I try to resist the change. A great deal. I have also experienced many times that institutional pessimism which rears its head whenever comments are made about the quality of English Language teaching in Japan or the need to make language teaching more communicative. What Monbusho asks us to do seems impossible when one considers the realities of teaching English in Japanese Schools. Glancing through the English version of the old Course of Study, I noted a few things.
Some words populate the text so densely that the meanings are lost.
A great deal is expected through the teaching of English in the Japanese High School. We are supposed to encourage teenagers to be happy about expressing themselves in English. The contradictions between government idealism and actual work experience leap up from every page, and almost every sentence. Taking a few breaths, I can really think about what the paper is telling me to do. I can think about the Course of Study not as an obstacle to teaching merely a directive.