by Teri Terigele, Assistant Professor of Psychology
With the support of the CfT mini grant, I was able to invite a guest speaker to my class as part of the faculty-led study abroad program in Japan. The overall goal of the course is to explore how individuals who are exposed to multiple cultures navigate their identities and cultural experiences, and how broader sociocultural environments affect their experiences and psychological wellbeing. One section of the course focuses on English education in Japan and how English teachers navigate their identities as cultural brokers. Through our host institution, Kansai Gaidai University (KGU), we invited a guest speaker who is a KGU alum and a former English teacher at a prestigious, highly selective high school in Osaka, Japan.
During the session, the guest speaker shared engaging experiences learning and teaching English, as well as his own study abroad experience in Australia. He also discussed the less visible challenges of English education in Japan. A significant portion of the session focused on the reality that learning and teaching English is often approached as a means to gain admission to prestigious universities or secure better employment, rather than as a tool for meaningful communication. As a result, many Japanese students achieve high exam scores but struggle to communicate confidently in English. The speaker also addressed the mental health challenges faced by students in this high-pressure high school environment, as well as by teachers working in a toxic environment with limited support. He ultimately left the job after grinding for four years due to these conditions.
My class includes 20 international students studying abroad in Japan, representing more than five countries and collectively speaking over 10 languages. Following the guest lecture, we held a discussion on students’ own language learning experiences, examining how their positionality, privilege, and disadvantage shape the ways they learn and use language, as well as how assumptions based on appearance and ethnic identity influence their experiences. For this group, the session and the follow-up discussion provided a rare opportunity to look beyond rose-colored glasses or tourist perspectives and reflect on more complex, and at times challenging, aspects of Japanese society.
Notably, the guest speaker has since transitioned from his role as an English teacher at a competitive high school to working as a Kobe beef chef in one of Osaka’s busiest tourist areas. He now enjoys his work as a private English tutor for those interested in language learning, while also engaging with international tourists who appreciate his enthusiastic introduction to Japanese culture in fluent English.