English Language Teacher Education Through the Kaleidoscope of Global Citizenship

The first two decades of the 21st century have witnessed the implementation of various high-stakes initiatives by Vietnamese and Japanese governments in the sphere of language teaching against the backdrop of globalization and digitalization. Emerging around 450 BC when Socrates avowed “the world” to be his homeland, the very notion of global citizenship has evolved, resurged, and pervaded universally. Albeit with some discrepancies in approaches and trajectories, both governments share an overtly common goal of laying firm foundations for university graduates to develop indispensable competencies for global citizens. This chapter aims to depict comparative contours of English language teacher education incorporated with the concept of ‘global citizenship' in Vietnam and Japan. Based on qualitative data garnered and analyzed using content analysis, the study concludes by proposing some feasible pedagogical and policy implications to improve the practice of preservice teacher training for key stakeholders in Vietnam and Japan.