Abstract
Recently, an increasing number of so-called "Super English Language High Schools" have been established all across the country including a couple of high schools in Okinawa Prefecture. This educational movement makes the writer think that it is meaningful to go back to the starting point of English language teaching which began at Okinawa Shun Middle School early in the Meiji period. The chief aim of this paper is to examine the development of the English language curriculum in the Middle School and the Girls' High School during the Meiji period in Okinawa Prefecture, to consider the reasons behind the curriculum and to gain some useful insights from this analysis. The main finding of this study is as follows: The Middle School curriculum was changed three times before English was made compulsory in 1897. The changes were as follows: In the Foundation Period (1881〜1885), there was no English language teaching, and then English was included as a subject in the regular curriculum for about nine years, followed by the three-year optional English period, and finally English was made compulsory as mentioned above. The English curriculum developed in 1903 for the First Okinawa Prefectural Middle School was formally similar to that in other prefectures. Five years later English became a regular subject for the first time at the Girls' High School. The writer refers to the eight English textbooks based on the middle school curriculum used in those days. He further continues to try to clarify the context of English teaching before summing up his main points in the final section of this study.
