Nurturing young Japanese researchers through North American model of TESOL program : Possibilities and challenges

英语在日本社会被认为很重要，但日本研究生需要的不仅仅是语言熟练程度，才能与世界各地说英语的学生平起平坐。为此，引入了导师计划(Smith&Davidson，1992)，为主修TESOL的日本研究生提供会议报告、期刊出版、教学，最重要的是进行研究。从2007年10月到2011年3月，13名日本学生(8名男性，5名女性)和4名讲师参加了该项目，这项研究记录并探索了这种指导对日本杰出年轻学者发展的影响。本研究采用叙事研究(Connelly&Clandinin，1990；2000)、行动研究(Nunan，1990；1992)、自学(Loughran et al.，2004)和民族志观察(Hammersley&Atkinson，1995)等定性研究方法，记录教师和学生的学习过程。同样，教师能够跟随学生成为学者的过程，产生新的理解和指导意义。该项目可能成本高昂，需要教师和学生共同努力(Kira&Kitano，2008)，但它的影响将对那些将使日本成为国际学术舞台上独特而强大的研究国家的人产生深远而持久的影响。

English is deemed important in Japanese society, but Japanese graduate students need more than language proficiency to perform on par with English-speaking students worldwide. For this reason, a mentorship program (Smith & Davidson, 1992) was introduced to provide Japanese graduate students majoring in TESOL to assist them with conference presentations, journal publishing, teaching, and most importantly with conducting research. This study documented and explored the effects such mentorship has on the development of prominent young Japanese scholars.Thirteen Japanese students (8 males, 5 females) and four instructors have participated in the program since October 2007 to March 2011. This study used qualitative research methods such as narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990 ; 2000), action research (Nunan,1990 ; 1992), self-study (Loughran et al., 2004), and ethnographic observation (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995) to document the instructors' and the students' learning.The students heightened their awareness from an early stage as to understanding and appreciating what it means to be a language teacher as well as an applied linguist. Similarly, the instructors were able to follow students' process in becoming academics, giving rise to new understandings and implications for guidance. The program may be costly and demands efforts on the part of both the instructors and students (Kira & Kitano, 2008), but its effects have far-reaching and long-lasting influences on those who will be making Japan a distinct and strong research nation within international academic arena.