Experiences Researching English Part Time University Lecturer Voices During ERT

Colin Skeates (Keio University)

Wendy M. Gough (Bunkyo Gakuin University)

Bill Snyder (Soka University)

Chiyuki Yanase (Chuo University)

Japanese universities rely heavily on part-time instructors to teach the majority of foreign language classes. These instructors enjoy more flexibility than full-time instructors, but they receive fewer institutional benefits, training opportunities, or other support. While they provide much of the labor required for teaching, they are largely invisible to university decision makers. When Japanese higher education underwent a sudden transformation to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in early 2020, part-time university English instructors were suddenly thrust into a situation in which they would be required to navigate new policies, unfamiliar technology, drastically changed teaching styles, technological issues, and often a lack of information or training across multiple universities. Because they are aware of the challenges faced by part-time instructors and the sparse literature about university supported faculty development or training, especially with regards to part-time staff, the presenters decided to research part-time English instructors initial reactions to learning they would be doing ERT then to track their emotional well-being over the course of the spring 2020 semester. Part-time instructors were asked about their experience transitioning into ERT. This presentation will discuss initial findings from the qualitative portion of the data that indicate high levels of anxiety, stress, and frustration resulting from the sudden shift as well as the seeming lack of support from universities.