DQEE had
a meeting in March 2015 to discuss the three DQEE foundation reasons. Despite provocative topics we had, the participants talked in calm manners.
If there were instances of excited conversations they were taken well by the
attendees. The attendees were currently engaged in the versatile teaching contexts
of children, young people, or adults. Both native and non-native speakers of
English attended the meeting.
The
talks continued for three hours, which were not enough to depict the whole
picture of the English education world in Japan, but honest confessions
clarified some issues.
Discrimination
against non-native speakers of English exists in the English education world of
Japan. However, personal experiences differ from one teacher to another. The
most neutral one came from a teacher who had this account.
“Some
years ago, I applied for a position of a teacher for children’s English education.
I knew there was a demand for a teacher who was a native speaker of
English, but I sent my CV anyway, which clearly indicated my status of a non-native
speaker of English. The school interviewed me with the presence of
some parents. Their decision was to hire me with the same conditions they gave
to the previous teacher, who was a native speaker of English. So, I have a
neutral position on the issue of discrimination against us.”
A big
contrast to this experience is the story of another teacher who is also a
non-native speaker of English. He had this account.
“I
have applied to many conversation schools and universities and I was sometimes
invited to job interviews. In all interviews, I had the impression
that I was more experienced than my interviewers were. If English
comprehension was of the concern, I spoke better English than my interviewers
did if they were Japanese nationals. (There was friendly advice from
a friend of mine to avoid showing any confidence during an interview
for such an act would intimidate interviews. I sometimes forget it.) The
reasons for my failures in job interviews are never clear. Since replies,
if there
are any, often blame on the tough screening process, I have no choice but
to speculate on unspoken decisions. I suspect some of the interviewers
are afraid of me because I am good. Some of them may not like my
age. If they did not like my nationality, they would never say things like, ‘We will not hire you because you are
Japanese.’ There is, however, one exception to this convention and
a school sent me a reply to my application that says, ‘We do
not hire Japanese people.’ In another instance, a Human Resources
representative of a company sent me an email that said, “Are you kidding
me? Did you really think we would hire a man of your age?”
Another
teacher reported on a case where students refused to learn English with a
teacher from a Caribbean nation. While the mother tongue of the teacher is
English, the refusal is based on racial discrimination. Thio (1985) makes a
clear distinction between prejudice and discrimination: prejudice is a feeling
and discrimination is an act. According to this definition, disliking the
Caribbean teacher is an act of prejudice and refusal to learn with the teacher
is an act of discrimination.
The
next story is powerful, but how truthful the protagonist was is not known. Not
many years ago, a non-Japanese person was spotted near a train station in Tokyo
while he was talking practically to all passersby. He was saying, “Do you speak
English?” and nobody was responding. A teacher of English saw him and asked him
what was wrong. Much relieved by the attention, the desperate man told him his
story. He was an English teacher from Asia and had lost all his teaching
contracts and wanted money for lunch. The teacher who offered help asked him if he
wanted the telephone number of his employer instead of lunch money. The Asian
man did not want the telephone number but wanted money.
If
teachers, who are a non-native speaker of English, receive questionable
treatments for a job interview the reasons can be their non-native speaker
status or age (with the assumption that the teacher is a good teacher).
However, individual experiences differ from one teacher to another. Some
teachers are clearly discriminated against and some teachers are less so.
At
one point during the meeting, a friendly caution was made by a teacher against the
association title of Drive for Quality Education of English that it might alarm some people. He, in fact, often thinks about the danger of being a conscientious teacher. He believes
some teachers will win popularity from students by not challenging them. With
the same token, some teachers will win a support from local authorities by not
questioning unnatural English expressions that are sometimes advocated in the
traditional pedagogy of English. He is a native speaker of English, who had
this account.
“Local
governments hire us and send us to schools to teach English. But I sometimes wonder how effective we are
because the government officials seem
to form pedagogical guidelines without reflecting on the voices of native speakers of English. It is
as if we are used as a fun addition to the traditional
pedagogy that is already decided. It is like we are expected to be popular teachers by accepting errors, if
there are any, and not challenging students
or school authorities.”
DQEE
concludes that the English education of Japan faces some serious issues. The
most serious is discrimination against non-native speakers of English.
Though personal experiences in this regard differ from one teacher to another,
it does not deny the fact that teachers of English who are non-native speakers
of English face discriminatory treatments.
DQEE suspects that the world of English education in Japan does not incorporate the voices of native speakers of English well. If there are any reasons for native speakers of English to take part in the country’s English education, their roles are arguably given to creating a fun learning environment. If so, the reason for it is another issue to pursue.
DQEE suspects that the world of English education in Japan does not incorporate the voices of native speakers of English well. If there are any reasons for native speakers of English to take part in the country’s English education, their roles are arguably given to creating a fun learning environment. If so, the reason for it is another issue to pursue.
Reference
Thio, A. (1986). Sociology: an introduction. New York: Harper & Row, Publications.
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