International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024

Recent Challenges for Foreign English Teachers in Japan
Robert William Long1,* and Rong Zhang2
1 Department of Foreign Languages, Institute of Liberal Arts, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
2 Department of Design Technology, Faculty of Design, Nishinippon Institute of Technology, Japan

Email: long@dhs.kyutech.ac.jp (R.W.L.); zhang@nishitech.ac.jp (R.Z.)*Corresponding author
Manuscript received September 4, 2023; revised October 1, 2023; accepted January 19, 2024; published April 18, 2024.

of foreign experts also coach students in spoken English
proficiency at higher education institutions [4]. The Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT) and many universities have begun to contemplateadjustments as a result of the consistently poor quality ofEnglish language instruction and practical application in
Japan over the years. The Japanese government has madeefforts to enhance students’ spoken and cross-cultural
English competence; however, the result has not been as
desirable as expected. Despite the government’s support andefforts, the situation has worsened and discussions about the
problem have not been useful or productive. International
investigation reports have shown that Japanese students’
overall English competence hasn’t improved all that much.
Japanese English learners are classified as having “lowproficiency” according to the study results from the Swiss
international education corporation EF Education in 2022,
which ranks Japan 80th out of 112 non-English speaking
nations and regions. Japan ranks 14th out of 24 Asian nations
on the English Proficiency Index (EPI), which has a global
average score of 502 [5]. As seen in Fig. 1, despite recent
increases in government funding for English language
instruction, the average level of English proficiency among
Japanese students has fallen substantially.

Abstract—Japanese students are suffering from English
learning. Data show that Japanese students fail to demonstratedesirable English proficiency despite decades-long efforts andpromotion from the Japanese government. Foreign (native)
teachers have helped with the development of English teachingin Japan in many respects, serving not only as teachers
conveying language knowledge to students but also as
representatives of foreign cultures helping students toappreciate incentives to learn about interculturalcommunication. The main emphasis of this study is to identify
the problems with foreign English teachers in Japan to see
whether there are any commonalities in the opinions of foreign
EFL teachers related to cross-cultural challenges, labor
concerns, workloads/working conditions, psychological andemotional well-being, which may have a negative impact on
English education. The findings of surveys and semi-conductedinterviews revealed that teachers’ perceptions of their teachingapproaches were generally acceptable and unproblematic, andthey seem to have received fair evaluation and support fromtheir colleagues. The stress and demands on teachers were often
excessive with increased administration, which consumed theenergy of English teachers while not contributing to theimprovement of teaching effectiveness. Although foreignteachers generally have positive outlooks on their own
experience, their advice tends not to be taken seriously or given
credit for their innovations or accomplishments. Cultural
conflicts sometimes cause trouble for them. Foreign teachers
should learn about Japanese culture and try to change theirperspective in thinking to achieve a better understanding ofintercultural communication.
Keywords—foreign teacher, English teaching, interculturalcommunication, labor issue in JapanI. INTRODUCTION
English language instruction in Japan has long been acontentious topic. How to assist students in improving theirgeneral English proficiency has baffled and intrigued bothteachers and the Japanese government for decades of years.
To enhance English education, all primary schools are
required to carry out activities to help students familiarize
themselves with English at the 3rd and 4th year level acrossthe nation. Furthermore, it has become a compulsory subject
for students of the 5th and 6th grades [1]. “Japan … has oneof the longest traditions of employing English instructors” [2].
The educational industry has hired foreign teachers withnative English proficiency and assigned these AssistantLanguage Teachers (ALT) to nearby primary schools andmiddle schools since 1087. The initial goal was to recruit
3,000 foreign teachers to fulfill the purpose and the goal wasachieved in 1992. According to the official data, 5,723
foreign teachers were employed in 2022 for this national
scheme [3]. These foreign teachers are expected to aid thestudents in deepening their knowledge of English andcross-cultural communication. Additionally, a large number
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2024.14.2.1195

Fig. 1. Japan’s EFL English proficiency index ranking (created by
Nippon.com).

Why is ELT in Japan so ineffective? What difficulties doteachers encounter? What areas and priorities should EFL
teachers concentrate on to make things better? Do teachers
have an overall positive or negative view of the current EFL
industry? As teachers with decades of years of teachingexperience in Japan, we realized that what needs further
investigation is how experienced EFL teachers in Japan view
recent challenges for foreign English teachers, how theirteaching has been supported and evaluated by theadministration as well as how intercultural and social issues
have affected them. This is a very core issue that may have
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International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024

serious impact on the productivity of EFL teaching
throughout the country.
Thus, in this paper, we surveyed 21 participants andsemi-conducted interviews with 5 foreign/native English
teachers. The purpose is to discover those factors which have
prevented the development of ELT in Japan and those factorsthat prevented teachers from offering more effective
instruction.

