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[User N. Ame]

I came across a great article on the JET Programme by Justin McCurry in last week's Guardian Weekly print version. Could not locate the article in the online version, but McCurry cites Toyama University prof James W. Porcaro throughout the piece. I found Porcaro's published article on the subject, so here it is for your reading enjoyment. The essence of the Guardian piece was: JET has succeeded in the realm of internationalization, but in the English pedagogy realm it has been a major failure, and therefore a big waste of money. Not a new debate, but always interesting to revisit.


Abolish the Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) Program!

James W. Porcaro, Toyama University of International Studies, <[email protected]>

(James W. Porcaro is a professor of English as a foreign language at Toyama University of
International Studies where he has worked since 1999. Previously, from 1985, he was an
instructor of English and the academic supervisor at a foreign language college in Osaka. He
holds masters degrees in TESOL and African Area Studies. For the past few years he has
been directly involved in the SELHi program in Toyama prefecture.)


Introduction

The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program is a government operated and financed
program that was inaugurated in 1987. The total number of participants currently working in
Japan is over 6,200, with 90% of them working as native English speaking �assistant
language teachers� (ALTs), mainly in junior and senior high school classrooms, and a small
but increasing number in elementary schools. JET ALTs are from about 40 countries � about
45% from the USA, 20% from the UK, and 30% from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
Ireland (ALT Online [online]). In addition, local governments have hired more than 3,000
non�JET ALTs through private educational firms (Ozawa & McLauchlan, 2003), bringing the
total number of ALTs to around 9,000. The annual cost for all ALTs in Japan may be as much
as 50 billion (50,000,000,000) yen (US$435,000,000) [1]. The duties of ALTs involve
essentially assisting Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) in communicative English
language classroom instruction. In addition they are expected to aid in the language training
of JTEs themselves and to assist in other English language activities at their schools (The
JET Programme [online]).

Since the ALT program started nearly two decades ago, I have talked pointedly with scores of
high school (and some junior high school) JTEs at workshops, seminars, and other events in
several locations in the country about their work with ALTs. My experience in this regard
affirms the longstanding existence of a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction and displeasure
among many JTEs with the ALT program, though most JTEs are unwilling to risk expressing
formally such views especially when they know very well that the program will relentlessly
carry on. In addition, over the past few years I have observed about twenty ALTs in high
school classrooms and talked with most of them about English language teaching in Japan.
My own contact with ALTs and their work lends no support for the continuation of the program
and there is an absence of any comprehensive, valid studies that conclude a positive effect of
ALTs� work on English language learning in Japanese schools, let alone one that is worth such
a staggering cost to the taxpayers of this country. Therefore, I believe firmly that the ALT
program should be abolished. Following is an outline of some specific reasons to support this
position.

Reasons to abolish the ALT program
1. Detailed data on the academic and professional background of ALTs seem to be entirely
lacking. However, from personal contact and conversation with many ALTs and JTEs on this
matter, it seems fair to say that the vast majority of ALTs are young people recently graduated
from college with little or no experience as teachers of anything, let alone English as a foreign
language, who are in Japan for the first time. A majority stay just one year, although some
renew their contract for a second year (about one�third) or even a third year, which is the
maximum limit (ALT Online [online]).

The vast majority of JTEs receive almost no formal teacher training and inadequate in�service
training (Browne, 1998; Gorsuch, 2002; Mulvey, 1999; Murphey & Sasaki, 1998).
Approximately 80% employ yakudoku as the only known instructional methodology (Gorsuch,
1998; Takeda, 2002). (Yakudoku means �translation reading� but is widely referred to as
�grammar�translation�.) At the same time, the overwhelming majority of ALTs are new and
untrained teachers. Thus, the classroom work of paired teams of JTEs and ALTs is likely often
to be much like the blind leading the blind, at least insofar as implementing effective
communicative�based English language instruction. Although anecdotal, my personal
experience of a number of classroom observations and conversations on English language
teaching with paired teams of JTEs and ALTs at various high schools lends strong support to
this characterization.

2. It seems there are no comprehensive studies with valid empirical evidence to show that the
presence of ALTs in junior and senior high school classrooms over the past nineteen years
has effected any notable advance in students� English language proficiency levels or the
quality of communicative language teaching (CLT) on a widespread scale in Japan. There are
assertions and some research that suggest the program has had some positive impact on the
English language ability of some JTEs (Browne, 1998; Gorsuch, 2002). However, even this
evidence is from very limited samples of self�assessment and it seems any generalizations
should be made with considerable caution. I have taught at tertiary level in Japan since before
the entry of ALTs into secondary school classrooms and can assert having seen no
discernible evidence of their impact on the overall level of students� English language
proficiency or their attitudes toward learning English over these years. Not only are the
English language skills of most Japanese students still acutely limited, but also they still enter
college holding "awkward and unproductive strategies and expectations for what English
study and learning is" (Christensen, 2003, p. 16).

