The Evolution of English Language Learners in Japan: Crossing Japan, the West, and South East Asia 9781138631618, 9781315208749

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The Evolution of English Language Learners in Japan

This book seeks a better understanding of the sociocultural and ideological factors that influence English study in Japan and study-abroad contexts such as university-bound high schools, female-dominant English classes at college, ESL schools in Canada, and private or university-affiliated ESL programs in Singapore and Malaysia. The discussion is based not only on data garnered from Japanese EFL learners and Japanese/overseas educators but also on official English language policies and commercial magazine discourses about English study for Japanese people. The book addresses seemingly incompatible themes that are either entrenched in or beyond Japan’s EFL context such as: Japan’s decades-long poorly-performing English education vs. its equally long-lived status as an economic power; Japanese English learners’ preference for native English speakers/norms in at-home Japanese EFL contexts vs. their friendship with other Asian students in western study-abroad contexts; Japanese female students’ dream of using English to further their careers vs. Japanese working women’s English study for self-enrichment; Japanese society’s obsession with globalization through English study vs. the Japanese economy sustained by monolingual Japanese businessmen; Japanese business magazines’ frequent cover issues on global business English study vs. Japanese working women’s magazines’ less frequent and markedly feminized discourses about English study. Yoko Kobayashi works at Iwate University, Japan. Since the completion of her doctoral dissertation in 2000, she has published her research papers mainly in international journals, and this book aims to raise her research discussion to a new level.

Routledge Research in Language Education

The Routledge Research in Language Education series provides a platform for established and emerging scholars to present their latest research and discuss key issues in Language Education. This series welcomes books on all areas of language teaching and learning, including but not limited to language education policy and politics, multilingualism, literacy, L1, L2 or foreign language acquisition, curriculum, classroom practice, pedagogy, teaching materials, and language teacher education and development. Books in the series are not limited to the discussion of the teaching and learning of English only. For more information about the series, please visit www.routledge.com. Books in the series include: The Space and Practice of Reading A Case Study of Reading and Social Class in Singapore Chin Ee Loh Asian English Language Classrooms Where Theory and Practice Meet Handoyo Puji Widodo, Alistair Wood and Deepti Gupta A New Approach to English Pedagogical Grammar The Order of Meanings Edited by Akira Tajino Space, Place and Autonomy in Language Learning Edited by Garold Murray and Terry Lamb The Evolution of English Language Learners in Japan Crossing Japan, the West, and South East Asia Yoko Kobayashi

The Evolution of English Language Learners in Japan Crossing Japan, the West, and South East Asia Yoko Kobayashi

First published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Yoko Kobayashi The right of Yoko Kobayashi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-63161-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-20874-9 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Contents

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List of tables Preface

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Japan’s English education and students’ notions about English study

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Japan’s poor English education: unintended result or institutionalized policy? 1 Japanese senior high students’ notions about English study 4 Japanese college students’ notions about English study 7 Japanese government’s notions of higher education’s internationalization 10 References 12 2

Internationalizing Japan with the help of its Asian neighbors

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Literature background 15 Cross-cultural friendship in at-home contexts 15 Cross-cultural friendship in study-abroad contexts 17 Japanese-Korean friendship at Canadian ESL schools 18 Humanities programs’ institutional impediments to internationalization 21 References 25 3

A new alternative of studying English in English-speaking ASEAN nations East Asian students’ English study in English-speaking ASEAN 27 Push factors 29 Pull factors 31

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Contents Literature background: Japanese students’ English conversation partners 33 Japanese learners of English in Singapore 35 Japanese learners of English in Malaysia 38 The root cause of Japanese students’ cultural baggage 41 References 42

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Japanese female students’ positive attitudes toward language study

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Literature background 45 Routes left open to Japanese women with language skills 50 The choice of leaving the domestic business world 50 The choice of waiting for opportunities until later in life 51 The choice of studying languages for self-enrichment purposes 53 The role of language professionals in female students’ orientation to English study 54 References 58 5

Japanese (fe)male learners’ (un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts Japanese female students’ high enrollment in overseas ESL classes 61 Japanese male students’ low enrollment in overseas ESL classes 63 Participants 64 Procedure 65 Limitation 65 Factors behind Japanese male students’ low enrollment and motivation 66 Low demand for English-speaking Japanese male job seekers 66 Japanese men’s perceived social pressure to stay in Japan 69 Japanese men’s masculine pride and fear of making mistakes 70 The mismatch between boys’ preferences and their social responsibilities 72 English-speaking ASEAN nations as a better choice for Japanese male students with ‘why bother to study English’ attitudes? 74 References 77

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The mismatch between Japan’s strong economy and poor English education

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The economy and English investment in South Korea and Japan: how do the two nations differ? 80 The bestselling Japanese book on Japan’s poor English (Suzuki, 1999) 83 Japan’s non-elite English education and semi-monolingual English teachers 87 Japan’s (same-old) poor English and its (more recent) dwindling economy 90 References 93 7

Japanese business magazines’ special issues on English study methods: a window on the division between Japan’s business world and formal schooling

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Japanese business magazines’ ideal readers 95 The major business magazines’ special articles about English study 96 Commonalities among the magazines’ cover headlines and subheads 100 Research themes on business magazines’ special issue articles about English study 102 Who are introduced as English models, based on (no) supportive data? 104 The magazines’ dual introduction of native English norms and global English practices 104 The magazines’ nonacademic information about Asian English 106 The magazines’ nonacademic endorsement of nonnative English 108 (How) do the magazines establish Japanese businessmen’s English needs at work? 109 (How) do the magazines address gender discrimination at Japanese companies? 112 Business magazines’ special issues as a window to Japan’s English education 113 References 114 8

Japanese women’s magazines’ articles about English study: a window on Japanese women’s status in the business world Studies on western women’s magazines’ discourses 116

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Contents Japanese working women’s magazines’ cover feature of English study 118 Limitations 118 Headlines and subheads about English study 120 Differences from and similarities to Japanese business magazines 122 Research themes on working women’s magazines’ articles about English study 123 English study as naraigoto [self-enrichment learning] 123 English as one of the certificates [shikaku] 125 English for working women assigned to global job responsibilities 126 Seemingly mixed discourses between English study articles and others 127 Japanese working women’s magazines’ pro-women and uncritical discourses 128 Additional note 129 References 130 Afterword Index

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Tables

5.1 Statistics on 10-year student enrollment by gender from 1997 to 2007 6.1 EIKEN grades and level comparison 6.2 Japan’s junior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders 6.3 Japan’s senior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders

62 88 89 89

Preface

This book seeks a better understanding of the sociocultural and ideological factors that influence English study in Japan and study-abroad contexts such as university-bound high schools, female-dominant English classes at college, ESL schools in Canada, and private or university-affiliated ESL programs in Singapore and Malaysia. The discussion is based not only on data garnered from Japanese EFL learners and Japanese/overseas educators but also on official English language policies and commercial magazine discourses about English study for Japanese people. The book addresses seemingly incompatible themes that are either entrenched in or beyond Japan’s EFL context such as: Japan’s decades-long poorly performing English education vs. its equally long-lived status as an economic power; Japanese English learners’ preference for native English speakers/norms in athome Japanese EFL contexts vs. their friendship with other Asian students in western study-abroad contexts; Japanese female students’ dream of using English to further their careers vs. Japanese working women’s English study for selfenrichment; and Japanese society’s obsession with globalization through English study vs. the Japanese economy sustained by monolingual Japanese businessmen. Chapter 1, “Japan’s English Education and Students’ Notions About English Study”, is originally based on my doctoral dissertation: Japanese Social Influences on Academic High School Students’ Attitudes toward Long-term English Learning (Kobayashi, 2000). As a novice researcher, I wanted to fathom the cause of Japan’s English education’s decades-long failure to produce English learners with even a beginner-level speaking ability and how Japanese college-bound high school students perceive ‘English’ positioned in and outside the school context. For example, the second and third sections address Japanese senior high school and college students’ notions of English study. In spite of the successive implementation of more intensive, earlier English teaching policies over the decades, these two types of students are still united in their sense of the elusive linkage between English as the primary exam subject and English as an international language, and their lack of self-image as English users in the context of intercultural/ business communication, which then generates their admiration for other fluent English speakers. This tendency is discussed further in light of low- to middleranked Japanese university students who, excluded from a potential pool of global

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businesspersons, are induced or institutionalized to study/use English during their college life for the aim of leisure or educational activities. The final section implies that in contrast with top-tier ‘core’ universities that are granted the government’s support for internationalization and the production of globally competitive talents, most of the ordinary non-elite Japanese universities are at a crossroad in their survival strategy, faced with educational and financial limitations to endorsing their students’ English study for experienced-based purposes such as overseas study programs and international volunteer activities. Chapter 2, “Internationalizing Japan With the Help of Its Asian Neighbors”, is based on my first large-scale research as a university-based researcher that aimed to understand Japanese students’ attitudes toward English communication with other international students in study-abroad contexts. I developed an interest in this topic while studying at OISE/UT (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto) and seeing groups of Asian ESL students in the building (University of Toronto’s English Language Program is located on the 4th floor of the OISE building). This chapter explores the possibility of Japanese students’ friendship with other Asian students who make up the majority of ESL students at North American ESL schools and its potential impact on Japanese university students’ discriminatory attitudes toward (non-)western international students in Japan. On the one hand, previous research findings show that Japanese students, even at prestigious universities, continue favoring European-looking English-speaking international students as conversation partners over the majority of Asian students present on the campuses. On the other hand, the second and third sections shed light on the contrasting picture of Japanese students who unexpectedly forge friendships with Korean and other Asian students in western countries where European students with high English proficiency and native English-speaking locals are available to Japanese students who seek interaction with them when in Japan. Social Identity Theory is invoked to conceptualize this seemingly conflicting documentation, which allows for a hypothetical discussion that the salient presence of European (-looking) outgroup members influences Japanese students’ self-identification process in both overseas and domestic contexts, respectively, as ‘we Asians’ in the overseas ESL setting and ‘we English-speaking global citizens’ in the Japanese public/campus spheres. The final section starts with a question that arises from the preceding section about the potential impact of Japanese former sojourners with Asian-Asian friendship experience upon Japanese-dominant colleges that receive the largest group of international students from the neighboring Asian countries. Guided by previous studies that project a bleak outlook, this section discusses institutional impediments, focusing on humanities and social sciences departments, and language centers where many Japanese and native English-speaking teachers are affiliated, whose English (medium) classes are often detached from other Japanese-medium academic courses and yet emphatically promulgated as the icon of internationalization. Chapter 3, “A New Alternative of Studying English in English-Speaking ASEAN Nations”, is a sequel to Chapter 2. Since I started working as a university

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teacher, I have come across Japanese students with travel experience to other Asian nations/regions (e.g., Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia), which inspired me to consider the possibility of Japanese students’ English use and friendship with other Asian students in non-western contexts. Several push factors behind this new alternative work in tandem with each other: the Japanese government’s endorsement of cultivating pro-ASEAN Japanese youth in the light of China’s growing presence in the region, Japanese schools’ increasing attention to studyin-ASEAN programs, the growing media reporting and information sources about study in ASEAN nations, and prospective sojourners’ increased sense of comfort with the idea of English study with ASEAN teachers. As pull factors, the intensifying competition among Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines in a bid to be ASEAN’s educational hub leads to diverse types of sojourn programs (e.g., affordable, intensive one-to-one English lessons from qualified Filipino teachers as a trial before long-term migration into western English-speaking nations). In the meantime, as discussed in this chapter, Japanese students are found to arrive in Singapore with scarce and/or inaccurate knowledge of the host country (e.g., ‘standard English’-speaking Singaporeans), raising the issue of the hegemony of standard English entrenched in the mindset of many East Asian students as well as Singapore’s ESL industry. A more recent study found that Malaysian ESL professionals identify the choice of sojourn in ASEAN contexts as more desirable for many beginner-level, quiet Japanese learners of English who could feel marginalized among western native English speakers and thus might feel more ease with like-minded Asian, nonnative English-speaking ESL teachers. On the other hand, as in western ESL and at-home contexts, Japanese students are found to be reserved in ASEAN ESL classes but, unlike in Japan and in the west, voluntarily develop cross-cultural interaction with many Asian students in Asian-dominant Singapore or Malaysia. I believe this research topic and context will evolve into one of the latest and important research directions in the next decade(s). Chapter 4, “Japanese Female Students’ Positive Attitudes Toward Language Study”, is originally based on my doctoral dissertation (Kobayashi, 2000). A statistically significant finding of Japanese female students’ positive attitudes towards English study required a lengthy stay in Japan to collect references that would account for the gender difference. I then realized that few references were available in the domain of English language education. Subsequently, I noted that my paper presentation at the TESOL convention (New York, 1999) and journal article focused on this theme (Kobayashi, 2002) were well received among the international scholarship, beyond my expectation. Since then, as a Japanese female researcher based in Japan’s higher education, I have sought a better understanding of current and former Japanese female students’ relationship with English study. This chapter, with the latest references included, crystalizes my continuing scholarly effort and professional reflection not only as a researcher but also as a college English teacher. For example, in the third part of the chapter, gender discrimination in Japan’s labor market is discussed in relation to the role of college English teachers in

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Japan whose affiliations lure (many female) high school students with ‘international’ advertising slogans. More specifically, critical attention is paid to the role of (predominantly male) Japanese and western teachers of English in Japan’s higher education who have opportunities to teach (predominantly female) college students with positive attitudes toward English. The tone of discussion has to be rather pessimistic because, as suggested by a limited yet growing body of literature, many of these teachers appear to have neither the intention nor the power to challenge the Japanese business world’s hiring practices. Hence, Japanese college women who (are made to) believe in the power of English are argued to have to pursue other avenues if they wish to continue engaging with English study/use after graduation. Chapter 5, “Japanese (Fe)male Learners’ (Un)motivation in Overseas ESL Contexts”, is stimulated by my encounter with young Japanese female adults with little English who had quit their full-time jobs to study for more than a few weeks at Canadian ESL schools. In the research context I also learned about Japanese male adults with limited English who were sent to Canadian ESL schools by their employers. Based on the data collected from Japanese students and administrative/teaching staff at Canadian ESL schools and extant literature knowledge, the discussion delves into four emerging issues about Japanese male learners of English: (1) the Japanese business world’s low demand for English-speaking Japanese male job seekers, (2) Japanese men’s perceived social pressure to stay in Japan, (3) Japanese men’s masculine pride and fear of making mistakes, and (4) the mismatch between boys’ preferences for masculine areas of studies and their social responsibilities to function as global human resources. Bearing in mind Japanese male students who fail to avail themselves of the Canadian ESL environment, the final part of the chapter discusses whether an emerging ASEAN English-study-abroad context can better serve the interests of predominantly Japanese male students with ‘why bother to study English’ attitudes and many others who remain quiet in western ESL classrooms (see also Chapter 3). This chapter hopes to provide a broad picture of overlooked Japanese male and female English learners, with the latest references added to the discussion. Chapter 6, “The Mismatch Between Japan’s Strong Economy and Poor English Education”, arises from my years-old interest in knowing the answer to the socioeconomic question as to how Japan’s economy has sustained its international competiveness over the decades in the society dominated by monolingual Japanese businessmen who are the product of Japan’s feeble English education. To put it the other way around, I have been curious to know why Japan’s English education can afford to remain ineffective for decades without seemingly having exerted any adverse impact on Japan’s economic performance, except for the lucrative English industry. This chapter explores this question, based on the review of economic and non-economic literature, while raising a concern about a growing amount of discourse on the causal relationship between Japan’s poor English education and its economic decline that defies the decades-long mismatch between Japan’s poor English education and its strong economy.

