What is more useful an MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics

[scoopa]

What would be more useful for teaching in Japanese unis?
Does anyone know any good online courses in these?
Thanks

[diva]

What would be more useful for teaching in Japanese unis?
Thanks

Most colleges ask for either of your two choices. Though I am guessing that TESOL/TEFL will probably edge Applied Linguistics nowadays.

Of course your question should be "What would be more useful for getting into Japanese unis"? seeing as all TEFL theory goes out of the window once you are teaching college students.

[resce]

In Japan, its not going to make a lot of difference. However, if you wanted to go back home, the Applied Linguistics might be more benefitial than the TESOL.

[vallient]

Applied Linquistics will be more marketable outside of Japan and i dont know if your considering a doctorate or not but I've only seen Ed.D's in TESOL and I've only seen Ph.D.'s in Applied Linquistics. Then again it might not be an issue.

Vallient

[paulh]

What would be more useful for teaching in Japanese unis?
Does anyone know any good online courses in these?
Thanks

You are talking about distance learning, not really online. the only online I use is email to talk with my supervisor in the UK. It all depends on the depth of your wallet.

I have links on here

http://www.teachinginjapan.com/continuinged.html

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

[paulh]

What would be more useful for teaching in Japanese unis?
Does anyone know any good online courses in these?
Thanks

If you are thinking of part time both are OK. They just get you into the interview.

Full time you had best have some publications, japanese ability, college teaching experience and connections.

Good luck.

[scipio]

If you are thinking of part time both are OK. They just get you into the interview.

Full time you had best have some publications, japanese ability, college teaching experience and connections.

Or more importantly be a gaijin sycophant with some j relatives already working in uni that can get your foot in the door.
Remember that teaching in japanese uni can really mess up your teaching, when you have to go out in the real world to teach.
The apathy is contagious, should come with a health warning.

[paulh]

Or more importantly be a gaijin sycophant with some j relatives already working in uni that can get your foot in the door.
Remember that teaching in japanese uni can really mess up your teaching, when you have to go out in the real world to teach.
The apathy is contagious, should come with a health warning.

Right teaching in the real world is all about being macho and tough. Your not a real man until you have left Japan and slummed it with the big boys.

Teaching part time on low wages and no benefits overseas is for suckers.

Universities in japan, bad or not pay real salaries which pay real rent and real mortgages and buy real food and real clothes and buy real houses, and pay for real overseas holidays.

Really I must have been thinking I was in teaching Disneyland all this time. Cant have us getting too comfortable and actually enjoying our lives, can we.

I guess if I wanted to be a law professor I would havs studied Law, isnt that right Scipio?

[scipio]

Right teaching in the real world is all about being macho and tough. Your not a real man until you have left Japan and slummed it with the big boys.

If your going to go out in the real world and think you're gonna get away with the Grammar Translation method, you're in for a big hurt.

If you think that an advanced uni class, anywhere else apart from NE Asia, is pre interm level who get dizzy with 'Headway', then get ready for the struggle.

Paul, you ain't cut the cheese until you have experience of language instruction in at least three countries.

You can have my schedule if you think its so easy, 13 classes a week this year.?

Some of the cherries who write on this site are doing nearly that in a day.

Universities in japan, bad or not pay real salaries which pay real rent and real mortgages and buy real food and real clothes and buy real houses, and pay for real overseas holidays..

Enjoy the experience, next year some dispatch coy 20 something drone will be doing your job for a quarter of the salary.

really I must have been thinking I was in Disney land all this time.?

It is Disneyland, jeeeeeeeeeeeezus where do you think you've been for the last 15 years???????

I guess if I wanted to be a law professor I would havs studied Law, isnt that right Scipiio?

I don't quite get this one, but if you're saying that it's ridiculous how someone can become a judge in japan without ever having experience of being a lawyer, I agree.
Also I would again repeat,'you ain't cut the cheese until you have experience of language instruction in at least three countries'.

The original post was written without you in mind,it was stating a fact about a lot of uni jobs in Japan, but you are always interesting, even when you're paranoid.

[aha yes]

cut the cheese = fart
cut the mustard = achieve the required result

But I know what you meant.

