Homeroom Teachers’ Perspectives on Goal Achievement in Japan’s Foreign Language Activity Classes

抄録

This paper offers data from a 2013 nationwide survey (n=1802) on the status of primary school based foreign language activity (FLA) classes in Japan, focussing on the influence of teacher backgrounds, beliefs, and situational variables on overall FLA goal achievement. While an observed decrease in the percentage of classes that homeroom teachers (HRTs) conduct alone may be considered an improvement, it may also lead to a dependency on ALTs and other assistants. Time for class planning remains inadequate for one-third of respondents, and only one-quarter of team-taught classes are being led by HRTs. However, over 80% of teachers indicate that FLA is important to their pupils and express a desire to learn English. These and other variables are measured against HRT perceptions of goal achievement. Results show the highest correlations with class achievement are pupil enthusiasm, HRT views on the importance of FLA, and the HRT’s own English abilities. Primary teachers with English teaching licences (9.6%) indicate a slightly higher perception of goal achievement than those without.