WE and Us: The Transplantation and Transformation of the World Englishes Paradigm in the Japanese Context (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Tokyo), 2014
英文学と英語学 = English literature and language, Feb 1, 2021
This paper discusses the value of incorporating the world Englishes(WE) framework, or a pluricent... more This paper discusses the value of incorporating the world Englishes(WE) framework, or a pluricentric approach to the dissemination, nativization, and diversication of English, into the Japanese higher education curriculum, either as part of the general education requirements across majors, as a foundation course component for English majors, as a requirement for the teacher certicate program (TCP), or, preferably, all of the above. To substantiate the argument, this paper will first present a literature review on the rationales and principles of WE education and its practical applications in different contexts, and then, based on previous studies and the author’s teaching practice, identify possible obstacles to the integration of WE in college education in Japan, focusing on the issues of pedagogical efficacy, resource availability, and curricular consistency. The analysis aims to address the gap between scholarly discussion on WE and the actual classroom situation in the university context to encourage a “constant reciprocal relation between theory and practice”(Pennycook, 2001, p. 3).
Economic globalization and the concomitant prominence of English as a global language (EGL) have ... more Economic globalization and the concomitant prominence of English as a global language (EGL) have had a considerable impact on educational policies and practices worldwide. The widespread belief in the economic benefits that individuals and societies can attain from greater English proficiency has created a global trend of early English language teaching (ELT) (Copland, Garton & Burns, 2014; Enever, Moon & Raman, 2009). In line with this global trend, Japan, as an economically advanced nation, has also gradually lowered the age at which English is introduced at school. Previous studies have explored the development of national ELT curricula, critically examining the discourses behind these official language-in-education policies (e.g., Kubota, 1998, 2002; Seargeant, 2009; Shiroza, 2020). However, obvious to the keen observer is that early ELT is often implemented more extensively and vigorously in Japan's rural communities than in urban areas, despite the latter's image of be...
The ever-increasing range and functions of English use as a global language has urged many Expand... more The ever-increasing range and functions of English use as a global language has urged many Expanding-Circle countries to overhaul the teaching and learning of the language, and Japan is no exception. Since around 2000s, its education ministry has released a series of policy proposals to expand and improve Japan’s English language teaching (ELT), asserting that it has become more urgently necessary to equip its citizens with the knowledge and skills for communication in English as a lingua franca (ELF) so that the country can better survive the world of global competition. Meanwhile in the academic field of ELT, teaching English as an international language (TEIL) has been conceptualized to address the need to prepare learners to become competent users of English in international contexts and provide teachers with the theoretical and practical resources to do so (e.g., Sharifian, English as an international language: perspectives and pedagogical issues. Bristol, Multilingual Matters,...
This paper attempts to raise concerns about the increasingly emphasized need to establish a Japan... more This paper attempts to raise concerns about the increasingly emphasized need to establish a Japanese variety of English in a society where English was, is, and will remain a foreign language to be taught at schools rather than a second language to be acquired in life. Three different proposals for ―Japanese English‖ that were propounded a few decades ago and have mostly been forgotten by now will be introduced and examined in terms of similarities to and differences from the Kachruvian framework of world Englishes, which has provided theoretical basis for existing varieties of English in formerly colonized territories. Through a critical analysis of the past attempts and failures to develop a Japanese variety of English, this paper will also suggest that the view of English as a ―universal‖ language that underlies the idea of developing and legitimatizing varieties of English only guarantees the diversity within the language, potentially undermining linguistic diversity in its broad...
English language teaching (ELT) practice in Japan has almost invariably been on the defensive, cr... more English language teaching (ELT) practice in Japan has almost invariably been on the defensive, criticized from both inside and outside of the country for its Anglo-American, native-speaker-centered textbooks, persistence in yakudoku, or translation-based methods, reportedly less-qualifi ed teachers, and other reasons. Increasing recognition of the term 'world Englishes' (WE) in recent years has provided yet another ground for those calling for an overhaul of the materials, teaching personnel, and pedagogy. With its emphasis on recognizing the validity and legitimacy of varieties of English around the world, WE challenges the longstanding tradition of Japan's ELT, which almost exclusively focuses on the native-speaker, or more precisely, Ameri-can, model and gives scant attention to users and the use of Eng-lish elsewhere. Such criticism, however, seems to disregard an important fact of ELT in Japan: that there are a plethora of teaching materials produced locally, teaching personnel educated and trained locally, and teaching methodologies developed locally. In other words, the appropriation and localization of ELT, which the framework of WE aims at, seems to have already been achieved to the extent that the local culture and language are well involved in the teaching practice. In light of this concern, this paper, after briefl y reviewing the theoretical framework of WE, critically examines the pedagogical implications of the WE framework for ELT in general and in Japan in particular. Analyzing the viability and scope of the proposed options for incorporating the WE perspective into ELT in the Japanese context will reveal that many of the proposals seem to regard the concept merely as further support for the increasingly popularized communicative-oriented pedagogy, thereby paradoxically reinforcing the Anglo-American orientation of Japan’s ELT. Recognizing the significance of the WE perspective, this paper will argue that a better appreciation of the locally developed ELT practice would be more consistent with the framework, which originally aims at ELT with an ‘endonormative’ rather than an ‘exonormative’ model.
