An Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) is an foreign national serving as an assistant teacher (paraprofessional educator) in a Japanese classroom, particularly for English.
The term was created by the Japanese Ministry of Education at the time of the creation of the JET Programme as a translation of the term 外国語指導助手 (gaikokugo shidō joshu) or literally "foreign language instruction assistant". The terms AET (Assistant English Teacher), ELT (English Language Teacher) and NESA (Native English Speaking Assistant) are also in use. The term is used by the Ministry of Education, local Boards of Education (BOEs) and schools in Japan primarily to refer to English language speakers who assist with teaching of English in elementary, junior high and high schools. However, some ALTs help teach languages other than English.
ALTs are required to be college graduates, but they are usually not certified teachers like their Japanese colleagues. Very few ALTs have taken advantage of policy changes made in 2001 that allow highly-qualified ALTs to obtain Japanese teaching licenses.
Read more about Assistant Language Teacher: Overview of The Private ALT System in Japan
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