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How Japanese teachers of English perceive non-native assistant English teachers
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System 38 (2010) 124–133 www.elsevier.com/locate/system
How Japanese teachers of English perceive non-native assistant English teachers Miki Shibata * Faculty of Law and Letters, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan Received 9 December 2008; received in revised form 12 June 2009; accepted 10 September 2009
Abstract Considering the issue of World Englishes, the present study attempts to investigate whether Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) prefer assistant English teachers (AETs) with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use or those with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language, and to what extent JTEs give priority to native-like pronunciation in their teaching. Using a questionnaire, data were collected from 24 junior high and 51 high school JTEs. The major finding was that junior high JTEs appeared to approve of both types of AET, whereas their senior high counterparts tended to be reluctant to accept non-native speakers as AETs. The difference observed in the two subject groups may reflect their different pedagogical goals. Finally, the issue of non-native AETs relates to the dual roles of the English language: the pedagogical role as a school subject to be taught and the socio-cultural role in the international community. In order to support the dual perspectives of English, language policy makers are urged to propose roles and qualifications for AETs that will accommodate and cultivate a positive attitude toward World Englishes. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Assistant English teacher; English as an international language; Japanese EFL teachers; Native English speakers; Non-native English speakers; World Englishes
1. Introduction The nature of English and English language users has changed as more people use the language around the world. While English has achieved the status of a global language, speakers of English as a lingua franca now outnumber native English speakers. This situation has promoted the development of different varieties of English and has important implications for English teaching curriculum development. The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme has invited people from abroad and sent them to local elementary and secondary
*
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0346-251X/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.12.011
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schools for international exchange and foreign language education. A large number of native English speakers have been hired as assistant English teachers (AETs)1 and their typical duties are team-teaching (i.e., assisting with classes taught by Japanese teachers), assisting in the preparation of teaching materials, and participating in extra-curricular activities with students. Native AETs are considered ideal models for Japanese EFL learners to follow. Eventually, however, the role of AETs needs to be reconsidered due to the influence of changing patterns of English use in the international community. The present study explores the issue of AETs in Japan, where English is taught in schools as a foreign language. Based on the research findings, this study proposes dual roles for AETs, specifically, to serve as pedagogical role models and as interlocutors to negotiate for mutual intelligibility. 2. Background 2.1. Native speakers of English English has gained global status and been recognized as an international language through its worldwide use in various areas, such as diplomacy, international trade, tourism, and technology. English’s status as a global language has created a dichotomy between native speakers and non-native speakers. Kachru (1985) divided English-speaking countries into three groups with reference to historical, sociolinguistic, and literary contexts: the Inner Circle, where English is spoken as the first language (L1) or native language of the country, such as the USA, the UK, Canada, and Australia; the Outer Circle, where it is spoken as a second language (L2) or additional language in a multilingual country, such as Singapore, India, and Nigeria; and the Expanding Circle, where it is studied as a foreign language, such as Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. Traditionally, the term native speaker has commonly referred to a speaker from the Inner Circle group. Nowadays, however, English is spoken by more L2 speakers as an international language or lingua franca than by L1 speakers from the Inner Circle. This fact has enhanced the development of new varieties of English (Kirkpatrick, 2007). Considering the intricate reality of English use, Kachru (1998) proposed a distinction between genetic nativeness and functional nativeness in the use of English. The genetic native speaker is someone from an Inner Circle country, whereas a functional native speaker refers to a person of the Outer Circle group, namely from a region where the English language functionally penetrates daily life. People of this category have developed their own linguistic norms and identified themselves as native speakers of their own varieties of English. As reported in Timmis (2002), the functional native speakers from the Outer Circle countries, such as South Africa, Pakistan, and India reacted positively to localized varieties of English with no intention of pursuing the Inner Circle native speakers’ pronunciation and grammatical norms. In this sense, a native speaker as traditionally defined does not refer to a functional native speaker, who speaks English not only as an official language but also in the home. It is also inappropriate to label as a non-native speaker a person who has learned English as a foreign language and successfully achieved bilingual status as a fluent, proficient user. The more English has spread, the more problematic it is to categorize speakers of English as either natives or non-natives. 2.2. Non-native speakers’ attitudes toward the native standard The custom of distinguishing between language users has influenced English teaching and learning: native speakers are considered to be the best model and type of language teacher for non-native speakers to follow. It is a widely accepted assumption that the goal of ESL and EFL is for learners to acquire native speakers’ linguistic knowledge and imitate their pronunciation. This nativeness paradigm has affected non-natives’ feelings and attitudes to the English language, as reported in numerous language attitude studies that have explored non-native speakers’ perceptions of native speaker norms (e.g., Chiba et al., 1995; Crismore et al., 1996; Dalton-Puffer et al., 1997; Flaitz, 1993; Matsuda, 2003; Shaw, 1981; Timmis, 2002).
1
Although the term AET has been replaced with ALT (assistant language teacher), AET is adopted in this study since ALT appears to be the more general term which refers to assistant teachers of other languages.
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As for research conducted with Japanese EFL learners, Chiba et al. (1995) explored the relationship between the acceptance of different varieties of English and attitudinal factors of Japanese college students. Listening to a recording of three native speakers and six non-native speakers of English, the participants favored the accents of the native speakers because the students were familiar with them, while they showed less approval for non-native accents. Using questionnaires and interviews to examine the perceptions and attitudes of Japanese high school students to English, Matsuda (2003) reported that, although the participants stated that English is an international language since it is used internationally, they believed that it still belongs to native speakers of English. Of the students surveyed, 45% believed that foreigners would not understand them if they spoke to them in Japanese-accented English. The results indicated that Japanese secondary students believed that Japanese should seek a correct model in American or British English. Such findings show non-native speakers’ preference for a standard variant of English spoken by native speakers. 2.3. Assistant English teachers in Japan The JET program has seen significant growth from its original 848 participants from 4 countries in 1987 to 5119 participants from 41 countries in 2007. Although the JET program is not limited to English natives, and speakers of other foreign languages such as Chinese, French, and Spanish are eligible, the vast majority are AETs and are mainly from Inner Circle countries: for 2007, there were 2701 from the USA, 591 from Canada, 555 from the UK, 281 from Australia, and 228 from New Zealand (JET, 2007). There are only a small number of participants from Outer Circle countries such as Singapore and India. These demographic figures do not reflect the diversity of English speakers around the world. As mentioned above, there are now more non-native speakers of English than native speakers from the Inner Circle, and some non-native varieties of English have developed as distinctive localized forms of English. These phenomena indicate the possibility that English users from the Outer Circle or even the Expanding Circle will appear as AETs in the classroom and eventually make a contribution to English education in Japan. Assuming that this will happen in Japan’s English education system, the present study explored JTEs’ attitudes to two types of non-native AET. 3. Research questions The present study investigated two research questions: 1. Which type of AET do JTEs approve of more, those with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use (hereafter, the Native P and Non-native G AETs) or those with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language (hereafter, the Native G and Non-native P AETs)? 2. Is there any difference between junior high school JTEs and senior high school JTEs in terms of approval rate? This study focused on restricted linguistic capabilities, namely grammar and pronunciation; other aspects such as discourse and pedagogical competence were not considered since these two linguistic phases are primarily noticeable in output when judging native-likeness. Furthermore, traditionally, grammatical accuracy has been emphasized in Japanese classrooms and previous studies have reported Japanese EFL learners’ preference for native-like pronunciation. 4. Method 4.1. Participants Seventy-five full-time JTEs in Okinawa, Japan, participated in this study, including 24 junior high and 51 high school teachers. Concerning gender, there were 43 females, 29 males, and 3 unidentified. The length of their teaching experiences ranged from 1 year to 30 years, with an average of 10.8 years. The majority (48 out of 75) were in their 30’s. They were attending a summer intensive seminar in 2007 at the time of data collection.
