Voices on Language Teacher Stereotypes: Critical Cultural Competence Building as a Pedagogical Strategy

Abstract

The present study explores foreign English teachers’ (FETs) personal experiences with stereotypes and their use of critical cultural competence (CCC) building activities in Japanese university English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. The data was obtained through open-ended interviews with Japanese university FETs from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to capture the participants’ lived experiences and how they made sense of their experiences in the language classroom. The findings indicated that FETs can be subject to phenotypical, gender, and personality stereotypes in Japanese educational settings. Japanese English language education, in-group’s commitment to collective identity, and the mass media’s reinforcement of out-group stereotypes accounted for the existence of the aforementioned stereotypes. The study concludes that integrating CCC building activities into language education can be an effective pedagogical approach to develop students’ intercultural sensitivity and foster globally competent students with communicative English language skills.