Keiko Komiya Samimy

Revisiting the Colonial in the Postcolonial: Critical Praxis for Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers in a TESOL Program.

Although historically much teaching of English has been done by nonnative-English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), research on their concerns as English educators has been neglected. This article takes as its central focus the narrative of NNESTs in the context of critical praxis. It discusses a graduate seminar offered for perhaps the first time in a TESOL program for NNESTs. The article presents the process of interrogating the nativeness paradigm among NNESTs themselves via their own experiences and self-representation. It discusses the validity of conceptual tools designed to overcome disempowering discourses that may exist in TESOL programs and centers on the construction of identity among NNESTs that neither prescribes a limited role for them in the profession nor specifies definite boundaries to their capacities therein. The study suggests that the process of empowerment of NNESTs is neither linear nor simple but can nevertheless be generated within and by teachers engaged in critical praxis. It also demonstrates that many of the participants found a new relationship with their contexts, analyzed the causes of their powerlessness, and generated a new sense of agency as teachers and scholars in the field.

Transcending the nativeness paradigm

This study suggests that identity-formation is related to the social process of identity-assignation in the mother tongue context. The case studies of four English speakers are summarized in this study. The four English speakers, who were all born outside the mother tongue context, bend categories in various ways. This uncovers the ways in which mother tongue speakers situate other English users and how such social attitudes help shape the identities of those users. The findings support the contention that nativeness and nonnativeness among English users constitute non-elective socially constructed identities rather than linguistic categories.

Gambare, Amae, and Giri: A cultural explanation for Japanese children's success in mathematics

Abstract This article discusses a new conceptual framework to explain the differential success of Japanese children in math learning based on Stevenson and Stiglers effort versus ability model. In this article, we have argued that the Japanese effort (or gambare) model needs to be examined in a proper social context. Namely, in order to explain how and why Japanese children exert their efforts in academic pursuits, two other interrelated Japanese concepts, amae (dependence) and giri (obligation) need to be considered. It is our contention that these two elements are a sine qua non for the Japanese effort model. We hope that this article will provide a new dimension to the existing cross-cultural studies on math learning, and in particular, on U.S. versus Japanese comparative studies.