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4.2. Data collection instrument and procedure A questionnaire with four sections was utilized for the present study. The first section asked about the JTEs’ attitudes to the Native P and Non-native G AETs, and the second section their attitudes toward the Native G and Non-native P AETs. The JTEs judged imaginary non-native AETs from seven different areas: Europe, the Middle and Near East (e.g., UAE, Qatar), East Asia (e.g., China, Korea), Southeast Asia (e.g., Malaysia, Indonesia), South Asia (e.g., India, Bangladesh), Africa (except North African countries such as Morocco, and the Republic of South Africa), and South America (e.g., Brazil, Mexico). In order to give them a clear image of each area, several countries were listed per region. Participants were required to indicate their attitudes by use of a 5-point Likert scale with choices labeled agree, mildly agree, mildly disagree, disagree, and undecided. The last two sections investigated their belief about the necessity of native-like pronunciation for JTEs and students, a variety of English taught at schools, and the qualification of AETs. The questionnaire was written in Japanese and was distributed during the workshop. The participants completed it at home and submitted it afterwards. The data were analyzed in terms of percentages of responses to the choices. 5. Results 5.1. AETs with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use and AETs with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language Table 1 shows the overall results for the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Slightly more approval than disapproval appeared across the areas: between 45.7% (Africa) and 55.0% (Europe) approved and between 39.2% (South Asia) and 44.6% (Africa) disapproved of these AETs. Thus, the difference between approval and disapproval is rather small. As shown in Table 2, a close examination of bilateral distribution (i.e., approval or disapproval) revealed 17.3% (the Middle and Near East) to 21.6% (Europe) approval and 28.4% (Europe and Africa) to 31.1% (South Asia and South America) moderate approval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs, while the majority who did not approve of those AETs showed reserved responses: between 29.7% (South Asia) and 37.8% (Africa). Table 1 Distribution patterns of approval and disapproval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Country
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Differences (%)
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
55.0 48.0 49.3 46.1 48.4 45.7 48.7
40.6 44.0 42.7 42.4 39.2 44.6 40.6
14.4 4.0 6.6 3.7 9.2 1.1 8.1
Table 2 Response patterns of Native P and Non-native G AETs.
a. AET from Europe b. AET from the Middle and Near East c. AET from East Asia d. AET from Southeast Asia e. AET from South Asia f. AET from Africa g. AET from South America
Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
Undecided (%)
21.6 17.3 17.3 17.8 17.6 17.6 17.6
28.4 30.7 32.0 28.8 31.1 28.4 31.1
36.5 37.3 36.0 34.2 29.7 37.8 33.8
4.1 6.7 6.7 8.2 9.5 6.8 6.8
9.5 8.0 8.0 11.0 12.2 9.5 10.8
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Table 3 Distribution patterns of approval and disapproval for the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Country
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Differences (%)
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
67.5 60.0 60.0 59.5 58.6 59.5 60.0
25.7 26.7 33.4 32.5 33.3 33.8 33.4
41.8 33.3 26.6 27.0 25.3 25.7 26.6
Table 3 shows the overall results for the Native G and Non-native P AETs. More approval was revealed for the Native G and Non-native P AETs than disapproval: 58.6% (South Asia) to 67.5% (Europe) approved and 25.7% (Europe) to 33.8% (Africa) disapproved of these AETs. The approval and disapproval rates are clearly different: 41.8% (Europe) to 25.3% (South Asia). A close examination of bilateral responses (i.e., approval or disapproval) indicated in Table 4 shows that clear approval increased, while the mild disapproval decreased, compared to the approval rate for the Native P and Non-native G AETs (see Table 2 for comparison). These results suggest that JTEs demonstrated a more positive reaction to the non-native AETs having accurate use of grammar. This might be attributed to their belief that grammatical accuracy should be emphasized over pronunciation in the classroom and that AETs should provide grammatically accurate input to Japanese EFL learners. 5.2. Attitudes of junior high school JTEs and senior high school JTEs In this section, the responses of each group (i.e., junior high school and senior high school) will be examined. Table 5 shows the results of junior high school JTEs. The majority of them approved of both types of non-native AETs, yet they appeared to approve of the Native G and Non-native P AETs slightly more than the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Table 6 shows the distribution of junior high school JTEs’ responses. As shown in the table, their approval patterns for the two types of AETs are slightly different: they moderately approved of the Native P and Nonnative G AETs, and more clearly approved of the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Interestingly, there was no disapproval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs except those from East Asia and Southeast Asia. Table 4 Response pattern of Native G and Non-native P AETs. Approve
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
Undecided (%)
a. AET from Europe 27.0 40.5
Mildly approve (%)
21.6
4.1
6.8
b. AET from the Middle and Near East 25.3 34.7
26.7
6.7
6.7
c. AET from East Asia 25.3 34.7
26.7
6.7
6.7
d. AET from Southeast Asia 25.7 33.8
25.7
6.8
8.1
e. AET from South Asia 25.3 33.3
25.3
8.0
8.0
f. AET from Africa 25.7
27.0
6.8
6.8
26.7
6.7
6.7
33.8
g. AET from South America 25.3 34.7
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Table 5 Junior high school JTEs’ responses to the two AET types. Country
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
Native P and Non-native G AETs
Native G and Non-native P AETs
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
69.5 70.8 70.8 69.5 73.9 69.5 69.5
21.7 20.8 20.9 17.3 13.0 21.7 21.7
79.2 70.8 70.8 73.9 75.0 75.0 75.0
12.5 20.9 20.9 13.0 12.5 16.7 16.7
Table 7 shows the senior high school JTEs’ responses. They did not approve of the Native P and Nonnative G AETs but did approve of the Native G and Non-native P AETs. This implies that more priority might be given to grammatical accuracy than to pronunciation in senior high school English classes, which reflects the necessity for their students to prepare for university entrance exams. However, their approval rate for the Native G and Non-native P AETs was lower than that of the junior high school JTEs: between 70.8% (the Middle and Near East and East Asia) and 79.2% (Europe) of the junior high school JTEs approved, whereas only a 51.0% (South Asia) to 64.0% (Europe) approval rate was given by the senior high school JTEs. Table 8 shows senior high school JTEs’ responses to the AETs according to area of region. Regardless of the area, the most frequent response for the Native P and Non-native G AETs was moderate disapproval, while for the Native G and Non-native P AETs it was moderate approval. JTEs’ preference for the Native G and Non-native P AETs is evident in their more undecided responses for the Native P and Non-native G AETs than the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Table 6 Junior high school JTEs’ responses to the two types of AETs. Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
a. AET from Europe NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
47.8 41.7
21.7 8.3
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
b. AET from the Middle and Near East NP and N-NG 20.8 NG and N-NP 37.5
50.0 33.3
20.8 16.7
0 4.2
8.3 8.3
c. AET from East Asia NP and N-NG 20.8 NG and N-NP 37.5
50 33.3
16.7 16.7
4.2 4.2
8.3 8.3
d. AET from Southeast Asia NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 39.1
47.8 34.8
13.0 8.7
4.3 4.3
13.0 13.0
e. AET from South Asia NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
52.2 37.5
13.0 8.3
0 4.2
13.0 12.5
f. AET from Africa NP and N-NG NG and N-NP
47.8 37.5
21.7 12.5
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
47.8 37.5
21.7 12.5
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
21.7 37.5
g. AET from South America NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
Note: NP and N-NG = Native P and Non-native G, NG and N-NP = Native G and Non-native P.
