EIL Awareness Among Japanese Pre-service EFL Teachers and EFL Students: Who are their ideal role models?

According to the spread of the notion of English as an International Language (EIL), English Language Teaching (ELT) professionals are embracing wider varieties of English. However, Matsuda (2003) argues that a strong nativism still exists in Japan. This study investigates whether there are any differences in degree of beliefs regarding EIL awareness between two groups of different majors at a university in Japan. This study compares a group of pre-service EFL teachers enrolled in an English teaching certificate course (N=25), and a group of EFL students enrolled in a required general English course (N=30). Quantitative analysis of questionnaire revealed that the group of pre-service EFL teachers has significantly stronger beliefs in native speakerism than the group of EFL students (t(53) = 4.45, p < .01). This result suggests that further studies are needed to promote EIL awareness among both pre-service EFL teachers and EFL students