Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program

by David L. McConnell

  The ALTs' approach also implied a specific theory of motivation. If students are viewed as naturally having a weak will, then it becomes the responsibility of the teacher to try to spark their interest and nurture it through incentives. At conferences and workshops for the ALTs in the late i98os, for instance, the problem of how to motivate Japanese students was a central issue. ALTs were enormously frustrated by what they perceived as the lack of responsiveness or shyness of Japanese students, complaining that just to get a student to answer a question about his or her favorite food was like pulling teeth. The students, of course, viewed their hesitation not as a deficiency but as an accomplishment. Japanese students whom I interviewed repeatedly stressed the importance of not performing in such a way that would make them stand out. Both at home and at school, they learned that they must listen and that conformity demonstrated inner strength; it was difficult to ask them to set aside these values for one English conversation class per week.

  Nevertheless, ALTs seem determined to do just that. At one conference held for renewing ALTS in 1989, a workshop on motivation attracted 130 ALTs; fewer than a dozen attended concurrent seminars on how to adapt existing textbooks to the team-taught class. One speaker at the workshop showed off a freewheeling English text not approved by the Ministry of Education and urged ALTs to buy copies, since "technically, we're only required to have Mombusho-approved textbooks at the school, not to use them." Another described his philosophy for motivating Japanese students: "I believe in rewards and punishments. Every time a student raises his hand and asks a question voluntarily I give them a $i,ooo bill with my face superimposed on it and a lottery number on the back. Each month I have a small lottery and give out a pencil, but then I have a big lottery for a university T-shirt. Sometimes I read in a Donald Duck voice, though I have to warn the JTL beforehand. If a student mentions a singer, I'll start singing a song. I'm very spontaneous."

  Though the philosophy of "education through play" may have warmed the hearts of a whole cadre of Western educators, beginning with John Dewey, it finds few adherents among secondary school teachers in Japan. They assume that students begin with a strong will, and their task is to strengthen that willpower by frustrating it and putting hurdles in front of it.24 Even though Japanese teachers may give the ALTs great leeway in class, in private they usually described the sessions led by the ALTs as "classes without rigor" (kejime no nai jugyo), or as "just a playtime" (tan no asobi ni natte shimau). One JTL reported his first encounter with the motivational theories of the ALT: "I remember on the very first day of team teaching, the ALT asked me if I could find a volleyball to bring to class. I said, 'A WHAT?" It turned out he would throw it to students who he wanted to call on. That one really threw me for a loop! " Tellingly, JTLs will routinely mark the shift from conversation practice or a game led by the ALT to work in the textbook by saying, "Now it's time to get down to studying" (soredewa benkyo ni hairimasu).

  Moreover, the lessons in conversational English so enthusiastically supported by the ALTS (and publicly endorsed both by the Ministry of Education and by prefectural ETCs) are viewed as largely irrelevant to preparing for entrance exams, which require the memorization and manipulation of discrete lexical items. Teachers that do focus on conversational English in team-taught classes note that they have to work extra hard in solo classes to compensate for time "lost" from studying the textbook.

  The Reactions of Students

  The wild card in this struggle of cultural mind-sets is the overwhelmingly positive reaction of Japanese students to the ALTs and to team teaching. For many, this program offers the first chance they have ever had to interact with a native speaker; though they express a great deal of nervousness about the encounter, they see the benefits to the team-taught class as far outweighing the drawbacks. Team-taught classes usually represent a break from the routine of teacher-centered instruction and thus are a welcome relief. Some team-taught classes seem more like entertainment than like study. There is the added plus that the ALTs usually do not give them grades. Though on occasion I did witness students taking the JTL's side and complaining, "Not games again," more often they begged the JTL to allow them to play a game during the ALT's class visit. Furthermore, students are thrilled to be able to hear native pronunciation; and for a generation whose prospects of traveling abroad at some point in their lives are high, it is reassuring to learn conversational styles that may actually be of use in the future.

  Asked to write essays on their opinion about English education in Japan, one class of high school students in Kyoto almost unanimously described school English as exam-oriented and useless in real life and welcomed the ALT system. One student wrote, "It was wonderful to hear live English from the ALT and to be able to have a conversation in English. But, with such infrequent classes, we can't expect much effect, and it's hard on the ALTs too. I hope the program can be improved to its full potential so that we can learn from ALTs on a regular basis." In an Osaka school, 170 seventh-grade students were informally surveyed after they had experienced several team-taught classes: 87.6 percent of the students approved of the ALT coming to their school (the remaining 12.4 percent were indifferent), and fully 78.8 percent said that they preferred teamtaught classes to those taught solely by the JTL (17.6 percent were indifferent). When asked about their impression of the ALT who had recently visited their school, 68 students used the term "interesting" (omoshiroi), 48 said she was "fun and easy to get to know" (tanoshiku shitashimiya- sui), and roughly 1o students each described her as "good at English," "cheerful," "kind," and "big and tall." One student described her reaction to the ALT's visit as follows:

  When I heard the words, "An American teacher is coming!" I couldn't even imagine what she would be like. I was eager to find out if she would be a strict, scary teacher, an interesting teacher, or a kind teacher. When she arrived, I thought, "So this is the teacher from America," and I went to class eager to see what she was like. She was very animated and interesting. She let us hear real English pronunciation and taught us things that weren't in the textbook. When we played games, I couldn't understand her English sentences; it was real difficult. But I was happy that she could come to our school even for a short time. I want to hear real English again!

