A panel of education researchers submitted a list of proposals Thursday to the Education Ministry, calling on schools as well as the central and local governments to improve the learning environment for foreign students in public schools, focusing on their Japanese-language studies.
The 138-page report was compiled by researchers at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies' Japanese Language Center, in cooperation with the ministry. "The report showed teachers what the overall structure of Japanese language training for foreign students should be like," said Masako Himeno, director of the center. "This is just the initial step to better prepare schools (for foreign students)."
Stressing the need to create a curriculum that combines practical and academic language skills, the panel proposed two tentative Japanese-teaching syllabuses -- one for lower elementary school and the other for upper elementary and junior high. The documents are the first of their kind.