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Why has English language proficiency in Japan remained so low in
comparison to other Asian countries? Has Vietnam attempted to
improve English language teaching because ASEAN has adopted English
as its working language? Why do English language teachers struggle
with curriculum changes imposed by governments in order to make
them competitive in the international community? Do professional
development (PD) programs actually meet the needs of teachers? This
book addresses issues surrounding these questions by examining how
the Japanese and Vietnamese governments have approached and defined
the PD of English language teachers and how such PD programs have
been delivered. It further analyses the impact of policy changes on
individual teachers and explores how PD can help teachers to
implement such changes effectively at the micro-level. PD of
language teachers or language teacher education is relatively new
as a field of inquiry in Applied Linguistics. By including case
studies of Japan and Vietnam in the one volume, this book embarks
on the challenging task of demonstrating that PD is an essential
element of the successful implementation of language policies in
Asia, where World Englishes have been shaped by distinct local
contexts.
Despite unsubstantiated claims of best practice, the division of
language-teaching professionals on the basis of their
categorization as 'native-speakers' or 'non-native speakers'
continues to cascade throughout the academic literature. It has
become normative, under the rhetorical guise of acting to correct
prejudice and/or discrimination, to see native-speakerism as having
a single beneficiary - the 'native-speaker' - and a single victim -
the 'non-native' speaker. However, this unidirectional perspective
fails to deal with the more veiled systems through which those
labeled as native-speakers and non-native speakers are both cast as
casualties of this questionable bifurcation. This volume documents
such complexities and aims to fill the void currently observable
within mainstream academic literature in the teaching of both
English, and Japanese, foreign language education. By identifying
how the construct of Japanese native-speaker mirrors that of the
'native-speaker' of English, the volume presents a revealing
insight into language teaching in Japan. Further, taking a
problem-solving approach, this volume explores possible grounds on
which language teachers could be employed if native-speakerism is
rejected according to experts in the fields of intercultural
communicative competence, English as a Lingua Franca and World
Englishes, all of which aim to replace the 'native-speaker' model
with something new.
Despite unsubstantiated claims of best practice, the division of
language-teaching professionals on the basis of their
categorization as 'native-speakers' or 'non-native speakers'
continues to cascade throughout the academic literature. It has
become normative, under the rhetorical guise of acting to correct
prejudice and/or discrimination, to see native-speakerism as having
a single beneficiary - the 'native-speaker' - and a single victim -
the 'non-native' speaker. However, this unidirectional perspective
fails to deal with the more veiled systems through which those
labeled as native-speakers and non-native speakers are both cast as
casualties of this questionable bifurcation. This volume documents
such complexities and aims to fill the void currently observable
within mainstream academic literature in the teaching of both
English, and Japanese, foreign language education. By identifying
how the construct of Japanese native-speaker mirrors that of the
'native-speaker' of English, the volume presents a revealing
insight into language teaching in Japan. Further, taking a
problem-solving approach, this volume explores possible grounds on
which language teachers could be employed if native-speakerism is
rejected according to experts in the fields of intercultural
communicative competence, English as a Lingua Franca and World
Englishes, all of which aim to replace the 'native-speaker' model
with something new.
This cutting edge collection considers how the Japanese language
functions as a key element of Japanese soft power in Asia. Within
Japanese culture itself, the promotion of language has been an area
of ambivalence. This interdisciplinary book looks across the fields
of language policy, language teaching, socio-linguistics, cultural
studies and history to identify the links between Japan's language
policies and broader social, economic and political processes. It
examines the challenges that undermine Japan's potential soft power
by identifying a gap between the "official Japan" portrayed by the
Japanese government and the "cultural Japan" that foreigners
perceive. It also reveals historical continuity in the way Japanese
language is perceived and promoted by policy makers and how the
current practices of Japanese language teaching in Asian countries
have been shaped within the framework of "international exchange",
which has been a key concept in Japanese foreign policies since the
1970s. It particularly considers the concept of 'Cool Japan' as a
symbol of Japan's interpretation of its cultural power and offers a
thoughtful assessment of the future of Japanese as a form of soft
power in Asia as the country prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This book probes for a post-native-speakerist future. It explores
the nature of (English and Japanese) native-speakerism in the
Japanese context, and possible grounds on which language teachers
could be employed if native-speakerism is rejected (i.e., what are
the language teachers of the future expected to do, and be, in
practice?). It reveals the problems presented by the native-speaker
model in foreign language education by exploring individual
teacher-researcher narratives related to workplace experience and
language-based inclusion/exclusion, as well as Japanese
native-speakerism in the teaching of Japanese as a foreign
language. It then seeks solutions to the problems by examining the
concept of post-native-speakerism in relation to multilingual
perspectives and globalisation generally, with a specific focus on
education.
This book probes for a post-native-speakerist future. It explores
the nature of (English and Japanese) native-speakerism in the
Japanese context, and possible grounds on which language teachers
could be employed if native-speakerism is rejected (i.e., what are
the language teachers of the future expected to do, and be, in
practice?). It reveals the problems presented by the native-speaker
model in foreign language education by exploring individual
teacher-researcher narratives related to workplace experience and
language-based inclusion/exclusion, as well as Japanese
native-speakerism in the teaching of Japanese as a foreign
language. It then seeks solutions to the problems by examining the
concept of post-native-speakerism in relation to multilingual
perspectives and globalisation generally, with a specific focus on
education.
Why has English language proficiency in Japan remained so low in
comparison to other Asian countries? Has Vietnam attempted to
improve English language teaching because ASEAN has adopted English
as its working language? Why do English language teachers struggle
with curriculum changes imposed by governments in order to make
them competitive in the international community? Do professional
development (PD) programs actually meet the needs of teachers? This
book addresses issues surrounding these questions by examining how
the Japanese and Vietnamese governments have approached and defined
the PD of English language teachers and how such PD programs have
been delivered. It further analyses the impact of policy changes on
individual teachers and explores how PD can help teachers to
implement such changes effectively at the micro-level. PD of
language teachers or language teacher education is relatively new
as a field of inquiry in Applied Linguistics. By including case
studies of Japan and Vietnam in the one volume, this book embarks
on the challenging task of demonstrating that PD is an essential
element of the successful implementation of language policies in
Asia, where World Englishes have been shaped by distinct local
contexts.
This cutting edge collection considers how the Japanese language
functions as a key element of Japanese soft power in Asia. Within
Japanese culture itself, the promotion of language has been an area
of ambivalence. This interdisciplinary book looks across the fields
of language policy, language teaching, socio-linguistics, cultural
studies and history to identify the links between Japan's language
policies and broader social, economic and political processes. It
examines the challenges that undermine Japan's potential soft power
by identifying a gap between the "official Japan" portrayed by the
Japanese government and the "cultural Japan" that foreigners
perceive. It also reveals historical continuity in the way Japanese
language is perceived and promoted by policy makers and how the
current practices of Japanese language teaching in Asian countries
have been shaped within the framework of "international exchange",
which has been a key concept in Japanese foreign policies since the
1970s. It particularly considers the concept of 'Cool Japan' as a
symbol of Japan's interpretation of its cultural power and offers a
thoughtful assessment of the future of Japanese as a form of soft
power in Asia as the country prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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