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For example, the second section reviews a long-selling and bestselling book titled, Why are Japanese Poor at English? (Suzuki, 1999), to explore the book’s degrees of references to the decades-long perplexing coexistence between Japan’s world-class economic performance and its third-class English education. While arguing that Japan’s poor English education is due in large part to its resistance against elites-only approach, Suzuki (1999) is in line with the mainstream discussion in that both focus on Japan’s flawed English education only, without any reference to its (nearly no) repercussions on its economic productivity and monolingual university students’ employment. Japan’s Ministry of Education’s fiscal 2016 nationwide survey is also reviewed in this section, which shows Japanese English teachers’ limited command of English. The third section draws attention to a recent situation in Japan where its economic performance and English education are now equally trouble-ridden. Japan has been mired in a prolonged recession and its rivals seem to have been (re)vitalized by global-minded elites and middle-class nationals educated in domestic and/overseas English-medium education. In this new era some start subscribing to the cause-and-effect relation between poor/good English education and weak/strong economy, while oblivious of the decades-long mismatch between Japan’s poor English education and its strong economy. This section calls for more attention to this distorted discourse on English education-economy causality and the increasing business news of Japanese leading companies’ successful in-house English policies (discussed in more detail in Chapter 7). Such discourse and news could be a blessing and a curse for Japan’s English education which, on the one hand, is endorsed to play its role in meeting the changing social needs (i.e., practical English skills) and, on the other, is pressured to cede its liberal-arts English teaching role to the merit-based business world and other practical areas of studies. Chapter 7, “Japanese Business Magazines’ Special Issues on English Study Methods: A Window on the Division Between Japan’s Business World and Formal Schooling”, is stimulated by the good sales of Japan’s major business magazines’ front-cover special issues on English self-study methods, which are implausible in many other countries where English proficiency is a must-have skill for white-collar job candidates. By analyzing Japan’s four business magazines’ 19 special issues on English study methods published from 2012 to 2017, this chapter explores the magazines’ discourses about (1) English target models for monolingual Japanese businessmen, (2) their English needs at work, and (3) gender discrimination issues (e.g., Japanese women’s subordinate position at work). In conjunction with Chapter 6, this chapter hopes to provide a glimpse into Japanese business and economy that have been sustained by monolingual businessmen. Informed by the theoretical framework of media discourses and the concept of ‘ideal subjects’ (Fairclough, 2001), the first part starts with a review of each magazine’s cover headlines and subheads, which shows more between-group commonalities than minor differences in cover design and letter counts. For example, employing men’s language characteristics, the magazines’ covers address their

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ideal readers who are imagined to be monolingual Japanese businessmen (bound to be) in need of English skills. Moreover, their eye-catching covers trumpet miracle English study methods. Introduced as ideal target English models are real-life and well-known businesspersons who narrate their successful English study experience. The second part outlines research themes that emerge from the review of the business magazines’ headlines and subheads, followed by the final part that addresses three research questions: (1) what types of English speakers are introduced as target models, based on (no) supportive data?; (2) (how) do the magazines establish Japanese businessmen’s English needs at work?; (3) (how) do the business magazines place the issue of gender such as Japanese women’s positive attitudes toward English study/use for work? The study reveals that Japanese business magazine articles often inform the readers of perplexing and essentialized information about business English usage (e.g., the double-standard of native English norms and global English practices, ‘Singlish-speaking Singaporean businesspeople’). The articles are found to invoke as the authority not academic knowledge but Japanese ‘charisma’ English teachers and other ‘experts’ whose expertise comprises trendy or dubious advice about English study. Furthermore, based on the truism that Japanese businesspersons’ English use at work is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’, the articles introduce Japanese elite businesswomen together with a larger number of male peers as those who equally bear testimony to the pressing English needs at work and share their English study experience with the magazine readers. Overall, these magazine articles address their ‘ideal’ readers who are monolingual Japanese businessmen with a high level of anxiety over English, low-level English proficiency, and high likelihood of using English in business. Chapter 8, “Japanese Women’s Magazines’ Articles About English Study: A Window on Japanese Women’s Status in the Business World”, is a sequel to Chapter 7 and is in conjunction with Chapter 4. It analyzes to what extent and how Japan’s two working women’s magazines introduce seemingly pro-women yet uncritically feminized articles about English study. Followed by the review of literature on critical language studies, in particular studies on western women’s magazines, the present study’s limitations are outlined. Namely, relative to four business magazines’ sole cover feature on English study methods in 19 special issues from 2012 to 2017, only two working women’s magazines are in print in Japan, and they have published a smaller number of feature articles about English study. Based on the review of Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN ’s front-cover headlines and subheads about English study, it is tentatively hypothesized that two working magazines’ in-text articles address at least three types of potential readers: (1) those who consider re-studying English as personal naraigoto [self-enrichment learning] without expecting to, or being expected to, use English for business purposes; (2) those who study English to obtain work certificates [shikaku] that pave the way for job change or re-employment; (3) working women who find themselves in need of English at the workplace.

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In-text articles about English study that appear in a total of 10 issues of NikkeiWOMAN and President WOMAN are categorized into three types of discourse about Japanese working women’s relation to English study: (1) anxiety-free English use during private trips abroad and when showing foreign visitors to Japan the way in English, (2) English capital (i.e., English certificates, competitively high TOEIC score) that ensures job changes and re-employment, and (3) the presence of elite business women in their 20s and 30s who are young and fortunate enough to thrive on their English skills at global Japanese or foreign companies. In conclusion, the chapter seeks a better understanding of Japanese former college women’s, i.e., working women’s (in)voluntary English study for purposes that diverge from their former dream of using English at work. This reality helps us understand that the unexplored theme of Japanese working women’s relation with English study is a red zone for university-based language researchers who, as English teachers, are positioned to encourage their female students to study English for career opportunities. This book is based on my previous publications as follows, although I rewrote a large part of these works for this book, not reproducing the articles: Kobayashi, Yoko. (2017). ASEAN English teachers as a model for international English learners: Modified teaching principles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), pp. 682–696. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2015). Ideological discourses about learning Chinese in pro-English Japan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25(3), pp. 329–342. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2015). ‘Women’s power goes up with language study’: Japanese women’s magazine construction of ideal female adult learners in gendered Japan. In Allyson Jule (Ed.), Shifting Visions: Gender and Discourses (pp. 138–154). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2014). Gender gap in the EFL classroom in East Asia. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), pp. 219–223. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2013). Europe vs. Asia: Foreign language education other than English in Japan’s higher education. Higher Education, 66(3), pp. 269–281. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2012). Global English capital and the domestic economy: The case of Japan from the 1970s to early 2012. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34(1), pp. 1–13. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2012). Working adults’ (un)willingness to study L2: Preliminary findings and research issues. In H. Pilay & M. Yeo (Eds.), Teaching Language to Learners of Different Age Groups (Anthology Series 53) (pp. 218–227). Singapore: SEAMEO RELC. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2011). Expanding-circle students learning ‘standard English’ in the outer-circle Asia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32(3), pp. 235–248. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2011). Global Englishes and the discourse on Japaneseness. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 32(1), pp. 1–14. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2011). Applied linguistics research on Asianness. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), pp. 566–571. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2010). Discriminatory attitudes toward intercultural communication in domestic and overseas contexts. Higher Education, 59(3), pp. 323–333.

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Kobayashi, Yoko. (2009). Accessibility of the sojourn experience and its impact on second language study, education, and research. JALT Journal, 31(2), pp. 251–259. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2007). TEFL policy as part of stratified Japan and beyond. TESOL Quarterly, 41(3), pp. 566–571. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2007). Japanese working women and English study abroad. World Englishes, 26(1), pp. 62–71. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2006). Inter-ethnic relations between ESL students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 27(3), pp. 181–195. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2006). Perspectives from Japanese staff at Canadian ESL schools regarding Japanese students’ groupism and its contextual background. TESL Canada Journal, 23(2), pp. 40–53. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2002). The role of gender in foreign language learning attitudes: Japanese female students’ attitudes towards English learning. Gender and Education, 14(2), pp. 181–197. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2001). The learning of English at academic high schools in Japan: Students caught between exams and internationalisation. Language Learning Journal, 23(1), pp. 67–72. Kobayashi, Yoko. (2000). Japanese Social Influences on Academic High School Students’ Attitudes toward Long-Term English Learning (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Toronto, Canada.

I am grateful to all the people who have come into my life since I started thinking about the possibility of becoming a researcher more than decades ago. Those people include not only my family, old friends, and Martine Johnson but also my mentors such as Merrill Swain, research colleagues, research participants and anonymous referees and many other scholars whose works have greatly inspired me. Each one of them, with their presence, words, and works, has helped me carry on my life as a researcher while located in the northeastern part of Japan. Many thanks are extended to all the institutions and organizations in Japan and Canada that provided me with scholarships and grants since I was a graduate student: former Japan Scholarship Foundation, Rotary International/Japan, Canadian Government, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Finally, I would like to thank Christina Low, an editor at Routledge for her more-than-once encouragement to submit a book proposal. The publication of this book would not have been possible without her interest in my research and idea of rewriting and reorganizing my past publications as a book.

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Japan’s English education and students’ notions about English study

Japan’s poor English education: unintended result or institutionalized policy? The English education in Japan from the 1970s to the 2000s attracted Japanese and international scholars’ attention, all wondering why it could go amiss for such a long time. A leading western anthropologist of Japanese schooling (Rohlen, 1983, 1995) differentiates trouble-ridden English education from Japan’s educational ‘success’: On the other hand, Japanese accomplishments in language arts, critical thinking, foreign language instruction, and civics are topics much debated and rarely if ever praised. As far as these subjects are concerned, Japan could do much better and benefit from adopting practices common in other countries. (Rohlen, 1995, p. 106) A professor of Keio University is also among many others who lamented Japan’s ineffective English education, although, similar to many other researchers including Rohlen (1995), he cared less about the mismatch between a robust economy and unpraised English education. In 1974 when an unprecedented amount of Japanese cars and manufactured products were expanding into the US and other overseas markets, he deplored in his ELT Journal article: “Of all the countries in the world where English has been taught on a nationwide scale, Japan seems to me about [sic] the least successful” and “the time and energy our students devote to English is mostly wasted” (Harasawa, 1974, p. 71). He then points out some “grave defects” in Japan’s English education policy and practice: (1) the university entrance examination in which “English is treated as if it were as dead a language as Latin”, (2) the undemanding teacher qualification system in which any university student can graduate with a teaching certificate “so long as he obtains during his undergraduate years a certain limited number of credits, coupled with brief and very perfunctory practice in teaching” and (3) “academic prejudice on the part of the teachers” such as professors of English linguistics and British literature who “despise anything practical”, “devote themselves entirely to the pursuit of obscure theories” and exhibit “excessive fondness for hair-splitting discussion of grammatical details [in Japanese]” (pp. 74–75).

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Japan’s English education

More than four decades have passed since the publication of Harasawa (1974) and English education in Japan remains in the doldrums despite the implementation of many national-level policies. Recent policies include the introduction of the English listening comprehension test in the National Center Test for University Admission (2006) and the Course of Study Guidelines’ historical notification calling for the instruction of English in English at senior high schools (2009) and at junior high schools (2016). Most recently, it was approved to start English teaching as a mandatory formal subject for fifth-and sixth-graders in elementary schools, together with the obligatory introduction of English as foreign language activity class for the third-and fourth-graders (2020). Moreover, the National Center Test for University Admission is to be replaced with a new standardized test combined with private-sector tests to measure speaking and writing skills (2020) (e.g., ‘Japan’s new standardized university entrance exam to use private English testing’, The Mainichi Shimbun Online, September 1, 2016). Although palpable changes have yet to be witnessed in Japanese English learners’ study outcomes, they now start studying practical English at an earlier stage than ever. According to Benesse (2014), a survey that collects data from 6,294 junior and senior school students residing across Japan, more than 90% of junior high schoolers and 70% of senior students have studied English in elementary schools, and approximately 40% of all the surveyed students have engaged in some kind of English study prior to their enrollment in elementary schools, whether at English conversation schools (48 to 59.4%), at exam-preparatory schools (32 to 41.7%), in kindergarten or at nursery schools (9.6 to 15.4%), through correspondence education (8.1 to 12.6%), and so on (pp. 4–5). Moreover, English lessons taught primarily in Japanese are now in the minority at junior high schools and senior high schools (5.8% in 1st grade junior English class, 15.7% in the 3rd grade senior high English class). On the other hand, English classes taught predominantly in English (70 to 100%) are not the mainstream yet either (25.8% in 1st grade junior English class, 14% in 3rd grade senior English class). In the meantime, in the domain of language education research the turn of the new century has witnessed an increased body of ideological analysis of Japan’s seemingly unproductive English education, whether it is deliberately or unintentionally designed and practiced that way. First of all, McVeigh (2006) argues that Japanese nationals’ struggle with English study engenders Japan’s linguistic nationalism and a high degree of allergic resistance to English use: Japanese are infamous for devoting an inordinate amount of time, money, and effort to learning English with remarkably disappointing results. [. . .] Consequently, they then assume that they themselves, being on the other side of an impenetrable linguistic wall, cannot learn a foreign language [. . .]. According to the logic of Japan’s linguistic nationalism, the Japanese language is to Japaneseness as English is to non-Japaneseness (the linguistic Other par excellence). This is why, to express it in extreme terms, to acquire English is to be contaminated by non-Japaneseness. (pp. 244–245)

Japan’s English education 3 Eight years prior to the publication of McVeigh (2006), Kubota (1998) also construes that many Japanese people’s “English ‘allergy’ and xenophobic attitudes reflect a reaction against excessive or unsuccessful attempts to acquire English and identify with English speakers” (p. 300). Other scholars contend that the ‘hidden’ goal of Japan’s English education is to cultivate Japanese youth with a sense of national identity, not English skills. Hashimoto (2007), for example, argues that “English is adopted only as a tool so that the values and traditions embedded in the Japanese culture will be retained, and cultural independence will be ensured” (p. 27). Mabuchi (1998, 2002) shares the view that the decades-long failure in English education is constitutive of the Japanese government’s essentialized policy that situates English education as a means of implanting a sense of Japaneseness into pupils who can differentiate we Japanese from the others and are willingly poised to act in accordance with their country’s interests. By the same token, an internationally well-cited Japanese scholar of sociology claims that “cultural nationalism” is inculcated into Japanese pupils within English classrooms where English teachers “often engage in Nihonjinron [theories on Japaneseness]” and “have become reproducers and transmitters of discourses of cultural difference”, comparing Japan only with the Anglo-Saxon English nations (Yoshino, 2002, p. 142). This line of critical theorization is allied to a pioneering work, Phillipson (1992), in which UK and US governmental and industrial entities are argued to wield their hidden, worldwide power to beguile non-English speakers into the belief that English is a ticket to successful life. Viewed from this type of discussion, Japan’s English education is a great success in producing young monolingual Japanese who are presupposed to ascribe their poor English skills to their pure, genetic, innate Japaneseness and chant: “We Japanese cannot speak English because we are Japanese”. Undoubtedly, these critical studies have contributed in a profound way to the worldwide discussion on the allegedly institutionalized dominance of English. Acclaiming Phillipson’s (1992) model of linguistic imperialism as one of the “models proposed to explain the role of language and language policies in the shaping of societies around the world”, Ricento (2006) argues that his “provocative and controversial claim has generated a great deal of research and a great many publications, which seek to reaffirm, contest, or recast the original claims within emerging new paradigms” (p. 16). Furthermore, the expanding scholarly knowledge divulges the complexity of language policy and practice. For example, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme known as the JET Programme is often cited as one of Japan’s nationalismdriven strategies by inviting western native English speakers as the representatives of ‘ideal whiteness’ to Japanese schools for only three to five years before they start to become accustomed to Japanese language and culture and lose their complete foreignness. McConnell (2000), in a study on the program, points out that by “setting the three-year-limit, Japanese officials were explicitly acknowledging that the ALT [assistant language teachers] and CIR [coordinators of international relations] slots would forever be positions for temporary outsiders” (pp. 103–104).

