全球视野下的二语写作研究:已知与待知

　　《全球视野下的二语写作研究：已知与待知》：　　Before describing the state of the English writing ability of Japanese senior high school students (i.e., the remaining structure as the target of this study),I present the goals intended to be met by the Course of Study, the official set of curriculum guidelines,as the sociocultural background to be compared with that ability.　　The Course of Study is a set of curriculum guidelines promulgated by Japan's Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture (MEXT) for primary to secondary education, covering kindergarten to senior high school. The first Course of Study was issued in 1947 for the new school system, starting in April of that year, after Japan was defeated in World War II. At the time, Japan was under the control of the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Allied Powers,and starting a new school system was one of the democratizing actions conducted under GHQ guidance (see Sasaki, 2008). Modeled on the US school system, Japan's system changed to six single-track years in elementary school,three years each in junior and senior high school, and two or four years in college or university. Since then, the Course of Study has been revised six times at approximately ten-year intervals to accommodate soaocultural change. The Course of Study for senior high schools was promulgated in 1947, 1960, 1970,1978, 1989, 1999 and 2009, and except for the first one, all were put into effect three to five years later (1963, 1973, 1982, 1994, 2003 and 2013, respectively).Henceforth, to avoid confusion, I will use the years during which each Course of Study was effective instead of its promulgation year. Except for the initial 1947 document, the other six Courses of Study have had legally-binding force,and the curricular content as well as the textbooks used in all primary and secondary schools in Japan were devised according to the Course of Study in force at the time.　　The most current Course of Study for senior high schools came into effect in April, 2013. However, since it has not been in place for very long, this is too short a period to gauge its effect, and I therefore target the last Course of Study,which was put into effect in 2003. This Course of Study was promulgated in 1999, a time "characterized by the introduction of the government's new educational policies, followed by public criticism of the results of these policies" (Sasaki, 2008, p. 73). However, while conceding the potential importance of the soaal background, I focus here on the Course of Study as the most immediate influence.　　……