Introduction
In this paper, I report preliminary findings from a three-year comparative research and exchange project between primary school teachers in Japan and Australia, a project that represents a confluence of my research interests in language education, teacher training, curriculum studies, and intercultural communication. Research presented here is part of a larger study about how foreign languages are taught in comparable but reverse international FL contexts – English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Japan, and Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) in Australia. This wider mirror-context study is mainly concerned with examining teacher attitudes about primary school FL education, critically comparing stated curriculum objectives, assessing human resources issues, and evaluating teaching methodologies and course materials used for foreign language education in two comparable international FL settings. Another prominent objective of the project is to provide intercultural in-service teacher training opportunities for the participating teachers. The overarching aim is to gain a holistic understanding of FL education at the primary school level through close examination of both the unique and shared contextual factors in each setting.Â