  The positive response of Japanese students and the capacity on the part of some ALTs to forge meaningful relationships with them are a key source of the JET Program's transformative potential.

  Team Teaching: The Mixed Results

  Although most JTLs are not thrilled by the prospects of changing their approach in the classroom, in a fascinating contradiction they tended to see team teaching and internationalization as a cause. Again and again I was struck by the seriousness with which JTLs took to the task of learning how to team-teach. Workshops and books on the how-tos of team teaching burgeoned in the late 198os and early 199os, and English societies all across the country took up this theme in meetings and seminars. JTLs did not give up, and many talked frankly about the need to master team-teaching techniques. Workshops on team teaching were often very well attended. In one district I visited in which teachers were allowed on an in-service training day to choose between focusing on a traditional-style class and a teamteaching class, the seminar on team teaching attracted five times as many teachers as the other.

  At the same time, it is possible to see the enormous number of seminars and publications devoted to the "how-tos" of team teaching since the start of the JET Program as signifying the desire of Japanese teachers for some "foolproof" method, an agreed-on form that will somehow render the unpredictable predictable. One book is particularly noteworthy in this respect. Just like the Ministry of Education-approved English textbooks, it gives a model dialogue, new words, and key phrases for a myriad of potentially embarrassing or conflict-laden situations, such as how to talk with an ALT on the phone, what to say if you bump into the ALT in the hall, how to introduce ALTs to students, and what to do if the ALT doesn't like the rainy season or complains that Japanese as
k too many private questions."

  In spite of the continual efforts of JTLs, however, the transformation of English education remains limited by the extent to which the team-taught class is conceptualized as a distinct entity, something apart from their regular English classes. As of yet, there is little carryover between the two. Even at a school as enthusiastic about the program as Minami High School, by the admission of JTLs themselves, the teaching of basic classroom English was untouched by the ALTs' influence. Powerful notions about when it is appropriate for Japanese to use English are at work here: when I asked one JTL if he'd tried to use English in the classroom when the ALT was not present, he responded: "I tried using English in the classroom at our ALT's urging, but I gave up after a few tries. Most of the students couldn't follow me, and they would say things like, 'Sensei, you act just like a foreigner.' It felt really strange." Another JTL put it this way: "I think of the ALT as a motivator. For Japanese, it's very strange to speak only in English with each other. But if I have an ALT, it's much easier for me to speak in English." For these JTLs, solidarity with students who shared the same cultural heritage continued to be a far more powerful force than identification with the goals of the ALT.

  On the one hand, the introduction of team teaching has led to great change in English education in Japan: one can go into any classroom and find the ALTs leading activities that never before seemed possible in the public school system. On the other hand, the degree to which Japanese teachers mark off these classes as distinct, both linguistically and conceptually, reveals that team teaching is best viewed as a type of situational accommodation rather than as marking a wholesale change in attitude.

  CULTURAL CLASH AND CHANGE

  Many ALTs work hard, in ways small as well as large, to remake Japanese culture into something closer to their own expectations of how things ought to be. Their daily behavior reflects deliberate choices and makes a clear symbolic statement. Male ALTs may make it a point to serve tea in the office. Others will protest against smoking etiquette or deliberately tell students of best friends who are minorities in order to test preconceptions. As an ALT recalled, "When I told them my best friend was Korean they nearly died. That's something they'll remember for the rest of their lives." Some JET participants also consciously strive not to exhibit any characteristics that would reinforce the stereotypes about their nationality, even lying on occasion. One ALT told me that when asked whether she'd had steak the night before, she said she'd had fish and rice-but she really had eaten hamburgers for dinner. And a couple decided to get married earlier than they had planned in response to those in their village who felt that their cohabitation was morally improper.

  A critical stance toward Japanese culture even comes through in workshops designed by the ALTs to help improve the English of Japanese teachers. Consider the following questions, which were used to guide informal discussion at a "team-teaching workshop":

  i. Why do Japanese give empty compliments (for example, when a foreigner can say a few words of Japanese: "Ahh, jozu desune!" [You speak very well])?

  2. Why are Japanese so surprised when a foreigner likes sushi or natto [fermented soybeans] ?

  3. Why do Japanese ask so many personal questions?

  4. How do you feel when a gaijin sits next to you on the bus or train?

  5. Why do the Japanese feel so unique as a nation when every other nation on earth is just as unique as Japan?

  6. What meaning does the emperor of Japan have for you? Is the family of Korean descent?

  7. With all their wealth, why don't Japanese. families have necessary conveniences like dishwashers and clothesdryers (or is this a secret plan to keep Japanese women busy in the home)?

