Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (Multilingual Matters) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847698697 ISBN 13: 9781847698698

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

The relative status of native and non-native speaker language teachers within educational institutions has long been an issue worldwide but until recently, the voices of teachers articulating their own concerns have been rare. Existing work has tended to focus upon the position of non-native teachers and their struggle against unfavourable comparisons with their native-speaker counterparts. However, more recently, native-speaker language teachers have also been placed in the academic spotlight as interest grows in language-based forms of prejudice such as ‘native-speakerism’ – a dominant ideology prevalent within the Japanese context of English language education. This innovative volume explores wide-ranging issues related to native-speakerism as it manifests itself in the Japanese and Italian educational contexts to show how native-speaker teachers can also be the targets of multifarious forms of prejudice and discrimination in the workplace.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Stephanie A. Houghton is an Associate Professor in Intercultural Communication at Saga University, Japan. She holds a PhD in Education from Durham University, UK. She is author of Intercultural Dialogue in Practice, co-author of Developing Criticality through Foreign Language Education (with Etsuko Yamada), and co-editor of Becoming Intercultural: Inside and Outside the Classroom (with Yau Tsai).

Damian J. Rivers holds an MSc in Social Psychology, an MA in Applied Linguistics, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics/Sociolinguistics from the University of Leicester, UK. He is currently an Associate Professor at Osaka University and undertakes research into intergroup dynamics in foreign language education.

Stephanie A. Houghton is an Associate Professor in Intercultural Communication at Saga University, Japan. She holds a PhD in Education from Durham University, UK. She is author of Intercultural Dialogue in Practice, co-author of Developing Criticality through Foreign Language Education (with Etsuko Yamada), and co-editor of Becoming Intercultural: Inside and Outside the Classroom (with Yau Tsai).Damian J. Rivers holds an MSc in Social Psychology, an MA in Applied Linguistics, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics/Sociolinguistics from the University of Leicester, UK. He is currently an Associate Professor at Osaka University and undertakes research into intergroup dynamics in foreign language education.

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Native-Speakerism in Japan

Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education

By Stephanie Ann Houghton, Damian J. Rivers

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2013 Stephanie Ann Houghton, Damian J. Rivers and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84769-869-8

Contents

Tables and Figures, 
List of Acronyms, 
Acknowledgements, 
Introduction: Redefining Native-Speakerism Stephanie Ann Houghton and Damian J. Rivers, 
Part 1: Native-Speakerism: Shifting to a Postmodern Paradigm, 
1 'Native Speaker' Teachers and Cultural Belief Adrian Holliday, 
Part 2: 'Native Speaker' Teachers in Workplace Conflict, 
2 (Dis)Integration of Mother Tongue Teachers in Italian Universities: Human Rights Abuses and the Quest for Equal Treatment in the European Single Market David Petrie, 
3 Kumamoto General Union vs. the Prefectural University of Kumamoto: Reviewing the Decision Rendered by the Kumamoto District Court Kirk Masden, 
4 The Overthrow of the Foreign Lecturer Position, and its Aftermath Stephanie Ann Houghton, 
5 Institutionalized Native-Speakerism: Voices of Dissent and Acts of Resistance Damian J. Rivers, 
6 Negotiating a Professional Identity: Non-Japanese Teachers of English in Pre-Tertiary Education in Japan Joe Geluso, 
7 Forming Pathways of Belonging: Social Inclusion for Teachers Abroad Joseph Falout, 
Part 3: Employment Policies and Patterns in Japanese Tertiary and Secondary Education, 
8 Communicative English in Japan and 'Native Speakers of English' Ryoko Tsuneyoshi, 
9 Hiring Criteria for Japanese University English-Teaching Faculty Blake E. Hayes, 
10 On the (Out)Skirts of TESOL Networks of Homophily: Substantive Citizenship in Japan Salem Kim Hicks, 
11 The Construction of the 'Native Speaker' in Japan's Educational Policies for TEFL Kayoko Hashimoto, 
12 The Meaning of Japan's Role of Professional Foreigner Evan Heimlich, 
Part 4: Native-Speakerism as a Multi-Faceted and Contemporary Social Phenomenon, 
13 Scrutinizing the Native Speaker as Referent, Entity and Project Glenn Toh, 
14 Racialized Native Speakers: Voices of Japanese American English Language Professionals Ryuko Kubota and Donna Fujimoto, 
15 Native-Speakerism through English-Only Policies: Teachers, Students and the Changing Face of Japan Jennifer Yphantides, 
Part 5: Native-Speakerism from Socio-Historical Viewpoints, 
16 Changing Perceptions? A Variationist Sociolinguistic Perspective on Native Speaker Ideologies and Standard English in Japan Robert M. McKenzie, 
17 Ideologies of Nativism and Linguistic Globalization Philip Seargeant, 
18 The Native Speaker Language Teacher: Through Time and Space Martine Derivry-Plard, 
References, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