People who have spent years teaching in Japan frequently
have a hazy understanding of their rights and what remedy
they have if those rights are abused. Even the language
schools themselves, particularly the smaller ones, areignorant of the laws [13]. Reynolds discusses how he recently
had a conflict with his workplace about Paid Annual Leave(PAL), during which he was mistreated, ignored, fired, andthen reinstated. A second issue has been that of bureaucracy;
for example, during the pandemic, in 2020, many teachers,
particularly those working on oral English courses, found thisto be a huge challenge, as their companies had been analog
for so long and this sudden transition created more work andstress for teachers. Also, as one native teacher noted,“Technology, or rather attitudes toward it, was a big
challenge. My company was rather ill-equipped to switch toremote lessons, and while we had the resources for remote
work, it was bogged down in bureaucracy” . Teachers had towear masks, face shields, often teach reduced class sizes,
maintain social distancing in the classroom, provide adequate
ventilation, and then disinfect desks and chairs between
lessons. Changes came in 2023, with some universities andschools offering mixed online and in-person lessons so thestudents can choose what’s most comfortable for them. A
third issue, as pointed out by Steele, Zhang and McCornac[14, 15], is the poor accreditation system for English teachers,i.e., the inadequacy of the English Teacher Certificate System.
Many EFL teacher education programs in Japanese
universities do not give enough practical teaching experienceor enough in-depth instruction in teaching methods [16]. The
system for awarding teaching credentials is open to students
being registered at colleges and universities. Most of thenational, public, or private universities will allow students toobtain a teaching certificate as long as they meet theprerequisite credit requirements [17]. Universities without
sufficient full-time faculty of English education are stillallowed to grant some students teaching certificates inEnglish language instruction. These institutions takeadvantage of the teaching credential system and prioritizecollecting tuition money above preparing future teachers [14,15]. Obviously, the existing climate of inadequate English
education in Japan is partially caused by a shortage of trainedteachers, and researchers contend that strengthening teacher
training programs is the key to improving English educationin Japan [18]. Lack of pre-service and in-service English
teacher training programs has led to a shortage of skilled
English instructors and staff to assist the implementation of
the MEXT policy [19–21].

II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Many researchers have addressed the topic related toforeign labors in Japan, and the most commonly discussed
issue in the past 30 years has been the Technical Intern andTraining Program (TIIP). It has been criticized as sort ofhuman trafficking [6–8]. Japan used the system as a backdoor
to help with the solution of the domestic labor shortage issue
but didn’t offer proper benefits and salaries to the foreign
trainees. In fact, the Japanese government has started to
improve the situation of foreign labors by terminating the oldsystem [9] and to create a new evaluation standard tosupervise the organizations and companies involved in theprocess of foreign labor recruitment [10]. According to Japan
International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation
Organization (JITCO), the new Technical Intern Training
Program “introduced a new system for licensing supervisingorganizations, a system of accreditation for technical interntraining plans, and expanded the program for excellent
supervising organizations and implementing organizations
by increasing training periods and quotas for technical interntrainees”. However, there have been very few studies on
issues related to foreign (native) EFL teachers We might needto think about this issue from another perspective by listening
to the actual comments and opinions from foreign teachers
who have the experience of teaching English in Japan. This
would then allow for other researchers to make comparisonswith the foreign language teaching in other countries There
are many kinds of labor issues that EFL teachers are now
facing. One of them is the fix-term contracts being much
more widespread. According to the Mainichi Newspaper [11],Luc Loosveldt, a former teacher at Nagasaki University, had
asked the university to recognize him as an assistantprofessor of English, claiming that his termination was unfair
because it occurred shortly before he would have been
qualified to convert his fixed-term employment agreement
into an unfixed one after five years of service. The
university’s answer, according to the Nagasaki District Court,
was “not reasonable within socially accepted norms”, and thecourt also ordered the university to refund Loosveldt’s backsalary since the termination of his employment. Employees
have the option to apply for an unfixed term contract if their
fixed term contracts signed after April 2013 total more than
five years, according to a rule issued by the central
government under the amended Labor Contracts Act thatwent into effect in April 2013. The Nagasaki District Court’s
decision may have an impact on related lawsuits, as there
have been issues at universities and other institutions aroundthe nation where employees have been fired before obtaining
such a privilege [12]. Reynolds [13] reported on
foreign/native teachers in Japan not knowing their rights andobligations, working circumstances, and the law regarding
the disputes before schools and teachers were not common.

