Abstract
This paper deals with three challenging issues in Japan’s English language teaching (ELT), which is officially considered as part of a larger endeavour of international understanding education. In implementing this framework in Japan’s ELT, three major issues are noticed. (1) How we can teach English as an international language; (2) How we can train our students to be able to talk about themselves, their community, and their national culture; and (3) How we can motivate our students to become interested in cultures of speakers of different varieties of English the world over. The crux of the matter in Issue (1) is that Japan’s conventional ELT model is outdated and unrealistic. In the traditional American English Speaker model, Japanese students are taught American English and are expected to become speakers of American English. In view of the present role English plays as an international language, it is not necessary and it is not desirable to expect to produce American English speakers in Japan’s public education system. To adjust to this reality, the traditional model has to be changed or modified in favour of the Japanese English Speaker model. Issues (2) and (3) are closely connected. Japanese people generally see international understanding as learning about other countries. Consequently, awareness and practical training in explaining things Japanese is often ignored in school programs of international understanding education. Unfortunately, Japan’s ELT is inclined to reinforce this tendency by putting much emphasis on reading about foreign cultures, mostly those of the United States and Britain. However, with a clear understanding of English as a language for wider communication, a coordinated program is proposed to teach English as an international language for self-explanation and mutual understanding across cultures.
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Notes
- 1.
Standard American English here is used as a representative of native-speaker varieties of English for which Japan’s ELT has traditionally shown an exclusively strong preference.
- 2.
Actually, any variety may be offered as an acquisition sample as long as it is understood and accepted as an international language. However, in the Japanese school situation, Standard American English is offered in the program set by the MEXT because of historical reasons.
- 3.
This model does not deny any individuals their “rights” to speak like an American. It only argues that is not the goal of Japan’s public ELT. Also, the term “Japanese English” is used for the school/education situations throughout this chapter does not mean all the students in such situations are Japanese nationals. According to the statistics by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/kyouiku/todofuken_kensyu/h24_hokoku/pdf/shisaku_03.pdf), approximately 72,000 non-Japanese children and students were enrolled in public elementary, junior and senior high schools in Japan. “Japanese English” generally applies to the kind of English students may acquire through studying in Japanese school/education situations.
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Honna, N., Takeshita, Y. (2014). English as an International Language and Three Challenging Issues in English Language Teaching in Japan. In: Marlina, R., Giri, R. (eds) The Pedagogy of English as an International Language. English Language Education, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06127-6_5
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