Supporting Japanese language teachers in Malaysia: Are we doing enough?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33102/alazkiyaa69Keywords:
Japanese language education, teacher development, foreign language educationAbstract
Foreign language education has often been overlooked in terms of space and value and this has impacted the amount of support and professional development that its teachers receive. In Malaysia, Japanese language is among the foreign language offered in schools and universities. As of the year 2021, there are more than 38,129 students learning Japanese language and over 215 institutions offering courses for the language all over the country. Despite the encouraging progress, Malaysia is facing a shortage of Japanese language teachers. While the exact reason behind the attrition of teachers is yet to be identified, research indicates that the lack of support and professional development are among the key factors. While training programs are offered year-round by teacher associations and organisations such as The Japan Foundation and MAJLIS, these programs are largely voluntary and often limited in the number of seats available for participants. This paper is an examination of the current efforts in providing support and development for non-native Japanese language teachers in Malaysia and explores suggestions that can be considered to facilitate teacher development in the country.
References
Andrews, S. P., Gilbert, L. S., & Martin, E. P. (2007). The first years of teaching: Disparities in perceptions of support. Action in Teacher Education, 28 (4), 4-13.
Bell, T. R. (2020). Preparing future professional foreign language teachers. 2020 Vision for 2010: Developing Global Competence.
Darling-Hammond, L., & McLaughlin, M. W. (1995). Policies that support professional development in an era of reform. Phi delta kappan, 76(8), 597-604.
Endicott, M. (2011). Peer-mediated teacher change and professional learning in networks: Specialist Languages Teachers’ Experience of Networking and the Production of Social Capital in a Context of Curriculum Change. PhD Thesis, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007). Teachers resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1302–1316.
Hirahata, N. (2018). 日本語教育へのインセンティブ-「働く女性」 ロールモデルの重要性. 国際文化コミュニケーション研究. [Incentives for Japanese language education: The importance of "working women" role models]. International Cultural Communication Research, 2, 89-110.
Jaquith, A., Mindich, D., Wei, R. C., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Teacher Professional Learning in the United States: Case Studies of State Policies and Strategies. Summary Report. Learning Forward (NJ).
Kawada, M. (2019). The Practice of Service Learning in Human Resource Development for Japanese Language Education: Experiences through a Community-Based Japanese Language Classroom. Practice and Research on Service Learning, 1, 42- 65.
Li, H., & Zhao, N. (2022). Will the Wave of Early Retirement of Teachers in Malaysia Continue? A Grey Prediction Based on GM (1, 1) Gray Prediction Model. Proceedings of the World Conference on Research in Teaching and Education, 1(1), 68-81.
Malaysia Educational Statistics, Ministry of Education Malaysia. Retrieved from:
https://www.moe.gov.my/menumedia/media-cetak/penerbitan/quick-facts
Mann, S., & Tang, E. H. H. (2012). The role of mentoring in supporting novice English language teachers in Hong Kong. Tesol Quarterly, 46(3), 472-495.
Mason, S. (2017). Foreign language teacher attrition and retention research: A meta-analysis. NECTFL Review, 80, 47–68.
Mason, S., & Poyatos Matas, C. (2016). Social capital: A vital ingredient for retaining foreign language teachers. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 1(1), 1-19.
Musaev, T. (2023). Lack of Japanese Teachers. The New Straits Times. https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2023/04/898672/lack-japanese-teachers
Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). Solving the teacher shortage: How to attract and retain excellent educators. Learning Policy Institute.
Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101, 103-305.
Selvi, A. F. (2011). The non-native speaker teacher. ELT Journal, 65(2), 187-189.
Shimazu, T. (2008) 国際文化交流事業としての 「日本語の普及」 -その変遷と 現状 [Dissemination of Japanese as an International Cultural Exchange Program-History and Current Situation]. Comparative Education Studies, (37), 79-88.
Stewart, C. (2014). Transforming professional development to professional learning. Journal of adult education, 43(1), 28-33.
Sulis, G., Babic, S., Mairitsch, A., Mercer, S., Jin, J. and King, J. (2022), Retention and Attrition in Early-Career Foreign Language Teachers in Austria and the United Kingdom. The Modern Language Journal, 106: 155-171.
Survey Report on Japanese Language Education Abroad 2021, Japan Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/japanese/survey/result/dl/survey2021/All_contents_r2.pdf
Tang, C. (1997). On the power and status of non-native ESL teachers. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 577–580.
Zaharuddin, A. (2022) Penilaian Sistem Sokongan bagi Guru Bahasa Jepun di Malaysia. In Perkembangan Pendidikan Bahasa Jepun di Malaysia (223-235). PENERBIT UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA TERENGGANU (UMT)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Azalia Zaharuddin, Zoraida Mustafa, Nur Alifah Md Yunus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
For all articles published in Al-Azkiyaa journal, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work, while ensuring that the authors receive proper credit.
In exceptional circumstances articles may be licensed differently. If you have specific condition (such as one linked to funding) that does not allow this license, please mention this to the Al-Azkiyaa Managing Editorial. Exceptions will be granted at the discretion of the publisher.