Undecided (%)
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Table 7 Senior high school JTEs’ responses to the two AET types. Country
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
Native P and Non-native G AETs
Native G and Non-native P AETs
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
41.2 37.3 39.2 36.0 37.3 35.3 39.2
49.0 54.9 52.9 54.0 51.0 54.9 49.0
64.0 54.9 54.9 52.9 51.0 52.0 52.9
32.0 39.2 39.2 41.1 43.1 42.0 41.1
The overall results from the comparison of the two groups above revealed that the senior high school JTEs appeared to be reluctant to approve of non-native AETs, in particular those displaying inappropriate grammar, whereas the junior high school JTEs approved of both types of AETs. The attitudinal difference between the two groups was also realized in their responses to the statement “AETs should be limited to only native speakers of English”. As shown in Table 9, 62.0% of senior high school JTEs showed either strong or mild endorsement for native-speaker AETs, while 28.0% did not see the necessity of AETs being native speakers. On the other hand, 33.4% of junior high school JTEs supported the statement, while 50.0% did not believe in allowing only native speakers to be AETs. The results indicate that, compared to junior high school JTEs, senior high school JTEs more strongly preferred AETs to be native speakers of English. The senior high school JTEs’ preference for native speaker AETs also appeared in their responses to the statements “American English and British English should be the model for pronunciation at junior and senior high schools in Japan”, and “I imitate native-like pronunciation and consciously pronounce words in a nativelike way in class”: 86.3% believed that it is necessary to teach American and British English varieties of
Table 8 Senior high school JTEs’ responses to the two types of AETs. Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
a. AET from Europe NP and N-NG 21.6 NG and N-NP 22.0
19.6 40.0
43.1 28.0
5.9 4.0
9.8 6.0
b. AET from the Middle and Near East NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
21.6 35.3
45.1 31.4
9.8 7.8
9.8 5.9
c. AET from East Asia NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
23.5 35.3
45.1 31.4
7.8 7.8
7.8 5.9
d. AET from Southeast Asia NP and N-NG 16.0 NG and N-NP 19.6
20.0 33.3
44.0 33.3
10.0 7.8
10.0 5.9
e. AET from South Asia NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
21.6 31.4
37.3 33.3
13.7 9.8
11.8 5.9
f. AET from Africa NP and N-NG NG and N-NP
19.6 32.0
45.1 34.0
9.8 8.0
9.8 6.0
23.5 33.3
39.2 33.3
9.8 7.8
11.8 5.9
15.7 20.0
g. AET from South America NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
Disapprove (%)
Note: NP and N-NG = Native P and Non-native G, NG and N-NP = Native G and Non-native P.
Undecided (%)
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Table 9 Responses to “AETs should be limited to only native speakers of English”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Very necessary
Relatively necessary
Not that much
Not necessary at all
Neither
Undecided
4.2 20.0
29.2 42.0
37.5 26.0
12.5 2.0
12.5 4.0
4.2 6.0
Table 10 Responses to “American English and British English should be the model for pronunciation at junior and senior high schools in Japan”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Very necessary (%)
Relatively necessary (%)
Not that much (%)
Neither (%)
12.5 31.4
62.5 54.9
20.8 3.9
4.2 9.8
Table 11 Responses to “I imitate native-like pronunciation and consciously pronounce words in a native-like way in class”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Always (%)
Often (%)
Once in a while (%)
Not often (%)
37.5 51
33.3 36.7
29.2 8.2
0 4.1
pronunciation at the secondary level in Japan, and 51.0% always imitated native speakers’ pronunciation and consciously tried to use native-like pronunciation in class (see Tables 10 and 11). On the other hand, although 75.0% of junior high school JTEs recognized the necessity of native speakers’ pronunciation as a model, 20.8% did not support the idea, which is much higher than the senior high school JTEs’ disapproval rate (3.9%). At the same time, Table 11 shows that there was no strong tendency in the frequency of imitating native-like pronunciation among junior high school JTEs. These results suggest that senior high school JTEs believed native speakers of English to be the proper role models in terms of pronunciation, while junior high school JTEs had somewhat mixed opinions on this point.
