Read ‘em：中高生の英語力、政府目標達成ならず

The English proficiency levels of junior high and senior high school students in Japan recorded in a survey in the 2021 academic year have again fallen short of the national government’s goals, the education ministry said May 18.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s survey examined the English ability of public junior high and high school students nationwide. A total of 47.0% of third-year junior high students had an English ability equivalent to at least Grade 3 certification in the “Eiken” Test in Practical English Proficiency, while 46.1% of third-year senior high schoolers had proficiency levels equivalent to Grade Pre-2 Eiken certification or above. Both groups failed to reach the Japanese government’s target of 50%, which it aims to achieve by the academic year of 2022.

When broken down by prefecture or ordinance-designated city, however, there were some cases where a rise in the language skills of instructors among other factors produced results, and significant differences were observed among local bodies.

The survey was carried out in December 2021, targeting third-year students in all 9,252 public middle schools and 3,306 public senior high schools in Japan. The study for the previous academic year was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19.

The government’s “third basic plan for the promotion of education,” which was confirmed by a Cabinet decision in 2018, outlines a plan to foster workers capable of performing on the global stage, and the Japanese government set a goal of having over 50% of students record an English ability of at least an A1 level on the six-tier Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale, which is equivalent to Grade 3 Eiken certification, at the point they graduate junior high. The government also set a target of having at least half of graduating high school students score an A2 level or higher on the CEFR scale, which is equivalent to a Grade Pre-2 Eiken certification or above.

The percentage of students who fulfilled the proficiency standards set by the government by either obtaining qualifications, including Eiken, or being assessed by teachers as having acquired the same level of proficiency, reached 47.0% for junior high students — up 3.0 percentage points from the previous survey in the academic year of 2019 — and 46.1% for senior high students — up 2.5 points from the previous survey. While an upward trend has been observed since the survey’s launch in the academic year of 2013, the government’s target of 50% has never been reached.

As for results by prefecture or ordinance-designated city, the city of Saitama saw the highest percentage of middle schoolers fulfilling the English ability goals (86.3%) for the second time in a row, followed by Fukui Prefecture (85.8%). In third place, nearly 20 percentage points behind, was the city of Fukuoka (66.0%). The difference between the city of Saitama and the local body with the lowest proportion of students meeting proficiency standards widened from 45.4 points in the previous survey to 54.4 points.

The Saitama Municipal Government began offering English education from the first grade in elementary school in the academic year of 2016. It creates an integrated curriculum that covers the nine years of elementary and middle school education, and values the four skills of “listening,” “speaking,” “reading,” and “writing” English.

The Fukui Prefectural Government, meanwhile, has assigned assistant language teachers (ALT) to all schools, and maintains a high standard of English education through efforts such as activities of a voluntary research group to which all English teachers at public middle and high schools belong. The education ministry takes the view that such aspects led to the high achievements by Saitama and Fukui.

The survey additionally examined the English ability of English teachers. For nationwide middle schools, 40.8% of English teachers had a B2 proficiency level on the CEFR scale (equivalent to Grade Pre-1 Eiken certification), or higher, while the proportion was 74.9% for high school teachers. By local body, Fukui Prefecture saw the highest proportions for both middle and high school teachers, at 64.8% and 96.9% respectively. The local bodies with the second greatest rate of qualifying instructors was the city of Hiroshima (62.0%) for middle schools, and Tottori Prefecture (96.0%) for high schools.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology commented, “Local municipalities and prefectures that have engaged in linguistic activities and efforts to enhance the English ability of instructors, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, have seen positive results, and we’d like to spread these favorable instances to other bodies.”

　文部科学省は18日、全国の公立中学・高校生の英語力を調べる2021年度の英語教育実施状況調査の結果を公表した。「英検3級」以上の英語力がある中学3年生は47.0％、「英検準2級」以上の高校3年生は46.1％で、政府が22年度までの達成を目指す50％には至らなかった。ただ、都道府県や政令市別では教員の語学力上昇などを背景に成果が出たケースもあり、自治体間の差が目立った。

　調査は21年12月、中学校9252校と高校3306校の全公立学校のそれぞれ3年生を対象に実施した。20年度は、新型コロナウイルス感染拡大の影響で中止になっていた。

　政府は、第3期教育振興基本計画（18年閣議決定）で、グローバル人材を育成するため、中学卒業段階で語学力の国際指標「CEFR（セファール）」のA1レベル（英検3級相当）以上、高校卒業段階でA2レベル（英検準2級相当）以上の生徒の割合を50％以上とする目標を設けている。

　今回、英検などの資格を取得しているか、教員が「同レベル相当の能力がある」と判断して政府の目標水準を満たした生徒の割合は、中学3年は前回（19年度）比3.0ポイント増の47.0％、高校3年は同2.5ポイント増の46.1％だった。13年度の調査開始以降、上昇傾向が維持されているが、目標の50％には一度も届いていない。

　都道府県・政令市別の結果では、中学校で目標に達した割合が高かったのは、前回と同じく1位がさいたま市（86.3％）で、2位は福井県（85.8％）だった。両県市は3位の福岡市（66.0％）とも約20ポイントの差があり、さいたま市と最も低い自治体との差は前回の45.4ポイントから54.4ポイントに広がっている。

　さいたま市では、16年度に小学1年から英語教育を始めており、中学3年までの9カ年で一貫したカリキュラムを編成して「聞く」「話す」「読む」「書く」の4技能を重視している。

　福井県は、外国語指導助手（ALT）を全校に配置しているほか、公立中学・高校の全ての英語教員が加入する自主的な研究会の活動などで英語力の水準も高く保たれている。文科省はこうした点が両県市の好成績につながったとみている。

　一方、英語担当教員の英語力も英検などの資格で調査しており、B2レベル（英検準1級相当）以上だった割合は、中学が40.8％、高校は74.9％だった。都道府県.政令市別で見ると、福井県は中学が64.8％、高校が96.9％でともに最も高かった。2位は中学が広島市の62.0％、高校が鳥取県の96.0％だった。

　文科省は「コロナ禍でも言語活動に取り組んだり、教員の英語力向上の努力を続けたりしている自治体で効果が出ており、好事例を横展開していきたい」としている。