Coordination, Teacher Autonomy, and Collaboration in EFL Programs in Japanese Higher Education

Abstract

Both teacher autonomy and program coordination have potential benefits. Recent research on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) programs in the United States has suggested that programs tend to have significant levels of coordination and collaboration while maintaining teacher autonomy. Although Japanese universi-ties have long had a culture of teacher autonomy, EFL educators based in higher educational institutions have described efforts to coordinate their programs. However, researchers have not explicitly analyzed EFL programs in Japan to determine how widespread these coordination efforts have become. In this study, we empirically evaluated levels of teacher autonomy, top-down coordination, and administration–staff collaboration in EFL programs in Japanese universities and colleges. The results suggest that these programs have high levels of curricular autonomy and general teaching autonomy related to pedagogy and classroom management. In contrast, the programs are reported to have low levels of top-down coordination and, compared to U.S. ESOL programs, significantly less coordination and collaboration.