III. METHODOLOGY
A. Primary Data
Preliminary data comes from a paper published in 1999 by
Long [22], which investigated the career development of
retiring teachers and their insights into the “industry”. The
aim of this study was to describe teachers’ responses as they
relate to evaluating their experiences in regard to interculturaland labor issues, teaching methods, support and cooperation,and stress at work. Five participants were selected with theinterviews analyzed from the six themes about their career
entry,
stabilization
phase,
experimentation
anddiversification, reassessment, serenity and relational distance,
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and disengagement. Teachers did discuss, regarding career
entry, the issue of politics and how foreign teachers were
often challenged to adjust to Japanese norms and practices.
Criticism of school policies proved challenging, and teacherscommented how important it was to quickly adapt and towork out a system for oneself. In short, being flexible is a key
to making oneself successful at Japanese schools. In regard to
the stabilization phase, two observations were made: (1) becreative and make learning English meaningful for the
students; (2) learn Japanese and become more familiar withJapanese culture. In regard to the experimentation phase,teachers recognized the importance of having stages in yourlesson format so students do not get bored with yourinstruction, and try to change your style and role. As for thestage of reassessment, two issues surfaced: (1) it was
important to take some time out each month and to assessyour career and life; (2) think about what you have learned
and mastered, and always establish new goals for yourself.
As for the stage of serenity and relational distance, teachers
pointed out the need to improve relationships with colleagues,
and to try to become closer to students and be more confident
about teaching. As for the last stage of disengagement,teachers felt it was important to ask whether one was
becoming more or less active in their career and why, andwhat would prompt them to leave EFL? The data collectedfrom this study pointed out the importance of reflection for
valuing the insights of more experienced teachers in the field,
and how they see the profession in the coming years, andwhat challenges remain ahead for newer teachers.

IV. RESULTS
A. Intercultural Communication Issues and Their Impact
on Your TeachingThis section concentrated on difficulties connected tocommunication among coworkers and participation atmeetings about educational activities/curriculum that is theofficial route for them to express their ideas and opinions.
Furthermore, we were interested whether foreign (native)
English teachers could communicate a sense of values withpeople around them, and whether or not their comments weretaken into account and accepted regarding issues in
improving teaching efficiency. In response to the firstquestion, 15 participants stated that they could communicate
easily but emphasized the need for repetition and rephrasing
in practically every circumstance. In brief, there wererecurring themes in the responses, demonstrating theinsufficiency of effective communication skills and thenecessity of following up when something is not entirely
understood. Only two participants responded negatively tothe second question about being given the opportunity toattend meetings related to teaching activities. The majority of
respondents cited committee work related to curricula, rules,
and exams. However, two comments did draw our attention
to a specific unresolved problem:
We have meetings regarding curriculum creation andadministration, but there is essentially no discussion aboutteaching activities or approaches. There are sometimes FD
sessions, but I’ve never really found them to be helpful.
Japanese colleagues seldom show disagreement to a
proposal, especially when it is made by someone in power. So
there is no real discussion. The meeting is just a process topretend that the decision is made by all the members of thedepartment.
Only
four
individuals
mentioned
thethird
topic⎯values⎯as not being important to them or their pupils,
citing time and curriculum constraints. Others talked on how
they might live up to the principles taught in the textbook. A
second participant noted:
I teach intercultural communication, so that is part of thecourse material. Where appropriate, I would feel free todiscuss it with students in other classrooms as well, but I
would also like to emphasize its diversity.
One participant talked about how he was allowed and evenencouraged to teach about morals in his seminars because oneof the goals of the program is to introduce students todifferent cultures. Another participant emphasized how there
were many students from the Chinese mainland, so it isimportant to give extra consideration to how you will teachabout Taiwan and Canada’s sense of values compare to thoseof China. Only one person responded negatively to the fourthquestion, which included advice and opinions, but others
claimed that there were no opportunities for this issue. The
responses ranged from how they essentially have complete
control over what they teach in their seminars to the fact thatthey only needed to use a common textbook.

B. Rational
As described above, it is of importance to understand how
various social and cultural issues are affecting EFL teachers’
educational opportunities in Japan. Current research on the
career development of foreign (native) EFL education in
Japan is lacking. Depopulation is impacting how education isperceived and valued, and Japan is endeavoring to achieve
the goal of getting involved in globalization. Therefore, it isimportant to reexamine the issues relating to the careerdevelopment and cycles of foreign (native) English teachers,
and what they have to say about their adapting to the roles at
the institutions and even to the Japanese culture and thesociety.
C. Questionnaire and Interview
This time, we created a questionnaire focusing on fiveissues that impact EFL teaching: (a) interculturalcommunication issues and their impact on your teaching; (b)fair treatment and evaluation of your colleagues; (c) support
and cooperation; (d) teaching methods; and (e) stress anddemands. Twenty open-ended questions were included in thesurvey, aiming at eliciting additional information, examples,
explanations, or comparisons, and how participants felt about
the issues. Furthermore, we also conducted semi-conductedinterviews with five foreign (native) English teachers inperson to further confirm the information we obtained fromthe questionnaire. There were 32 people who were contacted
and 21 responded with valid responses. Data collection
proceeded from mid-March to early June 2023. In addition to
the questionnaire, we also conducted interviews with 5 native
teachers with profound teaching experience in Japan.

