ABSTRACT
English language teaching (ELT) through mass media has a significant impact on learners. While radio and television ELT programs play major roles for the learning of English in post-war Japan, most of those programs have been based on native-speaker models. This chapter discusses two radio ELT programs in Japan that were aimed at teaching EIL, broadcast nationwide in 1989–1990, and in 1992. The author served as the lecturer, as well as a planner, for both programs. The first series was especially significant in terms of EIL, having invited non-native speakers of English from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and France as guests for “talk-shows” with the Japanese lecturer. Responses from Japanese listeners proved to be very positive, recognizing the program as a useful experience in nurturing awareness in the diversity of World Englishes (WE) as well as in recognizing the value of Japanese English for international communication.
