Globalization and Language Education in Japan

Abstract

Contemporary discussions on globalization and language education in Japan, which arose in the 1980s, reflect the synergy of internationalization and nihonjinron, a discourse that emphasizes the uniqueness of the Japanese. The government in the 1980s promoted the teaching of communication skills in English in order to disseminate Japanese unique perspectives to the world. This ideological framework has reconfigured into a synergy of neoliberalism and nationalism since the 2000s. Reflecting the global trend of prioritizing English language teaching, the Japanese government and business associations have promoted English language teaching to bolster global economic competitiveness. Policies have included employing native English-speaking teachers, offering English at elementary schools, and using commercially available English proficiency tests. The neoliberal promotion of English is complemented by neoconservative emphasis on national identity. A similar synergy is observed in teaching Japanese as a second language (JSL). Globalization prompted an influx of immigrants, creating demands for teaching JSL in schools for newcomer children, who tend to be assimilated into mainstream society. Teaching JSL also supports the internationalization of higher education, in which many international students are recruited for the ultimate purpose to strengthen the Japanese economy. However, the recent promotion of English-medium programs has created a dilemma for Asian nonnative English-speaking international students, who are positioned as linguistically and racially inferior in English and Japanese. Overall, despite the linguistic, cultural, and racial heterogeneity implied by globalization, language education policies and practices in Japan have been influenced by monolingual, monocultural, and monoethnic ideologies that resist heterogeneous understandings of language and language speakers.