6. Discussion The present study has explored JTEs’ attitudes toward non-native AETs with regard to two conditions: native-like pronunciation with minor inappropriate grammar use and native-level grammar with English recognizably accented by their native language. The participants approved of the AETs with native-level grammar yet non-native like accented English more than those with native-like pronunciation yet non-native-like grammar use. The tendency was more evident in senior high school JTEs’ responses. This may reflect their different pedagogical goals: improving communicative competence is more focused on at junior high schools than senior high schools, whereas grammatical accuracy is emphasized more at the senior high school level than junior high school level due to university entrance exams, which are designed to measure students’ grammatical knowledge. Given this, junior high school JTEs accepted both types with similar approval percentages since it is more important in their educational environment to encourage students to communicate in English than to focus too much attention on grammatical accuracy, whereas senior high school JTEs preferred those with native-like grammar over those with native-like pronunciation. However, senior high school JTEs’ overall approval rate for non-native AETs was lower than that of junior high school JTEs, and they appeared overall to prefer native speaker AETs over non-native speakers in that role. This suggests that they may believe that pedagogically appropriate input should be available for Japanese EFL learners in the classroom setting, and that it should be provided by AETs as role models of accurate English and good pronunciation. Their preference for native speaker AETs can be attributed to the new listening section in the unified national college entrance examination, which all candidates are required to take. The exam takers should be familiar
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with the native speaker variety of English since the dialogues and passages in the listening section are performed by them. It is noticeable that for most of the items, JTEs had reservations about their approval for non-native speaker AETs, which may reflect their insufficient experience in actually communicating with non-native speakers in English at their workplaces. Out of 75 participants, only 19 claimed that they had any experience working with non-native speaker AETs, and 66.7% of junior high school JTEs and 78% of senior high school JTEs had never worked with non-native AETs.2 Due to this fact their judgment of the two types of non-native AET in this study might be hypothetical and, as such, no strong tendency appeared in the results. Another pattern to be pointed out is that the participants seemed to approve of the non-native AETs from Europe more than those from other areas (see Tables 1 and 2). In the current study, Europeans were limited to Continental Europeans and people from England were excluded from the group. A plausible underlying reason for the judgment could be ascribed to their preconceived image of native English speakers and Europeans; that is, the stereotype of both groups is that they are Caucasian. Given this, Europeans are more easily accepted as AETs since, in the Japanese mindset, they have a similar physical appearance to that of stereotypical native speakers of English. This suggests that JTEs’ overall judgments reflected their own teaching situations and biased image of English native speakers. The issue of non-native AETs explored in the current study leads to recognition of the dual roles of English in language teaching: one is its pedagogical role as a school subject and the other is its socio-cultural role in the international community (Sifakis, 2006). English is learned and taught as a foreign language and is a mandatory school subject from junior high school through university in Japan, so, as regards pedagogical purpose, accurate use of grammar and standard pronunciation should be pursued in the classroom and native speaker competence is relevant to the extent of being a language learning and pedagogic reference. Admittedly, emphasis on the Inner Circle varieties of English carries the danger of promoting linguistic imperialism. For instance, Kirkpatrick (2006) has claimed that as long as we emphasize native varieties of English or English from the Inner Circle, the focus of English learning in the classroom is the acquisition of an idealized norm and of the cultural content associated with a native-speaker model. Introducing the mono-model approach and polymodel approach, Kachru (1992) has argued that as long as a mono-model approach (i.e., native vs. non-native speaker) is taken, non-native speakers will perceive their English as deficient, compared to native speaker norms. Following their arguments, some ELT scholars have recently been striving to establish international English norms for all English users to follow, in which a native variety of English has been neglected (e.g., Seidlhofer, 2004). Note, however, a strong critique of native speaker norms mentioned above arises as long as we put too much emphasis on empowerment of indigenized varieties of English in ELT situations and overlook the pedagogical benefit and socio-cultural reality of native speakers’ English. On the contrary, as argued in Prodromou (2007), learners ought to be exposed to Standard English (SE), in particular its grammatical system to promote mutual intelligibility. Although ‘SE’ should not be exclusively identified with the ‘native-speaker’ (Prodromou, 2007, p. 50)), their variant still serves as linguistic resources to consult. Without understanding linguistic features of the standard form, learners cannot be aware of the uniqueness of the English they use. In considering such a pedagogic, rather than ideal or “correct” model, the native speaker model plays a role in English education (Kuo, 2006; Prodromou, 2007). At the same time, remembering that English is used as a lingua franca throughout the world, and that a primary reason for learning English is to communicate with other English users, the socio-cultural aspect of English should be emphasized to help Japanese EFL learners recognize the diverse contexts and proficiencies of lingua franca English and have an awareness that all English speakers, regardless of whether they are native or non-native, will not judge other varieties of English based on the native-speaker model. Consequently this view will promote Japanese EFL learners’ positive attitudes and confidence toward their own variety of English. The issue is not to choose one out of the two; rather, both should be equally brought up in the classroom, in particular in the Expanding Circle countries.
2 They provided multiple responses. The non-native ALTs who the 19 JTEs worked with include seven from China, two from India, two from Germany, two from Turkey, two from the Philippines, two from Puerto Rico, one from South Africa, one from South America, and two immigrants to North America, i.e. from the Philippines and Brazil.
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Based on the argument above, the role of AETs in teaching English in Japan needs to be reconsidered. If AETs play a part as a pedagogical role model, native speakers of English are more suitable, whereas if internationalization is emphasized, non-native AETs should be present in the classroom. Interaction with native speaker AETs will increase the students’ English language production and lead to valuable feedback from their native speaker counterparts, which should improve their interlanguage and enhance L2 learning in terms of the Interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1996). On the other hand, interaction between students and non-native AETs will provide more opportunities for them to negotiate for intelligibility due to the pronunciation and grammatical use in their respective varieties of English. These meaning-negotiation opportunities help Japanese EFL learners become aware of the socio-cultural role of English and to gain confidence in their own variety of English. In order to practice these two pedagogical approaches to English learning, language policy makers are urged to propose roles and qualifications for AETs that will accommodate and cultivate positive attitudes to different “Englishes”. Without reformation of the ALT system, the native-speaker myth will remain and the concept of English as a lingua franca will not be adopted in Japan. 7. Conclusion The present study has revealed that JTEs, with some reservations, approve of non-native AETs, and that AETs with accurate grammar were preferred to those with native-like pronunciation. The issue of non-native AETs relates to the dual roles of the English language. As for the pedagogical role, I have suggested that in order for Japanese learners to recognize the unique features of their own variety and other localized varieties of English, standard linguistic features of English should be taught in the classroom. As for the social role in the international community, language policy makers and JTEs should take responsibility for raising students’ awareness of international and pluralistic aspects of English. In order to practice the poly-model approach at educational institutions and change preconceived beliefs about native speakers of English that the Japanese hold, the reformation of the ALT system is a necessary step, and the dual roles of English need to be considered when employing AETs. References Chiba, R., Matsuura, H., Yamamoto, A., 1995. Japanese attitudes toward English accents. World Englishes 14, 77–86. Crismore, A., Ngeow, K.Y.-H., Soo, K.-S., 1996. Attitudes toward English in Malaysia. World Englishes 15, 319–355. Dalton-Puffer, C., Kaltenboeck, G., Smit, U., 1997. Learner attitudes and L2 pronunciation in Austria. World Englishes 16, 115–128. Flaitz, J., 1993. French attitudes toward the ideology of English as an international language. World Englishes 12, 179–191. JET (The Japan Exchange and Teaching), 2007. JET program participant numbers.. Kachru, B.B., 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realm: the English language in the outer circle. In: Quirk, R., Widdowson, H.G. (Eds.), English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literature. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 11–30. Kachru, B.B., 1992. Models for non-native Englishes. In: Kashrus, B.B. (Ed.), The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. University of Illinois Press, Chicago, pp. 48–74. Kachru, B.B., 1998. English as an Asian language. Links and Letters 5, 89–108. Kirkpatrick, A., 2006. Which model of English: native-speaker, nativized or lingua franca? In: Rubby, R., Saraceni, M. (Eds.), English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles. Continuum, London, pp. 71–83. Kirkpatrick, A., 2007. World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Kuo, V., 2006. Addressing the issue of teaching English as a lingua franca. ELT Journal 60, 213–221. Long, M., 1996. The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In: Richie, W., Bhatia, T. (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Academic Press, New York, pp. 413–468. Matsuda, A., 2003. The ownership of English in Japanese secondary schools. World Englishes 22, 483–496. Prodromou, L., 2007. Is ELF a variety of English? English Today: The International Review of the English Language 23 (90), 47–53. Seidlhofer, B., 2004. Research perspectives on teaching English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 24, 200–239. Shaw, W.D., 1981. Asian student attitudes towards English. In: Smith, L.E. (Ed.), English for Cross-cultural Communication. St. Martin’s Press, New York, pp. 108–122. Sifakis, N., 2006. Teaching EIL – teaching international or intercultural English? What teachers should know. In: Rubby, R., Saraceni, M. (Eds.), English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles. Continuum, London, pp. 151–168. Timmis, I., 2002. Native-speaker norms and international English: a classroom view. ELT Journal 56, 240–249.