BTW in my experience teaching P/T at uni here, there's absolutely no supervision or anyone forcing me to use Grammar-Translation. So your methodology or professional development can be whatever you make of it. If you're into research, the homogeneity of Japanese uni classes makes them ideal for doing studies that could help out a career teaching outside Japan. If you sit on your ___, well then you're right it could lead to becoming professionally obsolete.

[scipio]

cut the cheese = fart
cut the mustard = achieve the required result.

You're right, I am humbled. Jesus, 20+ years out of my country and I'm forgetting my idioms.
Luckily that one has not come up in any lesson.

Hiroshi to Homestay family. 'When you were younger, did you feel fulfilled, did you cut the cheese?

Host family. No, flatulence has never made us feel that way.

[paulh]

If your going to go out in the real world and think you're gonna get away with the Grammar Translation method, you're in for a big hurt.

Grammar Translation is used in high school. Japanese professors teach the English Lit classes and translate word for word in Japanese and teach seniors

If you think that an advanced uni class, anywhere else apart from NE Asia, is pre interm level who get dizzy with 'Headway', then get ready for the struggle.

Advanced in what? ESL classes? ESP? teaching English to doctors? I have taught returnee students in my time. Free or guided conversation. Content courses taught only in English. Can be done in Japan. How is an advanced class overseas different from one in Japan, apart from differnet ethnic groups and motivation?

I have seen and heard of ESL classes for foreign students, they have them for foreign students at my home campus.

I have also taught reading classes, writing and TOEIC, not just oral communication classes to freshman

Paul, you ain't cut the cheese until you have experience of language instruction in at least three countries.

Theres a good debate on this topic going on at Daves cafe between two PhDs about Japanese EFL courses Vs overseas ESL courses (Saudi Arabia and Korea)

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=37214

Some of the cherries who write on this site are doing nearly that in a day.

Maybe you dont know unis have 90 minute lessons

They will be there till midnight, mine are 90 minutes long 13 classes is an equivalent of 20-25 high school classes. So I suppose teaching so many classes is just a walk in the park, go through the motions etc.

Enjoy the experience, next year some dispatch coy 20 something drone will be doing your job for a quarter of the salary.

they are already doing it but i will always be on a higher salary than those guys. Work is getting more competitives though and standards are going down the toilet with ECC and NOVA getting in on the act. Perks are pretty nice too while they are on 6 month temporary contracts.

It is Disneyland, jeeeeeeeeeeeezus where do you think you've been for the last 15 years???????

supporting wife and kids.

I don't quite get this one, but if you're saying that it's ridiculous how someone can become a judge in japan without ever having experience of being a lawyer, I agree.

No Im saying if I wanted to teach overseas or other countries I would have got a teaching licence t home and become a high school teacher. Obviously you dont get an MEd in TESOL so you can teach back in NZ or Australia.

If I want to teach in Australia I will have to get state certified first.

You are simply saying that People working in Japanese universities arent real teachers, but someone with a teaching licence in NZ is.

Also I would again repeat,'you ain't cut the cheese until you have experience of language instruction in at least three countries'.

well im not going to drag my familuy around the world to prove a point. You make your bed you lie in it. I guess you are not married yet.

The original post was written without you in mind,it was stating a fact about a lot of uni jobs in Japan, but you are always interesting, even when you're paranoid.

Yes Im a certified basketcase.

[Emil Minty]

Yes Im a certified basketcase.

You think you're being cute here and you'll never realise that you actually really, really are a basketcase. You're just a loser who couldn't make it anywhere else doing anything different but somehow you feel the right to put down the efforts of everyone else who comes to Japan and wants to have a little fun and have a little go at enjoying the country and culture.

[paulh]

You think you're being cute here and you'll never realise that you actually really, really are a basketcase. You're just a loser who couldn't make it anywhere else doing anything different but somehow you feel the right to put down the efforts of everyone else who comes to Japan and wants to have a little fun and have a little go at enjoying the country and culture.

Emil Minty, I dont know what rock you crawled out from under, but seeing as you put so much stock in what jobs people do i will let you in on a little secret.

I have lasted in this country longer than many of you newbies have been to formal school. I started out with one suitcase and $1500 in student loans.

I have successfully raised two balanced bicultural children in this country.

My marriage while not perfect has lasted 15 years. Im still married to the same woman.

I speak the language to a high intermediate level.

