MACMILLAN Effecting Change in English Language Teaching: Exposing Collaborators and Culprits in Japan

This book is about the challenges that come with initiatives to develop a more humanized, intersectional and negotiable landscape for English Language Teaching (ELT). It sets out to problematize ingrown and ingrained practices in English teaching, weaving together obscured practices, undisclosed agendas and ideologically motivated (inter)actions to expose the unspoken agendas at work. Drawing on his own experience of being part of an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) programme at an urban Japanese university, the author presents a case for rethinking language education in Japan. This book will be of interest to applied linguists, language teachers and teacher trainers, cultural anthropologists, and anyone interested in the cultural politics of education, especially language education. Review “This thought-provoking book is likely to have a significant impact on language teaching professionals and their practice in Japanese contexts … . the book offers refreshing insights into the hope and possibility for transformative change and makes highly convincing cases against protectors and defenders of the status quo … .” (Natsuno Funada, International Studies in Sociology of Education, October 27, 2021) Review “This book artfully unpacks how English language education in Japan both shapes and reflects the sociohistorical perpetuation of essentialized and idealized Japaneseness and Otherness (imagined as idealized nativeness in English) within Japanese society, resulting in the ignoring and/or active suppression of: a) Japan’s history as a place of diversity and hybridity, as well as b) the complexity of negotiated identity and interaction occurring in and beyond Japan. Despite the formidable challenges named, the author endeavors to pave a dialogic path towards transformative change within Japan and (language) education therein, as well as in settings around the globe.” (Associate Professor Nathanael Rudolph, Mukogawa Women's University, Japan) “This fresh and incisive book provides readers with a fantastically articulated look at the principles, practices and powers that maintain the status quo of foreign language education within Japanese Higher Education. As a critical reader with 20 years’ teaching experience in Japan, this book still proved to be an entertaining and thoroughly poignant eye-opener as to what lies beneath.” (Professor Damian J. Rivers, Future University Hakodate, Japan) From the Back Cover This book is about the challenges that come with initiatives to develop a more humanized, intersectional and negotiable landscape for English Language Teaching (ELT). It sets out to problematize ingrown and ingrained practices in English teaching, weaving together obscured practices, undisclosed agendas and ideologically motivated (inter)actions to expose the unspoken agendas at work. Drawing on his own experience of being part of an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) programme at an urban Japanese university, the author presents a case for rethinking language education in Japan. This book will be of interest to applied linguists, language teachers and teacher trainers, cultural anthropologists, and anyone interested in the cultural politics of education, especially language education. Glenn Toh is Senior Lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has published widely in the areas of language, ideology, power and language education and maintains a keen interest in developments in the area. About the Author Glenn Toh is Senior Lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has published widely in the areas of language, ideology, power and language education and maintains a keen interest in developments in the area.