“I get paid for my American accent”: the story of one Multilingual English Teacher (MET) in Japan

The flourishing research being published in the Global Englishes paradigm is increasing awareness of how English is used as a global lingua franca in international contexts. Such research has a number of implications for the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry, particularly in Expanding Circle countries, such as Japan where English is no longer being learnt as a mere ‘foreign’ language. However, the Native English Speaker (NES) episteme continues to dominate and, despite increasing calls for curriculum change, including the employment of more Non-native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) or Multilingual English Teachers (METs), NESs continue to fill teaching positions worldwide, perpetuating stereotypes about ‘correct’ and ‘standard’ English. The current study investigates the implementation of curriculum change at the practical level, aiming to investigate the experiences of NNESTs teaching outside of their home context in Japan. Despite calls for the employment of such teachers, who may serve as better role models for students than a monolingual NES, little research has been conducted with NNESTs teaching outside of their home countries. This study aims to fill this gap. It is part of a larger study, which includes longitudinal data collection with several participants in different countries (n=20), including practicing and pre-service teachers, via interviews, diaries and focus groups. This article reports the first interview documenting the experience of one multilingual NNEST in Japan, who has been forced to take on a ‘fake American’ identity. This single narrative provides insights into the experience of this teacher, highlighting the number of obstacles to implementing curriculum reform in the Japanese context. It provides preliminary insights into the identity of METs and the strategies they employ to maintain authority and legitimacy in the classroom.