Abstract
Recently one of the most often cited and cherished goals of language teaching is the promotion of international and cross-cultural understanding. In English education, communicative competence has been emphasized to produce leaners who can function in English speaking countries. However, since the difference between TESL and TEFL is not well recognized, TESL theory has been applied to TEFL. Conscientious English learners in Japan tried hard to learn communicative competence which is transplanted from TESL in America and to assimilate themselves into an English/ American cultural context when speaking English. Consequently, many Japanese English speakers maintain less stablility in their selfidentity when switching from one language to another. In speaking English, they express different opinions from the ones they do in Japanese. This is a reality and that might enhance the idea that Japanese people are enigmatic or untrustworthy. For better cross-cultural communication, the Japanese need to establish their own way of TEFL and encourage those who can maintain their ethnic-identity and express themselves in English with confidence.
