English-Speaking Returnees in Japan: An Exploratory Study at One University

While the problems experienced by returnees in readjusting to life in Japan
have been the focus of considerable research, the returnee issue has yet to
receive much attention in the language teaching literature. This paper reports
the results of a small-scale questionnaire and interview study which mainly
addressed the issue of providing separate English classes for returnees in a new
Intensive English Program for highly proficient university students. Impetus for
the study was the concern of some Japanese faculty members that separate
classes may result in social and psychological damage to returnees. Results of
the study indicated that views of both returnees and non-returnees were mixed
on the issue of separate classes, with a larger percentage opposed to separate
classes for returnees. This underscores the importance of issues other than
language proficiency in curriculum development.