English-ordered Japanese (EOJ) is Japanese that is written in English word order for the purpose of teaching English grammar to Japanese people. EOJ was conceived by the English department of Sagami Women’s University Junior High School and High School.
日本語 : 昨日 私は 私の友達と その公園に 行った。 EOJ : 私は 行った その公園に 私の友達と 昨日。 English : I went to that park with my friend yesterday.
Although the basic idea of EOJ had been around for a while, the role it played in learning English as a second/foreign language were limited. Popularly known as 'Phrase Reading' or 'Slash Reading' (deriving from the slashes '/' used to separate chunks of phrases in sentences), its primary aim was to read and understand English only.
Using EOJ as an intermediary language, a Japanese learner of English can not only understand, but also learn, to produce English easily. EOJ is also useful in helping learners become aware of the difference between English and Japanese word order.
When EOJ is used in class, the main work for learners is to translate each given Japanese phrase into English. This requires less effort since the word order already is in English. The teacher's job is to create EOJ, by first dividing English sentences into chunks (in other words, 'phrase reading' English texts in advance), and then translating each chunk individually. The end result will look like the second example sentence above.
Through replacing EOJ with English, Japanese-speaking learners will become more familiar with English syntax and grammar. This helps them translate Japanese (not EOJ) into English more smoothly in the future.