What do JTEs Really Want?

Articles
What do JTEs Really Want?
Wendy F. Scholetleld,
Charles Sturt University
Team teaching plays a vital role in foreign language teaching in Japan. The
Monbusbo (Ministry of Education, Sdence and Technology) alone employs over
4000 Assistant Language Teachers2 (ALTs); in addition, vast numbers of ALTs are
directly employed by cities and schools. A great deal of ancedotal comment has
been directed to the role of the ALT, and the type of ALT best suited to team
teaching in Japan. Thus far, however, there has been little research to validate
such comments. In this project, Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) at 31 junior
high schools were surveyed over 2 years via 86 Evaluation Forms (see Appendix
1) to discover what were considered to be the strengths and weaknesses of the
ALTs, and what improvements were desired. A wide variety of responses were
recorded. Confirming general intuitive notions, the importance of the ALTs
personality was repeatedly stressed, as was the motivational impact on students.
The one-shot system attracted widespread disapproval. Conflicting evaluation
of some aspects, in particular the use of Japanese in school, underscores the
importance of both ALT flexibility and JTE clarity in conveying individual needs.