As deputy head teacher at the school referred to in the Jan. 6 article "English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul" (about the challenges facing educators in meeting the expectations of the new national English syllabus): I would like to thank The Japan Times for discussing this very important issue in Japan as we move into an increasingly globalized world.
We have found that our students from junior high schools all over the Tokyo region have been quite capable of facing the challenges of a rigorous curriculum. Furthermore, we suggest that lowered expectations sometimes can have a far greater influence on disappointing performance than the students' actual capacity for learning the language.
Aim high and let your students show what they can achieve!
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.