Transnational L2-English-speaking teachers in Japanese middle schools: negotiating translinguistic identity amid localized native-speakerism

This study analyzes narratives of two L2-English-speaking assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Japanese public schools, both of whom acquired English as an additional language during their schooling years. By employing translinguistic identity-as-pedagogy as a conceptual framework, this study examines how they recognize their multilingual backgrounds in teaching English to Japanese students. The findings reveal that they regularly experience American English-based native-speakerism. However, their classroom experiences and recognition of their own linguistic backgrounds largely depend on their perception of the local teachers’ (non-)recognition of ALTs’ multilingual backgrounds as pedagogical resources. The findings are further discussed by responding to the strengths of hiring L2-English-speaking teachers of different L1s proposed within the GELT paradigm (presenting multilingual repertoire, providing an authentic English as a contact language setting in the classroom). Finally, the study highlights the pivotal role of local teachers’ affirmation of ALTs’ multilingual repertoires in enabling their pedagogical use.