研究指定校における外国語活動への取り組み : 尾道市立日比崎小学校の場合

Foreign language activities were introduced in Japanese elementary schools in April 2011. Hibizaki Municipal Elementary School in Onomichi City had been experimentally involved in the activities for six years between 2005 and 2010, and I witnessed them as an advisor. This paper aims to point out some characteristic features of the foreign language activities conducted in Hibizaki. First, the school has a clear vision of what the pupils should achieve through foreign language activities, and the goals that are to be achieved are closely tied to the criteria used for evaluating the pupils. Second, the school has a yearly plan not only for instruction but for evaluation. It might be common for an elementary school to have a yearly plan for instruction concerning foreign language activities, but, as far as I know, this is not the case with evaluation. Third, Hibizaki has developed its own unique ways of using "English Note." This is because the school had made and collected teaching materials before the note was published. The note is used so that it can coexist with the teaching materials originally made and collected by the school. Lastly, Hibizaki has emphasized the importance of listening since 2005. For example, in an activity called "topics" the pupils listen to a two or three minute speech by ALT or JTE at the beginning of a class. The words, phrases and sentences scattered in the speech are then used in the following activities in which the pupils are required to speak. Thus Hibizaki has tried to take away anxiety which the pupils tend to feel when speaking.