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[email protected]. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The Embassy of the United States of America, Tokyo, Japan announces an open competition for an English teacher training program, which will award a grant of up to $150,000 to an organization to facilitate 1) a series of two-to-three-day intensive seminars for groups of Japanese elementary and secondary school teachers; and 2) a micro-grant program for alumni of U.S. Embassy-sponsored English teacher training programs. Background: Promoting and improving English language education in Japan will increase U.S.-Japan exchange, a top priority of the Embassy of the United States. A 2012 report by the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) noted that inadequate English language proficiency among Japanese young people can discourage students from applying and may decrease their chances of admission to programs abroad. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) is working to strengthen English language education from kindergarten through university. The U.S. Embassy supports MEXT’s goal of strengthening English language education by providing Japanese teachers of English with various Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) training programs to improve their English teaching, with the ultimate goal of promoting more student exchange between the United States and Japan. Program Objectives: This program is designed to improve the communicative English language teaching skills of Japanese teachers of English, with the ultimate goal of promoting Japanese student exchange to the United States by increasing Japanese students’ English language communication ability and promoting early exposure to the United States in the classroom. Participants and Audiences: Japanese teachers of English at primary and secondary schools.