Challenges Faced by Japanese Learners in Learning English

Introduction

Many nations admire Japan's educational system because of its success. In general, the

students are well-behaved and have outstanding memory. Japanese kids' prowess on

standardised tests is well-known. Students have the option of attending a cram school in

addition to their normal schooling. ( Goss , 1998). Despite its many positive attributes, Japan

does have one significant flaw. The absence of the English language. The English language

has been designated as a foreign language in Japan. For a long time, English was only spoken

by a small minority of the population, with the primary goal of maximizing national

economic advantage. Individuals have never been taught or instructed in the usage of English

for the purpose of improving their own language skills. (Pachina, 2020)

In the last several years, this attitude has improved. Japanese society currently views English

as a universal language. Efforts are being made to increase the language's visibility. Despite

this, native Japanese speakers find it challenging to learn English for a variety of reasons. A

lack of familiarity to English, cultural priority on language acquisition, grammatical patterns,

and the fluidity of English may all be impediments to learning. This article will concentrate

on the challenges that Japanese students have while attempting to learn English, as well as the

tips that may be used to overcome such challenges.

Challenges

English and Japanese vary in how they draw listeners' attention to fresh and significant

information. Since Japanese is a rhythmic language in which syllables are stressed and

lengthened equally, it has a flat, "staccato-like beat." By putting the most essential words first

and linguistically designating them with particles, Japanese conveys their relative
significance in a syntactical and grammatical manner. (McCracken, n.d.). In contrast, English

is a stress-timed language in which emphasized syllables typically occur at frequent basis and

unstressed syllables are shortened, connected, or removed to suit the repetitive rhythm of the

stressed syllables. Vowel length, pitch, and/or increased loudness are all ways in which

English speakers emphasise the significance of specific words. Language in English uses one

of five stress levels: major, minor, undress, reduction, or deletion for syllables. Nouns,

primary verbs, demonstratives, and question words, which are inherently significant and

instructive, tend to have the most word stress in English. The suprasegmental characteristics

of English pronunciation are one of the first barriers that must be surmounted by beginner-

level Japanese EFL students in their attempts to build communicative competence. There are

two basic reasons why low-level Japanese English speakers have difficulty utilising and

understanding the English system for emphasising significant words and demonstrating

informational emphasis in utterances. The first is that phonemic shifts in Japanese words are

caused by variations in vowel length rather than tenseness or laxness. While English has three

key stress indicators (volume, intonation and vowel length), Japanese has just one (intensity).

(McCracken, n.d.)

Shyness is another important difficulty. In Japan, there is a strong emphasis on social

cooperation. Group is emphasised. Thus, students are frequently hesitant to speak up or

express their own thoughts. This is a difficulty in the English classroom, since many tasks

require pupils to talk freely. Even expert English speakers are hesitant to engage in

arguments, which are customary in Western foreign language classrooms. In Japan,

innovative projects are rare. Even in their native-language schools, instructions emphasise

facts over creativity. Asking high school pupils to envision what happens next in a novel

might cause fear and unwillingness to engage in class. ( Dunsmore, 2018).

Japanese ESL learners struggle with phonology. The syllable structure of Japanese is rather

simple: each letter contains just one syllable. Only 15 consonants and five vowels make up

their vocabulary. The five vowels may have long or short sounds, however this is not the case

in English. In comparison to Japanese, English has 11 vowels. The sounds / ae/ and / ɪ/ are

often misunderstood by Japanese learners. English and Japanese have different fricatives.

Students struggle with words containing fricatives not found in Japanese. / θ/ and / ð/ are

classic examples. These sounds are commonly pronounced / s/ and / z/. Another area where

kids struggle is grammar. Auxiliary verbs are absent in Japanese, even though voice and tense

are conveyed in the same manner in both languages. This is troublesome for pupils learning

tenses. (Pachina, 2020).

Recommendations

Acceptance and attitude from teachers help students overcome shyness. Accepting cultural

variations in ELT is key to reducing language anxiety in the classroom. This may seem like a

basic notion, yet some instructors have trouble understanding it. Teachers, for example, may

have nationalistic beliefs about what constitutes rudeness and how students should conduct

themselves in the classroom. As a result, instructors would be wise to note that behaviour

such as seeming obliviousness, aversion, and introversion in students might be caused by

worry. Negative teacher responses certainly increase students' nervousness. (Cutrone, 2009).

Because there is not a lot of opportunity to use English in Japan, it is extremely vital for

instructors to urge students to watch movies, listen to the radio, or locate someone who is

bilingual to communicate with. In addition to that, viewing videos on YouTube may also be a

huge assistance to students who are trying to get a handle on the sounds and vocabulary of

the English language. Because they do not take place in a traditional classroom setting, these
methods of education do not subject the pupils to any undue levels of anxiety. (Cutrone,

2009)

References
Dunsmore, L. (2018, November 3). The Most Common Problems Students in Japan Face
When Learning English. From Alumini Experiences:
https://www.teflcourse.net/blog/the-most-common-problems-students-in-japan-face-
when-learning-english-ittt-tefl-blog/
Goss , B. (1998). Challenges of Learning English in Japan. Intercultural Communication
Studies, 145-148.
Cutrone, P. (2009). Overcoming Japanese EFL Learners’ Fear of Speaking. LANGUAGE
STUDIES WORKING PAPERS, 55-63.
McCracken, M. (n.d.). TEACHING INFORMATION FOCUS TO JAPANESE EFL
LEARNERS . From T Graduate College of Education:
https://www.tuj.ac.jp/grad-ed/publications/studies/vol-27/mccracken
Pachina, E. (2020, June 22). Anticipated Problems: Japanese Speakers and Their Issues in
ESL. From Alumni Experiences: https://www.teflcourse.net/blog/anticipated-
problems-japanese-speakers-and-their-issues-in-esl-ittt-tefl-blog/