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By shedding light on the origin of the JET Programme, however, McConnell (2000) reveals that its initial purpose was extraneous to Japanese students’ development of Japaneseness. In fact, it was launched in 1978 as a trade friction-driven policy in order to ease Japan’s record-high trade surplus with the US by providing a sizable number of unemployed American university graduates with highpaid, unskilled jobs as English teachers in Japan. One Japanese official who was then in charge of the JET Programme is quoted as admitting: “The main goal was to get local governments to open up their gates to foreigners. It’s basically a grassroots regional development program” (p. 30). This explains why the policy was designed and implemented not by the Ministry of Education but by the then Ministry of Home Affairs which “was by almost any definition one of the least ‘international’ ministries in Japan” (p. 31). McConnell’s (2000) documentation is in line with the scholarly knowledge of language policy and planning domain (Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997). That is, language planning, implementation and evaluation are often dictated by taken-for-granted, common-sense language ideology and belief, creating a situation where “many politicians (and others who propose ‘language plans’) go about language planning as if it could and should be done only on the basis of their intuitive feelings” (p. 118) and thus “a great deal of language-in-education planning has occurred without any reference to the general stages of language planning” (p. 125). On the other hand, it is documented that many Japanese citizens’ sense of struggle with English study at school does not always transform them into adults who reproduce the discourse of Japaneseness (e.g., “My children won’t need English because they are Japanese like us and won’t be able to speak English”). A large-scale survey of 4,718 parents of elementary school children across Japan compares those who acknowledged their past struggle with English study (n = 2,652) and those who did not (n = 1,982) (Benesse, 2006). The former group of ‘English struggle’ parents is found to be more concerned with elementary school English education by 11.3% than ‘no English struggle’ parents, and also be more in favor of English teaching as a compulsory subject at elementary schools by 8.4% than other ‘non-struggle’ parents (pp. 47–49). Thus, Japanese parents’ negative evaluation of their study experience at school appears to be offset by the ideology of internationalization, which raises their interest in their children’s English study at school. Although this particular online report based on descriptive statistics does not allow for the assessment of statistical significance, the findings point out the possibility of interplay between Japanese adults’ identification as failed English learners and their increased interest in English education for the younger generation.

Japanese senior high students’ notions about English study The discussion in the preceding section suggests that current and former Japanese EFL learners’ attitudes toward the language study assume a multifaceted nature and thus cannot be accounted for by one single linear causal argument. Based on this presupposition, the present section addresses Japanese high school

Japan’s English education 5 students’ evolving notions of English study in the context of Japanese education from the late 1990s to early 2016, in particular in secondary education. The previously mentioned well-known Japanese educational company, Benesse, regularly conducts educational surveys nationwide and provides free access to its electronic research reports. One of their surveys conducted in the late 1990s examined Japanese students’ perceptions of English and other school subjects by collecting data from 1,718 senior high school students at five schools located in Tokyo, Saitama and Niigata (Benesse, 1998). The respondents chose English as the most important school subject for entrance examinations (54.3%), with math the second (34.2%). Not surprisingly, 61% of the first-year students and 80% of the second-year students demanded that English classes cater to entrance examinations with more grammatical exercises. In the meantime, multidimensional complexities of Japanese senior school students’ conceptualization of English emerged: whereas 93% answered that English study at school would not equip them with English speaking skills, English was chosen as the most useful school subject beyond the school context by 46% of students, followed by home economics (19.6%) and social studies (12.5%). In the same year of 1998, I myself conducted a questionnaire survey at two university preparatory senior schools, collecting numerical data from 555 students and written responses from 66 of them. The findings project the students’ ambivalent, multifaceted, and diverse attitudes toward English situated in both inside and outside school contexts. First of all, many students positively answered that they were studying English not only as a formal subject required for university preparation but also as an international language used around the world: I have never thought that I am studying English for the sake of the juken [university entrance examinations]. English is the language spoken by people around the world, so I can communicate with them if I can speak English. I think I would have studied English even if it were not a juken eigo [English tested in university admission tests] because I like English, it is the era of internationalization, and it is good for me to learn English. Overlapping with Benesse’s (1998) findings, many students believe in the usefulness of English as a school subject beyond the classroom. Some students with a more affirmative belief remarked that juken eigo, or English tested in university admission tests, is not independent of eigo or English used around the world and that English study at school contributes to the development of their English proficiency. I think what we are learning at school is useful. Juken eigo is a part of eigo and juken eigo’s grammar is useful for learning English conversations or correct English usage. I think juken eigo is useful. I am learning the basics of eigo and I feel more confident in speaking English a little.

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Japan’s English education

In fact, a more critical view of juken eigo was rather an opinion of the minority: Juken eigo is of no practical use. We cannot speak English and we can only write something on a piece of paper. I am very sure that juken eigo is useless. I am studying English now for the sake of juken because we cannot speak English even though we studied it for six years at junior and senior school. On the other hand, many students are dubious about the possibility of achieving English fluency at school. Two students are quoted as saying: “Handling a language other than the first language so well is what not everybody can do” and “It is often the case that even the ten-year English study does not make you such a fluent English speaker”. This finding, which is also compatible with Benesse (1998), suggests that Japanese university-bound senior high school students’ perception of English as the most useful school subject beyond classroom does not necessarily emerge from their future images as fluent English speakers in the real world. Rather, these university-bound Japanese senior high school students engage in the pervasive ideological (re)construction of the English capital, envisioning other ‘international Japanese’ who (have to) use English in the real world. Moreover, Japanese students’ intricate notion of English proficiency as what they covet but cannot attain evolves into their admiration for the English-speaking Japanese minority. Two of my research participants write that “It is natural to admire people who can do what most people cannot do” and “It is purely cool to be able to communicate with people overseas effectively and understand each other because we are usually living in different countries across the ocean”. In other words, fluency in English as an international language remains an object of admiration rather than an attainable objective among many Japanese collegebound students, whose realization however does not necessarily raise doubts about the purpose of their English study at school. As discussed more in the subsequent chapters, such admiration or akogare is critically identified as a matter of grave concern among some Japanese scholars of Japanese language, English linguists, and conservative policymakers. Professor Tsuda Yukio, a Japanese scholar of English imperialism, coins such admiration for English speakers “English mania” or “Anglomania” in his article contributed to the Canadian national newspaper: “The root of Anglomania is the ideology of English linguistic imperialism: the belief that everyone should be able to speak or use English because it is the key international language. The Japanese are going along with this dogma” (Tsuda, 1997, p. D4). In an interview with a Japanese newspaper reporter who points out many Japanese English learners’ “own initiative” for English study, he also calls them “worshippers” and “happy slaves” of English hegemony: “A slave who doesn’t feel his enslavement is a ‘happy slave,’ a product of the ultimate form of domination. I see a parallel between him and Japan” (Tonedachi, 2010, n.p.). As time advances, Japan’s English education has produced a new population of students who have experienced diverse types of English classes from primary

Japan’s English education 7 to secondary education, ranging from new communicative English activities to old exam-oriented English teaching taught in Japanese and to new Englishmedium classes taught by Japanese teachers of English. Nonetheless, Japanese senior school students’ complex attitudes toward English remain intact, according to Benesse (2014). The large-scale recent survey of 6,294 junior and senior school students residing across Japan shows that approximately 80% of them have studied English by the conventional memorization- and translation- method at home; more than 40% of them foresee no opportunity for them to use English in the real world; more than 80% of all the respondents believe in the merit of studying English as a school subject, an international language, and a language that makes them look international and cool (pp. 9–14). Worthy of note is that this familiar finding emerged from the new-generation students who have studied English earlier and more intensively than previous generations, and are supposed to know a more effective English self-study method than the conventional translation and memorization and to foresee more opportunities to use English in their future life. Thus, the new-generation students’ experience of earlier, more English-medium English study appears to have a limited impact on their English study method and ability to envisage future opportunities for them to use English, leaving the binary perception of English tied primarily to English exams in their real life and to internationalization in the imagined global world.

Japanese college students’ notions about English study The demographics of Japanese college students have been rapidly changing. According to the government official census records, the number of Japanese 18-year-olds that peaked at 2.05 million in 1992 has continued to decline, shrinking nearly by half to 1.19 million in 2015. Contrary to the population decline, the number of private universities has risen from 384 in 1992 to 604 in 2015 and municipal/prefectural ones from 41 to 89. (The number of national universities has decreased from 98 in 1992 to 86 in 2015.) This mismatch between a decrease in the population of college goers and the increased number of private universities has caused an unprecedented situation of under-enrollment where any high school graduate can find a private university to be enrolled in if the university is not a competitive one. Indeed, the number of private universities that fail to meet their student quota is on the rise, with 44.5% of all the private universities in Japan suffering from under-enrollment (PMAC, 2016). Moreover, many private universities operating at the bottom of the academic pyramid are in dire need of students, taking not ‘selection’– but ‘seduction’– measures to lure high school graduates (Kinmonth, 2005). Among them, the least competitive schools are known as ‘F-ranked’ colleges, with A institutions on the top, where nominal tests are administered in a way that “every student that sits the school’s examination is almost ‘guaranteed’ a ‘free pass’ to admission, no matter how poor their test results” (Amano & Poole, 2005, p. 706). Many students at non-competitive private universities are devoid of any academic interests or future dreams who “have become listless drones at

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the bottom of a university pyramid and are condemned to a low-status life and have such a low self-image of themselves that they have pretty much given up even trying to succeed academically” (Doyon, 2001, p. 464). These students’ English level is as low as English beginners and they are far less motivated to learn English or anything than, say, elementary schoolers. A major newspaper article reports that English classes for these students are tantamount to the beginner-level ABC lessons (‘Universities teaching be-verbs in compulsory English classes: Ministry of Education demands reform’ [Title and text in Japanese], Yomiuri Shimbun, February 12, 2014). Nagatomo (2012) interviews a 33-year-old Japanese male teacher of English at a presumably low-ranked private university who “describes [his students] as unmotivated and with inferiority complexes due to their previous lack of academic success” and understands their preference for outside classroom activities (p. 92). As one of Whitsed and Wright’s (2011) research participants, a ‘foreign’ English teacher at a Japanese university also notes: [Students are] pigeonholed in the lower universities and in certain departments . . . they know they are going to mediocre jobs. . . . So it is very hard to motivate these people because they know or feel that they are going nowhere. (p. 39) It should be noted here though that Japanese universities, including prestigious universities and in particular departments of humanities and social sciences, have been internationally dubbed as ‘leisure land’ where students are provided a four-year moratorium of relaxation time and lax educational standards. Many spend far more time in extracurricular club activities and part-time jobs than in academic study and yet never fail to earn a BA in four years. Nagatomo (2012, p. 17) explains that “Because entrance into high-level universities was, and still is, used by industry to determine students’ abilities rather than educational achievement during university, Japanese people have often viewed the university years to be a ‘four-year vacation’ for young people” (emphasis in the original). Teaching part-time a class of Japanese and international students at a topnotch private university in Tokyo, his alma mater, Mr. Watanabe tweets with a sigh that unmotivated Japanese students “are playing with their cell phones and munching on pastries” in the back rows of seats and “don’t even show up to class if it rains”. They pale in comparison to sedulous Chinese and other Asian students who are sitting in the front rows and “enthusiastically take notes and ask questions once the lecture is over”, including “the ones who aren’t so proficient with the Japanese language” (Baseel, 2015). This online newspaper article has provoked 34 comments from many, presumably native English teachers who have taught inattentive Japanese students. One of such western teachers is Christian Perry working for a prestigious national university in Northern Japan whose daily confrontation with ‘disruptive student conduct’ catalyzes his online publication of a conference proceeding paper

Japan’s English education 9 (Perry, 2010). The abstract speaks of the omnipresence of classroom behavior problems even among elite students who were supposedly the most disciplined and hard-working students throughout their school life, until they matriculate at university. University instructors in Japan are at times confronted with disruptive student conduct. What is an effective way to address counterproductive behavior such as using cell phones, forgetting textbooks, and sleeping in class? The author discusses an approach that entails providing students a list of rules in Japanese and English; overtly tracking violations of these rules; and then applying a penalty to the student’s participation grade. The article includes a copy of these rules and a sample record sheet. Not surprisingly, Japan’s top-tier universities’ international competiveness has been dwindling. For instance, Times Higher Education’s Asia World University Rankings 2016–2017 reports that none of the 604 Japanese private universities are ranked in Asia’s top 100 universities and that Japan’s paramount University of Tokyo dropped to the 7th place from the previous 1st spot, surpassed by the new Asia’s top-tier National University of Singapore, 2nd Nangyang Technological University & Peking University, 4th University of Hong Kong, 5th Tsinghua University, and 6th Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Japanese universities’ competitive edge looks more dismal in World University Rankings 2016–2017 where only 39th University of Tokyo and 91st Kyoto University are ranked in the top 100. Irrespective of academic achievement during college life, university students at domestically prestigious schools can expect to be hired by large corporations that compete in the international business world. Describing the Law Faculty’s English teaching program at a large, elite private university in Tokyo, Stewart and Miyahara (2011, p. 73) argue that “many students envisage a future either for themselves, or for Japan as a whole, where English is important as a means of communication”. Also mentioned in their study is a native English-speaking teacher’s reference to some students’ involvement in an international organization composed of law major students where Japanese elite students discuss legal issues with Asian counterparts in English and then raise awareness that international careers are mostly conducted in English as a lingua franca among Asian businesspersons. Given that Japanese A-ranked universities are in the minority, it is a rational supposition that most Japanese university students do not envisage themselves as future global businesspersons but rather imagine English as an international language used by someone international or by themselves in the context of intercultural communication such as overseas trips. Such elusive attitudes toward English as a tool for intercultural communication diverge from Gardner’s integrative orientation that measures ESL learners’ affective, assimilation-oriented predisposition towards local native English speakers (e.g., Chinese immigrants in Canada). Taking into account Japanese students’ ambivalent attitudes toward

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English, Yashima (2002, p. 57) operationally defines her concept of ‘international posture’ as follows: English seems to represent something vaguer and larger than the American community in the minds of young Japanese learners. For many learners, English symbolizes the world around Japan, something that connects them to foreign countries and foreigners or “strangers” in Gudykunst’s (1991) sense, with whom they can communicate by using English. However, there are individual differences: Some learners are more interested in or have more favorable attitudes toward what English symbolizes than other learners. Let us call this inclination “international posture”. Yashima (2002) first theorizes that international posture is composed of, or can be measured by, four items of Intercultural Friendship Orientation, seven items of Approach-Avoidance Tendency/AAT, six items of Interest in International Vocation/Activities (IVA), and two items of Interest in Foreign Affairs (IFA). Her analysis based on numerical data garnered from 297 Japanese university students in Osaka shows a statistically significant possibility that the students are more strongly motivated to study English and score higher in TOEFL if they have a higher degree of international orientation, i.e., if they “want to participate in a volunteer activity to help foreigners living in the neighboring community” (AAT), are “interested in volunteer activities in developing countries such as participating in Youth International Development Assistance” (IVA), and “often read and watch news about foreign countries” (IFA) (pp. 59–60). Yashima’s (2002) “rather vague concept described as international posture or attitude toward international community” (p. 59) would be instrumental for a study of non-elite, middle-class Japanese university students in metropolitan areas who, although having limited access to internatioal careers after graduation, have ample opportunities for contact with foreigners in their cities or abroad as local residents or student volunteers. In fact, Japanese universities vehemently construct and communicate a message that their study environments and educational programs are ideal for those who seek intercultural communication during their college life. In this light, we can critically argue that Japanese higher education is held accountable for disseminating the elusive concept of international posture without referring to the void between the nonprofessional, experiencebased intercultural communication that is open to non-elite students and the competitive business communication that is reserved for graduates of prestigous universities.

Japanese government’s notions of higher education’s internationalization Logically speaking, the successful completion of university entrance examination is supposed to elevate high school graduates, i.e., new college students, to an advantageous potion where they study and use English as a tool for intercultural

Japan’s English education 11 communication during their college life and also invest in English study with their career advancement in the real world in mind. Nonetheless, in reality, college students at moderately or less-competitive universities are akin to university-bound senior high school students in that while both of them have faith in English as an international language, many of them struggle to reconcile the division between their self-images as English users and a more pervasive image of cool, international English users somewhere out there. In other words, their imagined concept of English as an international language and its users could be constructed with the exception of themselves and in conjunction with their admiration for fluent English speakers who look cool and internationalized. Indeed, aside from their minority counterparts at the most prestigious schools, many Japanese college students likely lose motivation to study English for their future career because they come to realize at some point that they are not privileged enough to land global jobs at large corporations where business communication in English is supposedly called for. Accordingly, avid English learners are reduced to a small population of Japanese college students who are keen on learning and using English during their college life on nonprofessional, experience-based occasions such as study abroad programs and international volunteer activities. And this is the direction many low- to medium-ranked universities take under the institutional slogan of internationalization and globalization. However, Japan’s Ministry of Education might not be on the same page when it comes to how middle-ranked universities should position themselves in the era of international competition. Interestingly but not surprisingly, whereas Japan’s Ministry of Education frames its English teaching policies in secondary education as a mandatory subject that ideologically guarantees equal opportunities for any pupil to study English (Kobayashi, 2007), its English policy statements for higher education are unequivocally selective and financially in favor of the top-tier universities (Kingston, 2015). For instance, as part of the 5-year Plan for 300,000 Exchange Students that aims to increase international student enrollment from 118,500 in 2008 to 300,000 by 2020, the government launched the Global 30 Project or the Project for Establishing Core Universities for Internationalization in fiscal 2009 by selecting the top 13 ‘core universities’ (seven national and six private universities) and financing their mission of trebling the number of international students from 16,000 in 2008 to 50,000 by 2020. In 2013 the Education Minister contributed this article to Japan’s English newspaper’s feature articles on Global 30 Universities (Shimomura, 2013): The project mainly provides financial support to universities expected to be key bases for internationalization. It supports these universities’ efforts to create a university-wide environment for promoting internationalization by attracting excellent foreign students and faculty. Thirteen universities across Japan were selected as core universities for leading these internationalization efforts. These universities have been increasing the number of their degree programs in English, holding study abroad fairs and other public relations

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Japan’s English education activities overseas in order to attract promising overseas students, and providing to these students from around the world a first-rate academic and research environment.

As of May 1, 2015, the number of international students is 208,379, with 152,062 students enrolled in higher education institutions and 56,317 in Japanese language schools, according to the statistics released online by JASSO or Japan Student Services Organization. Education Minister Shimomura also gave a plenary talk at the Global Research Council symposium held in Tokyo, May 26, 2015, sending a message that the Global 30 Project is followed by other categorization-based policies. One of the policies requires 86 national universities to group themselves into one of three university types for fiscal 2016: (1) regional universities with the aim of “fostering of human resources who can meet [regional] society’s needs”, (2) institutions with a focus on specific disciplines that pursue “the creation of first-rate educational research hubs and networks in every field”, and (3) globally competitive institutions that are committed to “the promotion of world-class research”. (The original Japanese speech text and English translation are accessed from the official website of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.) Concurrently, the Education Minister raised havoc with his letter dated June 8, 2015 sent to presidents of national universities that commands them to abolish or reorganize supposedly uncompetitive, unproductive humanities and social sciences departments to “serve areas that better meet society’s needs” (see also, Kingston, 2015). If Japan’s Ministry of Education continues with its discriminatory higher education policy and entrusts a handful of core, globally competing universities with the task of ‘creating university-wide environment for promoting internationalization’, the majority of non-core universities and in particular their humanities departments and language major programs will not be able to embrace their students’ rather ambiguous yet affective attitudes toward English-medium, experience-oriented intercultural communication during college life. University preparatory senior high schools are also likely to be affected by the disciplinary, hierarchical categorization of universities and faculties that will possibly constrain the choices of majors for many average students interested in language studies and intercultural communication. The next decade will be an educationally and scholarly critical juncture for those involved in or concerned with language teaching and learning not only in Japanese schooling but also in overseas humanities and language departments whose faculty members, for example in the US, “feel misunderstood and under-appreciated by colleagues and administrators” amid the ‘crisis of the humanities’, positioned “often at the bottom of the pay scale” (Miñana, 2017, p. 420).

References Amano, I., & Poole, G. S. (2005). The Japanese university in crisis. Higher Education, 50(4), 685–711.

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Nagatomo, D. H. (2012). Exploring Japanese University English Teachers’ Professional Identity. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Perry, C. (2010). Dealing with discipline problems in Japanese university classrooms. NEAR Conference Proceedings Working Papers [North East Asian Regional Language Education Conference Sponsered by JALT Niigata Chapter], 6, 1–18. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. PMAC (2016). Trend Report on Applicants for Private Universities and Junior Colleges [Text in Japanse]. Tokyo: The Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan. Ricento, T. (2006). Language policy: Theory and practice: An introduction. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method (pp. 10–23). Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Rohlen, T. P. (1983). Japan’s High Schools. Berkeley: University of California Press. Rohlen, T. P. (1995). Differences that make a difference: Explaining Japan’s success. Educational Policy, 9(2), 103–128. Shimomura, H. (2013, September 2). Making Japanese higher education more international. The Japan Times. Stewart, A., & Miyahara, M. (2011). Parallel universities: Globalization and identity in English language teaching at a Japanese university. In P. Seargeant (Ed.), English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (pp. 60–79). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Tonedachi, M. (2010, October 16). Interview/Yukio Tsuda: Stop being ‘happy slaves’ of English hegemoy. Asahi Shimbun. Tsuda, Y. (1997, March 22). ‘Japlish’ leads to linguistic chaos. Global and Mail. Whitsed, C., & Wright, P. (2011). Perspectives from within: Adjunct, foreign, Englishlanguage teachers in the internationalization of Japanese universities. Journal of Research in International Education, 10(1), 28–45. Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54–66. Yoshino, K. (2002). English and nationalism in Japan: The role of the interculturalcommunication industry. In S. Wilson (Ed.), Nation and Nationalism in Japan (pp. 135–145). London: RoutledgeCurzon.

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Internationalizing Japan with the help of its Asian neighbors

Literature background Cross-cultural friendship in at-home contexts As discussed in Chapter 1, the Japanese government launched the Global 30 Project in fiscal 2009, as part of the 5-year Plan for 300,000 Exchange Students, with the goal of increasing international student enrollment at the top 13 core universities to 50,000 by 2020 from 16,000 in 2008. On the surface, it appears that Japan has followed the lead of many other countries that aim for educational hub status by providing high-quality, English-medium teaching/learning environments and attracting talented foreign researchers and students. However, Japan’s effort at increasing the international student ratio is not necessarily instigated by an urge to win the international competition but rather by the need for reform of Japanese-dominant top-tier universities. In other words, unlike Singapore and Malaysia that can capitalize on their existing English-speaking, multicultural environment, Japan strives to create such an environment on its key universities’ campuses by enticing foreign researchers and students who are believed to contribute to the internationalization of non-international Japanese higher education. As cited in Chapter 1, the Education Minister is quoted as saying in his article: “The project mainly provides financial support to universities expected to be key bases for internationalization. It supports these universities’ efforts to create a university-wide environment for promoting internationalization by attracting excellent foreign students and faculty” (Shimomura, 2013). Japan’s key universities are thus pressured to increase international student enrollment not because their campuses are ready to provide an optimal environment for cross-border learning but because they remain overly Japanese-dominant and non-international. One of the principal impediments posed to the internationalization of Japan’s higher education is the deeply ingrained societal association of internationalization with English and the West. This is despite the fact that the majority of current and potential international students at Japanese universities hail from the neighboring Asian nations: China (49.2%), Vietnam (13.2%), and South Korea (8.8%), according to Japan Student Services Organization or JASSO’s online data on international students in Japan 2015. Murphy-Shigematsu (2002), based on

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his longitudinal counseling experience with international students at the University of Tokyo and (national) Tokyo Institute of Technology, cites one of the students who remarked on Japanese students’ discrimination against non-western international students: Japanese think Africans are inferior. They even think other Asians are inferior. They can’t believe we have a good education. But they look up to Westerners. If an American comes to our department, all the Japanese want to meet him. (p. 23) This situation has not changed since the 1990s. Tanaka (1997) documents that 115 out of 225 Spanish-speaking Latin American students at Japanese universities who responded to her nationwide mail survey experienced compatible racial discrimination, including “their experiences with the superiority complex that they feel Japanese people generally have” (p. 21). One respondent who encountered no discrimination in Japan surmises, “maybe because I look like an American and speak English and French very fluently” (p. 22). Most recently, Liang Morita administered questionnaire surveys to international and Japanese students as a faculty member of Nagoya University, which is one of the Global 30 universities (Morita, 2012). Fifteen Japanese and seven international students (three Taiwanese, one Korean, one Chinese, one Brazilian, and one American) enrolled in her English and sociolinguistics classes responded to one of her questionnaire surveys. Except for one Korean student, all the international students negatively responded to an item, ‘Do you find it easy to make friends with Japanese students?’ (p. 13). One Japanese respondent acknowledges Japanese students’ differentiation between Chinese and western students, whose narrative, Morita argues however, has “a discriminatory tone”: “I think Chinese international students are discriminated. I don’t feel good when they speak Chinese loudly in the campus. However, most international students from Western countries are not being discriminated. They will be kindly treated” (p. 12). Referring to one American student who ascribed her difficulty making Japanese friends to Japanese students’ long commute and limited leeway on campus, Morita (2012) questions the accuracy of the student’s opinion by pointing out Japanese students’ excessive investment in extracurricular activities and many Nagoya University students’ housing near the campus, and then notes that “Multiple factors contribute towards one’s success in making friends” (p. 13). Indeed, it should be underlined here that being western international students at Asian universities does not always ensure their unconditional friendship with local students. For instance, according to Jon (2012), a study on friendship between Korean university students and international students at ‘one of the top’ private universities in Korea, two Korean interviewees express antipathy toward native Englishspeaking western students who command Korean students’ respect without learning about Korean culture and language: Those from Western countries ignore this university and their attitude speaks, “I came here to have fun. Why do I need to learn your language?” They can

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communicate with English everywhere here. Particularly White people can feel superior anywhere by Korean people. [. . .] I don’t like them. (p. 447) Those from Western European countries came to Korea after having failed in their first choice. Therefore, most of them came just to have fun, not to study. Because we like them, but they ignore us: we are just a very small country. [. . .] They can communicate in English without difficulty anywhere in Korea, and Korean people tend to look up to them. They don’t need to use Korean language at all. I don’t like them. (p. 448) Jon (2012) shows that Korean students make “generally positive comments” about a minority group of Japanese students (4.4 %), especially on their ardent learning about Korean culture and significant improvement in Korean language, and that some even change their “negative attitudes about the Japanese” through friendship and dialogue over bilateral historical issues (p. 449).

