AbstractThe paper reports the results of a small‐scale action research project conducted by an EFL teacher with her Japanese students in a residential course in England. In spite of high levels of motivation and cooperation, relations between the teacher and the students had become very strained, apparently because of cultural differences. The research programme consisted of teacher‐student interviews on differences between the British and Japanese ways of life. Extracts from the interviews are presented and commented on, and the important Japanese notion of amae is discussed. The pedagogical implications for language teaching are expounded.