I have a job here that does not require I speak or use English.

I have two graduate degrees.

My last job paid me over $US75,000 a year.

I own real estate.

I am also employable in whatever country i choose to emigrate to because of my qualifications and experience. Jobs with my experience and qualifcations currently pay around $AUS40,000 in Australia. What can you expect to earn if you went back.

[paulh]

You think you're being cute here and you'll never realise that you actually really, really are a basketcase. You're just a loser who couldn't make it anywhere else doing anything different but somehow you feel the right to put down the efforts of everyone else who comes to Japan and wants to have a little fun and have a little go at enjoying the country and culture.

I dont know where you have been recently but now people come here wanting a little fun and they cant get a job. this is not 1990 and the bubble era.
i was here then too.

They work for the likes of GABA, NOVA, Interac and work for 170,000 yen, a month, no benefits, no insurance, no transportation. 3 -6 month contracts. Fired on a dime by greedy bosses. Work in a foreign country for less than they can earn at a fast food joint back home. Going rate at GABA is 1400 yen a lesson.

I dont put people down, I just tell them what to expect when they come here as thats all they can get Newbies who think the world owes them a living on the JET program. Comes as a rude shock when they get here and realise what language teaching is all about now.

What do they do? tell me i'm f--king old and jaded. Fine. At least i dont have to do their jobs.


(From Australia's Sydney Morning Herald daily newspaper)

http://smh.com.au/news/world/hard-le...098460885.html

[Emil Minty]

Pompous know-it-all. Your posts speak for themselves.

'Newbies' to Japan - as you know there's adventure to be had out there. Don't let the likes of this guy spoil it for you. It's not about salaries, degrees or how long you've been here comparative to anyone else. It's about learning about a new country, making new friends and enjoying yourself through all of the ups and downs. Good luck!

[paulh]

Pompous know-it-all. Your posts speak for themselves.

'Newbies' to Japan - as you know there's adventure to be had out there. Don't let the likes of this guy spoil it for you. It's not about salaries, degrees or how long you've been here comparative to anyone else. It's about learning about a new country, making new friends and enjoying yourself through all of the ups and downs. Good luck!

Im not spoiling for anybody dipshit. I back up my posts with credible evidence and years of experience. I have not been proven wrong so far.

If you dont want to believe me fine. Better they know what to expect and go anyway than have this 'come in the waters fine make millions of yen get laid tomorrow' line that circulates on this forums.

Too many people have yen signs in their eyes when they hear about teaching jobs here but the yen they will get will put them on the poverty line in japan. Better get used to it buster.

[paulh]

Pompous know-it-all. Your posts speak for themselves.

'Newbies' to Japan - as you know there's adventure to be had out there. Don't let the likes of this guy spoil it for you. It's not about salaries, degrees or how long you've been here comparative to anyone else. It's about learning about a new country, making new friends and enjoying yourself through all of the ups and downs. Good luck!

what adventure can you have on earning $10 an hour? A big Mac will cost you $5. a movie and popcorn $20. landlord gouging you for rent. A beer costs about 500 yen here. thats about $US4. gasoline if you afford a bike is 4 times US prices.

Airfare to Hong Kong during peak periods is about $1000 bucks.

here are some more prices in Tokyo from the pompous know-all. Make your own mind up...

http://www.pricechecktokyo.com

Good luck with the adventure.

[paulh]

You think you're being cute here and you'll never realise that you actually really, really are a basketcase. You're just a loser who couldn't make it anywhere else doing anything different but somehow you feel the right to put down the efforts of everyone else who comes to Japan and wants to have a little fun and have a little go at enjoying the country and culture.

If Im a loser what are you doing in Japan as well?

Are you a loser too? Can you not do anything with your life or do you have some exotic reason like having a girlfriend studying the culture or learning the language? Or is it just because muppets like you get paid so f--king much for teaching English at an eikaiwa?

F--king hypocrite.

[paulh]

Pompous know-it-all. Your posts speak for themselves.

'Newbies' to Japan - as you know there's adventure to be had out there. Don't let the likes of this guy spoil it for you. It's not about salaries, degrees or how long you've been here comparative to anyone else. It's about learning about a new country, making new friends and enjoying yourself through all of the ups and downs. Good luck!

I also think that if companies didnt dangle a 250,000 yen a month paycheck in front of you 90% of newbies wouldnt even come here. Is Japan that fascinating you would come regardless of what language schools paid you? get real.

Would they come for the adventure and new friends (pretty difficult seeing as most cant speak the language) if salaries were half what they are now?

Making money is what makes 90% of "teachers" come here. 10% come for non-work reasons.

[User Name Deleted]

Pompous know-it-all. Your posts speak for themselves.

'Newbies' to Japan - as you know there's adventure to be had out there. Don't let the likes of this guy spoil it for you. It's not about salaries, degrees or how long you've been here comparative to anyone else. It's about learning about a new country, making new friends and enjoying yourself through all of the ups and downs. Good luck!

I've felt for a while that Paul is a little negative sometimes when dealing with those who want to come to Japan, but he does give some people a useful dose of realism. It ain't all beer and skittles in Japan, and sometimes newbies have expectations that don't match with reality.

I'll take your point that some people are more career minded than others, and that's something some of us need to remind ourselves of when dispensing advice.

[paulh]

I've felt for a while that Paul is a little negative sometimes when dealing with those who want to come to Japan, but he does give some people a useful dose of realism. It ain't all beer and skittles in Japan, and sometimes newbies have expectations that don't match with reality.

I'll take your point that some people are more career minded than others, and that's something some of us need to remind ourselves of when dispensing advice.

J.T This is not aimed at you, but a lot of people dont seem to realise the actual cost of living here, the costs involved in setting up an apartment, the costs of domestic and international travel, the costs for a night out on the town. You have to factor in the cost of air travel in and out of japan and key money which can be 4-5 months rent.

Yes you can do all these things and travel and meet people, but it must all be done on what is by international standards a meager entry-level salary.

If you work at NOVA or one of the big chain schools, once you have taken out your utilities, rent, transportation, medical insurance, food, some basic entertainment costs you are looking at a surplus of 40-50,000 yen or about $350-400 at the end of the month. How does $300 go in Japan? Not far.

I spent that one weekend going up to Nagano by train and back and included hotels and food. No sightseeing. Maybe one weekend at disneyland or 1 day skiing. One way to Osaka from Tokyo is 11,000 yen or 8,000 yen by overnight bus.

If you buy a cellphone it will be up to 10,000 yen for a new model and 3000-4000 yen. An Internet connection will set you back 4000 yen a month,

A NOVA apartment at 72,000 yen will eat up 30% of your pre-tax salary. NOVA will take out 30,000 yen for health insurance in your second year.

Go and see a movie? 1800 yen or $15. A pint of Guiness will cost you 800 yen or about $7. Time magazine costs 500 yen if you get it delivered, 800 yen at the bookstore.


By all means do what you want in Japan, But I would like to hear from anyone who thinks they can live high off the hog, go out drinking three nights a week, travel all over japan and Southeast Asia on just $2000 a month, which is the going rate at the moment. Either you spend less or you earn more, and the average person will take on a couple of part time jobs, teach privates (say good bye to your free time) and you end up teaching English, 6, maybe 7 days a week. Current salaries at some places like GABA are now 1400 yen per lesson which is about $US12 a lesson. 5 of those a day is $60. Dispatch companies pay 10,000 a day. If you are lucky you will work 20 days a month or 200,000 yen a month. Some pay as little as 170,000 for FT work or $US1450 a month, GROSS. on a 170,000 yen salary you will likely break even on your expenses and have NOTHING left at the end of the month. Maybe you can save money by living in a 6 mat room in a 40 year old unheated dormitory or gaijin hostel. Cheapest I have seen is $40,000 yen a month. AEON rent is 40,000 yen a month for a small apartment.

If you want to travel during the peak periods airfares go up by 1/5 to a 1/3. Hotels also are expensive during Golden Week and Shogatsu, the prime holiday periods in japan. Airports are chocka with people. If you dont mind crowds, long lines i say go for it. Best time to travel is off-peak but its often hard to choose when to go on holiday.

None of this is to put people off, but simply tell you that Japan is an expensive country to live in and to travel. It s even more than that if you have dependents. Expect to need a minimum income of 350,000 yen a month or 4.2 million yen a year (US$36000) just to pay the bills.