'Native Speaker' Teachers and Cultural Belief

Adrian Holliday

Introduction

Teachers who have traditionally been labelled 'native speakers' have much to offer. However, their potentially positive contribution has been marred by the ideology of native-speakerism which promotes the belief that they represent a 'Western culture' from which spring the ideals both of English and of the methodology for teaching it (Holliday, 2005a). This in turn derives from Phillipson's (1992) well-known linguistic imperialism thesis that the concept of the superior 'native speaker' teacher was explicitly constructed in the 1960s as a saleable product to support American and British aid trajectories. Inherent to this ideology is a conviction that 'non-Western' cultural realities are deficient, which I term cultural disbelief. I will, however, take a positive line and argue that it is possible to counter cultural disbelief by means of a subtle but significant professional shift to cultural belief, but that this also requires a shift from a modernist, positivist to a postmodern paradigm.

I will first look at the importance of associating native-speakerism with cultural disbelief, and then consider what it takes to shift to cultural belief.

The Danger of Domesticating the Issue

It is now fairly well-established that there is little linguistic support for a native – non-native speaker distinction (Braine, 1999; Canagarajah, 1999a; Jenkins, 2000). Nevertheless, much of the research into the distinction continues to revolve around the linguistic factor, the attitudes of language learners to 'native' or 'non-native speaker' exposure and the self-perceptions or special contribution of 'non-native speaker' teachers (Moussu & Llurda, 2008). These are important discussions which run deeply into the day-to-day lives of teachers and language students. They have led to an acute awareness across the profession of employment discrimination against 'non-native speaker' teachers, and to affirmative action in the constitutions of professional bodies such as TESOL (Moussu & Llurda, 2008).

However, taking affirmative action against discrimination on linguistic grounds can easily lead to the native – non-native speaker issue being domesticated, i.e. demoted to an everyday professional concern, and to a feeling that the problem has been solved. Over the past two years, my British masters' students have been telling me that discrimination against 'non-native speaker' teachers is a thing of the past and could not happen now. In contrast to this statement of optimism, there is evidence of a sustained, tacitly held cultural chauvinism. A recent qualitative study reveals that British teachers consider it their 'birthright' to criticize, albeit without foundation, not only the linguistic and pedagogic performance but also the cultural background and proficiency of their 'non-native speaker' colleagues, and that this chauvinism is deeply rooted and goes unrecognized in everyday professional discourses (Aboshiha, 2008; also cited in Holliday & Aboshiha, 2009). Moreover,

The profession seemingly does nothing to examine these 'loaded discourses' either at the beginning of teachers' careers or during them, so in this way it is possible for such discourses to be unendingly perpetrated and the superior identity of the 'native speaker' teacher endlessly reinforced throughout the teachers' careers. (Aboshiha, 2008: 149)

There is therefore something deep within the profession everywhere which makes it possible for 'native speaker' and 'nonnative speaker' to continue as a basic currency not only for labelling teachers but also for judging them through forms of chauvinism of which we are largely unaware and easily put aside. I say 'everywhere' because, as with other successful ideologies, native-speakerism has travelled and taken root beyond the group that instigated it. Discrimination against 'non-native speaker' teachers is evident in employment practices and customer preference far beyond the English-speaking West (e.g. Ali, 2009; Holliday, 2005a; Shao, 2005). White Western teachers can themselves be caught up in employment practices where they are used by schools to foreign governments because of their perceived speakerhood rather than other professional attributes they may possess (Kumaravadivelu, 2012: 22, citing Widin).

Discourses, Ideology and Paradigms

To understand, and then to act against, this hidden cultural disbelief, it is necessary to look at the tacit ways in which ideas about professional identity are organized and expressed through discourses, and at the ideologies which drive these discourses. A definition of discourse which is meaningful here is 'a group of...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1847698697
• ISBN 13: 9781847698698
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 285
• Herausgeber: Houghton Stephanie Ann, Rivers Damian J.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar