Abstract
This study was conducted by three new graduates, who became Japanese-language
teachers after completing a Japanese-language teacher-training course at university.
This was against a backdrop of a shortage of young Japanese-language teachers, in addition to many people choosing not to become Japanese-language teachers after graduating from university, even if they completed a Japanese-language teacher-training
course at university. Focusing on the life-stage transition from being students to being
professionals, we used a trajectory equifinality approach (TEA) to analyze their career development and the changes in their career views. The discourse that‘Japanese
teachers cannot make a living from teaching Japanese’temporarily turned them away
from the path of teaching Japanese, but as a result of self-introspection regarding personal environmental factors, they chose to become Japanese-language teachers. In
addition, to realize their overseas orientation and career views, new graduates chose
to become Japanese-language teachers based on an awareness that doing so would help
them to achieve their career goals.
