The Role of English Teaching in Modern Japan examines the complex nature of Japan’s promotion of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In globalized societies where people with different native languages communicate through English, multicultural and multilinguistic interactions are widely created. This book takes the opportunity to look at Japan and examines how these multiple realities have affected its English language teaching within the domestic context. The myth of Japan’s racial and ethnic homogeneity may hinder many Japanese in recognizing realities of its own minority groups such as Ainu, Zainichi Koreans, and Brazilian Japanese, who are in the same EFL classrooms. Acknowledging a variety of English uses and users in Japan, this book emphasizes the influence of Japan’s recent domestic diversity on its EFL curriculum and urges that such changes should be addressed. It suggests new directions for incorporating multicultural perspectives in order to develop English language education in Japan and other Asian contexts where English is often taught as a foreign language. Chapters include: Social, cultural, and political background of Japan’s EFL education Race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism Representations of diversity in Japanese EFL Textbooks Perceptions of English learning and diversity in Japan The role of EFL education in multicultural Japan

This book focuses on appropriate English for Academic Purposes instructional concepts and methods in the Japanese context. It investigates a variety of pedagogical techniques, addressing the fundamental academic English skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – as well as assessment and materials development. All the research included was conducted in Japanese university settings, thus shedding new light on the effective implementation of EAP teaching and learning activities with Japanese learners of English. This book is of interest to anyone working in an EAP context at the secondary or tertiary level, especially those which include Japanese learners.

This book examines a wide range of innovations in language learning and teaching in Japan. Each of the chapters describes the impetus for a change or new development in a particular context, from early childhood to adult learning, details its implementation and provides an evaluation of its success. In doing so, they provide a comprehensive overview of best practice in innovating language education from teaching practice in formal classroom settings, to self-directed learning beyond the classroom, and offer recommendations to enhance language education in Japan and beyond. The book will be of interest to scholars of applied linguistics and language development, and in particular to those involved in managing change in language education that attempts to mediate between global trends and local needs.

The question we hear so often from people who want to live and work in Japan: "Can I make a decent enough wage to live comfortably and save for the future while working in Japan, even if I do not know Japanese?"The answer is YES, and this book will show you how.Japan is not like the West, so it makes sense that there would be a learning curve to figuring out the job market here. The problem for so many people wanting to come to Japan is that the learning curve is so steep that it can seem impossible to start moving up. It isn't, but getting in the mindset that will help you in Japan is hard.If you aren't happy making a sub-par salary with no benefits.If you want to make enough money to do what you want to do, guilt-free.If you want to be treated with respect at your job so you can be proud to be a teacher.If you want to have options for your career, so you can have the confidence to quit a job that isn't working for you.Then this book is for you!We have built a system that will show you how to get from Zero to One, then from One to Ten!ZERO = Living somewhere outside Japan and wondering how to get here.ONE = Living in Japan and loving the life here, but making a pitiful salary and not learning much at work.TEN = Getting the best salary of your career in Japan, loving your job, your life and your free time, with money to spend, save or invest in your future!The Tools you get with the Smart GuideWhich qualifications do you need and which can you do without - how to leverage your qualifications to achieve your goals.Effective strategies that give you a road-map to the best jobs, and show you how to present yourself to be the #1 candidate.Get people to actually read your resume by crafting a narrative.Increase your interview request conversion rate; stop playing the numbers game and get the jobs you choose.Learn the markers that Japanese employers are looking for in a candidate.Templates to construct your resume, cover letters and emails to employers.Unlock the secret jobs market, where the top pay and best working conditions are, but are never advertised.How to use your network to get you jobs without having to compete with other teachers.These are tools that will be useful for your entire life, including resume writing, interview skills and job search tips that will put you head and shoulders above the competition!

Includes biblographical references and index.