B. Fair Treatment and Evaluation of Your Colleagues
This section focused on how one is treated and judged bypeers, especially with regard to compensation, workload,
perks, and support. These responses had a lot in common,
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International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024with the salaries for Japanese coworkers and foreigners being
the same. However, there were more negative responses (7)about the question about workload, with participants
claiming that their Japanese coworkers had a heavier
workload because “other foreigners could mostly not
function in Japanese, and they did not do much extra beyond
materials development, so I think the native speakers ofJapanese (including Koreans) generally had more duties(and would not resist like foreigners occasionally did)”.
One teacher explained about the process of promotion in
her school:
There is no real fair evaluation system in my school. The
bonus you received is determined by your boss, and it does
not reflect the quantity and quality of your work andacademic achievement. I have a doctoral degree and a lot of
publications, much more than the other two Japanese guys.
But I was rejected for promotion five times. The other two
Japanese teachers hold a master’s degree only and seldom
had any publications. But they were promoted to professor
because they helped supervise the student baseball team.
There were six affirmative responses to question 7 andnine negative ones, with others mentioning the difficulty of
their circumstances. Hardly anything was discussed,
including rights, obligations (apart from those in contracts),
or even one’s tasks, according to the participants. They
simply assumed that foreign (native) teachers will behave inaccordance with their expectations and remain silent until
they step on one of the unseen land mines. Even a humanrights-focused college demonstrates a tendency towardauthoritarianism in society. Others noted how unclear things
were at their university for everyone. In other words, it
demonstrated that this particular issue varied significantly
among institutions. Regarding question eight, which asked
participants if they could bring up instances where they felt
treated unfairly, the majority cited how they relied on theirdean, president, or union.

mind. I also feel that I am listened to when I do havesomething to say. Initially, I was hesitant to speak up because
I didn’t know how my input would be received, but after ayear or two, I came to realize that the administrators and mycolleagues were open to my input and accepted it.
When pandemic started, all classes went online. I had tolearn how to use the different systems in 6 universities
because I am part-time. All of the systems had English
indication only, and no manuals in English version wereavailable. I didn’t know [with] whom I should talk to about
this.
Regarding question 11, which was about the school’s
budget and salaries, only four responses were in favor, withthe majority claiming that salary had stagnated and that newworkers had less favorable contracts. Five participants
responded negatively to the following question regarding
opportunities for making presentations and receiving
on-the-job training, whereas the majority of participants said
yes. However, one teacher said he had received almost no
training at all.
D. Teaching Methods
In particular, the use and emphasis on standardized testing,e-learning, class sizes, and how their institutions dealt withdisinterested students were crucial topics to focus on from theperspective of the professors at the institutions. Seven
participants responded negatively to question 13 about theusage and emphasis on standardized testing, and theremaining participants mentioned greater reliance on the
TOEIC and other examinations. One teacher noted asfollows:
There seems to be an ongoing obsession with TOEIC as the
only criterion that matters. I think this has much to do withthe personal preference of the department head – and thus
tends to swing like a pendulum. Currently, we are at an“extreme obsession” end of that swing.
There were four unfavorable responses regarding the usageof e-learning and whether or not this technology was thought
to be helpful to students’ actual proficiency. It was noted:
I haven’t seen any noticeable effect on their proficiency. I
think that it is easier for students to be passive in e-learning
than in personal-contact learning.
Well, the pandemic forced us to start using Google
Classroom, Zoom, etc., more. But I feel that it was forced on
many professors, rather than being something they wanted todo. I think the benefits may not have really been there forstudents as the tools haven’t been utilized well and students
have generally tried to attend online classes with cameras off(doing whatever we cannot see). We have no real way ofknowing the effectiveness.
Since very young, Japanese students have been trained tofollow every instruction from the teacher. They are notencouraged to do their work with their own decision. In class,
if I do not ask them to write down the points on thewhiteboard, they will just sit there still and wait for my
instructions. Japanese style of teaching does not encourage
students to ask questions that much. So they just keep silencein class and never volunteer to ask my questions, either.
As to whether class sizes were proper for language
teaching, seven replies were negative with teachers feelingthat classes were simply too large. Some opined that “I think