Cross-cultural friendship in study-abroad contexts This section succinctly reviews previous studies that shed light on Asian-Asian friendship in western multicultural societies. Recruiting and following 25 young Japanese who left Tokyo and moved to either New York City or London, Fujita (2009) qualitatively examined over the 3 years their cultural migration factors, friendship, and networks in a foreign city, and their (un)changing perceptions about ‘Imagined West’. Her study shows that while developing a sense of camaraderie with Korean or Taiwanese migrants, many Japanese cultural migrants maintain their idealization of the West and a sense of superiority to other Asian migrants for the following reasons. First, Japanese cultural migrants’ exclusive network with other Japanese or Asian migrants relegates them to the fringe of society where they stay “without knowing much about problems of social and racial discrimination that migrants may experience” (p. 72). Second, Japanese migrants’ confined friendship with other Asians heightens their national identity, not a transnational one. Third, their notion of Asian migrants excludes English-speaking Asians from former British colonies, which helps nonnative-English-speaking Japanese migrants’ sense of superiority over other Asians. A 21-year-old female staying in London for 3 months believes, “we are above them [other Asians]”, and a 26-year-old male also staying for 3 months in London is quoted as saying, “Japan is the closest to the West among Asian countries” (pp. 91–92). Asian students other than Japanese students are also documented to forge AsianAsian friendship in multicultural school settings even though their initial purpose of short-term sojourn or permanent migration is to have a sense of belonging to western English-speaking nations through their interaction with local, mainstream native English speakers (Hyunjung, 2015; Jackson, 2008; Miller, 2004). For instance, Miller (2004), a 3-year study of 10 high school students newly immigrated into Australia with their parents, depicts Chinese and Bosnian students’

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adaptation to mainstream schools and contact with local Australian students. The study shows that not only the numerical presence of Chinese students and their Chinese solidarity but also the factor of race accounts for the worrying reality that Chinese and other Asian students’ adaptation lags behind that of the Bosnian students who feel more included by, and converse more frequently with local native English-speaking students. Tina, a Taiwanese girl, relates: “If we [Tina and her classmate from Bosnia] go to a class together, they, they know that she is not Australian, don’t speak much English, but go to talk to her not me” (p. 303). She also remarks that she used English more in an on-arrival intensive ESL program than at her current high school student where over 550 out of 650 students are monolingual speakers of Australian English, who are supposed to provide abundant opportunities for ESL students to interact with and adapt to local Australian society. Worthy of note is that this study-abroad context is the least researched, i.e., nonmainstream ESL classes in western English-speaking countries designed for nonimmigrant, international students. Also unexplored is the research theme of cross-cultural interactions among nonnative English-speaking students enrolled in those ESL programs. The paucity of research on friendship development at ESL schools remains unchanged, primarily because the purpose of study abroad is presupposed to be international students’ ample communication with local students in mainstream classrooms, not ESL ones, and host family members.

Japanese-Korean friendship at Canadian ESL schools My research conducted with Japanese students at racially mixed Canadian ESL schools sheds light on the development of friendship between Japanese and Korean students in the presence of English-competent European students. The study situated in the ESL school context provides educational implications on the merit and limitation of study abroad experience in ESL programs for the potential advancement of Japanese students’ global identity and Japan’s internationalization. And, European students really hate [kirau] Asians. I don’t know why, but they sort of look down on us. Really, they’re looking at us, like, Asians. I really don’t know why. I guess it’s their culture [karucha-]. Because those over there [mukou] are White and we this side [kotchi] are Yellow. Right? The fact is that the first friend Japanese students make is with a Korean. I believe any Japanese student would say so at whichever school you ask this question. I am sure about this. I think 100 out of 100 students would say so. As you know, we are Asians and we live in Asian society. It is so easy for Korean and Japanese students to be friends. My first friend was also a Korean. During an hour-long interview conducted in 2004, a 24-year-old Japanese male student unexpectedly shared his voice above with me. It was unexpected because, first, he was enjoying an impressively wide network at a relatively mixed Canadian

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ESL school. In fact, as I myself witnessed during a 5-week participant observation at his school and as he stated during the interview, his extrovert nature differentiated him from other Japanese students and he could readily move from group to group on his own beyond ethnic or linguistic boundaries. Second, Japanese learners of English have a tendency to prefer European-looking English speakers as their interlocutors over Asian counterparts. Third, my pilot study suggested that the bilateral tension between Japan and South Korea could affect a relationship between Japanese and Korean students at Canadian ESL schools. For example, two Japanese counselors responded to my pilot mail survey with some such episodes: I often notice that some Korean students have a very strong anti-Japanese sentiment. It seems that Japanese students try to be careful to avoid bringing up bilateral political and historical issues. There are some Japanese students who are shocked to confront Korean students’ anti-Japanese feeling. [. . .] there are other Japanese students who come to dislike Korean students as some Korean students always bring up war-time stories. In many cases, Japanese students do not try arguing and just let it go whatever Korean students say. Despite these three factors, i.e., the male student’s extrovert nature, Japanese students’ preference for western English speakers, and the strained relation between Japan and South Korea over historical issues, he was confident in saying that many Asian students share his ‘we Asians vs. they whites’ perception and that Japanese students develop a sense of solidarity with Korean students. Here, one student’s reference to a ‘we’ and ‘they’ categorization should not be mechanically translated into the actual incidence of racial discrimination because ‘‘intergroup conflict involves perceived (not necessarily real) group differences which lead to the activation of social identities and stereotypes’’ (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003, p. 314). Nonetheless, it is students’ perceived group differences that immensely influence their friendship network and language use, as shown in other studies (Hyunjung, 2015; Jackson, 2008; Miller, 2004). In addition to interview sessions, a questionnaire was administered to 216 Japanese students at seven well-established Canadian ESL schools. Some 23.1% (n = 50) had few chances to interact with Korean or other international students because many collectively participated in custom-designed classes for a group of students from the same Japanese university (see also, Kobayashi, 2009, a study that reveals these chaperoned students’ lower self-assessment of English skills and lower willingness to communicate in English than individually participating study-abroad students). Twice as many individually study-abroad students (98 students or 45.3%) were found to make friends with Korean students. The categorization of written data garnered from 31 of the students implies that their sense of solidarity with Korean students arises from: (a) increasing cultural exchanges and mutual interests (n = 9; ‘‘Bilateral exchanges have been increasing

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between Japan and South Korea at various levels, so it was very easy to talk with them’’; (b) similar cultural backgrounds (n = 8; ‘‘I felt closer to Korean students than to other students because our culture is similar to each other’’); (c) Korean students’ friendliness (n = 7; ‘‘They showed more friendliness than other international students’’; ‘‘They are all kind and friendly, so I have many Korean friends’’); (d) physical commonalities (n = 4; ‘‘I find it easier to get to know Koreans. It might be that our physical appearances are similar’’); (e) the numerical presence of Korean students (n = 3; ‘‘There were many Korean students and it was easier to make friends with them”). Thus, Japanese students’ own reasoning behind Japanese students’ readiness to make friends with Korean students includes the sheer presence of each other’s group members, visible commonalities (e.g., non-verbal communication styles, physical appearance) and familiarities with each other’s pop culture. The development of Japanese (and Korean) students’ sense of being the same Asian is understandable in racially mixed Canadian ESL schools that accommodate not only Asian students but also European(-looking) students from Europe and South America. That said, as reviewed earlier, European-looking English speakers in Japan are deemed the visible embodiment of ‘internationalization’ in the Japanese society. A question that arises here is why the sheer presence of European students, who have higher English proficiency, failed to induce Japanese students to prioritize them over other Asian students in the context of Canadian ESL schools. Social Identity Theory, a theory based on perceived group differences, can be invoked here. Social Identity Theory, one of the intergroup relations theories (Tajfel, 1974; Taylor & Moghaddam, 1994), postulates that our communication with other ingroup and outgroup members (strangers) is influenced by the way we identify ourselves in relation to other members (i.e., social identities) and that our encounter with ‘others’ induces us to categorize ourselves and others into numerous group memberships (e.g., nationality, first language, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, physical appearance, age, socioeconomic status, marital status, religion). This social categorization process functions in such a way that human beings opt to interact with the ‘right’ types of people for them. Social Identity Theory allows for a hypothetical discussion that due to a combination of group memberships factors (e.g., cultural proximity, physical appearance, English level, numerical dominance), many Japanese and Korean students perceive European students as a high-status group, which underscores similarities among Japanese and Korean students as the same lower-status group and enhances mutual interaction while minimizing their between-group differences in nationality, cultural customs, and so on. This social categorization process then results in Japanese students identifying Korean students as ingroup members and interacting mainly with Korean students with perceptions such as ‘‘I felt closer to Korean students than to other students because our culture is similar to each other’’ and ‘‘They showed more friendliness than other international students’’. In other words, many Japanese students’ acquaintance with Korean students likely derives not merely from their numerical dominance and similarly limited

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command of English but also from the existence of physically, culturally different European students, which then increases the chances that Japanese and Korean students perceive them as the ‘we Asian’ group. In fact, although Japanese staff in the pilot study mentioned Japanese students’ frequent encounters with Korean students who were eager to introduce historical issues, the main study identified only two interviewees and one survey respondent with such experience who also affirmatively remarked on “my” “many” “loving” Korean friends. Hypothetically, supposing Japanese students are situated in a far less mixed school context where Japanese and Korean students make up the two largest groups with very few or no European students in sight, then Japanese students might come to differentiate themselves from Korean students, perceive Koreans as outgroup members, and expect to gain ‘intercultural’ experience through contact with different outgroup members. That was not the case, however, for the research context addressed here. Pertinently, returning to Jon (2012), Korean students’ favorable comments about Japanese students studying at the prestigious private university in Korea might be ascribed to Japanese students’ numerical marginality (4.4%) as well as their commitment to Korean study, and Korean students’ rather indifferent attitudes toward Chinese students is in part due to their numerical dominance as the largest group of international students (52%).

Humanities programs’ institutional impediments to internationalization Japanese students’ tendency to make friends with Korean students at multiracial Canadian ESL schools raises a question about the possible impact of their Asian-Asian friendship experience upon life back in their home country where the majority of international students are also similarly Asian and yet local Japanese idealize interaction with European-looking international students. Fujita (2009) conducted a 2-year follow-up study with 15 research participants who returned to Japan. Her study provides an insightful and pessimistic finding that even though most of her Japanese research participants did interact with other Asians for months as the same minority migrants in New York or London, their return to Japan revitalized their sense of comfort with the idealized ‘homogenous’ Japan and their yearning for the Imagined West. Thus, Japanese students’ inclination to make friends with other Asians at overseas multicultural ESL schools could be context-bound and their yearning for the Imagined West might rekindle once they return to their less diverse country and regain their majority status. Her finding also implies that Japanese students’ sustainable interest in cross-cultural friendship substantially hinges on whether or not Japanese society, school settings, and future work environments are designed to create an environment where young Japanese students can leverage such overseas experience. Japanese universities have devised and implemented a number of ‘internationalization’ projects that aim at facilitating cross-cultural exchange between Japanese and international students. One of the on-campus measures that has acquired a

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Internationalizing Japan

high degree of media coverage is Japanese students’ communal life with international roommates at campus residences – often located in rural areas – who make up a large part of the student body (e.g., Akita International University, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University). Such mandatory residence with international students should be one effective measure to help Japanese students to develop their identity as a member of a real-life international community while also being inspired by many non-western international students whose English proficiency and academic motivation commonly surpass that of Japanese students. And yet, such a measure is unfeasible for many Japanese-dominant universities where international students account for a fraction of the total student body. Furthermore, Kudo (2016), conducting interviews with Japanese and international students “at a small-scale private university in rural Japan” (p. 258), reveals that some Japanese and international students cast doubt on their university’s ‘intercultural exchange’ policies that “gather all these university people together like a horde of sheep” “here on the top of the mountain” (international student, p. 262) for the cause of “fictitious friendship that we establish here in confined surroundings” (Japanese student, p. 264). The other two students also criticize the university for attaching overriding importance to intercultural exchange between Japanese and international students through campus residence and club activities, not to academic studies: The main thing in this university, or I don’t know if at other universities [in Japan] is the same, is not to study. It’s to have a good time and to be – to get friends and to be in clubs. I think there are more clubs than lectures here. (International student, p. 262) I think the term exchange (koryu) is really suspicious and questionable. If you say exchange or intercultural communication, you sound positive. But I think there is no substance in these words. So I don’t know the meaning of exchange. (Japanese student, p. 264) Pitts and Brooks (2017) also critically discuss education systems in the US and abroad: “[d]espite the increase in internationalisation efforts ‘at home’, many recognise that positive, meaningful, and long-lasting changes do not happen just because a student is exposed to international others or international programming” (p. 254). A more popular on-campus program initiated by less-‘international’ Japanese universities is to introduce English-medium classes where both international and Japanese students are required to engage in discussion on cross-cultural issues. Such classroom interaction should be challenging for many Japanese students with limited practical English proficiency. Administering questionnaire surveys to international students at Nagoya University, Morita (2012) shows that not a few international students name Japanese students’ low English proficiency as one of the primary hurdles to mutual communication. Morita cites one Taiwanese

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graduate student whose Japanese classmates invited international students to have a discussion in Japanese instead: “I took an English-taught course this semester in which class discussion is necessary. Since the other Japanese students can’t understand English much, they ask me if I can discuss in Japanese. . . . Well, a big challenge for me!” (p. 9). This situation at one of the Global 30 universities is unlikely to be an isolated case, which thus calls for institutional commitment to creating a campus environment where international students can thrive in terms of high-quality education and educated interaction with local Japanese students. Nonetheless, previous studies suggest that domestically top-level Japanese universities, especially Japanese faculty members in humanities and social sciences or HSS, have continued resisting the wave of internationalization by confining the reform to the increase of English communication or cross-cultural classes. The teaching responsibilities are then foisted on native English-speaking teachers or English-fluent Japanese faculty members such as those affiliated with the English language center of a top-tier national university (Rivers, 2013), of a well-known private Christian university (Harshbarger, 2012), and with a prestigious Law Faculty of a private university (Stewart & Miyahara, 2011). This is despite the fact that the majority of Japanese faculty members in HSS organizations rely on these English communication classes in the event of public relations (e.g., brochures, websites) and use internationalization-related keywords for the title of their organization (e.g., Department of International Communication, Faculty of International Liberal Arts). In other words, many Japanese faculty members of HSS tactfully walk a fine line between their voluntary disregard for practical English courses/staff and their involuntary reliance on cosmetic internationalization for the sake of publicity. To make things complicated, Stewart and Miyahara (2011) argue, by quoting one native English-speaking teacher’s remark, that native English-speaking teachers’ “effectiveness” helps maintain the status quo that needs to be revamped: One way of explaning the Law Faculty’s hiring of foreigners is to see it as performativity. In other words, faced with a need to be seen to do something, the faculty created new classes and brought in new teachers, thus ‘adding a new layer’ (Sam) rather than instituting change throughout. Indeed, the foreign teachers may inadvertently have contributed to this stratification, since it was Sam who offered to take over the task of hiring new foreign teachers, relieving the Japanese faculty of a difficult and frequently occurring chore. Thus, ironically, the effectiveness of the foreign teachers has met a need by the faculty to be seen to adapt to new circumstances, leaving them to continue to arrange their classes and teaching practice as before. (p. 69) Japanese faculty members and native English-speaking teachers develop a mutually dependent bond with each other, albeit both parties do not necessarily trust or respect each other. In other words, they help secure respective positioning, with Japanese faculty members distancing themselves from the wave of

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internationalization and creating jobs for native English-speaking teachers, and with native English-speaking teachers contributing to English-based, quasiinternationalization through teaching and PR jobs. Pertinently, native Englishspeaking teachers’ personal work experiences at language centers affiliated with well-established universities also divulge that they are not necessarily united as one team and that those who strive to make substantial changes to the existing organizational culture are vulnerable to discrimination from their supervisors and native English-speaking colleagues who prioritize the status quo and job security (Harshbarger, 2012; Rivers, 2013). Criticizing higher education systems in the US and abroad that “capitalise on the internationalisation trend” and “appear to be abundant with enthusiastic institutional rhetoric”, Pitts and Brooks (2017) argue that “some programmes operate on the notion that merely exposing students to international opportunities will result in increased global, international, and intercultural competencies” (p. 253). Japanese higher education systems, in particular HSS’s cosmetic commitment to internationalization, are another example of ‘enthusiastic institutional rhetoric’, partially accounting for why, as discussed in Chapter 1, Japan’s Education Ministry instructed national universities to abolish or reorganize HSS departments to “serve areas that better meet society’s needs” in 2015 (see also, Kingston, 2015). In contrast, non-HSS departments have accommodated a far larger number of international students and researchers without resorting to HSS’s strategy for looking internationalized by using keywords in department naming or publicizing English communication classes taught by native English-speaking teachers. Showcasing the University of Tokyo, Tsuneyoshi (2013) first accounts for numerical and qualitative differences between foreign researchers who “are identified for their research, not for their language” and ‘native speakers of English’ who are “operating as language teachers”, “concentrated in the liberal arts division” and “a very small minority within the total faculty” (p. 128). Tsuneyoshi (2013) also points out that science classes are taught in English by Japanese teachers in graduate courses where “the role of ‘native speakers of English’ weakens as their positioning calls for a more discipline-based role in the organization” (p. 130). This point deserves attention from language educators and applied linguists affiliated/concerned with Japan’s liberal arts education because their membership communities might provide partial information about HSS-based language teachers in Japan who in fact are the marginal group within higher education and whose commitment might not have received due credit. In the meantime, Japan’s Ministry of Education encourages universities to counter students’ tendency to favor US and European nations as study abroad destinations over Asian nations that send the largest number of students to Japanese universities (Central Council for Education, 2008). One of the feasible measures is to facilitate Japanese students’ study experience in English-speaking ASEAN nations such as Singapore and Malaysia that have solidified their international educational hub status and accepted an increasing number of international students. The growth of Japanese students with such new experience and interaction with multilingual local students might be able to exert a certain influence on

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Japanese university students’ motivation for English study and native English ideology entrenched in Japanese educational institutions. The next chapter addresses this new type of sojourn for Japanese students.

