Dion Sanchez comments

Contrary to an above post, flashcards, games and "fun" activities can be used to teach prosody (sounds of english). The key issue is how often do students get to attend lessons? English needs to be at least three days a week to show progress if students are not getting a chance to review at home.

In Japan, ALT's are native English teachers that are basically used to model the target structure during lessons. The Japanese English teacher is in control of what is to be taught and how to teach it. This means that in most cases there is very little emphasis on speaking skill. This is a problem when it comes to passing the Eiken which is the goal of MEXT. I teach speaking and pronunciation as well as the other skills needed to pass the Eiken. The ELT must be given more control over the English curriculum to ensure all skills receive attention.