensive about how their second language conversational ability will be perceived by their peers and family. This second kind of language anxiety is prevalent in the Japanese society. The third reason attributed to language anxiety is inter-learner competition which means that students are afraid of failing in their language assessment tests (Cutrone, 2009, p.56). There are also other reasons that are considered as contributors to language anxiety like learners may feel they will lose their original cultural identity once they experience a new language and culture. Among all the fields of education, learning second language poses the greatest threat to self-identity. Most EFL learners believe that learning a new language will endanger their traditional beliefs and conceptions about the self. Lack of self-esteem also causes fear of committing errors and becoming target of ridicule among peers. Learners with high level of self-esteem have less language anxiety than learners with low level of self-esteem since the latter remain concerned with pleasing their peers. Also, Japanese people have limited opportunities in their own country to practice speaking English. Most students complain that they can practice speaking English only in class while outside the class there is very little scope to speak the language (Tseng, 2012, p.78). Finally, there are more factors like “motivation, personality, experience and self-confidence” (Cutrone, 2009, p.57) that also lead to different degrees of language anxiety in second language learners. Japanese EFL learners are mostly reluctant to speak One main characteristic that has been observed in Japanese EFL learners is that they are mostly reluctant to speak which means they rarely participate in any kind of communication. Most learners in Japanese Universities “rarely initiate conversation, avoid bringing up new topics, do not challenge the teacher, seldom ask for clarification, and do not volunteer answers” (Cutrone, 2009, p.58). Generally, such reticent characteristic of Japanese EFL learners is considered as an outcome of their fear towards adapting a foreign language. However, Japanese people are also known for their cultural attachment. According to researchers the Japanese do engage in conversations but they prefer to talk within their own cultural context and avoid talking in circumstances where there will attract attention from peers. Therefore it is extremely common for EFL teachers to experience lack of query based communication from Japanese learners. There is also another reason behind the reticence of the Japanese learners. The method of teaching in Japanese classrooms is vastly different from the Western process of teaching. While the Western EFL teachers focus on individualism which means persuading students to form their own ideas and challenging the teachers, the Japanese on the other hand consider compliance and passivity as virtues of a good student. Unlike the Western form of teaching, the Japanese teachers do not encourage students to form individual opinions. For this reason, Japanese EFL learners very often suffer from language anxiety during oral EFL classes. Another factor that has been considered as giving rise to language anxiety among Japanese learners is teacher’s behavior and attitude towards students. According to a survey result, 65 percent of Japanese students stated that a good English teacher is one who has a pleasant personality along with kindness, friendliness and a good sense of humor (Cutrone, 2009, p.58). Another reason for language anxiety among Japanese learners is the intense pressure they experience during their early years of education. Japanese education system emphasizes on evaluation framework as a result of which Japanese students remain busy with innumerous examinations. Such frequency of evaluation instills in them the fear of committing errors resulting in reluctance to participate in oral sessions. Such fear is automatically reflected in their EFL classes (Cutrone, 2009, p.59). Recommendations So far it has been observed that the greatest cause of language anxiety is the fear of learning a new language in a different cultural environment from a learner’s traditional culture. There can be multiple strategies adopted by teachers to make students comfortable in their EFL classes. One most common suggestion is that a teacher should create an informal ambiance in the classroom so that students do not feel afraid of attracting the attention of peers if they commit a mistake. Many teachers recommend that “instructors should create situations where students can feel successful in using English and avoid setting up the activities that increase the chances for the students to fail” (Hashemi & Abbasi, 2013, p.642). Another suggestion can be that teachers should encourage more communication so that students can successfully speak even with poor language competence. It is also important that teachers make their instructions clear and unambiguous so that students can easily grasp the ideas to fulfill their task. Since Japanese people feel restrained within a foreign cultural environment therefore teachers should create intimate situations so that Japanese learners can explore English language comfortably in front of others. One recommended strategy is that teachers should create associations between topics and personal experiences of Japanese learners and encourage them to share their experiences with other foreign students. In this way, Japanese learners will get more acquainted with other students which will help them to shed their language anxiety. Conclusion Language anxiety is an extremely common problem faced by EFL teachers. In Japan, this problem stems from the fear of losing one’s cultural identity. The idea is to create an informal environment in classrooms so as to encourage them to shed their inhibitions and fears of committing mistakes in front of others. It is most important that teachers distribute their knowledge of language in order to enhance the learning ability of students. References Cutrone, P. (2009) Overcoming Japanese EFL Learners’ Fear of Speaking, Language Studies Working Papers, Vol.1, pp.55-63 Gardner, R. & MacIntyre, P. (1993) A student’s contribution to second language learning. Part II: Affective Variables. Language Teaching, Vol.26, No.1, pp.1-11 Hashemi, M. & Abbasi, M. (2013) The Role of the Teacher in Alleviating Anxiety in Language Classes, International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, Vol.4, No.3, pp.640-646 Li, N. (2013) Seeking Best Practices and Meeting the Needs of the English Language Learners: Using Second Language Theories and Integrating Technology in Teaching. Journal of International Education Research, Vol.9, No.3, pp.217-222 Nagatomo, D. (2012) Exploring Japanese University English Teachers’ Professional Identity, Multilingual Matters Tseng, S.F. (2012) The Factors Cause Language Anxiety for ESL/EFL Learners in Learning Speaking. WHAMPOA – An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol.63, pp.75-90 Read More