世論 What Japan Thinks

I am always amazed at quite how high the desire to learn English is in Japan, as despite at least 5 years in school ability levels are pretty atrocious on the whole, and even given Nova’s demise there seems to be no fall-off in the popularity of study. This recent poll conducted by goo Research in conjuction with the Yomiuri Shimbun as part of their 13th Topi-Q Net survey into the matter of English showed youth keen to learn more.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 25th of December 2007 549 young members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sex ratio was reported as 1:1 male to female, but there obviously was one odd person left over. The ages of the respondents ranged between teens to thirties, although the exact split is not reported. 40% of the sample were students in either secondary or tertiary education, 28% were full-time employees, and 12% homemakers, with the other 20% presumably made up of part-timers, NEETs, etc.

In Q1SQ, I thought it interesting that it was chance encounters with foreigners in the street or on holiday that was more of a reason to learn English when compared to other situations such as communicating better with foreign friends or dare I suggest looking for an exotic partner. I’ll also throw Q2 back at my readers.

Research results

Q1: Do you think it would be good to have more English ability? (Sample size=549)

Yes (to SQ)	86%
No	14%

Q1SQ: In what sorts of situations would you like to have more English ability? (Sample size=471, multiple answer)

When watching movies, videos, television	44%
When on overseas travel	44%
When using the internet	39%
When studying for exams	36%
When reading English newspapers, magazines, books	34%
When foreigners stop me in the street	32%
When it is necessary to use English at work	27%
When studying overseas	7%
Other	3%

Q2: Which aspects of English do you feel are difficult? (Sample size=549, multiple answer)

Speaking	78%
Listening	61%
Writing	40%
Reading	29%

Q3: How satisfied were you (or are you) with your English education at middle and high school? (Sample size=549)

Satisfied	3%
Satisfied to some extent	23%
Dissatisfied to some extent	49%
Dissatisfied	25%

Q4: If you were to learn English other than through classes at school, with which method would you want to learn? (Sample size=549, multiple answer)

	All	Male	Female
Language school, English conversation class	46%	42%	51%
Using commercial text books	30%	31%	28%
Television or radio lessons at home	24%	21%	26%
Via the internet	24%	31%	16%
Overseas English study course	17%	13%	21%
Home tutor	5%	4%	5%
Other	3%	3%	2%
Don’t plan to study outside of school	15%	14%	16%