JAPAN ASSOCIATION FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING JALT2016 • TRANSFORMATION IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION NOVEMBER 25–28, 2016 • WINC AICHI, NAGOYA, JAPAN 135 Practicalities of Team Teaching: Recent Research and Experience in Japan Daniel G. C. Hougham Hiroshima University Brett R. Walter Hiroshima University Aaron C. Sponseller Hiroshima University Reference Data: Hougham, D. G. C., Walter, B. R., & Sponseller, A. C., (2017). Practicalities of team teaching: Recent research and experience in Japan. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), Transformation in language education. Tokyo: JALT. The compulsory introduction of foreign language (English) activities into Japanese elementary schools (ESs) has transformed the Japanese educational landscape in recent years and this trans- formation is expected to continue with English being allocated considerably more curriculum time in ESs in coming years. A forum at the JAL T2016 International Conference was therefore convened to (a) discuss indings from recent research on team teaching including Walter’s survey of preservice homeroom teachers’ perceptions of ALTs and Sponseller’s survey of JTE and ALT role perceptions during preinstructional and postinstructional phases of team teaching; (b) share experiences on what is actually happening in many primary school teaching situations where team teaching is considered impractical and contractually outlawed; and (c) discuss practical, transformational steps that can be taken to support teachers during the transition to more English in ESs. In this paper we report on the new research, experiences, and practical ideas discussed in the forum. 近年日本の教育現場は小学校における外国語（英語）の必修化に伴い大きく変わりし、これからこの変化は、益々多くの 授業時間を英語に充てられることにより大きくなるであろう。 JALT2016国際大会でのフォーラムで次のa,b,cについて協議が 行われた：（a）Walterによる外国語指導助手受け入れ前の日本人教師の見解を調査したもの、Sponsellerによるチームティー チングに関する指導前、後の日本人教師と外国語指導助手の役割の見解を調査したもの、を含むチームティーチングの調査 結果、（b）チームティーチングが非現実的で契約外の内だと考えられている多くの小学校での実情の共、（c）小学校のカ リキュラムにより多くの英語授業を取り入れるに際し、教師の役につ現実的な方法。本文ではフォーラムで協議された新 しい研究や見解について報告する。 T he topic of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) and foreign assistant language teachers’ (ALTs) relations and team teaching in Japan is not new. Since 1987, the government-sponsored Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme has made team teaching a ubiquitous practice in Japanese junior high and senior high schools. The con- cept behind the JET Programme model is simple: JTEs work with ALTs to deliver English lessons. JTEs are licensed educators in Japan and ALTs are typically young foreigners with little teaching experience. The eicacy of this pedagogical model was unknown at the outset of the JET Programme. Minoru Wada himself, one of the founding fathers of JET, stated that “team teaching began [in Japan] without any form of pedagogic research to validate it as an efective educational innovation” (Tajino, Stewart, & Dalsky, 2015, p. 79). What is new is that the Japanese educational landscape has been undergoing some major transformations in recent years, one example of which is a noticeable decline in the num- ber of JET Programme ALTs in favor of dispatch ALTs supplied by private companies, os- tensibly at a lower overall cost to boards of education (BoEs) that are outsourcing in hopes of getting the most value for their limited budgets. Indeed, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2013) has recently reported that of the 15,432 ALTs who taught in Japanese public schools in 2013, only 26.4% were JET ALTs. The rest were either hired directly by BoEs or through private dispatch companies. Another new challenge that is transforming the educational landscape is that foreign language activities (English) became compulsory for ifth and sixth grades in public ele- mentary schools nationwide in April 2011. English is also expected to become a formal NEXT PAGE ⊲ ONLINE FULL SCREEN