System 38 (2010) 124–133 www.elsevier.com/locate/system
How Japanese teachers of English perceive non-native assistant English teachers Miki Shibata * Faculty of Law and Letters, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan Received 9 December 2008; received in revised form 12 June 2009; accepted 10 September 2009
Abstract Considering the issue of World Englishes, the present study attempts to investigate whether Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) prefer assistant English teachers (AETs) with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use or those with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language, and to what extent JTEs give priority to native-like pronunciation in their teaching. Using a questionnaire, data were collected from 24 junior high and 51 high school JTEs. The major finding was that junior high JTEs appeared to approve of both types of AET, whereas their senior high counterparts tended to be reluctant to accept non-native speakers as AETs. The difference observed in the two subject groups may reflect their different pedagogical goals. Finally, the issue of non-native AETs relates to the dual roles of the English language: the pedagogical role as a school subject to be taught and the socio-cultural role in the international community. In order to support the dual perspectives of English, language policy makers are urged to propose roles and qualifications for AETs that will accommodate and cultivate a positive attitude toward World Englishes. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Assistant English teacher; English as an international language; Japanese EFL teachers; Native English speakers; Non-native English speakers; World Englishes
1. Introduction The nature of English and English language users has changed as more people use the language around the world. While English has achieved the status of a global language, speakers of English as a lingua franca now outnumber native English speakers. This situation has promoted the development of different varieties of English and has important implications for English teaching curriculum development. The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme has invited people from abroad and sent them to local elementary and secondary
*
Tel./fax: +81 98 895 8913. E-mail address: [email protected]
0346-251X/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.12.011
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schools for international exchange and foreign language education. A large number of native English speakers have been hired as assistant English teachers (AETs)1 and their typical duties are team-teaching (i.e., assisting with classes taught by Japanese teachers), assisting in the preparation of teaching materials, and participating in extra-curricular activities with students. Native AETs are considered ideal models for Japanese EFL learners to follow. Eventually, however, the role of AETs needs to be reconsidered due to the influence of changing patterns of English use in the international community. The present study explores the issue of AETs in Japan, where English is taught in schools as a foreign language. Based on the research findings, this study proposes dual roles for AETs, specifically, to serve as pedagogical role models and as interlocutors to negotiate for mutual intelligibility. 2. Background 2.1. Native speakers of English English has gained global status and been recognized as an international language through its worldwide use in various areas, such as diplomacy, international trade, tourism, and technology. English’s status as a global language has created a dichotomy between native speakers and non-native speakers. Kachru (1985) divided English-speaking countries into three groups with reference to historical, sociolinguistic, and literary contexts: the Inner Circle, where English is spoken as the first language (L1) or native language of the country, such as the USA, the UK, Canada, and Australia; the Outer Circle, where it is spoken as a second language (L2) or additional language in a multilingual country, such as Singapore, India, and Nigeria; and the Expanding Circle, where it is studied as a foreign language, such as Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. Traditionally, the term native speaker has commonly referred to a speaker from the Inner Circle group. Nowadays, however, English is spoken by more L2 speakers as an international language or lingua franca than by L1 speakers from the Inner Circle. This fact has enhanced the development of new varieties of English (Kirkpatrick, 2007). Considering the intricate reality of English use, Kachru (1998) proposed a distinction between genetic nativeness and functional nativeness in the use of English. The genetic native speaker is someone from an Inner Circle country, whereas a functional native speaker refers to a person of the Outer Circle group, namely from a region where the English language functionally penetrates daily life. People of this category have developed their own linguistic norms and identified themselves as native speakers of their own varieties of English. As reported in Timmis (2002), the functional native speakers from the Outer Circle countries, such as South Africa, Pakistan, and India reacted positively to localized varieties of English with no intention of pursuing the Inner Circle native speakers’ pronunciation and grammatical norms. In this sense, a native speaker as traditionally defined does not refer to a functional native speaker, who speaks English not only as an official language but also in the home. It is also inappropriate to label as a non-native speaker a person who has learned English as a foreign language and successfully achieved bilingual status as a fluent, proficient user. The more English has spread, the more problematic it is to categorize speakers of English as either natives or non-natives. 2.2. Non-native speakers’ attitudes toward the native standard The custom of distinguishing between language users has influenced English teaching and learning: native speakers are considered to be the best model and type of language teacher for non-native speakers to follow. It is a widely accepted assumption that the goal of ESL and EFL is for learners to acquire native speakers’ linguistic knowledge and imitate their pronunciation. This nativeness paradigm has affected non-natives’ feelings and attitudes to the English language, as reported in numerous language attitude studies that have explored non-native speakers’ perceptions of native speaker norms (e.g., Chiba et al., 1995; Crismore et al., 1996; Dalton-Puffer et al., 1997; Flaitz, 1993; Matsuda, 2003; Shaw, 1981; Timmis, 2002).
1
Although the term AET has been replaced with ALT (assistant language teacher), AET is adopted in this study since ALT appears to be the more general term which refers to assistant teachers of other languages.
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As for research conducted with Japanese EFL learners, Chiba et al. (1995) explored the relationship between the acceptance of different varieties of English and attitudinal factors of Japanese college students. Listening to a recording of three native speakers and six non-native speakers of English, the participants favored the accents of the native speakers because the students were familiar with them, while they showed less approval for non-native accents. Using questionnaires and interviews to examine the perceptions and attitudes of Japanese high school students to English, Matsuda (2003) reported that, although the participants stated that English is an international language since it is used internationally, they believed that it still belongs to native speakers of English. Of the students surveyed, 45% believed that foreigners would not understand them if they spoke to them in Japanese-accented English. The results indicated that Japanese secondary students believed that Japanese should seek a correct model in American or British English. Such findings show non-native speakers’ preference for a standard variant of English spoken by native speakers. 2.3. Assistant English teachers in Japan The JET program has seen significant growth from its original 848 participants from 4 countries in 1987 to 5119 participants from 41 countries in 2007. Although the JET program is not limited to English natives, and speakers of other foreign languages such as Chinese, French, and Spanish are eligible, the vast majority are AETs and are mainly from Inner Circle countries: for 2007, there were 2701 from the USA, 591 from Canada, 555 from the UK, 281 from Australia, and 228 from New Zealand (JET, 2007). There are only a small number of participants from Outer Circle countries such as Singapore and India. These demographic figures do not reflect the diversity of English speakers around the world. As mentioned above, there are now more non-native speakers of English than native speakers from the Inner Circle, and some non-native varieties of English have developed as distinctive localized forms of English. These phenomena indicate the possibility that English users from the Outer Circle or even the Expanding Circle will appear as AETs in the classroom and eventually make a contribution to English education in Japan. Assuming that this will happen in Japan’s English education system, the present study explored JTEs’ attitudes to two types of non-native AET. 3. Research questions The present study investigated two research questions: 1. Which type of AET do JTEs approve of more, those with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use (hereafter, the Native P and Non-native G AETs) or those with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language (hereafter, the Native G and Non-native P AETs)? 2. Is there any difference between junior high school JTEs and senior high school JTEs in terms of approval rate? This study focused on restricted linguistic capabilities, namely grammar and pronunciation; other aspects such as discourse and pedagogical competence were not considered since these two linguistic phases are primarily noticeable in output when judging native-likeness. Furthermore, traditionally, grammatical accuracy has been emphasized in Japanese classrooms and previous studies have reported Japanese EFL learners’ preference for native-like pronunciation. 4. Method 4.1. Participants Seventy-five full-time JTEs in Okinawa, Japan, participated in this study, including 24 junior high and 51 high school teachers. Concerning gender, there were 43 females, 29 males, and 3 unidentified. The length of their teaching experiences ranged from 1 year to 30 years, with an average of 10.8 years. The majority (48 out of 75) were in their 30’s. They were attending a summer intensive seminar in 2007 at the time of data collection.
