Job Discussion Forums

jademonkey · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 180

If one was to study a Masters for a long-term career in Japan, would one study it in ESL, Education, English, Linguistics or something else?

AndyH · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 417

I don't have a Master's, but if I was going to try to earn one for a career in Japan, I would probably try for a degree in Education, in order to be able to have options other than teaching English.

jademonkey · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 180

AndyH · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 417

Well, with most Education programs that I'm familiar with, the student has a field of concentration, in which they are certified to teach. Usually it is related to the undergraduate degree.
You don't need to speak Japanese if you teach at an international school.

jademonkey · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 180

User N. Ame · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 222 Location: Kanto

Chris21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 366 Location: Japan

It depends on what you mean by your long-term plans. If it's at an Intl School, then a degree in Education might be most useful. However, if you'd like to teach at a uni, then an MA in TESOL, Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, or Communication might be best. I'm a full-time prof now at a uni, having finished my Masters almost two years ago, and I don't think my undergrad degree had any bearing on me getting hired (however, it may be relevant at an Intl School).

EDIT: The place where you get your Masters is almost as important. The right school, especially one with either a good rep and/or lots of grads teaching in Japan, can make your job hunt a lot easier.

bearcat · Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 367

An MA that focuses on teaching rather than research would be your best bet: TESOL/TEFL/TESL or Education with a practicum and or internship.

Japanese universities are moving away from research based linguistics MA holders.

Precise · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 140

Engineering, IT, Biology, Archaeology, Rocket-scientology.

Gypsy Rose Kim · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 151

I'd also recommend corporate training or training and development if you wanted to work in companies. A woman I used to work with did this (I thought she went to NYU but I can't be sure) and she's easily the richest English teacher I've met in Asia. Of course, she's also really smart and beautiful. But, she started out as Nova teacher eight years ago, so there's always hope...

jademonkey · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 180

Corporate training, eh? I'll have to have a look at that too.

bearcat · Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 367

Or any MA TESOL that has additional training in ESP (English for Specific/Special Purposes). Some of the corporate training companies I know of look for people with specific backgrounds in a BA (business, engineering) etc and/or a simple MA.

seanmcginty · Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 203

I'm planning on doing a Masters in Law (LLM) at the University of Kyushu sometime in the near future, which should be pretty useful.

Probably the MA in the fields Bearcat mention would be most useful for someone interested in teaching though.