Abstract
The purpose of this research was to investigate the achievement indicators (AI) for
ELT in the Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education (BPPE) established by Japan's
national, prefectural, and municipal governments, and to discuss the characteristics of the
AIs and the regional factors that promote / impede their formulation. A central first edition
of the BPPE was published in 2007 based on the Basic Act on Education, and was revised
in 2013. Each prefecture had formulated a BPPE by the end of the FY2016, and all 47
plans are currently available. However, there are too many municipal governments to
gather every BPPE. In this study, the 47 prefectural BPPEs were collected and 1,000 out
of 1,819 municipal BPPEs were examined using a nationwide questionnaire. In the end,
approximately half of the prefectural governments and 11.1% of the municipal
governments formulated their AIs. In addition, school principals frequently participated
in the policy-making processes for them. Furthermore, many local governments consider
that the AIs formulated by the prefectural and municipal governments reflect their
individualities rather than the policy of the national government. This paper concludes
that the ELT policy-making process in Japan is complex rather than having a top-down
structure.