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4.2. Data collection instrument and procedure A questionnaire with four sections was utilized for the present study. The first section asked about the JTEs’ attitudes to the Native P and Non-native G AETs, and the second section their attitudes toward the Native G and Non-native P AETs. The JTEs judged imaginary non-native AETs from seven different areas: Europe, the Middle and Near East (e.g., UAE, Qatar), East Asia (e.g., China, Korea), Southeast Asia (e.g., Malaysia, Indonesia), South Asia (e.g., India, Bangladesh), Africa (except North African countries such as Morocco, and the Republic of South Africa), and South America (e.g., Brazil, Mexico). In order to give them a clear image of each area, several countries were listed per region. Participants were required to indicate their attitudes by use of a 5-point Likert scale with choices labeled agree, mildly agree, mildly disagree, disagree, and undecided. The last two sections investigated their belief about the necessity of native-like pronunciation for JTEs and students, a variety of English taught at schools, and the qualification of AETs. The questionnaire was written in Japanese and was distributed during the workshop. The participants completed it at home and submitted it afterwards. The data were analyzed in terms of percentages of responses to the choices. 5. Results 5.1. AETs with native-like pronunciation yet minor inappropriate grammar use and AETs with native-level grammar yet English recognizably accented by their native language Table 1 shows the overall results for the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Slightly more approval than disapproval appeared across the areas: between 45.7% (Africa) and 55.0% (Europe) approved and between 39.2% (South Asia) and 44.6% (Africa) disapproved of these AETs. Thus, the difference between approval and disapproval is rather small. As shown in Table 2, a close examination of bilateral distribution (i.e., approval or disapproval) revealed 17.3% (the Middle and Near East) to 21.6% (Europe) approval and 28.4% (Europe and Africa) to 31.1% (South Asia and South America) moderate approval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs, while the majority who did not approve of those AETs showed reserved responses: between 29.7% (South Asia) and 37.8% (Africa). Table 1 Distribution patterns of approval and disapproval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Country
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Differences (%)
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
55.0 48.0 49.3 46.1 48.4 45.7 48.7
40.6 44.0 42.7 42.4 39.2 44.6 40.6
14.4 4.0 6.6 3.7 9.2 1.1 8.1
Table 2 Response patterns of Native P and Non-native G AETs.
a. AET from Europe b. AET from the Middle and Near East c. AET from East Asia d. AET from Southeast Asia e. AET from South Asia f. AET from Africa g. AET from South America
Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
Undecided (%)
21.6 17.3 17.3 17.8 17.6 17.6 17.6
28.4 30.7 32.0 28.8 31.1 28.4 31.1
36.5 37.3 36.0 34.2 29.7 37.8 33.8
4.1 6.7 6.7 8.2 9.5 6.8 6.8
9.5 8.0 8.0 11.0 12.2 9.5 10.8
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Table 3 Distribution patterns of approval and disapproval for the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Country
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Differences (%)
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
67.5 60.0 60.0 59.5 58.6 59.5 60.0
25.7 26.7 33.4 32.5 33.3 33.8 33.4
41.8 33.3 26.6 27.0 25.3 25.7 26.6
Table 3 shows the overall results for the Native G and Non-native P AETs. More approval was revealed for the Native G and Non-native P AETs than disapproval: 58.6% (South Asia) to 67.5% (Europe) approved and 25.7% (Europe) to 33.8% (Africa) disapproved of these AETs. The approval and disapproval rates are clearly different: 41.8% (Europe) to 25.3% (South Asia). A close examination of bilateral responses (i.e., approval or disapproval) indicated in Table 4 shows that clear approval increased, while the mild disapproval decreased, compared to the approval rate for the Native P and Non-native G AETs (see Table 2 for comparison). These results suggest that JTEs demonstrated a more positive reaction to the non-native AETs having accurate use of grammar. This might be attributed to their belief that grammatical accuracy should be emphasized over pronunciation in the classroom and that AETs should provide grammatically accurate input to Japanese EFL learners. 5.2. Attitudes of junior high school JTEs and senior high school JTEs In this section, the responses of each group (i.e., junior high school and senior high school) will be examined. Table 5 shows the results of junior high school JTEs. The majority of them approved of both types of non-native AETs, yet they appeared to approve of the Native G and Non-native P AETs slightly more than the Native P and Non-native G AETs. Table 6 shows the distribution of junior high school JTEs’ responses. As shown in the table, their approval patterns for the two types of AETs are slightly different: they moderately approved of the Native P and Nonnative G AETs, and more clearly approved of the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Interestingly, there was no disapproval for the Native P and Non-native G AETs except those from East Asia and Southeast Asia. Table 4 Response pattern of Native G and Non-native P AETs. Approve
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
Undecided (%)
a. AET from Europe 27.0 40.5
Mildly approve (%)
21.6
4.1
6.8
b. AET from the Middle and Near East 25.3 34.7
26.7
6.7
6.7
c. AET from East Asia 25.3 34.7
26.7
6.7
6.7
d. AET from Southeast Asia 25.7 33.8
25.7
6.8
8.1
e. AET from South Asia 25.3 33.3
25.3
8.0
8.0
f. AET from Africa 25.7
27.0
6.8
6.8
26.7
6.7
6.7
33.8
g. AET from South America 25.3 34.7
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Table 5 Junior high school JTEs’ responses to the two AET types. Country
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
Native P and Non-native G AETs
Native G and Non-native P AETs
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
69.5 70.8 70.8 69.5 73.9 69.5 69.5
21.7 20.8 20.9 17.3 13.0 21.7 21.7
79.2 70.8 70.8 73.9 75.0 75.0 75.0
12.5 20.9 20.9 13.0 12.5 16.7 16.7
Table 7 shows the senior high school JTEs’ responses. They did not approve of the Native P and Nonnative G AETs but did approve of the Native G and Non-native P AETs. This implies that more priority might be given to grammatical accuracy than to pronunciation in senior high school English classes, which reflects the necessity for their students to prepare for university entrance exams. However, their approval rate for the Native G and Non-native P AETs was lower than that of the junior high school JTEs: between 70.8% (the Middle and Near East and East Asia) and 79.2% (Europe) of the junior high school JTEs approved, whereas only a 51.0% (South Asia) to 64.0% (Europe) approval rate was given by the senior high school JTEs. Table 8 shows senior high school JTEs’ responses to the AETs according to area of region. Regardless of the area, the most frequent response for the Native P and Non-native G AETs was moderate disapproval, while for the Native G and Non-native P AETs it was moderate approval. JTEs’ preference for the Native G and Non-native P AETs is evident in their more undecided responses for the Native P and Non-native G AETs than the Native G and Non-native P AETs. Table 6 Junior high school JTEs’ responses to the two types of AETs. Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
Disapprove (%)
a. AET from Europe NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
47.8 41.7
21.7 8.3
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
b. AET from the Middle and Near East NP and N-NG 20.8 NG and N-NP 37.5
50.0 33.3
20.8 16.7
0 4.2
8.3 8.3
c. AET from East Asia NP and N-NG 20.8 NG and N-NP 37.5
50 33.3
16.7 16.7
4.2 4.2
8.3 8.3
d. AET from Southeast Asia NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 39.1
47.8 34.8
13.0 8.7
4.3 4.3
13.0 13.0
e. AET from South Asia NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
52.2 37.5
13.0 8.3
0 4.2
13.0 12.5
f. AET from Africa NP and N-NG NG and N-NP
47.8 37.5
21.7 12.5
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
47.8 37.5
21.7 12.5
0 4.2
8.7 8.3
21.7 37.5
g. AET from South America NP and N-NG 21.7 NG and N-NP 37.5
Note: NP and N-NG = Native P and Non-native G, NG and N-NP = Native G and Non-native P.