C. Support and Cooperation
When asked if they could get help when needed from theircoworkers and staff, two respondents gave negative
responses. However, teachers’ opinions on whether they areencouraged to offer suggestions for improving teaching andadministration in their school were more divided. Eightpeople offered affirmative responses, three responded withqualifications that their opinions were significant in
administration but not in teaching, and others mentioned thatthey were permitted to express their opinions but were notencouraged to do so. Key responses include such remarks:
Certain foreigners who are in with the cult are welcome.
My input was ignored except when they needed my help forbilingual faculty training in new educational technologies
like learning management systems. I was on the IT
committees. They did take my advice in one big issue. Energy
and time-wasting attendance cards were filled out by
students at the beginning of every class, a pet idea of the
all-powerful President. I convinced them to install an
automated attendance management system, which has saved
a huge amount of quality class time and money. But it’s not as
if they acknowledged it was my idea and so the staff
remember.
Yes, I feel free to recommend changes and to speak my
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the best class size would be 6 to 10 students. That is
unrealistic, of course. The problem is that in a class of 30
students”, only 5 or 6 could be considered “language
learners” while another pointed out that classes now often
have between 35 and 45 pupils due to a gradual rise inenrollment. Individual teachers now have a heavier workload
because of this. More than 70 students could be in one
teacher’s class. Six people responded negatively to question
16 about providing support at your school for pupils who
exhibit apathy or behavioral issues, but others mentioned that
counselors were on hand. One noted, “Yes, fastidious student
support partly justifies the relatively high tuition. They have abelief system, though, that each student has a salvageable
soul, so they try not to reject students with various mental
problems”, while another questioned how effective these
support systems were.

mundanity, etc. Five people responded negatively to the finalquestion on whether Japan has been more tolerant offoreigners over the past few decades, although others thought
there had been some progress. One stated:Japan as a whole, I find that hard to answer. But my place
has always treated me fairly. I’m not sure, but I would
probably say no. It depends what ‘accepting’ means. I thinkthat life will be the same for a while as a foreigner teachinghere. You are certainly not Japanese, but you can slowly fit inmore and more over time.
Another pointed out:
I find this question difficult to answer, as there have beenongoing trends in both directions (becoming more accepting
and less accepting in different ways). About foreign teachers– I feel the situation has not changed significantly over thethree decades I have lived in Japan. This is especially true of
universities – which, in my view, tend towards being“bastions of conservatism” in this country. There has always
been an undercurrent of discussion in universities where I
have worked, regarding how to replace the foreign teachers(both part-time and full-time employees). First it was cassettetapes, then the Internet, and now ChatGTP – that was goingto rid Japan of the need for expensive native-speaker foreign
language teachers. While the idealized mechanism haschanged, the overall intention has not.

E. Stress and Demands
Four participants reported feeling no stress in relation to
the final issue that affects EFL educators – stress anddemands, but others noted concerns related to scheduling,committees, and other issues. One said “once in a while”.
Another person talked about how administration can be
demanding, particularly when it comes to the quantity ofmeetings and difficulties with Japanese paperwork. Theysuggested that they might be trying to grasp new committee
duties and how to occasionally connect with more seniorprofessors.
A culture of heavy emphasis on pedagogy and student
support makes teachers dedicated, so there is more potential
for trouble outside of teaching. It’s not always the fault of
administrators, but if someone pecks at them, they peck atteachers. One false accusation can destroy a teacher, whileothers get away with marrying a former student or whateverif they are insiders. I was a professor at a religious institution,
stressed at feeling that inculcation of faith does not belong in
education.
Thirteen people responded negatively to question 18 about
power or sexual harassment that occurs for reasons unrelated
to teaching, but others provided examples of how suchharassment is subtly perpetrated, such as by enforcing a“Japanese only” policy in meetings, engaging in minor verbal
harassment, or obstructing someone’s research efforts withapparent malice. Teachers believed that it was frequently
simpler to put up with the abuse than to go through thearduous and time-consuming procedure of pursuing a claimthat would only result in a light or nonexistent punishment forthe offender. One female teacher said about the drinking
party:I was invited to attend the drinking party more frequently
than I expected. The dean loved parties. All of other teachers
were male and loved drinking. I went to most of them because
I realized it is a place for exchanging ideas and discussing. I
was afraid of power harassment in one way or another if I
refused. They sometimes talked about sex while drinking, andI just pretended that I didn’t understand their Japanese. I felt
extremely uncomfortable though I knew it is part of theJapanese party culture.
Only three teachers responded negatively to the following
question about job-related pressure and burnout, while theothers mentioned difficulties like publish or perish pressure,

V. OBSERVATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
Thus, to summarize these issues that were in the survey
and interviews, the following points should be noted byforeign (native) teachers [6, 7, 14, 15, 23, 24]:
(1) Basically, Japan is a mono-lingual and mono-culturalcountry, where Japanese language and culture predominate(Fig. 2) [24]. Most of the people do not function well in
English including students, and English is not a tool for daily
communication. Because Chinese characters are included in
the language, it would be impossible for foreigners to masterthe language without long-term systematic training. If
foreign teachers have to rely on the English version of official
documents for information, the amount of information they
could get access to will be very limited, either at workplace orin their daily life. It is very difficult to find a qualified
Japanese staff at schools or governmental sectors who canuse English to communicate.
In our survey, some of the participants responded that they
were well supported by the staff. However, one thing has tobe noted here that the explanation they received are only partof the administrative procedures. The foreign teachers arehelped to meet the deadline by completing the complex forms.
Actually, many teachers may even not understand why they
are supposed to do this because nobody would explain muchabout the scenario and the logic about the process. Much of
the detailed information cannot be conveyed completely
through oral interpretations. In Japan, nearly all of the
documents are in Japanese only, including those stipulations
regarding the benefits and rights of employees at workplaces.
Here comes the point: without sufficient competence inreading and speaking Japanese language, most of theinformation is blocked out from foreign/native teachers.
In sum, the issue of being fluent in Japanese has to be
reinforced. It is difficult for foreign (native) teachers to
conduct real communication without sufficient reading and69

International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024

speaking competence. The information available to them islimited.

Fig. 2. Permanent-type migration to OECD countries as a percentage of thetotal population.

(2) One of the significant features in Japanese culture is thedifference between “insiders” and “outsiders” [7]. The term
insiders refer to those who have been accepted by a socialgroup or a community, while outsiders are people who canstand outside the group or community to watch only what ishappening in any given circumstance. Insiders are the people
who are really getting involved in the activities of the groupor community. Off-record messages and decisions are shared
among a small number of insiders only, though the outsiders
are affiliated to the organization as well. Since foreignteachers attend fewer meetings and seldom get involved inadministrative work due to their incompetence in Japanese
language, their points of view are much less reflected during
the discussion and decision-making process of the schools.
Many of the foreign (native) teaching staff believe thatthey keep good relationship with their colleagues because
they greet each other whenever they might meet. However,once any trouble arises, these relationships are often tested.
Foreign (native) teachers realized that nobody seems to bereliable and would offer them the real help they need. Clearly,
the good relationship assumes that foreign teachers follow all
the rules and decisions of the school. In most cases, the“trouble” is caused by the proposals made by the foreign(native) teachers about teaching and administration from adifferent perspective from their Japanese colleagues and theconsistency of their motivation to provoke changes. In thatcase, they would be considered as dissidents and treated as
someone who has misbehaved and should receive
punishment. Japanese believe that all people should share thesame points of view if they are members of the group ororganization. They do not accept someone who would
challenge them by using a different set of social rules andsense of value. Therefore, the only way for foreigners to be
accepted as insiders is to learn about the Japanese logic aboutlife and work and give up their individual ideas. Oncecompromise is reached in this respect with other Japanesecolleagues, he/she would be accepted as a true insider.
Certainly, even some Japanese are sometimes exempt fromthis inside circle as well foreigners who should formulate a
new sense of values. Otherwise, the consequence would be toendure a degree of loneliness of being an outsider who israrely informed about what is going on. Thus, foreign (native)
teachers should make choice by themselves, whether to enjoy
the freedom of being alone or to follow these conservative
Japanese norms.
(3) In Japanese culture, one significant feature is “tatemae”
and “honne” [8]. Tatemae means what people are supposed tosay in the public eye, while honne refers to people’s true
feelings and thoughts that are disclosed to their close
70

