Is it really time to end the use of ALT's?

Article: Speak Up / Time to end the use of ALTs (Feb. 9)
Author: James W. Porcaro
Source: Daily Yomiuri Online
Link

The Way I See It.
I teach English to students on an island in the south of Japan. Many of these students will never leave this island - they are happy here. They dream that one day they too can be fisherman or farmers like their fathers are now and like their grandfathers and great grandfathers were before. These students will grow up and will never be expected to speak English again. They will slowly begin to forget the little English they memorized as a child until they have nearly forgotten it all together. Does this make my job as an ALT a waste of time and Japanese tax payer’s money?

Professor Porcaro seems to believe so as he argues the ALT program is not only a waste of money, but also that it is unproductive and even detrimental to Japanese students who studying English as a Second Language. Regardless of whether or not Porcaro's argument is accurate, it appears as if he is only partially informed on the purpose of the JET Program.

The JET Program was established with the purpose of increasing mutual understanding between the people of Japan and those of other nations, promoting the internationalization of Japan’s local communities by helping to improve foreign language education and developing international exchange at the community level.

Only a handful of students that I teach in Nagashima are really passionate about learning English. While some despise it most of the other students tolerate it simply because it's mandatory. I too remember being forced to take a foreign language. I was a high school student and I dreaded every single day of Spanish class. As to be expected, I only remember how to count to ten, say, "hello," and say "my house is your house my friend." I do, however, remember all the stories Mrs. Atwood would tell us about visiting South America. Her stories made me want to see for myself the world outside of what I knew.

It is foolish to believe that every student in Nagashima would fall in love with English as I have with Japanese. This is why I believe that above all else my job as a JET is to teach my students and my community about America - a place in many ways quite different from Japan. Just this morning I was speaking with a Japanese man who said, "Surly, since you’re an American your favorite foods are hamburgers and French fries, right?" I've been asked by grown educated men if I eat a t-bone steak for every meal in America, if the reason I'm not fat is because I live in Japan, if everyone in America has a gun, and the list goes on and on and on.

When kids see me in the super market they stop and point. Sometimes they cry and other times they say, "Wow! A foreigner!" At elementary schools the kids line up for my autograph when visit to teach. Why? The reason is because I'm different. I have blonde hair and my blue eyes are real. They've never seen anyone like me.

For this reason, internationalization is essential in Japan. It is important that stereo types be broken and that the shock factor of seeing a foreigner is extinguished. Those students who genuinely feel called towards learning English will learn it with or without the aid of an ALT. For the others, if they can grasp that foreigners are just like them merely from other places around the world then the role of the ALT has been significant.

If every single student that passed through the class of JET teacher failed to retain even the most basic bit of the English language the program would still be a success. The JET Program offers to the world a service more valuable than any amount of tax payer’s money could afford. Through this program students across Japan and the communities in which they live are learning first hand what it means to act as citizens of the global world.

Simultaneously, each time a JET teacher returns to his or her home a piece of Japan accompanies them. The exchange of cross-cultural awareness, respect for differences, and peace between nations are aspects of the JET Program that perhaps even Professor Porcaro would have to agree has been a success.

Comments:
Dear Spencer, I totally agree with your sentiments - 110%...you should forward this letter to the yomiuri daily or to Porcaro himself...as an ALT in Osaka I feel like penning one too!