Master of Education Research Theses
Date of Successful Defense
8-1-2011
Date Degree Awarded
8-2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Education (M.Ed.)
School/Department
Education
Advisor
Michael W. Firmin, Ph.D.
Keywords
speak English, Japanese, elementary students, bilingual
Abstract
Japanese schools have invested much money and effort in teaching English, yet why do most Japanese people not speak English? Their reticence has been attributed to various factors including communication apprehension or language anxiety. In this study, qualitative, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 24 Japanese upper elementary students at a bilingual international school in Japan to investigate influences on their willingness to communicate in English. Through open coding of the students’ responses, four themes emerged. Intrinsic factors which made students reticent to speak in English were internal stress and the perceived difficulty of English speaking. Social groups and identity issues were extrinsic factors which were also found to influence Japanese students’ attitudes toward English speaking.
DOI
10.15385/tmed.2011.7
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Rohrer, Steven B., "Why Do Japanese People Not Speak English? Japanese Elementary Students in a Bilingual School" (2011). Master of Education Research Theses. 35.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_theses/35
