Native speakerism and the Japanese ideal of English language teaching: globalisation, ideology, and practice

ABSTRACT

The relationship between concepts of ‘native-speakerism’, English language education and their effects on local stakeholders are continually evolving. As such, this paper critically analysed native-speakerist ideologies in the Japanese EFL teaching context with the aim of illustrating the complicated nature of native-speakerism as it currently exists. The findings of the review show that native-speakerism and associated ideologies can be seen in various aspects of ELT and ELL. Private English language teaching sectors, as well as higher educational institutions appear to employ elements of native-speakerism, such as the native-speaker fallacy, to the detriment of both native speakers and non-native speakers alike.

ネイティブスピーカーの概念と英語教育、そしてそれらの利害関係者への影響との関係は、絶えず進化している。そのため、本論文では、現在存在するネイティブスピーカー主義の複雑な性質を説明することを目的とし、日本のEFL教育の文脈におけるネイティブスピーカー主義イデオロギーを批判的に分析した。その結果、ネイティブスピーカー主義とそれに関連するイデオロギーは、ELTやELLの様々な局面で見られることが分かった。

KEYWORDS:

• Native-speakerism
• Japan
• internationalisation
• globalisation
• EFL

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Christopher Samuell

Christopher Samuell has been teaching English in Japan for the past 12 years. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Bath and holds a master’s degree in teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. He is currently employed as an assistant professor at a university in Japan and teaches classes in academic English, English debate, and global English for use in study abroad programmes. His research interests include sociolinguistics, English as a lingua franca, and international education.