Developing J-POSTL Elementary for English Language Teacher Education in Japan: Challenges and Opportunities

English became a compulsory subject in elementary schools in Japan in 2020, making it crucial for pre-service elementary school teachers to gain sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience in teaching English to elementary school students before beginning their careers. This paper discusses the development of the Japanese Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages: Elementary (J-POSTL Elementary), a reflective tool for elementary school student teachers, highlighting three studies conducted before its launch in March 2021. First, the development of J-POSTL, a portfolio for secondary pre-service and in-service teachers, which formed the basis of the J-POSTL Elementary, will be briefly explained. This is followed by an anthology of studies conducted during the five-year development of the J-POSTL Elementary, with the study presented at AILA in August 2021 as a focal point. Lastly, examples of the implementation of the J-POSTL Elementary in teacher education programs at different universities in Japan will be discussed. Although the teacher educators used the portfolio in different ways, it was reported that the use of the J-POSTL Elementary was beneficial for their students to reflect on their English language learning experiences and didactic competencies, and to self-evaluate their teaching experiences. This shows that this reflection tool has great potential to help student teachers become more independent and autonomous practitioners.