I attended the JALT Annual Conference in KIta-Kyushu in November 2001 and concentrated on finding out about elementary school English education in other Asian countries.

First, Taiwan - information from Professor F.Tsao

The main change in Taiwan has been from September 2001. Until then, the National Language (Mandarin) was dominant in schools. From then, there has been some mother tongue and English education.

Why has English been introduced?

Taiwan has and is developing greatly economically and it is thought that about half a million people are needed who have both specialized knowledge and a good command of English and Mandarin.

How are teachers trained?

A new programme gives trainees 240 hours (120 hours on teaching methodology and 120 hours on English proficiency). Trainees who enter need a TOEFL score of 600.

What are the good points?

Taiwan is a bilingual/multilingual language environment, so there is openness to second language learning. English was introduced at just the top two grades of elementary school (5th and 6th), so the pressure was not as great as introducing it more widely.

What are the problems?

Regionally, school locations in Taiwan are very varied. Some schools are in remote islands or mountainous areas which are not so attactive for some teachers. These schools have fewer classes in each grade than city schools, so it is difficult to employ teachers just to teach English.

How about South Korea?