In This Issue
Articles
This issue of JALT Journal is the first Special Issue in the journal’s history, with essays, articles, and reviews devoted to the topic of race and native-speakerism. On page 211, guest editors Thomas Amundrud, Collette Grant, and Shirley Ando introduce the contents of the Special Issue.
The content of the Special Issue is followed by one Japanese-language article by Rie Koizumi, Susumu Matsuzawa, Reina Isobe, and Koichi Matsuoka who employ a group discussion and a debate to analyze rater reliability for Japanese senior high school teachers without detailed rater training. Following this article is a review by Masahito Yoshimura of a book by Etsuko Shimo about Japan’s purported ambivalence toward multilingual education.
Reviews
In addition to the three thematic-reviews of the Special Issue, six additional reviews are featured. To open, the fourth edition of English L2 Reading: Getting to the Bottom, which covers the systematic English writing system and some models of reading processes, is reviewed by Adelia L. Falk. Next, Hugh Graham-Marr evaluates a title on offensive or taboo language and the reactions engendered that lead to gatekeeping of online discourse. Through collaborative effort (with referral by James Kimball from KOTESOL), Stewart Gray was invited to examine an edited volume on policy suggestions for language teacher education in Asia. A. J. Grimm takes a look at a textbook addressing the art and architecture of academic writing and aptly named as such. A book authored by Kathleen Bailey on the techniques and practices in teaching speaking and listening is covered by Khilola Uralova. And finally, Ian Wilson lends his expertise of phonetics and phonology to review a practical guide (and its many online resources) designed to help readers analyze their own speech and that of others by becoming more consciously aware of how speaking and pronunciation are done through the use of the acoustic analysis freeware, Praat.
From the Editors
We begin this issue by expressing our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. Steve Cornwell, who passed away on April 25th, 2022. It is well-known that Steve was an integral part of the JALT community, having held positions in special interest groups and the Board of Directors in the association. He also served proudly as the JALT Journal (JJ) Associate Editor and Editor from 2004 to 2008. His energy and enthusiasm will be sorely missed, and we could not be more grateful for his pivotal role in JJ’s growth.
This issue will be the last issue with Gregory Paul Glasgow serving as Editor. Dennis Koyama and Jeremie Bouchard will assume the roles of Editor and Associate Editor respectively. Gregory wishes to express his sincere gratitude for the privilege of being a part of the JJ team since his tenure began in November 2018. He would also like to offer Dennis and Jeremie words of appreciation for their steadfast support and dedication. There is no doubt in his mind that the journal will remain in capable hands going forward! Gregory would also like to extend special thanks to Editorial Board Members, additional reviewers, and proofreaders for their efforts in maintaining the quality of the journal.
The JJ editors are excited to announce that this issue is the first Special Issue in its history. Special issues often make an important contribution to the development of academic discourse in a specific field, because they allow researchers and practitioners to (a) identify an issue or topic of particular relevance to the context in which the journal is read, (b) summarize the key concepts and debates shaping that issue, (c) bring further sophistication to existing academic discourse and identify new research possibilities, and (d) identify key readings for the journal readership. Special issues can also attract new authors and readers to an academic journal, and can be effective means of finding new editors for that journal.
In light of this, we therefore give special recognition to this Special Issue’s guest editors for their tireless work in the coordination of this project. We also strongly encourage JJ readers to submit proposals for special issues in applied linguistics in the future. When submitting such proposals, please make sure to include: (1) a title which clearly captures the special issue topic, (2) a brief description of the special issue, (3) an account of the motivation behind the special issue and its importance to the field at large, (4) a list of guest editors with short biographical information, including editorial work experience, and (5) a list of article contributors, with a short description of each article contribution. Specific details on the submission process for special issue proposals will be available on the JJ website after the new year and will be printed in the May 2023 issue.
We would also like to remind readers that the Point to-Point section of JJ provides readers the opportunity to comment on, in no more than 1,000 words, previously published JJ articles. We look forward to your responses not only to the content from this Special Issue but to any published article in past and future issues.
Finally, JJ is now processing manuscript submissions in English via an online submission system. English manuscripts should be submitted in either Rich Text or Microsoft Word Format (PDF submissions will not be reviewed) to http://www.jalt-publications.org/content/. Materials in Japanese should continue to be forwarded by email to the Japanese-language-editor, as explained on the JALT Journal website. Starting in May 2023, all appendices will be published in digital format only and will not be included in the print version of JJ. This decision was made to help manage printing and shipping costs associated with the additional pages.
