Based on these results, MEXT recognised that the quality of English education, particularly in nurturing speaking abilities, should be improved (MEXT, 2015). In addition, a nationwide English test conducted in 2014 by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture (MEXT) revealed that a majority of Grade 12 students were ranked at the lowest level (A1) in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), with their speaking performance lowest among the four skills measured. Admitting that there is no widely accepted, internationally comparable performance measure for English, Japan ranked 35th among 72 participating countries in a standardised English test conducted by EF Education First, a global language training company ( Note 2), and the average Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score among Japanese test-takers ranked 138th among 169 countries where TOEFL test centres operate ( Note 3).

In contrast, Japanese students' performance in English has been far from satisfactory. For example, according to the latest OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Grade 9 students, Japan ranked second in science, fifth in mathematics, and eighth in reading in 2015 ( Note 1).

In Japan particularly, the quality of English education has been an issue because it has not proved effective when compared with other East Asian countries (Butler 2015), and when compared with the quality of other school subjects.

It has increasingly been recognised among researchers and policymakers that the quality of education, rather than mere length, is important for individual earning power and economic wellbeing. Policymakers may wish to consider how to combine regular English lectures and online English learning programmes to improve results. Although a positive impact on English communication skills could not be established, mostly likely due to the low utilisation of the programme, it did have a positive impact on student attitudes. This column assesses the impact of an English learning programme via Skype for Japanese high school students. The quality of English language teaching in Japan is disappointing when compared with other East Asian countries or with the quality of other school subjects.

Japanese online skype