Jet and net: A comparison of native-speaking English teachers schemes in Japan and Hong Kong

Jet and net: A comparison of native-speaking English teachers schemes in Japan and Hong Kong

• Lai, Mee Ling Dept. of English, Hong Kong Institute of Education

Language, Culture and Curriculum, 12(3), 215-228, 1999

Routledge

1999

• P Social Context of Education
  • PB Comparative Education
• M Teachers & Education for Teachers
  • MI Teachers from Mainland China, Teacher from Foreign Countries, Expatriate English Language Teacher Pilot Scheme
• G Curriculum, Teaching & Learning: Specific Disciplines
  • GB English Language

Comparative Analysis English (Second Language) Foreign Countries Language of Instruction Language Teachers Native Speakers Second Language Instruction Secondary Education Secondary School Students Hong Kong Japan

• Hong Kong
• Japan

• 1997.7 onwards

• Secondary Education

Both Japan and Hong Kong seek to enhance the English standard of their secondary school students by implementing a native-speaking English teachers scheme, named the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme in Japan and the NET (Native-speaking English Teachers) Scheme in Hong Kong. However, the implications of these programmes seem to be sociopolitical more than educational. As for Japan, JET is a consequence of an explicit political strategy to promote international relationships. The Japanese Government is keen to bring up a generation that is able to understand other countries yet retain Japanese national consciousness. On the surface, the Hong Kong NET Scheme seems to be a more straightforward language improvement programme. However, the Japanese experience suggests another level of analysis. The Hong Kong Government is never as explicit as Japan as to what it wants to achieve through the NET Scheme. Though NET is claimed to be a language improvement scheme, there is no evidence to show how effectively this kind of programme can work in local Hong Kong secondary schools. With a special interest in the ideologies behind the two language improvement programmes, this paper attempts to explore their sociopolitical and cultural meanings beyond their educational surface.
[Copyright of Language, Culture and Curriculum is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908319908666579]

• English

Journal Articles

• 07908318

• 10.1080/07908319908666579

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/1e60562f

2010-11-24