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Problems for learners in japanJapan is well known to be one of the most advanced countries not only in Asia but also worldwide. They love their own language and well known to be nationalistic. In Japan, compulsory education comes in these pattern; three years in kindergarten (Y?chien), six years in elementary (Sh?gakk?) and three years in junior high school (Ch?gakk?). On the other hand, it?s not mandatory for students to go to high school/senior high school (K?k?) and universities because they can land a job after finishing junior high school. Surprisingly, students have difficulties in terms of speaking, writing, or comprehending english language correctly. The most common problem that I have encountered as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) here in Japan is that the japanese Teachers of english (JTE?s) are teaching the english language by the use of their native language. The student might be able to absorb the teachings but they can?t practice it because the environment in which they are most especially in classroom speaks their native language including their teacher. One common problem that I have observed in terms of grammar is the patterns of simple sentence. For example, in english we can write ?I drive a bus? but in japanese the pattern goes this way, ?I bus a drive?. In terms of reading, the japanese students tend to be monotone. The pronunciation is also one of the problems for learners because they have difficulty in pronouncing letter ?L? and letter ?R?. Some japanese Teachers of english are not giving opportunities to their students to speak out their thoughts or feelings in the class basically it?s too teacher-centered. There are guidelines that limit the english vocabulary that is to be learned during the three years in junior high school amounting to 1000 words. Some japanese teachers use Presentation Practice and Production (PPP) and basically it creates an impression that grammar is the main key to language learning. On the other hand japanese systems really focus on reading and text-based things, speaking is not that important that is why it?s so hard for japanese people to speak and understand english. Some teachers don?t have the confidence to teach reading because they are afraid of mispronouncing words. As what I have observed, there is lack of engage and activate activities most especially in Junior and Senior high school. So, the students become bored when their teacher is already starting the lesson proper. If we teachers are giving our students the time to speak out and not being teacher-centered then our students will learn faster because they can practice their conversation skills. We need students to be exposed in an english environment so that they will be familiar with it and it will increase their interest in learning the english language. In my own opinion, even if we are teaching elementary, junior high school or senior high school we need to activate them so that they will be enjoying while learning the lesson and I strongly believe that this is the most effective and efficient way to inculcate to the students the learning they should have.
