Foreign language education policies in Japanese prefectures and ordinance-designated cities

Actors, voluntary measures, and effectiveness

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify foreign language education policies in Japanese prefectures and ordinance-designated cities through a questionnaire survey, focusing on the actors, voluntary measures, and the effectiveness of policies. The main results of this research are as follows: (1) although the central government’s influence is significant, that of the actors in local governments is recognized to be equally significant, which suggests a pluralistic structure in the local governments; (2) differences in emphasis between local governments were observed in the voluntary measures; and (3) recognized effectiveness was higher in the ordinance-designated cities than in the prefectures.