(2241) EXPERIMENTAL SURVEY RESEARCH TOWARDS NEW CHALLENGE ON ENGLISH LEARNING EXPERIENCES AS COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN JAPANESE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

摘要

Ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology Japan made foreign language activitiesa compulsory course for all primary school students in grade 5 and 6 from a new term in 2011.Recently the ministry announced a new implementation program of English educational reformationtowards the globalizations which aims at earlier starting ESOL (English for Speakers of OtherLanguage) from grade 3 and increasing the time to teach English for all classes in primary students,and also strengthening the leadership for all students from primary to senior high school students. Astatement of the ministry's official guidelines for school teaching in elementary schools published in2008 describes that “When dealing with sound, teacher should make active use of audio-visualmaterials such as CDs and DVDs” [1]. A Japanese company developed a new type of sound basedpen touch equipment with several functions of reading and speaking on the textbook, and recording ofa student's spoken English and playback of the sound. This new equipment is expected to enhancethe practical English learning experience effectively for ESOL learning students in place of CDs. Weplanned an experimental survey research project at a Japanese elementary school to assess theeffectiveness of new type of equipment.