Comparison of Finnish and Japanese English Textbooks
Nao Seyama
Abstract
Recently, Finland has attracted the attention of the world, as it is ranked at the top oftwo major international assessments in education. Many researchers and educators inJapan have thus been focusing their attention on the success of the Finnish school
system. While the above-mentioned international assessments do not show the ankingof English abilities, the study of English in Finland is quite well-respectedinternationally. In particular, international English tests such as the TOEFL have shown
Finland to continually be ranked near the top every year. In a survey of foreign
language proficiency in Finland, Latomaa & Nuolij&auml;rvi (2005) found 66 % of
Finnish people could speak at least some English. In comparison, Japan has beenshown to consistently rank between the middle and the bottom of such tests at theTOEIC and TOEFL. The different learning outcomes in Finland and Japan has provided
the impetus for this presentation. To learn more about how each country approaches
English education, in this presentation, I compare the two textbooks of each country,and analyze them. I have conducted a survey of two course book series: “English for
you too!” from grades 3-6(used in Finnish elementary schools) and “New Crown” fromgrade 1-3 (used in Japanese junior high schools). However, “Eigo no-to” is quite
different from “English for You, too!”. I compare the Japanese junior high school
textbooks, with Finnish textbook for elementary school students. I mainly focused myanalysis on two features: (1) number of new words introduced at each grade, and (2)the organization and grading of grammatical structures of the textbooks. Regarding
the result of (1), in Finland, students are required to acquire about 2000 words when
graduating from elementary school. However, in Japan, students acquire only 1200
words when graduating from junior high school. Regarding the result of (2), inJapanese junior high school textbooks, there are about 90 of grammatical items. On
the other hand, there are 110 grammatical items in Finnish textbooks. Further, inFinnish textbooks, moreover, key grammatical items appear repeatedly. Thus, inFinland, students are able to acquire grammatical items by repetition. In conclusion,Finnish English textbooks have different features. The size of vocabulary is larger inFinland than in Japan. We should increase the number of words student learn at juniorhigh school. Repeated instruction of grammatical items in Finland is a good way forstudents to acquire basic grammar needed for communication. And, it would be goodfor Japan to adopt some effective characteristics of Finnish education such us
repetition learning.
Selected References
Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference forLanguages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Frederic P. Miller (2010) Education in Finland. Alphascript Publishing.
Haukkap&#1235;&#1235; Hanna, Jokisalo, Timo, Waddell, Andrew (2008) English
for you, too! Starter, Book 2, Book3, and Book4. OTAVA.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2008) Shogakkou
Gakushu sidou yoryo kaisetsu Gaikoku-go katsudou hen. Toyokan shuppan.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2008) Chugakko
Gakushu sido yoryo kaisetsu Gaikoku-go hen. Toyokan shuppan.
Kaplan, Robert B. (2005) Language Planning And Policy in Europe: Finland, Hungary
And Sweden Multilingual Matter
Takahashi Sadao (2005) NEW CROWN ENGLISH SERIES New Edition 1, 2, and 3.
Sanseido.
URL
Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE)
http://www.oph.fi/download/47672_core_curricula_basic_education_3.pdf(February 19)
http://www.oph.fi/download/47491_Distribution_of_lesson_hours_in_basic_education_2001.pdf (February19)
http://www.oph.fi/download/47674_core_curricula_basic_education_5.pdf(February 20)