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Volume 2 Number 1, Spring 2005, Pages 1-205   


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A Comparison of the Roles of Two Teachers in a Team-Teaching Classroom in a Japanese Junior High School

    Naoki Fujimoto-Adamson


This study discusses roles and responsibilities of joint teaching by English native-speaking ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) and JTLs (Japanese Teachers of Language) in English classrooms at Japanese junior high schools. Although there seems to be strong support for team-teaching, there is much discussion surrounding the many difficulties which have arisen whilst conducting lessons. This "intrinsic case study" (Stake, 1995) focuses on the two teachers' roles and responsibilities in the classroom and investigates discursive classroom practice based on recorded classroom data. A qualitative, discourse analytic approach is used in the data analysis, the findings of which show that, in this case, the JTL takes overall responsibility in the classroom. Also, it is seen that team-teaching is not always performed effectively because the two different interpretations toward the lesson procedure adopted by the JTL and the ALT seem to create confusion for the students and teachers themselves. Consequently, it has been concluded that if the two teachers wish to effectively cooperate, they must become more aware of their own discursive interaction.