Third-year students in Japan's junior high schools struggle with speaking and writing in English, according to the results of this year's nationwide achievement test conducted by the education ministry.
The test, conducted each April for sixth-graders and third-year junior high school students across the nation, is aimed at gauging students' basic knowledge of mathematics, Japanese and their ability to apply those skills to solve complex problems. Starting this year, the ministry included English in the assessment for junior high school students, in line with the government's plan to improve students' abilities in the language. The test results were disclosed Wednesday.
The English test gauged students' speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.