This paper is a report on interviews with seven ALTs (assistant language teachers) who are working at local elementary schools in Japan. As the new Course of Study was announced in March 2008, most elementary schools in Japan implemented the Foreign Language Activities class in April 2009, two years ahead of the official start of the new curriculum. The aim of these interviews was to gain insight into the current state of elementary school English language education. Several positive aspects of the introduction of English language into elementary school were highlighted in the interviews, with some challenges to overcome.
山田 et al. (Wed,) studied this question.