Undecided (%)
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Table 7 Senior high school JTEs’ responses to the two AET types. Country
Europe Middle and Near East East Asia Southeast Asia South Asia Africa South America
Native P and Non-native G AETs
Native G and Non-native P AETs
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
Approval (%)
Disapproval (%)
41.2 37.3 39.2 36.0 37.3 35.3 39.2
49.0 54.9 52.9 54.0 51.0 54.9 49.0
64.0 54.9 54.9 52.9 51.0 52.0 52.9
32.0 39.2 39.2 41.1 43.1 42.0 41.1
The overall results from the comparison of the two groups above revealed that the senior high school JTEs appeared to be reluctant to approve of non-native AETs, in particular those displaying inappropriate grammar, whereas the junior high school JTEs approved of both types of AETs. The attitudinal difference between the two groups was also realized in their responses to the statement “AETs should be limited to only native speakers of English”. As shown in Table 9, 62.0% of senior high school JTEs showed either strong or mild endorsement for native-speaker AETs, while 28.0% did not see the necessity of AETs being native speakers. On the other hand, 33.4% of junior high school JTEs supported the statement, while 50.0% did not believe in allowing only native speakers to be AETs. The results indicate that, compared to junior high school JTEs, senior high school JTEs more strongly preferred AETs to be native speakers of English. The senior high school JTEs’ preference for native speaker AETs also appeared in their responses to the statements “American English and British English should be the model for pronunciation at junior and senior high schools in Japan”, and “I imitate native-like pronunciation and consciously pronounce words in a nativelike way in class”: 86.3% believed that it is necessary to teach American and British English varieties of
Table 8 Senior high school JTEs’ responses to the two types of AETs. Approve (%)
Mildly approve (%)
Mildly disapprove (%)
a. AET from Europe NP and N-NG 21.6 NG and N-NP 22.0
19.6 40.0
43.1 28.0
5.9 4.0
9.8 6.0
b. AET from the Middle and Near East NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
21.6 35.3
45.1 31.4
9.8 7.8
9.8 5.9
c. AET from East Asia NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
23.5 35.3
45.1 31.4
7.8 7.8
7.8 5.9
d. AET from Southeast Asia NP and N-NG 16.0 NG and N-NP 19.6
20.0 33.3
44.0 33.3
10.0 7.8
10.0 5.9
e. AET from South Asia NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
21.6 31.4
37.3 33.3
13.7 9.8
11.8 5.9
f. AET from Africa NP and N-NG NG and N-NP
19.6 32.0
45.1 34.0
9.8 8.0
9.8 6.0
23.5 33.3
39.2 33.3
9.8 7.8
11.8 5.9
15.7 20.0
g. AET from South America NP and N-NG 15.7 NG and N-NP 19.6
Disapprove (%)
Note: NP and N-NG = Native P and Non-native G, NG and N-NP = Native G and Non-native P.
Undecided (%)
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Table 9 Responses to “AETs should be limited to only native speakers of English”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Very necessary
Relatively necessary
Not that much
Not necessary at all
Neither
Undecided
4.2 20.0
29.2 42.0
37.5 26.0
12.5 2.0
12.5 4.0
4.2 6.0
Table 10 Responses to “American English and British English should be the model for pronunciation at junior and senior high schools in Japan”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Very necessary (%)
Relatively necessary (%)
Not that much (%)
Neither (%)
12.5 31.4
62.5 54.9
20.8 3.9
4.2 9.8
Table 11 Responses to “I imitate native-like pronunciation and consciously pronounce words in a native-like way in class”.
Junior high school JTEs Senior high school JTEs
Always (%)
Often (%)
Once in a while (%)
Not often (%)
37.5 51
33.3 36.7
29.2 8.2
0 4.1
pronunciation at the secondary level in Japan, and 51.0% always imitated native speakers’ pronunciation and consciously tried to use native-like pronunciation in class (see Tables 10 and 11). On the other hand, although 75.0% of junior high school JTEs recognized the necessity of native speakers’ pronunciation as a model, 20.8% did not support the idea, which is much higher than the senior high school JTEs’ disapproval rate (3.9%). At the same time, Table 11 shows that there was no strong tendency in the frequency of imitating native-like pronunciation among junior high school JTEs. These results suggest that senior high school JTEs believed native speakers of English to be the proper role models in terms of pronunciation, while junior high school JTEs had somewhat mixed opinions on this point.