— Gregory Paul Glasgow, Editor
— Dennis Koyama, Incoming Editor
— Jeremie Bouchard, Incoming Associate Editor
|
Erratum The review of the Candlin & Mynard ePublishing volume “Foreign Female English Teachers in Japanese Higher Education: Narratives From Our Quarter” edited by Diane Hawley Nagatomo, Kathleen A. Brown, and Melodie Lorie Cook, authored by Alina Friel and published in Volume 44, No. 1 (2022) of JALT Journal, contained a spelling error on page 177 for one of the co-editors of the book. The correct spelling of the co-editor’s name is “Diane Hawley Nagatomo”. |
From the Special Issue Guest Editors
It is our pleasure to introduce this special issue of JALT Journal, “Issues of Race and Native-Speakerism In ELT.” Race has implications for all aspects of the English language teaching (ELT) profession. It is imbricated in why English is a dominant global language; it is visible in the standardized textbooks used in classes around the world, and it is directly involved in the image and background of the so-called ‘native speaker,’ who remains prominent as the “ideal” English language teacher despite ongoing criticism (e.g., Butler, 2007; Fairbrother, 2020; Houghton & Hashimoto, 2018; Rivers & Ross, 2013; Von Esch et al., 2020).
This special issue emerged from two separate yet connected events: the January 23rd, 2021 JALT Kyoto Chapter event from which this special issue gets its title, and the subsequent Equity ELT Japan event held on January 25-28, 2021. It was at these two events that the authors of the articles and book reviews and the special issue editors met. The interest garnered in these events attracted a wide range of participants from around the world and across Japan. That many of them were not ‘native speakers,’ did not resemble the raciolinguistically typical ‘native speaker’ (Rosa & Flores, 2017), or did not come from Kachruvian “inner circle” (Kachru, 1992) countries, all hinted at the need for more substantive attention to the issue of race and native-speakerism in ELT.
Native-speakerism can be defined as a pervasive ideology within English language teaching which values the models of English and the institutions of the West, and by extension its ‘native speaker’ representatives, over those from other parts of the world (Holliday, 2006). The favoring of “the-West-as-the-best” model for teaching English has led to the spread of discriminatory hiring practices within the ELT industry where the marketing and hiring of teachers has less to do with language-related and teaching-related skills and aptitudes and more to do with skin color, accent, ethnicity, or even one’s name. For instance, in Asia, local English teachers are denied employment opportunities and benefits in favor of (typically) white, ‘native-speaker’ teachers, regardless of how well-qualified local teachers, or poorly qualified some ‘native-speaker’ teachers, actually are (e.g., Braine, 1999; Lowe, 2020).
Alongside the ELT context, the global Black Lives Matter protests of Summer 2020 for justice and equity spurred many people to question their complicity in perpetuating historic injustices and upholding structures of exclusion and unjust hierarchies. JALT, like other language teaching and research organizations, has been rightly criticized for its part in perpetuating historic inequities in our field (e.g., Hollenback, 2021). This special issue, along with other changes such as greater diversity in the plenary speakers at JALT national conferences and the formation of the JALT Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee, is one small step toward addressing and correcting these injustices.
Beyond mere justice and the deep connections between the topic of race and native-speakerism and ELT described above, we believe this topic is relevant to JALT Journal readers because of current trends in language teaching scholarship worldwide and in Japan. The featured articles and book reviews which specifically address race and native-speakerism in this special issue will be of interest to teachers, scholars, and students from racialized and minoritized groups, many of whom will see issues concerning their own experiences discussed in a prominent journal in Japan. Moreover, it should be of interest to members of majority cultures, be they Japanese nationals in Japan or white ‘native speakers’ around the world who wish to develop greater understanding and work toward solidarity with their colleagues, whose stories they may not have been previously aware of.
In the Introduction to this special issue, Ryuko Kubota cautions against reproducing racial and linguistic prejudices that promote indifference or hostility toward certain racial or ethnic groups, and advises that stakeholders must not only promote anti-racism and anti-linguicism, but also recognize the epistemological biases that are present in their own knowledge, teaching materials, and methodologies. Following is a conceptual essay from J. P. B. Gerald that examines the ways the centering of whiteness and pathologization of English language learners are inextricably connected in English language teaching. He looks at how whiteness has been constructed both globally and in Japan as well as how Japan’s English as a foreign language (EFL) industry has been conceived. He argues how whiteness as an ideology depends on the pathologization of ‘non-native speakers’, impairing both teachers and learners, and concludes with practical ways to challenge this ideology. In the next article, Robert J. Lowe’s ethnographic study explores native-speakerism in Japan through a frame analysis perspective. Based on teacher’s notes and interviews, Lowe examines the hidden aspects of native-speakerism ideology, analyzing master and counter frames in a graduate class of teacher trainees learning critical issues in ELT. Although Lowe observed the persistence of native-speakerism, he also detected some movements away from it with examples of counter-framing. This may lead to teacher trainees’ reevaluating their long-held beliefs in the superiority of the ‘native speaker’ as a necessary model for the English language.