relations only. Tatemae are usually comments that areconsidered positive by social standard, such asencouragement, appreciation, challenge spirit, benevolence,
sympathy, politeness, and considerateness. Honne not only
includes the above positive emotions, but also negative
feelings and thoughts, such as criticism, selfishness,
mercilessness, rudeness, arrogance, demotivation, anddishonesty.
Japanese are trained to build these two communication
channels since very young and could use them properly
according to the situation around. That is, people are notsupposed to be honest all the time and learn to pretend anddisguise themselves as “well-educated” in social contexts. As
explained above, if you do want to hear someone’s honne,
you must make efforts to be part of his/her inside circle.
Otherwise, what you hear will be just comments that reflect atatemae perspective which might not mean anything inessence.
The point here is that it is complex to determine whether
the person tatemae and honne to speak; it takes time to learn
how to make judgment on this as this is not explicitly taught
in Japanese language classes or society. It is not surprisingthat some foreign staff can hear tatemae only because they
have never been taken as a member of the inside circle intheir relationship with other Japanese. Foreign teachers are
not really involved in the decision-making process, though
they are given the chance to attend the meetings seemingly.
Decisions, in Japan, are usually made before meetings among
several core members, and the meetings are just ceremonies
to show that the decisions are made by all the members.
Foreign (native) teachers will get frustrated if they expect real
discussions at meetings. There are so many behavioral
patterns hidden in the Japanese culture, which may seem tobe contradictory from surface.
(4) Bullying is another social issue which should be
addressed here. In Japan, it commonly exists at any socialgroup, organization, and workplace. There are many reports
about bullying cases throughout the country. According to
the statistics of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology, Japan, the number of cases ofbullying at elementary schools and middle schools hasreached an unprecedented level [25]. Even many Japaneseteachers have been reported to be bullied at their workplacesby their administration, and have to quit their jobs [26]. The
government offers the explanation for the increasing casesthat students must endure more pressure and stress than
before. In fact, the essential logic for bullying is that someone
should be bullied if he/she is different from other people, andchildren learn this from the adults around them. The majorityof the foreign (native) teachers brought up how their dean,president, or union when they are asked about cases, about
which they felt having been treated unfairly. They are
different and their insufficiency in Japanese language is taken
advantage of.
Diversity is seldom allowed or accepted within any groupor organization. An individual is forced to follow thedecisions of the majority, which is called peer pressure; thus,
the normal pattern for bullying is that one individual will bebullied by several or all the other people around. Deliberate
ignorance is the most often used weapon especially when
adults want to bully someone at a workplace. This is, indeed,International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024

a very difficult situation for foreigners because they are
different in many respects, from looks to behavior, from thelanguage they use to the way they think; foreigners can facevery serious problems in this regard because they are
different in so many ways.
Furthermore, in Japanese, there is an interesting term “readthe air”, which indicates that people should try to discern
information or message from the mood and situation aroundwithout being told, otherwise, he/she will become the person
to be bullied. This has also become a hurdle for foreign staff
at their workplace to be treated as equal as other Japanese.
Once bullying occurs, foreign staff would not know how tosolve the issue. They express their dissatisfaction and protest
at meetings for their rights, but this just results in them beinglabeled as troublemakers because in Japanese culture,obedience and endurance are thought to be important virtuesof well-educated people. There are so many behavioral
patterns hidden in the Japanese culture, which may seem tobe contradictory from surface.

Japan still has a long way to go in truly accepting foreigners.
APPENDIX
Instrument
Dear participant, we would like to thank you for taking thetime to respond to these questions as best as you can; theinformation will be compiled and will provide some direction
and guidance to new EFL teachers coming into the field once
this article is published. Thank you for your cooperation, anddo let us know if you are available for a follow-up interview.
Affiliation: 1. Primary School[ ]2. Middle School[ ]3. High School[ ]4. College and University [ ]Current Status: 1. Full Time
2. Part Time

[ ]
[ ]

Choose a number that reflects your own experience. Pleasewrite one or two sentences about your own experience, if thisapplies to you.

VI. SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
It is indeed a challenging job to teach English in Japan.
Here are some suggestions for foreign/native teachers:(1) Learn Japanese language as much as you can. Give up
the idea that you could receive all the information in English.
You are settling in the country rather than traveling, so you
need much more information in detail. Keep on trying andimprove your Japanese language, which will help you know
better about society and your work.
(2) Follow the Japanese way of doing things. Try tointeract with Japanese people as much as you can and learn
about the culture. When you feel uneasy with the Japaneseculture, give up the idea that you are right. The common
knowledge elsewhere may not be acceptable in Japan.
Remember it takes a long time for people to accept you as aninsider.
(3) Do not argue with people around. Learn to admit that
their sense of value is true. When seeing things are different,change your mind if you want to solve a problem smoothly,
because potentially, people around you will not change.
Foreign/native teachers should make efforts toaccommodate themselves better to Japan and its culture.
However, it must be noted that raising the level of English
education is not the sole task of English teachers. English
learning activities are closely related to the attitude and senseof value of the whole society [27]. If English is a foreign
language that is being taught and used only within theclassroom, then one could expect that the outcome of thelearning activities may not bear fruit. Perhaps the time hascome for Japan to consider how to make a connection
between the English language and its practical use in daily
life [28]. Moreover, in recent years, Japan has decided toaccept more foreign laborers to compensate for its population
loss. Thus, it would be of crucial significance to provide
migrant workers with more service in English. This is therequirement and responsibility to burden as a hosting country.
If foreign cultures can be seen in a more positive light,
evaluated, and accepted for what they are without making acomparison to Japanese culture, then Japanese society may
be more able to develop a positive attitude towards otherparts of the world. Just as one of the participants commented,