3. At a cost of as much as 50 billion yen a year for the ALT program, a cost/benefits analysis
would certainly suggest that the presence of ALTs in Japanese schools involves a massive
expenditure for at best very limited and unproven gains. I believe that taxpayers� money would
be far better invested by conducting long�term, intensive training of JTEs in workshops,
seminars, and courses throughout the year for which they could be paid for required
attendance. Instruction would be provided both to raise their levels of English language
competence and to develop their knowledge of and skills to deliver effective, communicative
teaching methodologies. (A recent survey by the Ministry of Education [Monkasho] itself
indicates that 90% of public junior high school JTEs and 80% of public senior high school
JTEs have not yet demonstrated their achievement of the required level of English language
proficiency on specified tests [Daily Yomiuri, 2004]). Experienced, successful teachers and
teacher�trainers from within Japan, both native English speakers and native Japanese
speakers, should be employed with this money to work with junior and senior high school
JTEs not only in regularly organized training sessions but also on a daily basis in their
classrooms as long�term mentors. At the same time, it is imperative that Monkasho mandate
the practice of basic CLT methodology in all secondary schools and the termination of
yakudoku instruction.

The Ministry of Education has already implemented a five�year program to improve the
English skills of JTEs at public schools. 60,000 junior and senior high school teachers are
required to take short English training courses. Also, about 100 teachers are being sent
overseas to graduate schools for further language experience and teacher training (MEXT,
2002). While such efforts are positive, they are pitifully limited in scope. Enormously more
could and should be done for far more JTEs with the huge amount of money now spent on
ALTs brought to Japan from other countries whose contribution to English language
education in Japan seems to be extremely limited at best.
Furthermore, class size should be significantly reduced and more trained teachers hired in
order to facilitate successful implementation of CLT. Normal class sizes of up to 40 students
are unacceptable in a nation having the world�s second largest economy. The total
educational environment of primary and secondary schools in Japan would benefit
enormously from major reductions in class sizes which can be funded by the reallocation of
the 50 billion yen now spent annually on ALTs.

4. The single most important and desperate need in English language education at secondary
level is for JTEs to use English as the language of teaching and learning in their classrooms.
They are potentially the greatest resource and motivator for their students, who need to hear
their teachers using English with them and to be provided with opportunities and support to
use English themselves. Instead, the presence of ALTs in their prescribed roles allows JTEs
themselves to continue to avoid employing English as the instructional language in their
classrooms. They can continue to argue that using Japanese is more comfortable for them
and their students and that it is only natural that (�we�) Japanese use the Japanese language
among themselves (see Murphey & Sasaki, 1998). Frankly speaking, I am appalled when I
make classroom observations to see that the presence of ALTs marginalizes and diminishes
the role of JTEs in their own classrooms in front of the students at a time more than ever when
they need to assert themselves far more by teaching English in English.
The presence of ALTs in classrooms allows JTEs to evade their responsibilities. One JTE
(Miyashita, 2002) with twenty years experience in high school classrooms publicly expressed
his view on this point with compelling candor:

�The JET program should be abolished.... It is we Japanese teachers of English who should
take more responsibility for bettering English education in Japan. We are the ones who should
study more about cultural differences, improve our skills in verbal English communication and
do our best to be role models for our students. It is our duty to help students grow into mature
Japanese citizens with healthy and balanced international viewpoints. The Education,
Science and Technology Ministry, therefore, should start sending many more Japanese
teachers of English abroad so that they can broaden their horizons as well as acquire
proficiency in their language skills.�

