Paper Title
Development of a Pre-service Secondary English Teacher Education Curriculum: with Focus on Intercultural Communication
Abstract
Primary and secondary English teachers in Japan are undergoing a major reformation of the system of English education. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) has announced a vision for a full-scale development of a new English education curriculum timed with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Primary schools are to conduct English Language Activities classes once to twice a week for third and fourth graders, and to conduct English classes as a subject three times a week for fifth and sixth graders. Lower secondary schools are to teach English classes in English. The MEXT has also revised the “Courses of Study” and the pre-service teaching standard curriculum, and stipulated teacher training colleges to integrate subjects related with English pedagogy into subjects related with specialized knowledge in English. Therefore, this study purposed to develop and examine the validity of a pre-service secondary English teacher education curriculum which focuses on intercultural communications.
Index Terms - Pre-service Teacher Education, Curriculum Development, Four-skills Integrated Approach, Intercultural Communication