Honors Research Thesis Questionnaire

The following is a questionnaire. It can easily be copied and pasted into an email, filled out, and then e-mailed to me at karresearch@gmail.com. If e-mail is not preferred, it may also be possible to reply to the questions in the comment box.

Responses will be anonymous and only referred to by their teaching position (ie: if they're a high school or university teacher, etc.), and responders will not be contacted for any further information.
Once again, assistance in my research is greatly appreciated, and I thank in advance anyone who can spare the time to do so.

1. What is your experience with teaching or studying the curriculum of teaching English as Foreign Language in Japan? What is the extent of your formal education or experience in this area?

2. Do you believe that education in English is important for Japan’s youth? Is it important to teach English to pass university entrance exams, and/or the TOEFL and TOEIC, or to teach it for real language listening comprehension and speaking production skills?

3. Is it your belief that the university entrance exams (and similar tests) do much to influence the way English as a Foreign Language is taught in Japanese schools? Is the curriculum structured to teach general language skills, or specifically those that appear on the tests? Do you believe that the ‘backwash phenomenon’ actually exists, and if so: does it pose a concern to EFL education and at what education levels?

4. Are the entrance exams and tests structured in such a way as to test for real language competence (ie: listening comprehension and speech production), or do they mainly test for abstract qualities and skills (like knowledge of difficult grammar terminology) that may not be immediately helpful in producing and understanding English as spoken language?

5. What are the main obstacles to teaching productive EFL courses in Japanese high schools outside of the university entrance exams? Has progress been made in overcoming these obstacles? What, in your opinion, is the “main” obstacle at the current time?

6. What steps has the government taken to encourage productive EFL courses? Have any of these steps yet proven effective in EFL education for real language competency; have any of these steps actually made a negative impact?

7.  In your professional opinion, how does the future of EFL education in Japanese schools look? Will the issues covered above remain a problem for some time, or have solutions been found or have begun to be found?

If anyone wishes to include additional comments or insights, they may feel free to do so at the end.