Moon Travel Guides: Make Your Move! From visas, to job-hunting, to cultural assimilation, get a head start on your life-changing move with Moon Living Abroad Japan. Inside you'll find: Practical information on setting up the essentials, including visas, finances, employment, education, and healthcare Firsthand insight on navigating the language and culture from experienced expat Ruthy Kanagy, an American raised in Japan Tips on finding housing that suits your needs and budget, whether you're renting or buying A thorough survey of the many regions, provinces, and individual cultures that Japan encompasses, to help you find the right new home for you Interviews with other expats who share their personal experiences building successful lives abroad How to plan a fact-finding trip before making the move to familiarize yourself with aspects of daily life in Japan: internet and phone access, schooling, banking, insurance, travel, transportation, and more Special tips for those making the move with children or pets Moon Living Abroad Japan takes the hassle out of planning your move, giving you the insider tips, practical resources, and local know-how to start your new life abroad!

Language education is a highly contested arena within any nation and one that arouses an array of sentiments and identity conflicts. What languages, or what varieties of a language, are to be taught and learned, and how? By whom, for whom, for what purposes and in what contexts? Such questions concern not only policy makers but also teachers, parents, students, as well as businesspeople, politicians, and other social actors. For Japan, a nation state with ideologies of national identity strongly tied to language, these issues have long been of particular concern. This volume presents the cacophony of voices in the field of language education in contemporary Japan, with its focus on English language education. It explores the complex and intricate relationships between the “local” and the “global,” and more specifically the links between the levels of policy, educational institutions, classrooms, and the individual. In the much-contested field of foreign language teaching in Japan, this book takes the reader directly to the places that really matter. With the help of expert guides in the fields of anthropology, sociology and linguistics, we are invited to join a vital discussion about the potentially revolutionary implications of the Japanese government’s policy of teaching Japanese citizens to not only passively engage with written English texts but to actually use English as a means of global communication.” – Robert Aspinall, PhD (Oxford), Professor, Faculty of Economics, Department of Social Systems, Shiga University, Japan This insightful book about language education involves different disciplines using ethnographic methods. Both ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speakers of Japanese (or English) collaboratively examine two different types of qualitative approaches in Japan – the positivistic and the processual. This is a must-have book for researchers and educators of language who are interested in not only Japan but also language education generally.” – Shinji Sato, PhD (Columbia), Director of the Japanese Language Program, Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, USA.

Knife-wielding school girls, scrotum-seeking school boys, back-stabbing bimbos...and some of the finest human beings this side of the globe! Yokohama has it all and Loco has lived it and is telling the tale, no holds-barred! Loco in Yokohama is your front row seat to peer through a secret window into the hilarity and the hell that is living, loving and teaching in Japan. If you're looking for a raw, undiluted, unequivocal account of life in the land of the rising sun, you're looking for Loco!

This book illustrates the nature of Japan’s education system and identifies its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the socioeconomic environment surrounding education in contemporary Japanese society. It describes the basic institutional structure of each educational stage, in an overview of today’s school education in Japan, while also analyzing the current implementation status of important policies and the progress of reform at each stage. The book also examines the status of and problems with various issues that are considered essential to education in Japan today. These include teachers, lesson studies, school and community, educational disparities, education and jobs, multiculturalism, university reforms, internationalization of education and English-language education, education for sustainable development, and others, covering a diverse range of fields. The book is unique in its attempt to comprehensively understand and analyze the educational field in Japan by drawing on the expertise of various academic disciplines.

This ground-breaking work is a detailed account of an innovative and in-depth study of the attitudes of in excess of 500 Japanese learners towards a number of standard and non-standard as well as native and non-native varieties of English speech. The research conducted refines the investigation of learner attitudes by employing a range of pioneering techniques of attitude measurement. These methods are largely incorporated from the strong traditions that exist in the fields of social psychology and second language acquisition and utilize both direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement. The author locates the findings in the context of the wealth of literature on native speaker evaluations of languages and language varieties. The study is unique in that the results provide clear evidence of both attitude change and high levels of linguistic awareness among the informants of social and geographical diversity within the English language. These findings are analyzed in detail in relation to the global spread of English as well as in terms of the pedagogical implications for the choice of linguistic model employed in English language classrooms both inside and outside Japan. The issues examined are of particular interest to educators, researchers and students in the fields of applied linguistics, TESOL, second language acquisition, social psychology of language and sociolinguistics. The pedagogical and language policy implications of the findings obtained make essential reading for those with a specific focus on the role of the English language and English language teaching, both in Japan and beyond.