In interpersonal communication, a sender’s lack of verbal communication such as replies and greetings, and nonverbal communication such as nodding and smiling can cause discomfort and stress to the receiver. In Study 1, a scale was created to probe into the essence of “unfriendliness,” or “buaiso（無愛想）” in Japanese, focusing on traits and behaviors that people would characterize as being unfriendly. Factor analysis was conducted on the unfriendliness scale, revealing a three factors structure: communication anxiety, awkward self-presentation, and unpleasantness. In Study 2, we examined how happiness, empathy, and self-esteem, relate to unfriendliness through multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that those who were unfriendly were less likely to be empathetic, nor happy over all three factors of unfriendliness, while self-esteem was not associated with any. Suggestions toward cross-validation of the qualities of unfriendliness across cultures were made.

This paper is focused on non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) and how they are obstructed by institutional bias, especially regarding the use of English hybrid competencies in the ELT classroom. I seek to establish whether the professional legitimacy of NNESTs may be enhanced by an institutional acceptance of the use of the full communicative repertoire that they possess. Due to socio-economic forces dominated by neoliberalism there is little equity regarding the status of NNESTs and little acceptance of the diversification of ELT pedagogy regarding language policies of plurality. Through an in-depth analysis of interviews with three NNESTs I demonstrate evidence of institutional bias and the obstruction of NNESTs in using hybrid policies such as English as a lingua franca and translanguaging in the ELT classroom.