Sociopolitical Issues in Language Instruction Junior/Senior High School Research-Oriented Short Presentation
Portraying Political Struggles in the English-Only Policy for JHS
A controversial English-only policy for teaching English was recently introduced to junior high schools. This presentation shows the analysis of the policy-making process, with a focus on policy makers’ differing positions toward English education and the English-only policy. The analysis revealed a complex process in which those positions were conflated in the English-only policy, while the position prioritizing oral communication in English education became prominent, portraying political struggles in developing Japan’s English education policy.
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Takeshi Kajigaya is an English teacher and a PhD student in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He earned his MA in Second Language Studies from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2014, focusing on language policy and ideology. Takeshi has also taught various English-related courses for more than 10 years in the US, China, and Japan to gain deep knowledge about language education and policy-practice relationships. His research interests include language policy and language ideology. He is currently interested in making and implementation of language-in-education policy in Japan from interdisciplinary perspectives of applied linguistics and political science/economy.