Language diversity and teaching practices: Japanese high school teachers of English

In Japan, as in many Asian countries, English is still widely taught in schools in standardised forms that are attributed to ‘native speakers’. However, scholarship on linguistic diversity is well-established in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and teachers’ conceptualisation of language can influence their teaching in different ways. In this article we discuss the relationship between six Japanese high school teachers’ understanding of English and their reported teaching practices. Data collected via individual interviews and email exchanges were analysed, and the findings revealed various conceptualisations of language diversity, ranging from a focus on Inner Circle varieties to World Englishes, English as a ‘tool’ for communication, and translanguaging. These ways of thinking about language were found to align with different kinds of reported classroom activities.