The participants of the study are 2 fifth grade mathematics teachers (M1 and M2) and 1 fifth grade science teacher (S1). M1 is a male Filipino teacher who first came to Japan to teach at the immersion school two years before the current study took place. Prior to coming to Japan, he earned his MA in Elementary Education in the Philippines and taught English to third through fifth grade students for four years and mathematics to fifth and sixth grade students for 12 years. He has had two years of experience in teaching science, mathematics, and art to the fifth and sixth grade students at the current immersion school. In the 2009-2010 academic year when the current data were collected, he taught mathematics and morals to fifth and sixth grade students. Although English is not his native language, he studied it from the first grade to college. In addition, all of his past teaching experiences were conducted in English in the Philippines and Japan. His Japanese skills are very limited, however. The two lessons observed were about teaching decimal multiplication. Each class had 15-18 students.
M2 is a male teacher who is originally from the U. S. but has lived in Japan for almost 20 years. He first came to Japan as a junior high school student due to his parents’ business. He went to an international school in Tokyo for five years. Six years after finishing college in the U.S.A., he came back to Japan for the second time and became an English teacher. Before coming to the EI school, he taught English at Japanese junior high schools for three years and at high schools for 10 years. During that time, he received an MA in Education from an American university. He has taught for four years at the EI school. Beginning at its founding in 2005; the 2009-2010 academic year was his fifth year. Besides teaching mathematics, he also teaches fifth grade English language arts and morals. He claims to possess advanced Japanese language skills. The two mathematics lessons observed for the current study were also about teaching decimal multiplication, and each class had 15-18 students.
S1 is a female teacher who is from India. She received an MA in chemistry from a university in India and had taught chemistry to eleventh and twelfth grade students for a year at an international school in India before coming to Japan. Though this is her first experience living abroad, she has enjoyed living in Japan for the last 10 years. At the EI school, she has taught science to the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students for two years prior to the 2009-2010 academic year. At the time of the study, she was teaching science to fifth and sixth grade students, morals to fifth grade students, and acting as a teacher’s assistant for a Japanese art teacher for fifth and sixth grade students. Although S1 speaks English with a distinct Indian accent, she claims to have near-native [9] English skills and elementary Japanese skills. The content of her observed lessons was about weather and temperature, and her class had 34-36 students.
In comparing the mathematics and science lessons, the main differences were as follows: (1) the science lessons had twice as many students (34-36), and (2) the students were taught science three times a week and mathematics five times a week.