Its a great country to visit to meet people etc but you will pay through the nose for everything and it costs money to do anything. Newbies have these romantic visions of rich expat lifestyles but are in fact on a paupers salary. Reality hits you about 3 months after you arrive when the bills start piling up. Either spend less or earn more, and thats not always an easy thing to do these days.

Its not negative its REALITY, and if you cant handle reality then maybe you should stay home.


FAQs on living in Japan

http://www.thejapanfaq.com/

[scipio]

Its not negative its REALITY, and if you cant handle reality then maybe you should stay home.url]http://www.thejapanfaq.com/[/url]

This is sooooooo true.
These days I know some newbies who work for eikaiwas that are supplementing their income with savings they earned in their home country.
Really people, you must believe that the goood old rich days are long gone.

[paulh]

I just found this on LetsJapan.Org . Anti-NOVA rant, has a few nuggets of truth.

Why is Nova a sub-standard place to work? Why should you make the decision not to work there?

The Primary Cause of all Evils: The Basic Rules of Supply and Demand

When a commodity is in ample supply, it comes cheaply.

Virgin employees are drawn from an overseas supply that in many ways the company views as being inexhaustible. Fresh blood (predominantly in the form of young and naive University graduates) is what keeps the wheels of Nova turning. The absurd work conditions that teachers have to endure can all be linked backed to this one crucial fact.

The harsh reality is that there is no economic incentive to make change or provide normal or mentally healthy work conditions, because the company at all time remains fully aware that there is always another lamb, smiling and standing in the queue, waiting to be slaughtered.

Factually, Nova is all about the lining of pockets, predominantly those of one man (whose own language skills and level of international empathy are alarmingly and classically elementary). Unless there is a monetary reason to make a shift in policy, with the supply of new "machines" with fresh batteries limitless, the simple facts are that policy will not change and Nova will remain an institution that is fundamentally exploitative.

Most companies that call themselves a corporation (which Nova astoundingly does), public or private, also operate on the basis of a bottom line. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money. However, other companies (due mainly to the product that they produce, but also because of government rules and regulations that enforce workers rights, migrant or native), do not have the luxury of an inexhaustible supply of skilled workers, and from the outset, offer work conditions that are primarily focused on the retention and cultivation of staff. Why? Because usually the loss of staff and retraining of new employees has an enormously negative effect on efficiency, output, quality of output, and thus profitability.

It is not the case with Nova, and the absence of such a fundamental obstacle that other businesses must address and overcome, is soullessly and immorally exploited by Nova Corporation, and has made one man incredibly rich.

Our dear founder at Nova is often referred to by indoctrinated Nova employees (until they wake up of course) as being a genius. There is nothing genius about his formula at all. The only thing extra-ordinary about is that a) he actually applies it to begin with, and b) he gets away with it.

It is purely and simply cheaper for Nova to burn old staff out and replace them with fresh faces. This works for four basic reasons:

New foreigners, with little exposure to professional teaching environments, workers rights and workers conditions in their own countries, let alone Japan, simply do not know any better. The combination of lack of language skills, and being in an exotic and thus exciting location, means not only will they initially swallow all of the bullshit that is thrown at them, but more importantly, there is X amount of time that will transpire before the worker wakes up and becomes disgruntled and leaves (that time being Nova cash-in time). Bringing them in and letting them go when they are sad and sorry, is cheaper for Nova than bringing them in and retaining them--sad, but true.
The Japanese Government does not adequately regulate the quality of foreign teachers allowed to teach in Japan, creating a vast pool of workers that are prepared to initially tolerate sub-standard work conditions (the main one being the now infamous amount of contact hours a Nova teacher must endure, which is fundamentally insufferable in the medium to long term, without considerable psychological impact). This policy is created by the enormous demand for native English Instructors, being managed in the most cost effective manner.