Conclusion
The effects of the inadequate teaching of most JTEs at junior and senior high schools are
painfully manifest. Monkasho (MEXT, 2002) has recognized this and to deal with the matter
has instituted such strategies as the SELHi program (see Porcaro, 2006) with the aim of
�drastically improving the English education of Japanese people.� The focus of attention
needs to be on JTEs. �People have been criticizing English pedagogy in Japan for the same
reasons for over 100 years, from a time preceding the university entrance exams� (Mulvey,
1999, p. 135). It is long past the time when wholesale change is required in the work of JTEs
in order for them to fulfill their responsibility to prepare students for engaging and succeeding
in their choices of work and activity in the intensely integrated international order of the 21
st century. Monkasho (MEXT, 2002) stated: �With the progress of globalization in the economy
and in society, it is essential that our children acquire communication skills in English� in
order for living in the 21st century. This has become an extremely important issue both in
terms of the future of our children and the further development of Japan as a nation.�
The employment of thousands of ALTs not only does little if anything to improve Japanese
students� English language education, but also retards the necessary professional growth and
development of JTEs who need and deserve massive assistance and support that will
produce, at last, effective English language instruction in their classrooms. As I noted in a
previous ETE article on SELHi�s (Porcaro, 2006), in recent years, Finland has enjoyed an
international reputation for the high quality of its education system. The principal of a school in
Helsinki told a visiting reporter last year that the three reasons for her country�s educational
accomplishments were �teachers, teachers, and teachers� (Kaiser, 2005). Indeed, they make
all the difference in the quality of education for their students. The Japanese public and the
Ministry of Education must recognize the essential role and the acute needs of Japanese
teachers of English. They must demand far more accountability from JTEs and at the same
time provide them with the means to meet the challenges set forth in Monkasho�s statement
�to cultivate 'Japanese with English abilities'�. The ALT program, in fact, is a severe distraction
from the accomplishment of these goals. I advocate that it be abolished and that the problems
of English language education in Japan be faced with full frontal force until they are finally
overcome.


[1] Asahi Shimbun (2004) states that it costs six million yen per teacher to maintain an ALT for
a year in the JET program. (The monthly salary itself is 300,000 yen.) The cost of ALTs
recruited through the private firm reported in the article is from 4.5 to 4.8 million yen per year.
This may be representative of the costs paid to other private educational firms who recruit
ALTs for local boards of education. (Conversion from yen to US$ is at 115 yen = 1US$.)

References
ALT Online. Retrieved January 22, 2006, from
http://www.kansaiconnect.com/altonline/index.html
Alternative to JET program cuts costs, not quality, in classroom. (2004, December 24). The
Asahi Shimbun.
Browne, C. M. (1998) High School English teachers in Japan: Current issues. ThaiTESOL
Bulletin, 11 (2). Retrieved March 17, 2004, from
http://www.thaitesol.org/bulletin/1102/110207.html
Christensen, T. (2003). Observations on observing secondary school English classes. The
Language Teacher, 27 (4), 16.
English teachers lack language skills, survey says. (2004, March 30). The Daily Yomiuri.
Gorsuch, G. (2002). Assistant foreign language teachers in Japanese high schools: Focus on
the hosting of Japanese teachers. JALT Journal, 24 (1), 5�32.
Gorsuch, G. (1998). Yakudoku EFL instruction in two Japanese high school classrooms: An
exploratory study. JALT Journal, 20 (1), 6�32.
JET programme. Retrieved January 22, 2006, from http://www.jetprogramme.org
Kaiser, R. (2005, May 24). Focus on schools helps Finns to build a showcase nation. The
Washington Post. Retrieved October 10, 2005, from
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/finlanddiary/education/
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT]. (2002).
Developing a strategic plan to cultivate �Japanese with English abilities�. Retrieved
March
17, 2004, from http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news/2002/07/020901.htm
Miyashita, T. (2002, August 24). Send Japanese teachers abroad. (Letters to the editor). The
Daily Yomiuri.
Mulvey, B. (1999). A myth of influence: Japanese university entrance exams and their effect
on junior and senior high school reading pedagogy. JALT Journal, 21 (1), 125�142.
Murphey, T. & Sasaki, T. (1998). Japanese English teachers� increasing use of English. The
Language Teacher, 22 (10), 21�24, 32.
Ozawa, H. & McLauchlan, C. (2003, July 19). JET program entering new era of challenges.
The Daily Yomiuri, pp. 3,16.
Porcaro, J. (2006). SELHi progress, problems and prescriptions. Explorations in Teacher
Education, 14 (1).
Takeda, C. (2002). The application of phonics to the teaching of reading in junior high school
English classes in Japan. TESL Reporter, 35 (2), 16�36.

[JimDunlop2]

Flamebait.

[TokyoLiz]

Ditto on the flamebait.

Please see this paper, also by Porcaro - http://library.tuins.ac.jp/kiyou/2006kokusai-PDF/porcaro.pdf - SELHi Classroom Perspectives, in which he examines the Super English Learning Highschool program in terms of successful implementation and room for improvement.

He's not a bad guy. He's like all of us, JTEs, ALTs and NETs - fighting a big monster.

[Glenski]

Yeah, his article in the newspaper on this topic got chewed up by lots of JALT teachers.

[User N. Ame]

Three counter-arguments to his thesis so far:

1. Flamebait

2. Dito on flamebait (+ he's a nice guy, but....)

3. His article got chewed up by JALTs.





Care to elaborate?

