Working as a Foreign English Teacher in Rural Japan: JET Instructors in Shimane Prefecture.

Autor/in	Scully, Etsuko
Titel	Working as a Foreign English Teacher in Rural Japan: JET Instructors in Shimane Prefecture.
Quelle	(2001), (29 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Acculturation; Cultural Exchange; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Intercultural Communication; International Educational Exchange; Japanese; Language Proficiency; Language Teachers; Participant Observation; Questionnaires; Rural Areas; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Secondary Education + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Akkulturation; Kulturaustausch; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Internationaler Austausch; Japaner; Japanisch; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; Teilnehmende Beobachtung; Fragebogen; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Sekundarbereich
Abstract	In the past decade over 30,000 young college graduates from overseas have been employed in Japan by the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). The stated goals of the program are to enhance foreign language education, to internationalize the country's viewpoint, and to promote mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. This study examines how JET participants from the West cope with the Japanese language as well as the country's cultural and social contexts. Using questionnaires, personal interviews, field observations, and local government documents, the effects of these Japanese influences on the activities of and attitudes held toward Japanese society by these young visitors living in rural Japan are analyzed. The specific focus of the research is their initial motivation to come to Japan, language proficiency, cultural adaptation strategies, and attitudes towards Japanese and work. It was found that there is no significant relationship between the JET participants' acquisition of Japanese and their acculturation. JET participants experienced difficulties in interactions with Japanese speakers because of such social and psychological constraints as culture shock, low self-esteem, personal inhibitions and motivation, and attitudes toward the host society. (Contains 13 references.) (KFT)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC