“Contemporary standard” English policy and pseudo‐diversity among inner and outer circle assistant language teachers in Japan

Abstract

Assistant language teachers (ALTs) in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program are composed of 90% of Inner Circle ALTs and 10% of rigorously screened Outer Circle JET ALTs, who are hired under the Education Ministry's “contemporary standard” (i.e., American) English policy. Although silent regarding the disproportion, the Ministry and affiliated entities have been celebrating the program's “multinational diversity.” Stimulated by this inconsistency and aiming to discover other cases, this study collects policy statements on the role of inner/outer circle JET ALTs and non‐JET ALTs. It examines the level of consistencies between policymakers’ explicit and implicit authorization (e.g., the Ministry's articulate demand for more non‐JET ALTs, relative to their unspoken acknowledgment of those ALTs’ deviation from the standard English policy). Factors behind the Ministry's double standards of JET ALT‐based standard English and unbranded English policies are discussed. Implications for Global Englishes research in light of Asia's Inner Circle‐oriented English education policy and its discrimination against Outer Circle teachers from/in Asian neighboring countries are also presented.