Filipino English Teachers in Japan: “Nonnativeness” and the Teaching and Learning of English

Abstract

A feature of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, which aims to internationalize Japan and to improve the English-speaking ability of its students, is the hiring of Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) who are described by the Japanese government as native-level speakers of English working in Japanese classrooms. By using critical applied linguistic which focuses on questions of power, difference, access and domination in the use of the English language (Pennycook, 2001), this paper examines the motivations of the Filipino teachers as ALTs, the processes of international teacher recruitment and how their 'nonnativeness' reconfigure their identity as nonnative English speaker teachers (NNESTs) and Filipino migrants. Data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions of Filipino ALTs and Japanese teachers show that English is both motivation and vehicle for migration and settlement for the Filipino teachers. “Nonnativeness” requires from them reconfiguration of their identity which entails them to sound native, counteract perceived forms of discrimination and assess their roles in the spread and use of English. This “nonnativeness” is a repudiation of their skills and qualifications as English teachers thus, paving the way for an interrogation of language ideologies, and of linguistic and racial identities.