Attitudes to the Introduction of English into the Primary School Curriculum in Japan : A Comparative Study

The study of the English language was introduced into the Japanese
upper-primary curriculum in 2011，The adoption of this subject has not
been without controversy.The English language has a history of
displacing and replacing languages in other countries.However it is not
considered that language shift to English could occur in Japan.The
teaching of English may be associated with certain cultural values，
because there is no such thing as a culturally neutral language.
Accordingly, a possible conflict exists between the desire to increase the
next generation's English proficiency, and the awareness of English as a
laguage with a history of intrusion into other cultures.