Original Articles
Changes in the teaching units for writing argumentative essays withinJapanese language textbooks for elementary schools
A quantitative analysis
2010 Volume 53 Issue 1-2 Pages 24-32
Details
2010 Volume 53 Issue 1-2 Pages 24-32
The purpose of this study was to examine how the methods used to teach the writing of argumentative essays had changed within Japanese language textbooks for sixth-graders at elementary school since the World War II. The author surveyed 166 textbooks (83 kinds, across two volumes), which were published between Showa 36 (1961) and Heisei 20 (2008) by six publishing companies (Gakko Tosho, Kyoiku Shuppan, Mitsumura Tosho, Nihon Shoseki, Osaka Shoseki, and Tokyo Shoseki), and compared quantitative data (such as numbers of pages, numbers of model essays) for the teaching units for writing argumentative essays with data for other writing activities. The results indicated that the number of pages and the percentage of teaching units for writing argumentative essays were relatively low, and the number of model essays for argumentative writing was also lower than the number associated with other genres. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that there were much greater differences among the National Curriculum Standards for Elementary School than among the publishing companies.