6. Discussion The present study has explored JTEs’ attitudes toward non-native AETs with regard to two conditions: native-like pronunciation with minor inappropriate grammar use and native-level grammar with English recognizably accented by their native language. The participants approved of the AETs with native-level grammar yet non-native like accented English more than those with native-like pronunciation yet non-native-like grammar use. The tendency was more evident in senior high school JTEs’ responses. This may reflect their different pedagogical goals: improving communicative competence is more focused on at junior high schools than senior high schools, whereas grammatical accuracy is emphasized more at the senior high school level than junior high school level due to university entrance exams, which are designed to measure students’ grammatical knowledge. Given this, junior high school JTEs accepted both types with similar approval percentages since it is more important in their educational environment to encourage students to communicate in English than to focus too much attention on grammatical accuracy, whereas senior high school JTEs preferred those with native-like grammar over those with native-like pronunciation. However, senior high school JTEs’ overall approval rate for non-native AETs was lower than that of junior high school JTEs, and they appeared overall to prefer native speaker AETs over non-native speakers in that role. This suggests that they may believe that pedagogically appropriate input should be available for Japanese EFL learners in the classroom setting, and that it should be provided by AETs as role models of accurate English and good pronunciation. Their preference for native speaker AETs can be attributed to the new listening section in the unified national college entrance examination, which all candidates are required to take. The exam takers should be familiar
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with the native speaker variety of English since the dialogues and passages in the listening section are performed by them. It is noticeable that for most of the items, JTEs had reservations about their approval for non-native speaker AETs, which may reflect their insufficient experience in actually communicating with non-native speakers in English at their workplaces. Out of 75 participants, only 19 claimed that they had any experience working with non-native speaker AETs, and 66.7% of junior high school JTEs and 78% of senior high school JTEs had never worked with non-native AETs.2 Due to this fact their judgment of the two types of non-native AET in this study might be hypothetical and, as such, no strong tendency appeared in the results. Another pattern to be pointed out is that the participants seemed to approve of the non-native AETs from Europe more than those from other areas (see Tables 1 and 2). In the current study, Europeans were limited to Continental Europeans and people from England were excluded from the group. A plausible underlying reason for the judgment could be ascribed to their preconceived image of native English speakers and Europeans; that is, the stereotype of both groups is that they are Caucasian. Given this, Europeans are more easily accepted as AETs since, in the Japanese mindset, they have a similar physical appearance to that of stereotypical native speakers of English. This suggests that JTEs’ overall judgments reflected their own teaching situations and biased image of English native speakers. The issue of non-native AETs explored in the current study leads to recognition of the dual roles of English in language teaching: one is its pedagogical role as a school subject and the other is its socio-cultural role in the international community (Sifakis, 2006). English is learned and taught as a foreign language and is a mandatory school subject from junior high school through university in Japan, so, as regards pedagogical purpose, accurate use of grammar and standard pronunciation should be pursued in the classroom and native speaker competence is relevant to the extent of being a language learning and pedagogic reference. Admittedly, emphasis on the Inner Circle varieties of English carries the danger of promoting linguistic imperialism. For instance, Kirkpatrick (2006) has claimed that as long as we emphasize native varieties of English or English from the Inner Circle, the focus of English learning in the classroom is the acquisition of an idealized norm and of the cultural content associated with a native-speaker model. Introducing the mono-model approach and polymodel approach, Kachru (1992) has argued that as long as a mono-model approach (i.e., native vs. non-native speaker) is taken, non-native speakers will perceive their English as deficient, compared to native speaker norms. Following their arguments, some ELT scholars have recently been striving to establish international English norms for all English users to follow, in which a native variety of English has been neglected (e.g., Seidlhofer, 2004). Note, however, a strong critique of native speaker norms mentioned above arises as long as we put too much emphasis on empowerment of indigenized varieties of English in ELT situations and overlook the pedagogical benefit and socio-cultural reality of native speakers’ English. On the contrary, as argued in Prodromou (2007), learners ought to be exposed to Standard English (SE), in particular its grammatical system to promote mutual intelligibility. Although ‘SE’ should not be exclusively identified with the ‘native-speaker’ (Prodromou, 2007, p. 50)), their variant still serves as linguistic resources to consult. Without understanding linguistic features of the standard form, learners cannot be aware of the uniqueness of the English they use. In considering such a pedagogic, rather than ideal or “correct” model, the native speaker model plays a role in English education (Kuo, 2006; Prodromou, 2007). At the same time, remembering that English is used as a lingua franca throughout the world, and that a primary reason for learning English is to communicate with other English users, the socio-cultural aspect of English should be emphasized to help Japanese EFL learners recognize the diverse contexts and proficiencies of lingua franca English and have an awareness that all English speakers, regardless of whether they are native or non-native, will not judge other varieties of English based on the native-speaker model. Consequently this view will promote Japanese EFL learners’ positive attitudes and confidence toward their own variety of English. The issue is not to choose one out of the two; rather, both should be equally brought up in the classroom, in particular in the Expanding Circle countries.
2 They provided multiple responses. The non-native ALTs who the 19 JTEs worked with include seven from China, two from India, two from Germany, two from Turkey, two from the Philippines, two from Puerto Rico, one from South Africa, one from South America, and two immigrants to North America, i.e. from the Philippines and Brazil.
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Based on the argument above, the role of AETs in teaching English in Japan needs to be reconsidered. If AETs play a part as a pedagogical role model, native speakers of English are more suitable, whereas if internationalization is emphasized, non-native AETs should be present in the classroom. Interaction with native speaker AETs will increase the students’ English language production and lead to valuable feedback from their native speaker counterparts, which should improve their interlanguage and enhance L2 learning in terms of the Interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1996). On the other hand, interaction between students and non-native AETs will provide more opportunities for them to negotiate for intelligibility due to the pronunciation and grammatical use in their respective varieties of English. These meaning-negotiation opportunities help Japanese EFL learners become aware of the socio-cultural role of English and to gain confidence in their own variety of English. In order to practice these two pedagogical approaches to English learning, language policy makers are urged to propose roles and qualifications for AETs that will accommodate and cultivate positive attitudes to different “Englishes”. Without reformation of the ALT system, the native-speaker myth will remain and the concept of English as a lingua franca will not be adopted in Japan. 7. Conclusion The present study has revealed that JTEs, with some reservations, approve of non-native AETs, and that AETs with accurate grammar were preferred to those with native-like pronunciation. The issue of non-native AETs relates to the dual roles of the English language. As for the pedagogical role, I have suggested that in order for Japanese learners to recognize the unique features of their own variety and other localized varieties of English, standard linguistic features of English should be taught in the classroom. As for the social role in the international community, language policy makers and JTEs should take responsibility for raising students’ awareness of international and pluralistic aspects of English. In order to practice the poly-model approach at educational institutions and change preconceived beliefs about native speakers of English that the Japanese hold, the reformation of the ALT system is a necessary step, and the dual roles of English need to be considered when employing AETs. References Chiba, R., Matsuura, H., Yamamoto, A., 1995. Japanese attitudes toward English accents. World Englishes 14, 77–86. Crismore, A., Ngeow, K.Y.-H., Soo, K.-S., 1996. Attitudes toward English in Malaysia. World Englishes 15, 319–355. Dalton-Puffer, C., Kaltenboeck, G., Smit, U., 1997. Learner attitudes and L2 pronunciation in Austria. World Englishes 16, 115–128. Flaitz, J., 1993. French attitudes toward the ideology of English as an international language. World Englishes 12, 179–191. JET (The Japan Exchange and Teaching), 2007. JET program participant numbers.