How ‘Native Speakerism’ Manifests in Japanese University Prospectuses

The main aim of this research is to explore how widespread social practices pertainingto a deep-seated ‘native speakerism’ relate to English language education atJapanese universities. This article reports the findings of a content analysis ofJapanese university prospectuses in Japan. Its most salient findings are (1) an implicitcommon understanding exists in Japan of what the term ‘“native speaking”teachers’ means ; (2) university prospectuses aim to attract readers by offering‘English conversation’ and related skills classes with ‘native’ teachers, and (3) theuse of the term ‘native teachers’ and its equivalents is made in contrast to and distinctionfrom the term ‘Japanese teachers’. This paper recommends that, in order tofoster an appropriate perspective of languages, people, and the world, the purposesof learning English should be reviewed and the credentials of teachers required toachieve these purposes should be clearly defined. Teachers must be recruited basedon an appropriate educational philosophy grounded in these criteria, rather than onwhether they are ‘native’ speakers