The Japanese government has faith that, in the high school system, Japanese students have been successfully taught the necessary grammatical building blocks of the English language, and thus what non-proficient speakers of English in Japan really need is simply practice, rather than lessons with fully qualified and gifted ESL teachers (who are available, at greater cost, and are usually found in Japanese tertiary institutes). The JET program offers comparatively good working hours and salaries, but the Japanese Government's aim there (unlike Nova, who rely more or less purely on the mystique of Japan outside the work environment to retain employees for at least a year) is also very much PR, and each and every year, expired JET teachers return home with glowing reports about their marvelous and care free time in Japan. Are JET teachers qualified ESL teachers or even teachers for that matter? No, they are not, but working in tandem with a Japanese English teacher is still cheaper than hiring a professional. The only good point about Nova that I have ever been able to identify is that, while their instructors real knowledge of English teaching is often too shallow, the lessons are structure based, with the crude basics of what is to be taught at least having been identified in some form of training (albeit a very small amount of training).Surprisingly, there is rhyme and reason behind the Nova teaching methodology. A JET teacher, while enjoying the luxury of a very small work load, usually simply follows directions, without really understanding why.
The Japanese Government does not adequately regulate or monitor the work conditions of foreign nationals full-stop.


Call them students, call them customers, call them what ever you want, but what is it that the majority of language school addicts actually want? It is really to gain English Language Proficiency, or is it something else? Like them or dislike them, you are in demand by the customer, nine times out of ten, only while you are new, fresh-faced, humorous, and "genki." The Nova machine knows this, is fully aware that your human spirit has a shelf life, and is thus economically driven to create an environment where you will choose to leave after X amount of time. Why? Because they need to replace you with what the customer wants, because without the customer, our fat cat does not get to buy his next new yacht. The better looking you are, the more chance there is that the time before the students become bored with their toy will be extended, and your inevitable grief, from the people you at first fell in love with, will be deferred. Yes, it is not always the case (when individual students are examined). However, the primary root of this phenomena is Japanese culture itself, where people are unable to comparatively emotionally express themselves, and are often chronically fatigued and pent up, craving for stimulation where they are free (in a synthetic and anesthetized setting) to let their hair down. They become addicted to "English" lesson rather like we become addicted to internet chat-rooms (which are widely recognized as unhealthy places to hang out in). What at first you thought was a delightful and child like person (a fully grown adult none the less), often becomes the person who ends up grinding the axe to fall upon your head. You can't solve the puzzle of Japan, and you can't make any serious impact on the dark side of Japanese culture. For sure feel some pity for the 45 year old house wife, or 55 year old burnt out company executive, leaning on you as if they were patients lying on the psychiatrists couch, but rest assured, once your emotional energies are drained and exhausted, and you become less and less animated and comical, the vampire will look for a fresh neck to stick its fangs into. Nova makes it its business to provide what the blood suckers want, because after all, it is Nosferatu who pays the cold hard cash to begin with. What do they want (both the clients and the Company)? Fresh blood in the form of a newly graduated, happy faced nit-wit, with nothing better to do, innocently looking for a worldly adventure.

If you are in Nova cut your losses and get out. If you are thinking about working for them, my advice don't do it. Don't given the arrogant, immoral and soulless prick that runs the show the satisfaction.

[User Name Deleted]

A couple of good posts there Paul. As I have always said, it's excellent that you provide a dose of realism for people.

I saved $50k Australian in 4 years in Japan, but many people won't. You can't if you're on 200000 yen a month.

As for Nova, need I say anymore. Somehow they still get a fresh supply of muppets coming in all the time, but they must surely be scraping the bottom of the barrel of muppetdom.

[paulh]

From the Japan Times


THE ZEIT GIST

Times get tough for teachers

The rock star teaching days are well and truly over
By TREVOR CLARKE
English teaching in Japan is not what it used to be. Conditions are changing; the work is harder to come by, wages are falling, and staff are increasingly taking their employers to court.


Phoenix Associates vice president Peter Owans has experienced the changing face of Japan's teaching industry over the years.

It wasn't always like this; for many that arrived in the bubble era, Japan was heaven.

Phoenix Associates vice president Peter Owans is one industry figure still around from the glory days and remembers the so-called "rock star" teachers well.

"In the train someone would just walk up to them, a dentist say, and ask 'do you want to teach me English,' and pay them 10,000 yen an hour," Owans says.

"When they say rock stars making big money it wasn't really the schools paying them big money. It was the privates, you know, people they met on the street. Or the companies would hire them directly . . . and that is where the money was."

But certain stereotypes prevailed. "If the rock star was blond, blue eyes, and regardless of whether they spoke English very well, then basically they got hired," says Owans. "From a black person's point of view I would say it was depressing. English teaching wasn't really for us because it wasn't your intelligence or how much English you could speak."