References Central Council for Education (2008). Background for Devising the Framework for ‘300000 Foreign Students Plan’ [Ryuugakusei 30 mannin keikaku no kosshi]. Tokyo: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Fujita, Y. (2009). Cultural Migrants from Japan: Youth, Media, and Migration in New York and London. Lanham: Lexington Books. Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (2003). Communicating with Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. Harshbarger, B. (2012). A faulty ivory tower: Reflections on directing the ELP from 2006 to 2012. Language Research Bulletin (International Christian University), 27, 1–14. Hyunjung, S. (2015). Everyday racism in Canadian schools: Ideologies of language and culture among Korean transnational students in Toronto. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 36(1), 67–79. Jackson, J. (2008). Language, Identity and Study Abroad: Sociocultural Perspectives. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. Jon, J.-E. (2012). Power dynamics with international students: From the perspective of domestic students in Korean higher education. Higher Education, 64(4), 441–454. Kingston, J. (2015). Japanese university humanities and social sciences programs under attack. Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal, 13(39), 1–12. Kobayashi, Y. (2006). Inter-ethnic relations between ESL students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 27(3), 181–195. Kobayashi, Y. (2009). Accessibility of the sojourn experience and its impact on second language study, education, and research. JALT Journal, 31(2), 251–259. Kobayashi, Y. (2010). Discriminatory attitudes toward intercultural communication in domestic and overseas contexts. Higher Education, 59(3), 323–333. Kudo, K. (2016). Social representation of intercultural exchange in an international university. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37(2), 256–268. Miller, J. (2004). Identity and language use: The politics of speaking ESL in schools. In A. Pavlenko & A. Blackledge (Eds.), Negotiation of Identities in Multilingual Contexts (pp. 290–315). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Morita, L. (2012). Language, discrimination and internationalisation of a Japanese university. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. Retrieved from www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol12/iss1/morita.html Murphy-Shigematsu, S. (2002). Psychological barriers for international students in Japan. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 24(1), 19–30. Pitts, M. J., & Brooks, C. F. (2017). Critical pedagogy, internationalisation, and a third space: Cultural tensions revealed in students’ discourse. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(3), 251–267. Rivers, D. J. (2013). Institutionalized native-speakerism: Voices of dissent and acts of resistance. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (pp. 75–91). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

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Shimomura, H. (2013, September 2). Making Japanese higher education more international. The Japan Times. Stewart, A., & Miyahara, M. (2011). Parallel universities: Globalization and identity in English language teaching at a Japanese university. In P. Seargeant (Ed.), English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (pp. 60–79). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behavior. Social Science Information, 13(2), 65–93. Tanaka, K. (1997). Japan as seen from Latin American students in Japan. Journal of Japanese Language and Culture, Education Center for International Students, Nagoya University, 5, 1–28. Taylor, D. M., & Moghaddam, F. M. (1994). Theories of Intergroup Relations: International Social Psychological Perspectives (Second ed.). New York: Praeger. Tsuneyoshi, R. (2013). Communicative English in Japan and ‘native speakers of English’. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (pp. 119–131). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

3

A new alternative of studying English in English-speaking ASEAN nations

East Asian students’ English study in English-speaking ASEAN According to Japan’s Ministry of Education’s released data, Malaysia and Singapore have been ranked in the top five destinations for Japanese senior high schools-led international exchange activities since 2008, along with other Englishspeaking nations such as the US and Australia. In the case of Malaysia, the nation has secured its status as the most popular destination among Japanese retirees since 2006, 4 years after the Malaysian government’s launch of ‘Malaysia My Second Home Programme’ in 2002. Ono (2013) argues that many Japanese now perceive Malaysia as an ideal ‘long stay’ destination, due to Malaysia’s promotion as ‘a politically pro-Japan country’ that is safe for longitudinal sojourners and educational tourists. Based on official and unofficial data provided by JASSO or Japan Student Services Organization, Hoshino (2015b) reports that among the top 10 universities that send the largest number of their students to overseas institutions, Japanese prestigious national universities are more active in sending their students to Southeast Asian institutions (pp. 40–41), in part due to pressure from Ministry of Education to ‘globalize’ Japan’s top-tier higher education. Many other less-competitive universities have also been sending their students to Southeast Asia, whether any institutional agreement is signed or not with the receiving institutions (e.g., memorandum of understanding). Among Southeast Asian nations, Thailand is documented to be the most popular destination, followed by the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore (Hoshino, 2015b, p. 36). The manifest characteristics among Japanese students studying in Southeast Asia is that the majority of students stay for a short period of time, commonly less than a month, unlike students who study in Canada or the US for varying durations (p. 37), and that the gender ratio is close to 1:1, unlike the dominance of female students in Canada or the US whose major is humanities, including British/American literature (pp. 38–39). Overall, Southeast Asia has attracted an increasing number of students, especially from faculties of engineering/agriculture and national universities, whose duration, however, is often less than a month.

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North America remains the most popular destination among not only liberalarts major female students from private universities (Hoshino, 2015b), but also many other students who major in non-HSS (humanities and social sciences) areas of studies. Hoshino (2014) conducted a concise, non-empirical 6-item questionnaire with 56 Nagoya University students in 2013 to explore their images about or interest in studying in Southeast Asia and other foreign nations. The survey was conducted in a Japanese-medium course, ‘Global human resources and study abroad’, in which approximately 85% of the students were male and 98% of them were freshmen affiliated with non-humanities departments. Answering a multiplechoice question, ‘Which nation will you choose as your first choice if you can study abroad?’, the largest number of students chose the US (n = 27), followed by the UK (n = 8). Only one or two students chose Germany (2), France (2), China (2), Singapore (1), Switzerland (1), and Thailand (1). Rather shockingly, Nagoya University students’ lack of geographical knowledge is evident from their answers to Hoshino’s questionnaire item that asks which Southeast Asian nation [tonan ajia] they would choose if they were given the chance to study in the region: while Singapore was ranked the most popular choice (n = 23), non-Southeast Asian nations were also chosen (9 China, 9 South Korea, 4 India, 1 Taiwan, 1 Hong Kong), along with correct choices (6 Thailand, 1 Myanmar, 1 Malaysia, 1 Vietnam, 1 Philippines). Thus, a caution is warranted in construing these students’ responses about ‘Southeast Asia’. Asked about reasons behind their disinclination to study in ‘Southeast Asia’, 13 students denote their wish to study in [western] English-speaking nations, followed by their interest in non-Asian foreign cultures (n = 6), their interest in the US (n = 5), and so on. On the other hand, students’ written comments (p. 34) show their positive images about sojourn experience in Southeast Asian nations (their original Japanese comments are translated into English by me): [Multiculturalism/multiculturalism]: “I can learn both English and other language”; “Their English is easy to understand”; “I can encounter diverse cultures and people”; “They might understand Japanese”; [Cultural/racial similarities with Japan/Japanese]: “There are many cultural similarities”; “I feel close to them because we are both ‘yellow race’ [oushoku jinshu]”; “There won’t be many incidents of cultural shock” [Dynamics]: “Local students study hard”; “People are lively”; “Those nations are dynamically developing now” [Future investment]: “Studying in Southeast Asia will be helpful for my future career”; “Many Japanese have been studying in Southeast Asia” Thus, whereas the US is the first choice of sojourn among Nagoya University students, many of them positively imagine their sojourn experience in Southeast Asia. In fact, as shown below, those who advocate Japanese students’ educational migration into ASEAN nations (e.g., lawmakers) highlight its unique merit that might not be found in western study-abroad contexts, without necessarily refuting the significance of conventional study experience in the west. Hence, the

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 29 following push and pull factors behind the increased profile of study experience in ASEAN are by no means in conflict with the overwhelming fame of western English-speaking nations among Japanese learners of English.

Push factors For the Japanese government, ASEAN is not only an educational destination for Japanese students to learn English and cultural diversity but also a political battlefield where Japan has competed with Asia’s superpower, China, to exert Japan’s presence in ASEAN with its advantage in cutting-edge fields (e.g., environmental technology) (Sim, 2016). The Japanese government is very cognizant that its solid presence in ASEAN hinges on Japan’s soft power, which calls for the cultivation of pro-Japan ASEAN youth and pro-ASEAN Japanese counterparts who can fortify the ties between ASEAN and Japan. With such national interest in mind, in fiscal 2012 Japan’s Ministry of Education launched the Student Exchange Nippon Discovery or SEND program as part of the ‘Re-inventing Japan Project: Support for the Formation of Collaborative Programs with ASEAN Universities’. The SEND program endorses Japanese college students not only to study ASEAN languages and cultures and develop an idea of cultural diversity but also to introduce Japanese language and cultures to ASEAN locals, thus aiming for “promoting cross-cultural understanding, while training them to become experts who can build cultural bridges between Japan and ASEAN countries” (cited from the Ministry’s official English website’s document, ‘Summary of the Project’). Global 30 universities (see Chapter 1) are the key participants in the ‘Reinventing Japan Project’ and other programs that send their students to ASEAN partnership institutions. However, the news of such ASEAN-oriented projects and endorsement from the Ministry of Education has instigated many other universities and departments to devise educational exchange programs with ASEAN universities. In particular, engineering and science departments are aware that their students’ hands-on experience in ASEAN lends itself to their future job responsibilities that are bound to entail collaborative work with ASEAN engineers. One of the latest cases reported in the JASSO (Japan Student Services Organization) monthly web magazine is TUAT’s (national Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology) AIMS (ASEAN International Mobility for Students) Programme (Ochi, 2016). According to Ochi (2016), more than 100 TUAT students have participated in the AIMS program and studied in partnership with ASEAN universities since the launch of the AIMS in 2014, and the number of participants is on the rise (p. 6). Technology departments’ increased awareness about the importance of developing human resources through joint projects with ASEAN students accounts for technology-major male students’ collective participation in study-in-ASEAN programs (Hoshino, 2015b). The boom of study in ASEAN institutions has also been accelerated by the proliferation of commercial services and information provided by travel agencies, study abroad fairs, online websites, nonacademic publications and mass media that publicize the merit of English study with ASEAN teachers. Most recently,

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NHK’s ‘Good Morning Japan’ [Ohayo Nippon]’ TV show reported the popularity of, first, one-to-one English lessons at Cebu’s language schools and, second, equivalent online ones for Japanese students sitting in class in Japan. The TV show featured two Japanese private university-affiliated junior high schools that have their students take one-to-one English lessons with young qualified Filipino female teachers, either in their personal workplace cubicles in Cebu or through each student’s personal computer in their Japanese classroom (February 23, 2016). Japan’s national broadcaster’s news coverage translates into a national seal of approval for English learning from Filipino English teachers, which, as one of the push factors, accelerates Japanese nationals’ sense of comfort with such English study (see also Chapter 7 for discussion on Japanese business magazine articles on Asian English models). Moreover, the ubiquitous information about the appeal of sojourn in English-speaking ASEAN nations has been instrumental and influential for Japanese students choosing to study in ASEAN institutions on their own for varying duration. For example, during my informal conversation with a Chinese Malaysian administrative officer at the International Office of a wellestablished Malaysian university in March 2016, one Japanese male student happened to drop by her desk. Upon learning about my research interest in Japanese students’ educational choice of Malaysia, he fluently recounted in English his dream of launching his own company in ASEAN that made him decide to withdraw from a prestigious private university in western Japan and to study Mandarin in China first and then in Malaysia. He cheerfully shared contrastive responses from, for one, his Japanese college friends who all asked “Why, why, why” and, for the other, his international business-savvy parents who supported their son’s life planning. Moreover, the Malaysian officer has stayed in touch with a Japanese female student who studied at the university-affiliated ESL center on her own through an agency and later served as a springboard for her Japanese university’s establishment of a partnership agreement with the Malaysian university. That is, after she returned to Japan and talked about her fulfilling experience in Malaysia to her Japanese supervisor, he, presumably witnessing her growth, took the initiative in concluding a formal student exchange agreement between his affiliation and the Malaysian one. Furthermore, the commercial and official information sources never fail to quote real-life Japanese teachers and authorities whose discourse endorses Japanese students’ choice of ASEAN as a place to study (again, see also, Chapter 7 that addresses Japanese business magazine discourses on Asian English model for Japanese businesspersons). For example, in a 22-page-long MALAYSIA School Tour & Education Guide that appears on Tourism Malaysia’s Japanese homepage, a male Japanese teacher at Yokohama City Municipal Science Frontier High School is quoted as saying that whereas Japanese students’ sojourn experience in traditional English-speaking nations might leave them only a common-sense acknowledgement of their limited English, his students have been greatly inspired by communicating with Malaysian high school students of the same age who naturally speak English, their ethnic language, and some other languages (pp. 6–7).

