Japanese female English learners’ two-stage learning from Filipino and Western English teachers to acquire “accent-free” English

Abstract

This study conducted a questionnaire survey with 100 Japanese women who have taken English lessons in two formats, online and in-person, taught by both Filipino and Western English teachers whose different advantages are featured in Japan's English teaching industry. Analyzing their decisions on what types and modes of lessons to take at which learning stage and why, the study discusses how both expected and unexpected learning patterns and reasonings pertain to global issues of (1) the hierarchical diversification in the global English teacher labor market and (2) the privilege/marginalization of Japanese/Filipino women in the world of neoliberal learning/teaching of English as a tool for upward mobility.