Albertus comments

Krashen’s outdated (c. 1983) theory of second language acquisition has been critiqued and put to rest mostly by SLA researchers working in the area of cognition (e.g., Schmidt, 1990). In addition, Krashen was attempting to address ESL, not EFL, with ideas he concocted absent research. Mistakenly, he wanted to build a theory of SLA based upon first language acquisition, which language researchers now realize is both inappropriate and simply wrong.

In addition, Krashen never made application to Japanese language learning. As Schmidt and many others, by now, have pointed out, you cannot omit consciousness with regard to language learning. Krashen’s idea of separating acquisition from learning sounded practical and was popular among ESL teachers in the U.S. and Canada (including myself). Yet we do not learn a new language unconsciously—the basis of Krashen’s personal theory.

However, Schmidt’s theoretical model of noticing, awareness, and attention underscored the cognitive deficiency of Krashen’s unproven idea.

For teachers of Japanese, a Japanese model of SLA must be formulated and tested. There are a number of non-English factors that make it a different type of language to learn, most prominently, its three syllabaries.

Interested parties should also read Ann Pakir’s approach to a non-Anglo SLA.

Not only is this not a "big idea," but it's, at once, silly and ignorant. Is preparing for the 2020 Olympics really a reason to waste money in an already-endangered economy simply so that some Japanese people can speak English to foreigners? And those foreigners will be here fewer than 10 days--most even fewer than that. Think about it. This faux obsession with English in this country is truly maddening. If you want to learn English, learn it. But do not waste, ultimately, millions of yen--private or public--simply to make a show of it. So weird.