  The clear message is that Japanese are too invested in their own culture for their own good. Speaking English requires the development of a critical frame of mind. In many of their criticisms, ALTs are implicitly demanding that the Japanese reconstitute themselves and their society in ways more compatible with Western norms and expectations.

  Resistance

  JTLs employed a variety of strategies to cushion the impact of the ALTs' visit and to lessen their potential for disruption. To be sure, powerful forces were marshaled on the side of change, and the term kokusaika contains a moral imperative. Moreover, most JTLs believe that they should be able to speak better English, conduct team-taught classes, and interact with ALTs. Yet the majority of JTLs-ambivalent or with private reservations about the JET Program-often found themselves being expected to change social routines and established behaviors. Though such uncomfortable transitions are a natural part of learning something new, considerable effort is needed to overcome the inertia of set patterns; and inevitably one feels compelled on occasion to reject the practical implication of an idea that sounded good in the abstract. JTLs who do not want to "be international" resist in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

  Simple avoidance is one common response. Some ALTs reported that they didn't find out certain Japanese staff were English teachers until months into their school visits. At one school's meeting to evaluate team teaching that I attended, the JTL who was most uncomfortable with the program arrived just as the meeting was ending, in gym clothes, explaining that he'd been tied up by club responsibilities. A twenty-eight-year-old JTL related a similar case at his school: "Once last semester all the English teachers decided to attend an ESS club activity together with the ALT. Everyone came except the head teacher, who took sick leave. He did it twice, actually. He was very worried because he doesn't speak English well at all. I understand his case, though. There's a big gap between teachers aged twenty to thirty and those over forty." Such avoidance can, of course, subject one to gossip and rumor among one's colleagues as well as the ALTs, but some JTLs clearly prefer that to confronting a potentially awkward situation.

  Another approach is to reinterpret current practice so that it fits within the rubric of "internationalization." Japan has a long history of repackaging foreign ideas and objects to make them compatible with Japanese sensibilities. At one team-teaching workshop I heard a JTL eloquently defend direct translation as a teaching method (a method ALTs criticize mercilessly), arguing that it allows students to become familiar with foreign ways of thinking and thus contributes in its own way to internationalization. This glossing of existing behavior to match the demands of being a good global citizen is ubiquitous in the JET Program.

  Perhaps the most common strategy is simply to capitulate to some extent to the demands of the ALT, ignoring the inconvenience as much as possible. In spite of widespread talk about the importance of letting the ALT know his or her proper place (ichizuke), many JTLs seem willing to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid direct confrontations. Perseverance (gaman) in the face of adversity is often celebrated as a virtue for Japanese students and teachers alike, and with the frequent rotation of ALTs, a JTL can rest content in the knowledge that a particular irritant won't last forever. I was told of an older JTL who was confronted by a young female ALT: she told him point-blank that his English class was terrible. The idea that this "child" would have the gall to tell him how to teach sent him into a rage, but he never once showed his anger to the ALT. When a younger colleague offered to talk to the ALT for him, the older JTL refused, saying, "It's only three more weeks. Let's just put up with it till she's gone."

  Special Treatment

  Most JET participants find themselves coping not only with subtle resistance but also with the special treatment extended to them. Nearly all must learn to deal with celebrity status and what some of them dubbed the "panda mentality," referring to the tendency of their Japanese hosts to fuss over them in the same way a zookeeper might give special care to one of his prized pandas. In conversation and in their writings, JET participants incessantly refer to the tendency of schoolchildren to stare, gawk, and, as one ALT put it, "view you like you just descended from another planet." Even Wada Minoru in the Ministry of Education recognized this dimension of local behavior: "When an ALT shows
up at a school, the teachers and principal bow their heads and idolize them (suhai no kimochi). Getting past this attitude is the biggest challenge for internationalization."

  Though some ALTs seemed to enjoy this unusual attention, in the long run many resented the concomitant lack of privacy and seeming denial of their individuality. They were irritated that their daily whereabouts seemed to be public knowledge, and they expressed annoyance when students would ask overly personal questions during the obligatory selfintroduction and question-and-answer session in a new class. Some even went so far as to publish lists of the questions they would refuse to answer. Others wrote letters, such as the one below, to the JET Journal or to the English language newspapers in Japan complaining about their treatment:

  As the local foreigner I am expected to attend every international event that occurs in my city. Far from an exchange of culture these gatherings have a tendency to be one-sided affairs where my foreignness is put on display for all to see. Rather than an increased understanding of different cultural groups, such international gatherings tend to reinforce slanted views and skewed perceptions about other cultures because they negate the person and focus on the culture and country of origin which effectively puts the "Gaijin on Parade." ... While on parade my only viability comes from my non-native status, causing me to feel as if I am being paraded around for no other purpose but to fulfill the visual component of an international meeting, talk, gathering or party.26