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 31 Also featured in the same guidebook is another male teacher at Chiba Prefectural Chosei High School who is similarly assured that Malaysia is superior to nations of monolingual English speakers because Japanese students can develop a real sense of the English(es) used by many Asians as one of several communication tools (pp. 10–11). The growth of institutional, commercial, or non-anonymous teachers’ endorsement for English study in the ASEAN context has contributed to its increased profile among Japanese students who, unlike their older generations, are not well informed of ASEAN’s wartime or postwar hardship and thus favorably or naively perceive the nations as culturally/racially close, multilingual English-speaking, dynamic and promising Asian economies.

Pull factors One of the major pull factors behind Japanese and other international students’ educational migration into Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines is each nation’s ramp-up effort to solidify its status as a regional or global educational hub. Singapore has been credited with its pioneering launch of an educational hub policy. Its local article summarizes Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s belief in English-speaking Singapore’s potential as “an education hub for the region, with students coming both to study English and to study in English” (Yong, 2010). Singapore’s pioneering success in the global educational competition has amassed considerable attention, including critical discussion from scholars and media. Discussing Singapore’s Global Schoolhouse policy of enticing 150,000 international students to the state nation by 2015, Jason Tan at the National Institute of Education in Singapore (2016) argues that the “initiative was plagued with various difficulties” such as foreign universities’ closure of their Singapore campuses that failed to attract the sufficient number of students and private ESL schools’ abrupt business termination that left international students stranded in the nation state (see also, A. Tan, 2009). Tan (2016) also critically assesses that “the original target of 150,000 international full-fee paying students was nowhere in sight”, for example, pointing out the consecutive decline in the number of international students from 97,000 (2008) to 75,000 (2014). That said, Singapore has been the leading educational hub in ASEAN and addressed the ‘obstacles’ to its Global Schoolhouse plan by, for example, taking measures “to govern and raise standards in an industry rocked by numerous school closures” (Ng & Tan, 2009), targeted at more than 1,000 private schools, including many offering English lessons. Singapore’s struggle with the target number of 150,000 international students by 2016 is partly due to the rise of competitive rivals such as Malaysia (Clark, 2015). A total of 120,000 international students have already studied in Malaysia, a nation that is home to the largest number of international university branch campuses in Asia (five from UK, three from Australia, one from China, and one from Singapore). Many Muslim students are also attracted to this nation that designates Islam as its official religion. The country’s increased competitive edge “bodes well

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for the Malaysian Government’s aim to turn Malaysia into a global education hub and attract 200,000 international students by 2020” (Rahman, 2016). In a similar vein, the former Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia (2007–2011), Mr. Horie contributed an article in 2014 to Malaysia’s newspaper, as someone who believes that “Malaysia is the best place for the Japanese young people to be ‘globalised’” because “Malaysia is a multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural society where very kind ‘internationalised people’ welcome all” who “speak fluently in Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English” (Horie, 2014). A message of commendation also appears in materials targeted at Japanese potential clients such as the aforementioned MALAYSIA School Tour & Education Guide in Japanese: What is characteristic of studying English in Malaysia is that they [Japanese students] are made to realize not only their limited English but also the presence of people of the same generation who speak three or four languages. [. . .] Another characteristic of English study in Malaysia is that Japanese students can have a sense of English as a global communication tool. In Malaysia there is more than one right way to use English, because there is more than one type of English and there are people who speak a variety of English. In other words, Japanese students can understand that the only right way to use English is to be able to establish a communication. Their experience in Malaysia is surely helpful for them to correct a misconception pervasive in Japan that western English is the only right English. (p. 3; downloaded on March 1, 2014, and translated into English by me) Furthermore, the Philippines has established itself as a popular study-abroad destination ever since Korean-owned ESL schools carved out a new niche as an affordable, intensive English study option in the late 1990s, making South Korean students the largest body of international students in the nation (Goquingco & Lowe, 2009). Its robust contribution to the local economy has raised the Philippine government’s awareness of the local ESL industry’s marketability and advantage. In fact, the mounting popularity of Filipino English teachers has exceeded the supply of qualified teachers and thus instigated the issue of lax hiring conditions (e.g., Choe, 2016, a study on non-qualified Filipino teachers hired by Korean-owned ESL schools). The Philippine government’s differential marketing is epitomized in a 30-minute presentation made by a Japanese male delegate of the Philippine Embassy at the JASSO Study Abroad Fair 2016 held in Tokyo in June 25, which was titled in Japanese, ‘The latest information about the Philippines and short-term language study abroad’. The talk accentuates the country’s abundant pool of weeks-long, intensive, one-to-one, yet affordable ESL classes offered by qualified local teachers. In contrast, in another 30-minute presentation, a Japanese male delegate of Tourism Malaysia underscored that internationally competitive UK, US, Australian, or Malaysian university degrees can be pursued either entirely in Malaysia or in the overseas partner university. The intensified competition among English-speaking

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 33 ASEAN nations in their bid to win and maintain the status of a regional or global education hub serves the diversifying interests of international students, educators, and others who come to perceive Asian English-speaking nations as a potentially new venue for English (medium) education outside traditional western nations.

Literature background: Japanese students’ English conversation partners The discussion in Chapter 2 precedes the present chapter’s sequential theme on Japanese English learners’ attitudes toward other Asian students, this time in the context of English-speaking ASEAN nations. In Chapter 2, SIT (Social Identity Theory) and social categorization mechanism are adopted as the theoretical framework to account for a seeming contradiction in Japanese students’ discriminatory attitudes toward two types of international students – western or Asian students – in two contexts, either Japanese higher education or western ESL contexts. That is, on the one hand, Japanese college students’ majority status in Japan accords them power to practice ‘ideal’ intercultural communication with English-speaking westerners and discriminate against those who are not in that category. On the other hand, they come to befriend Asian students, in particular Korean students in western study-abroad contexts where their minority status minimizes between-group differences, including bilateral friction over historical issues, and underscores similarities such as physical appearances, pop culture, and communication styles. By the same token, Fujita (2009), in a longitudinal study of 25 Japanese ‘cultural migrants’ in New York or London, documents that even though Japanese participants “were indifferent to the existence of Koreans and Taiwanese in Japan before migration” (p. 79), their minority positioning in the west induced them to perceive Koreans and Taiwanese as “insiders” in such a way that “their ways of thinking become more ‘racialised’ than when they lived in Japan” (p. 88). A case in point is the student below: I don’t have any close friends who are black or white. For me, it is easy to make friends with Koreans. This may be because our faces are similar or our countries are close. I found that many Koreans are interested in Japan. They want to learn Japanese language. So I feel familiar with them. Because they are friendly to us and approach us, so we can talk. (A female of 27 after 3 months in New York, cited in Fujita 2009, p. 78) However, Japanese students’ friendship with other Asian students during their sojourn in western nations could be short-lived because their return to Japan reinstates their majority status, which likely rekindles their yearning for western English speakers as ideal intercultural communication partners. These findings draw attention to a new, emerging alternative of English study experience in English-speaking ASEAN, raising the question as to whether the role of English as an Asian lingua franca in ASEAN nations helps East Asian students studying

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in the region develop a new notion of English and depart from western native English speaker norms. Relevant findings are documented in Park and Bae (2009). Their study is based on interview sessions with pre-college Korean teens who attend local mainstream schools in Singapore while living with their Korean mothers during their yearslong educational migration. On the one hand, their study reveals that Korean pupils’ daily interaction with Singaporean schoolmates helps them develop “a stronger awareness of the utility and creativity of Singlish” (p. 374), suggesting that Singapore provides, not necessarily large, but smaller spaces for alternative orders of the linguistic market opened up by the lived experiences of jogi yuhak [early study abroad] families, in which, for instance, local forms of English and languages other than English are recognized as valued resources for creativity and cross-cultural communication (p. 376) However, in spite of their initial statement that their choice of Singapore is motivated by its Mandarin- and English-speaking environment, these Korean families opt to ‘abandon’ Mandarin study and reinstate their English precedence (p. 372). Park and Bae (2009) argue that Singapore “is not seen by the families as a site of multilingualism and diversity” but rather “as a location that allows them to focus on the acquisition of English” (p. 373), pessimistically concluding that “the multilingual and multicultural context of Singapore works to rearticulate dominant ideologies of English” (p. 376). As of today, the theme of Japanese students’ English study in English-speaking ASEAN nations remains overlooked in the domain of L2 education. Plausibly, those involved in study-in-ASEAN programs do not necessarily specialize in L2 education while, conversely, applied linguistic study-abroad research is predominantly conducted in western English-speaking nations. Overall, reports on Japanese students’ sojourn in ASEAN contexts are documented by non-language specialists, commonly in Japanese (Hoshino, 2014, 2015b; Ochi, 2016) or at non-linguistics international conferences (Hoshino, 2015a; Hoshino, Suematsu, Boonlert-U-Thai, & Ogake, 2016). Drawing upon my own research conducted in Singapore and Malaysia, the following sections explore the possibility and limitation of Japanese students’ English study experience in the ASEAN context in terms of their faith in, or departure from western native English speaker norms. A caveat is that both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 by no means depreciate the choice of sojourn experience in traditional western English-speaking nations or even in any other parts of the world. In fact, the subsequent discussion will yield an expanded understanding of the enduring popularity of ‘standard English’ study abroad in western English-speaking nations. The purpose of the session is to fill a void in the L2 literature knowledge base of East Asian students’ English study outside traditional western nations.

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 35

Japanese learners of English in Singapore In 2009, I conducted research at three private English language schools in Singapore. The three schools are locally well-established institutions that are neither an international brand (e.g., British Council) nor a Japanese franchise (e.g., GEOS). None of the schools were dominated by students of particular nationalities or ethnic groups. Amid sequences of media coverage on troubled private ESL schools at that time (Davie, 2008a, 2008b; A. Tan, 2009), one female Singaporean director, who is “not happy at all”, differentiates her and other well-managed schools from “rotten apples” that either closed their ESL business without notice or provided low-quality education in spite of their Case (the Consumers Association of Singapore) Trust-accredited status. My research data comprises interview sessions with six Japanese students and one former student, formal meetings with three Singaporean ESL professionals and four managerial/administrative staff, questionnaire data collected from 22 Japanese students, and follow-up school visits, sometimes together with informal conversations with some of the participants. Except for two Japanese students living with their husbands on job assignments and one male expatriate businessperson, the other 15 female and four male students (age average 27.95 years) were studying on their own and their data constitutes the primarily source of analysis and discussion. Prior to their arrival in Singapore, five students had studied English in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, or the US, and many disagreed with a questionnaire item, “I decided to study English in Singapore because I am not interested in the western English speaking countries”. Furthermore, nearly the half of the students (n = 8) had personal connection with Singapore: fathers having lived in the nation as expatriates (n = 3), a 4-years’ previous living experience in the country during her father’s business assignment (n = 1), her family’s years-long acquaintance with a Singaporean family, friendship with Singaporeans (n = 2), and previous visits to the country for travel (n = 2). Most agreed with the related items, “I decided to study English in Singapore because I am interested in Singaporeans and their culture” (15 out of 19) and “because I want to make friends with other Asian people” (16 out of 19). Surprisingly, 12 of them made comments on their unanticipated encounter with ‘Singaporeans’ English’, ‘Singaporean English’ or ‘Singlish’, having believed Singaporeans to speak ‘standard English’ and expecting to learn such English at Singaporean ESL schools. One interview participant – a 36-year-old female student studying at the school for three months – was one of the students who “had never ever expected to encounter unfamiliar pronunciations or ungrammatical use of English at all” and “had thought that English used here is like what people in the English speaking countries speak”. This is despite the fact that since her father’s Japanese business partner was married to a Singaporean 15 years ago, her family has been in contact with the Singaporean family, who suggested that she study English in Singapore. She understands in retrospect that she “was not able to distinguish” their English during their private visit to Japan until her English had made some improvement. Furthermore, her participation

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in a ‘language exchange party’, where Singaporean learners of Japanese and Japanese learners of English socialize with each other, helped her apprehend that successful communication in Singapore demands each other’s effort to speak a mutually comprehensible linguistic code. In view of that, every time she reunited with one Singaporean she met at the party, both of them, she narrates, strive to speak ‘standard’ Japanese or ‘proper’ [tadashii] English, not her ‘Kansai’ dialect (e.g., Osaka dialect) or Singaporean English, so as to achieve successful mutual language learning at a shopping mall. International students’ perceived image of ‘standard English’-speaking Singapore is also documented in Young (2001), a questionnaire survey conducted with 193 mainland Chinese students enrolled in pre-college ESL classes in Singapore (e.g., “I used to think that Singaporeans speak like Americans but they don’t. I was disappointed”). However, the follow-up survey conducted 5 months later shows that the Chinese participants, who initially agreed with an item “Singaporeans should learn American or British English”, came to change their viewpoint and disagree with the item. Japanese and other students’ lack of pre-knowledge about sociolinguistic issues in Singapore also emerged from interview sessions with directors and teachers who recounted their repeated encounters with students who expect to learn ‘standard English’ from European-looking teachers. A case in point is one young Singaporean teacher in her twenties who grew up in a monolingual English home environment with a Chinese-Singaporean mother and a non-Chinese-speaking Malay-Singaporean father educated in the UK. Identifying herself as a speaker of both Singlish and professional standard English, she related that at least one student per class did not hide a look of puzzlement when seeing her entering their classroom. After some time spent together at school or over lunch outside school, however, she felt assured of their acceptance and trust in her as their teacher. Then, she seized an opportunity to broach the topic, to which they candidly admitted having been initially ‘disappointed’ with their non-white teacher. Rather than problematizing her students’ preconceptions about English, she critically points out the presence of many private ESL schools in Singapore that hire English-speaking westerners only, which, to my surprise, was the case in one of my three research participating schools. According to her, “It’s telling” when she had talked about job prospects with the western school director, whom I also met for a research interview. Indeed, the school’s website shows the pictures of western-looking teachers only. She, nonetheless, adds that if she were at the helm of a school she would also follow suit since “images count everything” and they do business “to feed the market”. The cases above demonstrate that academic insight into English matters in Singapore remains unfamiliar among laypeople and that native English speaker norms are entrenched in hiring practices in so-called outer-circle Singapore as well, akin to inner-circle West and expanding-circle East Asia (e.g., Braine, 2010). In other words, Japanese and other East Asian students’ voluntary choice of English-speaking ASEAN as a place to study ‘English’ might arise, in part, from their misconstrued understanding of ‘standard English’ spoken