If you did fit the bill however, you were likely to be paid in star proportions, especially the girls, as many also held hostess jobs.

"The female instructors benefited more than the others," according to Owans. "Teaching in the day time, night time in Ginza. They could make 100,000 yen a night."

So have the teachers and clients lost out over the years? For the corporate instruction sector, Owans doesn't think so.

"I think the teaching conditions have improved a lot over the years. Simply because after the bubble, especially for us in corporate instruction, it wasn't a benefit anymore it was a need," he explains. "That means you have to have the right trainers and need to retain them."

Simul Academy's David Yenches is another veteran of the corporate instruction sector who experienced the boom years and agrees with Peter. "In the 1980s, I don't remember many teachers hurting for lack of work," says Yenches.

"I think in many cases today, client expectations and the quality of service are both higher than in the 1980s.

"From the end of the bubble days through the first half of the 1990s, a lot of business dried up and schools started to go under," he explains.

"Some teachers left Japan, and some decided to stay but do distance master's degrees to get into universities or to upgrade their qualifications, which more and more schools became choosier about."

Popular online information portal GaijinPot.com's Percy Humphrey agrees.

"We have noticed more employers are now looking for teachers with past experience or teaching qualifications, such as TESOL or TEFL certificates, instead of just native English speakers," says Humphrey.

"Although there are hundreds of teaching jobs that do not require extensive experience or qualifications currently on GaijinPot, when compared to when we first started, the number of positions requesting it have grown astoundingly."

Not such good news for the numerous unqualified teachers that used to come to Japan.

But is it any better for career teachers who have the qualifications?

For those in the larger eikaiwa and ALT sector, where most teachers work, it doesn't seem so. Comparing the average wages of the eikaiwa and ALT sectors to past years and also the corporate sector paints a grim picture.

In corporate instruction teachers can earn on average around 4,000 yen an hour -- a good wage but it hasn't increased in many years. But in some eikaiwa the wages have fallen from an average of about 2,500-3,000 yen per hour during the bubble years to as low as under 2,000 yen per hour (some report 1,400 yen for 40 minutes).

The contrast is striking: higher qualifications are needed, but lower wages given.

Brett Fennessy is one long-term Japan-based English teacher who has ample experience with the industry changes.

After working for one company and being paid well for 20 years Brett is now working for one of the ubiquitous eikaiwa at a lower wage. He believes that form has won out over content.

"It is well known . . . that 'genki' is prized far above competence or knowledge," he says.

Fennessy is not alone with this opinion. Talk to many long-term teachers and it seems large and small eikaiwa alike are making things tougher.

There are increasing instances of teachers taking their employers to court. The recent case of Kara Harris who after having disputes with her manager over several issues sued Nova for wrongful dismissal and won a little under 7 million yen is indicative of the extent to which many teachers are willing to now fight. But why is this happening now? Peter Owans explains that in the bubble era employment benefits and compliance with labor laws basically didn't exist.

"There was no protection at all, you could just hire and fire how you pleased basically," he says. "I guess people did not complain because you could fire me today and I could walk next door and start another job."

Things are not so easy now.

And, unlike the bubble era days there are now more and more foreign English teachers looking to make Japan their home who are seeking greater job security and benefits. It is to this increase of long-termers that some attribute a rise in union activity and awareness of conditions in the industry.

NUGW Tokyo Nambu deputy general secretary Louis Carlet believes that because Japan is now more familiar to Westerners it has become a more attractive place to settle. "Many people now actually come here, specifically just to find good work. Which I think is very different from the bubble economy when people came because it was interesting," says Carlet.

"The honeymoon is over and now it's down to reality for both sides." Carlet says there are currently two main trouble areas.

The first is the alleged attempts by many English-teaching companies at skirting their responsibilities for enrolling their full-time teachers in the NHI scheme. The union claims the companies are acting illegally and teachers' job security will suffer.

They allege many companies are revising teachers' job descriptions to categorize them as nonfull-time workers, which would mean they do not have to enroll them in the NHI and pay the contributions. Thus the teachers miss out on the benefits of insurance and the security of a full-time contract.

The second issue, that of the increase in the amount of Assistant Language Teachers, is one that according to Carlet has caused the industry conditions to go way down.

