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I work at a public high school in Osaka and have taught English for more than 20 years. Since I started my career, I have felt some frustration and have kept asking myself and fellow teachers about several grave shortcomings in the basic philosophy of teaching and learning English in this country. Few of them have, however, so far shared my views.

The preponderant majority of junior and senior high schools in Japan now adopt the so-called 'Grammar-Translation Method' in teaching English, and this method has basically remained unaltered for over 120 years since Japan terminated her seclusion and opened up to the world in 1868.

When I attended a seminar for Japanese Teachers of English two years ago, I was shocked by a recent study on the English Scholastic Aptitude of Japanese students. It has literally plummeted in the past several years: especially in the TOEFL test. Out of 162 countries, Japan came in 149th. In addition to this, Japan ranks bottom among its Eastern and South-Eastern Asian brethren.

When considered in a future perspective, it seems an even more ominous sign, one which indicates Japan's economic downturn in an era where academic competence is more closely connected with economic prowess than ever before.

Even with this possible outcome looming, the majority of teachers and parents still take the 'Grammar-Translation Method' for granted, because their students and kids must prepare for the university entrance examinations, which are nothing but a 'laughing stock' and an object of ridicule for many foreign critics and journalists. To make matters even worse, this attitude aggravates the general prejudice against the ability to speak English, and implies that it is somehow an extraordinary trait.