A study of transformational leadership on teaching Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) between Thai teachers and Japanese teachers of higher educational institutions in Thailand

Abstract

This is a concept paper which aims to explore the importance of transformational leadership between nonnative speaking teachers (NNST) and native speaking teachers (NST) teaching Japanese language as a Foreign Language (JFL) in Thai universities. Currently, Japanese language is one of the major foreign languages, which are learned by Thai people nation-wide. According to the survey by the Japan Foundation in 2006, Thailand has the seventh largest number of learners of Japanese language in the world. Nearly 40 percent of teachers are Japanese. In this context, teacher collaboration between Thai NNSTs and Japanese NSTs is vital. JFL teachers and researchers have begun to explore the significance of teacher collaboration, yet, the interactions between NNSTs and NSTs has been seldom analyzed from an aspect of leadership. Regarding teacher collaboration as a process of transformational leadership, the researcher reviews research in leadership and teacher collaboration in JFL and arises needs for new research in roles of NST in Thailand, gaps between expectations and practices in NNST-NST collaboration, factors which affect NNST-NST collaboration positively, and development of teacher education program in terms of NNSTNST collaboration.