In preparation for my next paper I've been doing some research on the Sunshine textbook from Kairyudo Publishing. Kairyudo has been publishing English textbooks for over 50 years, since just after WWII. The first English series was called Jack & Betty. I'd love to see a copy of it, to see how English texts have changed in 50 years. I contacted Kairyudo Publishing and they directed me to the Textbook Research Center in Tokyo. I will be in Tokyo next weekend, if it's open on Saturday maybe I'll try to check it out!
Everyone is quick to judge how horrible the textbooks are in JHS, but because I haven't seen anything better in use, and nothing more innovative in approach, I'm really very skeptical that a more innovative (i.e. learner-centered) style text/syllabus would work in a JHS 3phw (3 hours per week) context (Legislation by Hypothesis: The Case of Task-based Instruction by M. Swan, 2005 ).
The standard government textbooks are developed to meet the standards of MEXT, the organization responsible for the national educational curriculum. The English curriculum is supposed to Develop Japanese with English Abilities.
Everyone is quick to judge how horrible the textbooks are in JHS, but because I haven't seen anything better in use, and nothing more innovative in approach, I'm really very skeptical that a more innovative (i.e. learner-centered) style text/syllabus would work in a JHS 3phw (3 hours per week) context (Legislation by Hypothesis: The Case of Task-based Instruction by M. Swan, 2005 ).The standard government textbooks are developed to meet the standards of MEXT, the organization responsible for the national educational curriculum. The English curriculum is supposed to Develop Japanese with English Abilities.
2 comments:
I can't find on amazon the book you mentioned. can you tell me the publisher and/or ISBN? Sounds interesting.
which text book? Jack & Betty or Sunshine? Jack & Betty is only available in the archives. Sunshine should be on amazon...and if not go directly to Kairyudo Publishing site.
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