Enhancement of Teacher Training: Key to Improvement of English Education in Japan

English language education and the lack of quality in its practical application in Japan has become a very common topic for discussion over the years. The reason this persists as a topic of discussion is simply that very little improvement has been noted in overall English ability among Japanese students despite a series of policy changes instituted by the Ministry of Education. This paper examines these policy initiatives and describes how they were intended to be implemented as well as problems associated with them. The authors believe that the lack of qualified teachers is likely responsible for the current undesirable situation and the enhancement of training programs for teachers will function as the key to the solution of this problem. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.