Part 1. Intercultural Communication Issues and their impact
on your teaching
Please write one or two sentences about your own experience,
if this applies to you.
1. Are you sure that you can communicate smoothly withyour colleagues either in Japanese or English?
2. Are you given chances to attend meetings regarding
teaching activities, such as curriculum administration andteaching methods?
3. Do you feel free to teach students sense of values in foreigncountries in your class?
4. Do they accept your advice and opinions, which could
improve teaching effectiveness?
Part 2. Fair Treatment and Evaluation of your colleagues
5. Are you receiving the same remuneration for teaching as
your Japanese colleagues?
6. Do you think your workload is the same as your Japanesecolleagues?
7. Have your benefits and rights at your workplace ever been
explained to you clearly?
8. Do you have someone to talk to when you are not treatedfairly?
Part 3. Support and cooperation
9. Can you get support from staff at your workplace when
you have trouble with Japanese documents?
10. Are you encouraged to make proposals regarding
teaching and administration in your school?
11. Has the budget (and wages) for English courses andteachers remained stable at your institution?
12. Are you given chances to make presentations atconferences or receive on-the-job training?
Part 4. Teaching Methods
13. Has the use and focus on standardized testing become
more important and prevalent?
71International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024
[10] JITCO (Japan International Trainee & Skilled Worker Cooperation
Organization). (2023). What is the technical intern training program?
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terminationofEnglishteacher.
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on-of-english-teacher.505210/[13] C. H. Reynolds, “Making responsible academic ethical decisions,”
New Directions for Teaching and Learning, vol. 1996, no. 66, pp.
65–74, 1996. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.37219966612[14] D. Steele, R. Zhang, and D. McCornac, “Policy change in teacher
training: Challenges to enhance English education in Japan,” Malaysian
Online Journal of Educational Management, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 12–26,
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[15] D. Steele, R. Zhang, and D. McCornac, “Enhancement of teacher
training: Key to improvement of English education in Japan,” Procedia
Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 217, pp. 16–25, 2016.
[16] M. Kizuka, “A consideration of the problems in secondary schoolpreservice teacher education in Japan,” presented at the Meeting of theJapan Association for Language Teaching, Hamamatsu, Japan, 1997.
[17] National Institute for Educational Policy Research. (2011). Teacher
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andcertificate.
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https://www.nier.go.jp/English/educationjapan/pdf/201103TTCS.pdf[18] J. Kurosawa, “Issues related to English teaching in primary schools andsuggestions on programs for teacher training,” Journal of Naruto
University of Education, vol. 2, pp. 29–38, 2011.
[19] H. Ishihama, “Some tasks for English activities in elementary schools:
A proposal on in-service training and the securement of teachers,”
Bulletin of Holy Spirit Junior College, vol. 30, pp. 54–66, 2002.
[20] M. Ishida. (2001). A comprehensive study of in-service English
teacher education in Japan-from status quo to renovations. [Online].
Available:
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problems to solve,” Bulletin of Kobe Tokiwa University, vol. 6, pp. 1–7,
2013.
[22] L. Long. (1999). 20/20 hindsight: Teacher change and advice. The
Internet
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Journal.
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http://iteslj.org/Articles/Long-TeacherChange.html[23] R. Zhang and D. McCornac, “The plight of foreign workers in Japan:
Their stories speak for themselves,” Border Crossing, vol. 12, no. 1, pp.
17–32, 2022. doi:10.33182/bc.v12i1.2114[24] R. Zhang, “International or self-conscious? – A slip of Japanese
government in policymaking,” Studies in Contrastive Linguistics, pp.
1091–1098, 2006.
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14. Has the use of e-learning increased at your institution? If
so, do you see this tool as beneficial to students’ actual
proficiency?
15. Is the class size in your school proper for language
teaching?
16. Is there any support in your school for students withapathy or behavioral problems?
Part 5. Stress and Demands
17. Do you feel stress at your workplace which is caused byfactors irrelevant to teaching?
18. Has power or sexual harassment been a factor at yourworkplace?
19. Have you experienced any job-related pressure and/or
burnout?
20. Has Japan become more accepting over the past few
decades of foreign teachers and of foreigners?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Robert Long designed the survey and both he and Rong
Zhang collected data. Both of the two authors did analysis,
wrote the paper, and conducted proofreading and revision.
All authors had approved the final version.
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