Three book reviews directly connected to this special issue contain examples of how ELT practitioners worldwide experience and respond to being marginalized as a result of their racial and linguistic identities. Collette Grant begins by reviewing the title (En)countering Native-Speakerism: Global Perspectives. The book includes works by English teachers who reflect on their experiences in countries such as Kuwait, Mexico, and Turkey, where ‘native speakers’ are favored, and warns against limiting teacher identities to ‘native’ or ‘non-native’ speaker labels. According to the authors, such constraints may yield an inaccurate picture of the professional identities of teachers, with certain aspects being magnified (e.g., their race and ethnicity) and others trivialized (e.g., their experiences and educational backgrounds). This culture of trivialization is further discussed by May Kyaw Oo in her review of Narratives of East Asian Women Teachers of English: Where Privilege Meets Marginalization which details the stories of a group of East Asian women educators enrolled in graduate TESOL programs in American universities who, despite their privileged backgrounds, find themselves marginalized because of their racial and linguistic identities. In the final book review, Collette Grant presents a summary of Language Teacher Recognition: Narratives of Filipino English Teachers in Japan which engages in a critique of the conceptualization of language teacher identity under the poststructuralist theory of identity. It proposes an alternate conception that emphasizes reality over discourse, and which promotes mutual recognition as a means of eliminating identity-based biases in ELT.
The Guest Editors would like to thank Susette Burton, Jackson Lee, Robert Lowe, and May Kyaw Oo for their involvement in the initial special issue proposal. We would also like to thank the keynote speakers at the 2021 Kyoto Chapter event, Ryuko Kubota and Le Ha Phan, for their support and encouragement. Finally, we are extremely thankful to JALT Journal Editor Gregory Paul Glasgow, Incoming Editor Dennis Koyama, Incoming Associate Editor Jeremie Bouchard, and the JALT Journal Book Review Editor Greg Rouault and Assistant Book Review Editor John Nevara, for their invaluable guidance and assistance at all stages of this publication journey.
Guest Editors: Thomas Amundrud, Nara University of Education
Shirley Ando, Otemae University
Collette Grant, Misato Board of Education
Special Contributors: Susette Burton, Kwansei Gakuin University
Jackson Koon Yat Lee, Toyo University
Robert J. Lowe, Ochanomizu University
May Kyaw Oo, Nagasaki University
References
Braine, G. (Ed.). (1999). Non-native educators in English language teaching. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315045368
Butler, Y. G. (2007). Factors associated with the notion that native speakers are the ideal language teachers: An examination of elementary school teachers in Japan. JALT Journal, 29(1), 7–40. https://doi.org/10.37546/jaltjj29.1-1
Fairbrother, L. (2020). Native-speakerism and Nihonjinron in Japanese higher education policy and related hiring practices: A focus on the Japanese ‘Top Global Universities’ project. In S. Houghton & J. Bouchard. (Eds.), Native-speakerism: Its resilience and undoing (pp. 47–68). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5671-5
Hollenback, M. (2021). Exploring orientalist discourse in ELT research in Japan. In M. Hollenback (Ed.), Journal of Research Institute, Vol. 62: Criticality in English Language Teaching. (pp. 19–39). Kobe City University of Foreign Studies Press.
Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385–387. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030
Houghton, S. A., & Hashimoto, K. (Eds.). (2018). Towards post-native-speakerism: Dynamics and shifts. Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7162-1.
Kachru, B. (1992). Teaching World Englishes. In B. Kachru (Ed.) The other tongue: English across cultures (pp. 355–365). University of Illinois Press.
Lowe, R. (2020). Uncovering ideology in English language teaching: Identifying the ‘Native Speaker’ frame. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46231-4
Rivers, D. J., & Ross, A. S. (2013). Idealized English teachers: The implicit influence of race in Japan. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 12(5), 321–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2013.835575
Rosa, J., & Flores, N. (2017). Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective. Language in Society, 46(5), 621–647. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404517000562
Von Esch, K. S., Motha, S., & Kubota, R. (2020). Race and language teaching. Language Teaching, 53(4), 391–421. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000269