Since the government announced its push to increase the nation's English language ability, schools around the country have been employing ALTs, mostly through dispatching companies, in a highly competitive environment.

"It's (the ALT industry) getting bigger and bigger, but as it gets bigger there is a race to the bottom in wages," says Carlet.

"In the bidding process the schools are desperate to decrease their bid and so of course they squeeze wages and take away all benefits and increase work hours."

So the teachers, and eventually the students, are the ones that suffer. "More teachers take it because there is nothing else available. The reality is they are terrible jobs, with no job security."

Not exactly the rock 'n' roll material of former years.

[diva]

BTW in my experience teaching P/T at uni here, there's absolutely no supervision or anyone forcing me to use Grammar-Translation. So your methodology or professional development can be whatever you make of it.

'Teach' for ten years (as I have done) with ZERO supervision and guess what happens?

What I do now is something, but I woudn't call it teaching. 'Running around shouting', perhaps.

(By the way, there is no supervision in colleges, but an awful lot of informal spying.)

[jamesm]

Thank you for your valuable posts Paul H. I was looking for answers regarding the matter of Applied Linguistics vs TESOL among the expletives, verbose monologues and petty swipes at other members and now feel extremely well-informed.

[hanako]

Hi Jamesm,

I studied Masters at Victoria University, Wellington and they have a good distance programme.

There are some pretty fine lecturers / professors there including Paul Nation and Janet Holmes. I did a Masters in Applied Linguistics because I already had a CELTA and lots of ESOL experience and wanted a broader, but still practical, degree.

I enjoyed it a lot, but it was hard work!! (I did it by course-work, rather than a thesis, which I think may have worked out as more work in the long run).

[stillnosheep]

An MA Applied Linguistics and an MA TEFL are, at least in the UK, effectively the same thing. Some Universities call it one, some the other and some offer one course, one set of lectures, one set of papers and one set of exams and the student gets to choose what they want written on the certificate.

[womblingfree]

TESOL is an aspect of Applied Linguistics. Although doing TESOL shouldn't preclude studying any aspect of applied linguistics, you'll probably find an Applied Linguistics course would offer more diverse modules than one focussed specifically on language teaching. Useful if you want to branch out into other areas, or at least have the option of learning about them. As for their usefulness in getting TEFL jobs, they're both exactly the same.

[steki47]

TESOL is an aspect of Applied Linguistics. Although doing TESOL shouldn't preclude studying any aspect of applied linguistics, you'll probably find an Applied Linguistics course would offer more diverse modules than one focussed specifically on language teaching. Useful if you want to branch out into other areas, or at least have the option of learning about them. As for their usefulness in getting TEFL jobs, they're both exactly the same.

The MA programs have different (but sometimes overlapping) coursesl. For example:
Applied Linguistics:http://search.jword.jp/cns.dll?type=...=2&dispconfig=
TESOL:http://www.usq.edu.au/handbook/curre...olment.pattern

Yet, both are more or less interchangeable for job hunting.

[womblingfree]

The MA programs have different (but sometimes overlapping) coursesl. For example:
Applied Linguistics:http://search.jword.jp/cns.dll?type=...=2&dispconfig=
TESOL:http://www.usq.edu.au/handbook/curre...olment.pattern

Yet, both are more or less interchangeable for job hunting.

You usually get the choice of what to specialise in, so on an Applied Linguistics course you could specialise entirely in TEFL/TESOL if you wanted but at the same time could specialise in something unrelated to teaching. A TESOL MA is, by definition, focussed on education.

[gaijin ga iru]

I did a Masters in Applied Linguistics because I ... wanted a broader, but still practical, degree.

That is why I would study applied linguistics if were making the choice.

[CapnHarry]

Applied Linguistics? You mean you would pay to study something that most people master by the age of 6? ie how to speak and communicate?

Are you sure you don't wanna get an MBA? You can even take a fancy oath. Look.

http://twitter.com/collegeisascam/status/17149508926

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[vanderhaar]

Applied Linguistics? You mean you would pay to study something that most people master by the age of 6? ie how to speak and communicate?

Are you sure you don't wanna get an MBA? You can even take a fancy oath. Look.

http://twitter.com/collegeisascam/status/17149508926

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Laugh all you want - but we all know the the truth is you couldn't get an MA.