[Sage]

I can't say I completely disagree with him. I really don't see how I make the English level of my students any better than it would be without me in the room. Of course I only teach each class once every few weeks at best as I'm spread over fourteen schools so that doesn't help.

Now, for elementary school where we are allowed to be T1 and really teach the classes - well, then I'd have to strongly disagree with the removal of ALTs from the system. We make a huge difference there.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[User N. Ame]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Obviously, people who are ALTs aren't going to argue in favour of having their jobs removed- because the answer to that is "Then why don't you quit?", so this article is flamebait. Anyway, here's my responce as far as the JET programme is concerned- but note that the author isn't just talking about the JET programme, he's talking about the idea of having native speakers in the classroom at all.

It always come down to the same thing. If JET hiring panel hired trained ELT professionals and treated them as such, that's what they'd get. If JTEs refuse to use ALTs (or even talk to them when they are here), and the hiring decisions come down to looking at the photographs that potential hirees are required to submit at the interview (which can be how a big chunk of the decision is based- interviewers can turn people down just because they feel like it, and this opens up the process to whatever prejudices the interveiwers have) then honestly they deserve to get loads of recent graduates looking for a year of binge drinking and treating Japanese people like volunteer prostitutes.

If the people who actually interviewed potential ALTs were human resources people instead of former JETs (with zero training, who may have left after only one year of hanging out with only other foreigners- note that this means they had only been in classes for up to five months before saying that they'd had enough and wanted to go home), well-meaning university professors who may have never set foot in Japan and demonstrate a pretty low level knowledge of thier home country by asking about other countries instead (this happens because the professor is normally a professor of Linguistics/TESL or Education, and may have no background in the country's history and never really had any interest in it), and Japanese people from the community who may base their decision mostly on the colour of the applicant's eyes and hair and may ask every single question which is not legal to ask in a job interview (this is an actual description of the panel that interviewed me before I was in JET), then they would be more likely to get good people.

It seems odd that small companies that hire ALTs for only a few schools and have an advertising budget of approximately zero dollars (so they rely on word of mouth and contacts only) seem to have few problems getting good people, but the same cannot be said of the JET programme- or maybe they get some really, really bad people simply because of their huge advertising budget and from not using HR people who are trained in cutting through the BS to get a good picture of the actual person. There's a stereotype of Japanese people 'lying' in order to preserve the wa, but IME, often Japanese people see a smile and think the westerner is happy (even when it is obvious that that's just a surface face to other westerners), hear a cheerful tone of voice and think they are telling the truth, etc.

Getting rid of the ALT system isn't going to fix it. Putting all that money into sending JTEs overseas won't fix it either, because so many simply would not take it seriously and would look at trips overseas as the goverment offereing bribes for people to become JTEs. Changing the way English is actually taught instead of just saying that they are changing things without actually doing anything will change things. But that means listening to people who actually have training and experience in teaching English, even if they are only gaijin, and even if they are gaijin without blond hair and blue eyes or aren't even from Amerlika. They aren't going to do that because it might include even the nuance that maybe they have been doing something 'wrong' and Japan has a blame culture (although again, books on [stereotypes about] Japan claim that it doesn't) and it all boils down to the basic Japanese tenant "If I did it, even though I hated it, then there's no reason why they can't do it now". Education in Japan is about memorizing stuff to pass tests and becoming a perfect Japanese person. It is not about learning things. And unfortunately languages are things.

[G Cthulhu]

[User N. Ame]

GBBB, excellent points all around. Thanks for taking the time to offer up a thoughtful reply.

Actually, even when I was an ALT, I was critical, even supportive, of doing away with the program, even if it meant an end to my job. In my own experience, I didn't really see the point of me being there, and a cost-benefit analysis of my position would have surely discovered they weren't getting good value for the yen. And I wasn't the only one. Many of my JET cohorts felt the same. Underutilization is an epidemic in the ALT system.

While getting rid of the ALT system may not fix the problems, it certainly would save a huge amount a cash for the state and give it many more options to explore. I'm not sure the article's author suggests sending JTEs overseas, rather, initiating mandatory re-training programs in Japan, which would give JTEs the in-class skills and tools they seem to be lacking.

[User N. Ame]

[furiousmilksheikali]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Nismo]

In regards to the "Reasons to Abolish the JET Programme":

1. The Monbusho specifically looks for fresh college graduates just out of academia. It is an exchange program that focuses on cultural exchange (i.e. get the students used to seeing a foreign face), and that is why the ALTs are assistants. They aren't looking for an English professor. If you've been in Japan for over 3 years of your life, you are automatically ineligible for the program. The author seems to have missed the point of the program entirely. He's comparing apples and oranges.

2. I had to pause to laugh heartily at this one: