Abstract:

With an increasing number of foreign teachers working all over East Asian countries, most East Asian students no longer feel excited about having an English-speaking person as their English instructor. Instead, many of these students start to compare foreign teachers as their chances to meet and study with foreigners increase. To reveal Asian students’ view of foreign teachers, data was taken from three student groups, who were divided by the level of their English proficiency, at a Japanese university. This presentation outlines the qualities an “ideal” foreign teacher should have in students’ minds. In other words, this presentation will give a big picture of the kind of foreign teachers who students prefer and are most comfortable studying English from. The result of the study intends to provide those who are foreigners residing and teaching English or other foreign languages in any East Asian country, particularly in Japanese context, with a general and exemplary picture of what qualities an ideal foreign teacher should possess as perceived by a small demographic of Asian students. This presentation aims at not only providing information to fellow foreign teachers who work in Asia of how their performance affects their students’ motivation to study but also serving as a reference for those who teach overseas to plan their career development. Finally, the speaker will talk about future research plans that can possibly be derived from this study and their possible contributions to the field of TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign language) to conclude this presentation.

Keywords:

Career development, foreign language education, cultural awareness, introspection, ethnology.