May 11

What would doubling the JET Program look like?

A thoughtful post about the implications of an expanded JET Program from the Mutant Frog Travelogue blog.  One of the things I like about this piece is that it attempts to concretely think through some of the implications.  The other is that it actually factors in different forms of Return On JET-vestment that tend to be brushed aside or ignored in other commentaries or critiques of JET.

What would doubling the JET Program look like?

Here are a few excerpts:

Recent news reports suggest that the LDP is planning to propose doubling the JETProgram in three years and placing JET language assistants in all elementary, middle, and high schools within a decade. There are around 38,000 such schools in Japan, so that’s aLOT of ALTs!

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It also means more “Japan hands,” maybe even double, and this can cut in different ways. I feel like Japan is sorely in need of talented Japanese-to-English translators, so an influx of native English talent that could eventually progress to ace-translator status is a good thing. At the same time, the increased supply in the market could put pressure on prices, and who knows maybe some whipper snapper could come after my job some day.

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From what I gather, the job of an ALT is generally to supplement a Japanese teacher of English by helping with pronunciation and various other tasks. Maybe I just don’t get around enough, but I cannot recall ever hearing someone even try to argue that they are an essential part of the learning process or that what they do has an appreciable benefit to the level of English ability in Japan. I don’t think that is really a problem though because of the program’s other upsides.

On the other hand, what I have heard and experienced is that ALTs can help inspire students to discover the joys and rewards of learning English or encourage them to keep going. I think the value of that should not be underestimated because it is life-changing and the ALTs deserve huge credit for it.

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CLICK HERE to read the full post.


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