WE and Us: The Transplantation and Transformation of the World Englishes Paradigm in the Japanese Context (Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Tokyo), 2014
英文学と英語学 = English literature and language, Feb 1, 2021
This paper discusses the value of incorporating the world Englishes(WE) framework, or a pluricent... more This paper discusses the value of incorporating the world Englishes(WE) framework, or a pluricentric approach to the dissemination, nativization, and diversication of English, into the Japanese higher education curriculum, either as part of the general education requirements across majors, as a foundation course component for English majors, as a requirement for the teacher certicate program (TCP), or, preferably, all of the above. To substantiate the argument, this paper will first present a literature review on the rationales and principles of WE education and its practical applications in different contexts, and then, based on previous studies and the author’s teaching practice, identify possible obstacles to the integration of WE in college education in Japan, focusing on the issues of pedagogical efficacy, resource availability, and curricular consistency. The analysis aims to address the gap between scholarly discussion on WE and the actual classroom situation in the university context to encourage a “constant reciprocal relation between theory and practice”(Pennycook, 2001, p. 3).
Economic globalization and the concomitant prominence of English as a global language (EGL) have ... more Economic globalization and the concomitant prominence of English as a global language (EGL) have had a considerable impact on educational policies and practices worldwide. The widespread belief in the economic benefits that individuals and societies can attain from greater English proficiency has created a global trend of early English language teaching (ELT) (Copland, Garton & Burns, 2014; Enever, Moon & Raman, 2009). In line with this global trend, Japan, as an economically advanced nation, has also gradually lowered the age at which English is introduced at school. Previous studies have explored the development of national ELT curricula, critically examining the discourses behind these official language-in-education policies (e.g., Kubota, 1998, 2002; Seargeant, 2009; Shiroza, 2020). However, obvious to the keen observer is that early ELT is often implemented more extensively and vigorously in Japan's rural communities than in urban areas, despite the latter's image of be...
The ever-increasing range and functions of English use as a global language has urged many Expand... more The ever-increasing range and functions of English use as a global language has urged many Expanding-Circle countries to overhaul the teaching and learning of the language, and Japan is no exception. Since around 2000s, its education ministry has released a series of policy proposals to expand and improve Japan’s English language teaching (ELT), asserting that it has become more urgently necessary to equip its citizens with the knowledge and skills for communication in English as a lingua franca (ELF) so that the country can better survive the world of global competition. Meanwhile in the academic field of ELT, teaching English as an international language (TEIL) has been conceptualized to address the need to prepare learners to become competent users of English in international contexts and provide teachers with the theoretical and practical resources to do so (e.g., Sharifian, English as an international language: perspectives and pedagogical issues. Bristol, Multilingual Matters,...
This paper attempts to raise concerns about the increasingly emphasized need to establish a Japan... more This paper attempts to raise concerns about the increasingly emphasized need to establish a Japanese variety of English in a society where English was, is, and will remain a foreign language to be taught at schools rather than a second language to be acquired in life. Three different proposals for ―Japanese English‖ that were propounded a few decades ago and have mostly been forgotten by now will be introduced and examined in terms of similarities to and differences from the Kachruvian framework of world Englishes, which has provided theoretical basis for existing varieties of English in formerly colonized territories. Through a critical analysis of the past attempts and failures to develop a Japanese variety of English, this paper will also suggest that the view of English as a ―universal‖ language that underlies the idea of developing and legitimatizing varieties of English only guarantees the diversity within the language, potentially undermining linguistic diversity in its broad...
English language teaching (ELT) practice in Japan has almost invariably been on the defensive, cr... more English language teaching (ELT) practice in Japan has almost invariably been on the defensive, criticized from both inside and outside of the country for its Anglo-American, native-speaker-centered textbooks, persistence in yakudoku, or translation-based methods, reportedly less-qualifi ed teachers, and other reasons. Increasing recognition of the term 'world Englishes' (WE) in recent years has provided yet another ground for those calling for an overhaul of the materials, teaching personnel, and pedagogy. With its emphasis on recognizing the validity and legitimacy of varieties of English around the world, WE challenges the longstanding tradition of Japan's ELT, which almost exclusively focuses on the native-speaker, or more precisely, Ameri-can, model and gives scant attention to users and the use of Eng-lish elsewhere. Such criticism, however, seems to disregard an important fact of ELT in Japan: that there are a plethora of teaching materials produced locally, teaching personnel educated and trained locally, and teaching methodologies developed locally. In other words, the appropriation and localization of ELT, which the framework of WE aims at, seems to have already been achieved to the extent that the local culture and language are well involved in the teaching practice. In light of this concern, this paper, after briefl y reviewing the theoretical framework of WE, critically examines the pedagogical implications of the WE framework for ELT in general and in Japan in particular. Analyzing the viability and scope of the proposed options for incorporating the WE perspective into ELT in the Japanese context will reveal that many of the proposals seem to regard the concept merely as further support for the increasingly popularized communicative-oriented pedagogy, thereby paradoxically reinforcing the Anglo-American orientation of Japan’s ELT. Recognizing the significance of the WE perspective, this paper will argue that a better appreciation of the locally developed ELT practice would be more consistent with the framework, which originally aims at ELT with an ‘endonormative’ rather than an ‘exonormative’ model.
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