Sessions

Japanese University Students' Perceptions of English Native-Speakerism

The native/non-native English-speaking teacher (NEST/NNEST) dichotomy in the English language learning/teaching context has been the topic of research interest for a long time. An increasing number of research works (e.g., Mahboob, 2004; Samimy & Brutt-Griffler, 1999) have addressed a need for rethinking native-speakerism. Nevertheless, little has been done from a bottom-up standpoint that deeply investigates the attitudes of students, as one of the main stakeholders. This exploratory study aims to address this gap in the research. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from Japanese undergraduate university students (N=278) at two private universities in November 2020. The findings show that many participants perceived a significant difference between NESTs and NNESTs, especially in terms of pronunciation and accent, and discuss the reasons for Japanese students’ negative attitudes towards their own English, as well as the influence of American hegemony and standardized tests (particularly TOEIC) on the students’ learning journeys.