A Comparative Analysis of Elementary English Classroom Characteristics in Korea and Japan

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the present elementary school English education circumstances in Korea and Japan in terms of the similarities and differences of the pedagogical practices as well as of the teachers’ pedagogical views on teaching English to young learners. Questionnaires, observations, and interviews were employed in order to gather the quantitative and qualitative data. The five major findings indicate the following: a) practicing CLT in both countries was similar, but in Japan, JLTs (Japanese assistant language teacher) helped the main teacher and students; b) the use of materials and activities was similar, but Korean teachers preferred CD-ROMs, whereas they were not popular with Japanese teachers; c) the majority of Korean and Japanese teachers did not favor exclusive L2 use; d) while Korean teachers highlighted the key target language sentences in the initial phase of class, Japanese teachers did not require students to be aware of them; e) teachers in both countries had a different attitude in generating student motivation. In the final section, this study has attempted to provide implications for the future education of both countries.