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 37 by local Singaporeans and taught by western native English teachers, not necessarily from their informed knowledge about diverse yet stratified language practices in Singapore. In contrast with many Japanese and international students who expect to hear and learn ‘standard English’ in Singapore, one Japanese male interviewee diverged from that group. The 36-year-old businessperson was studying at a school managed by a Chinese-Singaporean director until 3 years ago and was interviewed at Changi Airport during his flight transit to Malaysia. His decision to quit his job in Japan and study in Singapore arose not from his hope to learn standard English but from his goal of improving his business English skills and starting a new career, possibly based in an ASEAN nation. That goal, he believed, would not require him to “go all the way to the US to study English”. Furthermore, before starting his student life in Singapore, he made Singaporean ‘cyber friends’ through overseas services and “knew that people in Singapore communicate with each other in English on a daily basis”. During an over one and a half hour-long interview, he remarked on his ample experience with cross-cultural communication in English through his previous business communication with overseas clients (e.g., the US, Australia, the UK, Germany, China, South Korea) either in person or online. Furthermore, having lived in Hawaii with his family when he was a child and later having traveled around the world for leisure and business purposes, he came to realize that “English pronunciation doesn’t matter as long as he can make himself understood both in speaking and writing”. Moreover, this former student recollected that he and his Japanese schoolmates ‘very often’ asked each other about what brought them to Singapore. In addition to factors of competitive costs and fondness for Singapore, he conjectured that some Japanese sojourners’ apprehension for unfamiliar west(erness) induces them to choose Asian-dominant Singapore, although they, with no prior overseas experience, told him that they had chosen Singapore ‘on a whim’ [nantonaku]. Resonating with these Japanese students who have no personal profile to link them to Singapore and yet decide to study in the nation, a female research participant wrote her ambivalent comments both in Japanese and English, whose bilingual wordings are, interestingly, subtly different from one another: [English comment] “I want to study English in New York, but I am Asian. I want to see Asian people in Singapore”; [Japanese translated comment] “I tried to go to America but I thought Asia would do anyway [ajia demo ii to omotteta]”. These episodes are aligned with Hoshino’s (2014, p. 34) finding on Nagoya University students’ favorable image about studying in culturally and racially Asian Southeast Asia (e.g., “I feel close to them because we are both ‘yellow race’ [oushoku jinshu]”). On a relevant note, all the managerial and teaching staff at three Singaporean ESL schools accentuated cross-cultural, in particular, Asian-Asian friendship as a benefit of studying English in Singapore. Indeed, 13 out of 19 respondents befriended more than two Singaporeans and 15 respondents made friends with more than two international students, including one who claimed to have made ‘more than 10 friends’. The home countries/regions of their international friends

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mentioned are South Korea (10), China (4), Indonesia (4), Thailand (4), Malaysia (3), Germany (2), New Zealand (2), Vietnam (2), Hong Kong (1), Myanmar (1), Philippines (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Uzbekistan (1), and the US (1). In the meantime, in the view of many Japanese students’ scarce knowledge of Japan’s wartime occupation in Asia, the aforementioned former male student commented on the significance of Japanese students’ study experience in Singapore while acknowledging that he himself learned about the history more in detail from local senior acquaintances during his months-long stay in Singapore and that his increased knowledge prompted him to visit historical sites (e.g., the YMCA building that used to be a site of torture executed by the Japanese Imperial Army). Later in the interview, however, he changed his tone of view and related that young Singaporeans, who are more interested in Japanese anime, rarely broach the historical topic and that Japanese individuals are entitled to decide on their to-do priorities during their study in Singapore.

Japanese learners of English in Malaysia My study conducted with Japanese students in Singapore aimed to explore whether their autonomous decision to study in the state could be conceived of as a first step towards the departure from ‘standard English’ norms pervasive among Japanese leaners of English. A tentative answer is negative if guided by their pre-sojourn expectation to meet ‘standard English’-speaking Singaporeans and study such English from western native English speakers at ESL schools. Nonetheless, as time advances, Japanese and other international students in Singapore are found to raise their awareness of and appreciation for the role of English in Singapore through their personal relationship with Singaporeans such as reliable Singaporean ESL teachers and conversation partners who codeswitch between Singlish and ‘proper’ English. This finding is in concert with Park and Bae’s (2009) finding on Korean teens’ development of “a stronger awareness of the utility and creativity of Singlish” (p. 374). And yet, Park and Bae (2009) are pessimistic about another finding that Korean students, accompanied by their mothers, eventually abandon their initial motive for Mandarin study and focus on English study only. They lament “the nature of jogi yuhak [early study abroad] as a strategy for capital accumulation, in which the structure of the global economy seems to have the final word on the material value of languages” (p. 376). That said, Japanese and Korean students’ study experience in English-speaking Asian nations merits further discussion both pedagogically and scholarly. As part of a continuous scholarly exploration, I conducted further research with ESL professionals affiliated with language centers at well-reputed private Malaysian universities from November 2015 to March 2016. The research data comprises a total of 26 ESL professionals’ responses to my online survey questionnaire and interview data collected from 10 ESL professionals: two female Indian Malays, two female Malay Muslims, two female Chinese Malays; one male American; three directors who used to teach but are now in managerial positions (one female and one male Chinese Malays; one female Malay Muslim).

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 39 The participants are found to identify Asian and western study-abroad contexts’ different strengths for different types of students (Kobayashi, 2017). That is, the conventional choice of studying English in the west is encouraged for students equipped with more than intermediate-level English, a sense of comfort with culturally, racially different west(erners) and financial affordability, whilst Malaysian and other English-speaking ASEAN sites are deemed ideal for often reticent Asian students who are also beginner-level English speakers and feel disconcerted by the presence of western native English speakers. As summarized by a Chinese Malaysian male director, Asian students from moderately monocultural societies are perceived to be better taken care of by Asian Malaysian professionals who look familiar and empathize with language learners as ‘non-native English teachers’ in multilingual societies: In other words, the learning environment provided to them here in Malaysia will make it less ‘inhibitive’ for them to use or practice the language. . . . Nonnative English teachers (e.g. Asian English teachers) could also be a plus factor for Japanese students of the low level proficiency group as these teachers are known to be more cultural sensitive and able to connect or relate with the students better. This will help in making the students more participative in class. Another benefit mentioned is Japanese students’ hands-on cultural experience with many assertive Arab and Middle Eastern students who, since 9/11, flock to their second-choice of Muslim-friendly Malaysia, not their first-choice US that imposes strict visa requirements. One teacher recalls one such incidence of cultural-learning outside the classroom: I saw students from Saudi Arabia who brought Japanese students to try Arabic food around the campus area. They taught them how to eat with hand[s] and explained the food available in the menu with English. This kind of authentic language learning experiences can only be available in a multicultural society. Moreover, the high status attached to Japanese cultural innovation appears to help elevate the profile of Japanese students in Malaysian ESL classes as Japanese experts: The Japanese are honestly the most welcomed group of international students. Classmates want to know more about Japan, its culture, technology, etc. This creates an environment where the Japanese are nearly always engaged with others from around the world and never alone. Their English and soft skills are exercised. In the meantime, my research with Malaysian ESL professionals reveals that as in western ESL classrooms Japanese students in Malaysian ESL contexts are quiet

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in class, suggesting that culturally proximate Asian ESL classes fall short of transforming reserved Japanese students into vocal ones, at least within a short period of time. A teacher who has taught over 400 Japanese, Chinese, and Korean students for the past 6 years responded to my online survey: “They are not very sociable and talkative. Most of them are very shy and not pro-active”. A more detailed written comment is made by another teacher who has taught Japanese students for 2 years and Chinese students for a decade: “Some Japanese students are very quiet and almost non-responsive, probably due to the excessive sense of respect towards the teachers/lecturers. Some were also shy to express themselves in class/during discussions. There were outspoken ones but very few”. Moreover, one American male teacher speculates on Japanese children’s decades-long cultural acquisition or “childhood ‘roots’” that are “deeply rooted and not easily changed”: Mixed classrooms are great platforms for new views and making friendships which continue outside the classroom. However, I feel the demand placed on Japanese students from young [age] is deeply rooted and not easily changed. Thus, the very nature of being put on the spot by calling on a student is seen by him/her as a change [sic] to lose face. A Japanese student’s face can immediately turn red by simply calling on them. Studies show how childhood “roots” have a large impact on who we are today and could be a cause of the insecurity when participating in large groups. Many teachers’ recurrent comments on Japanese and other East Asian students’ verbally passive classroom participation suggest that as in western studyabroad contexts, the degree to which East Asian students can avail themselves of opportunities to engage in English communication is contingent on their willingness to communicate in English, teachers’ and classmates’ understanding, and substantial time spent together involving all the parties. Indeed, most of the teachers claim to make a classroom effort to: (1) encourage students’ vocal participation (e.g., ‘speak very slowly’, ‘say their name’ ‘continuously encourage’), (2) exercise patience (e.g., ‘they need time’), (3) acknowledge the students’ positive behavior (e.g., ‘very disciplined’, ‘respect for teachers’), (4) be cognizant of factors behind such tendency (e.g., ‘their classroom culture’), and (5) assume a professional attitude and grow as teachers (e.g., ‘another teaching experience’). Below are two teachers’ responses (emphasis added by me): Firstly, the multi-cultural composition of students can be challenging, especially at the start of the course. Hence, some Japanese students tend to be reticent and they need time to develop the confidence to express themselves spontaneously. Some students had expressed the need to hold back; they wanted to be sure they would not make mistakes. Hence, spontaneity and fluency can be affected. Secondly, Japanese students uphold respect for teachers – an attitude which is positively acknowledged. However, some students need to question and seek clarifications more actively.

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 41 Hence, time and effort are needed to build teacher-student relationship to foster effective learning. From my experience of teaching Japanese and Korean students, a teacher needs to understand their classroom culture where they do not interrupt/ ask questions out of respect. The teacher should then continuously encourage the students to be more vocal and participate in class, to ensure they fully benefit from the classroom learning environment. On the other hand, it is a joy to teach them as they are very disciplined in turning in assignments and preparing for presentations.

The root cause of Japanese students’ cultural baggage All the findings above can be very optimistically recapitulated as indicating that the venue of English-speaking ASEAN nations is a field of potentiality from which new findings and future research directions emerge. Although Japanese and other East Asian students’ limited vocal participation in class is an unsolved challenge for them and the teachers, the students are exposed to a new sense of multiculturalism, inside and outside the classroom, through contact with culturally diverse teachers, students, and locals who speak ‘proper’/‘standard’ English, Singlish, Manglish, or other languages, depending on circumstances. Pertinently, the site of ASEAN ESL programs can afford opportunities for Japanese students to build cross-cultural friendships. On the surface, this benefit, which is highlighted by the managerial and teaching staff in Singapore and Malaysia, appears to be compatible to Japanese students’ friendships with Korean students at Canadian ESL schools (Kobayashi, 2010). However, in contrast with cross-cultural friendships in Singapore and Malaysia that evolve in the absence of perceived racial discrimination, Japanese and other Asian students’ sense of solidarity in western study-abroad contexts is activated by their perceived minority status, racial discrimination, and the presence of English-competent European (-looking) students at the school (Fujita, 2009; Jackson, 2008; Kobayashi, 2010) (see also Chapter 2). Jackson (2008) documents that perceived racial discrimination and heightened national identity are observed even among Hong Kong students studying in the UK who, compared to East Asian students, arrive in their host country with more advanced English proficiency and intercultural communication experience. On the other hand, the same findings can lead to a more critical discussion. First of all, those who endorse and implement Japanese students’ study in Englishspeaking ASEAN nations are advised to bear in mind the likelihood that prospective sojourn participants are unconversant with even rudimentary knowledge of ASEAN nations such as which Southeast Asian countries are members (Hoshino, 2014), Japan’s wartime occupation in the region, and ‘Singlish’/‘Manglish’ – speaking locals who can also be bilingual in ‘standard’/‘proper’ English and other ethic languages. The arrival of postsecondary students with lack of basic knowledge of their host country warrants proactive, pre-sojourn measures so that

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migrating students and local counterparts can initiate university-level dialogue about each other’s homeland and global issues. By the same token, Japanese students’ oral classroom participation might be limited in the early phase of their sojourn, an issue of Japanese universities’ (un)commitment to developing such students across the board rather than the reification of essentialized Asianness (Kobayashi, 2011a). In other words, Japanese students’ ease with verbal discussion in any language is contingent on university teachers and future employers in Japan who are empowered to initiate change and cultivate young students as global talents. As of today, however, such assertive communication is developed, practiced, and appreciated to a limited extent not only at school but also at home and work (e.g., family conversation, business meetings). Currently, as discussed in Chapter 1 and 2, HSS departments often feign an interest in the development of ‘global human resources’ by promulgating grandiose ‘globalization’ slogans, relegating the production of ‘global human resources’ to the mere introduction of English (medium) classes and international exchange activities, and foisting such job responsibilities on the marginalized group of English-speaking faculty members affiliated with ‘International Center’ or HSS departments on the periphery. Overall, the increased profile of Japanese students’ sojourn experience in ASEAN nations should be welcomed as a new avenue for learning, discussion, and exploration, if it is optimistically postulated that they arrive in their host country with more than moderate preparedness and motivation to engage in university-level study. Moreover, these students should be able to thrive with their cross-cultural learning back in Japan if their universities and prospective employers do justice to Japanese youth equipped with such intercultural communication experience as those who can exert significant impact on Japan’s decades-long winding path to globalization. Research-wise, the combination of study-abroad research in both ASEAN countries and the west will expand an understanding of fundamental issues of educational migration such as East Asian students’ reserved classroom participation, their faith in ‘standard English’, and factors of race, gender, and ethnicity in sojourners’ cross-cultural friendship, without resorting to the essentialization of Asianness that often lends support to the view of western superiority and Asian students’ cultural deficiency. As part of such continuous scholarly enquiry, Chapter 4 addresses push and pull factors behind Japanese female students’ stronger motivation to study abroad by drawing on my own research conducted in Canada and Singapore and also on extant discussion on Japanese male students’ access to collective study/work abroad experience.

References Braine, G. (2010). Nonnative Speaker English Teachers: Research, Pedagogy, and Professional Growth. New York: Routledge. Choe, H. (2016). Identitiy formation of Filipino ESL teachers teaching Korean students in the Philippines. English Today, 32(1), 5–11.

Studying English in English-speaking ASEAN 43 Clark, N. (2015, July 8). Developing international education hubs in Asia. World Education News & Reviews. Davie, S. (2008a, February 25). CaseTrust seal means quality school? Not quite. The Straits Times. Davie, S. (2008b, September 22). Trust private schools here? The Straits Times. Fujita, Y. (2009). Cultural Migrants from Japan: Youth, Media, and Migration in New York and London. Lanham: Lexington Books. Goquingco, J., & Lowe, S. J. (2009, January 1). Not just exporting: Philippines becoming an attractive destination for international students. World Education News & Reviews. Horie, M. (2014, February 8). Japan looks to Malaysia to globalise. New Straits Times. Hoshino, A. (2014). A study on Nagoya University students’ attitudes toward study abroad in South-East Asian countries [Text in Japanese]. Journal of the International Education & Exchange Center (IEEC), Nagoya University, 1, 33–40. Hoshino, A. (2015a). Factors and Motivations to Study Abroad in Non-Traditional Destinations: Why Japanese Study Abroad in Southeast Asia. Paper presented at the London International Conference on Education. Hoshino, A. (2015b). Japanese university students’ abroad in South-East Asia: Findings from the JASSO statistics [Text in Japanese]. Ryugakukoryu [Student Exchanges] (JASSO Monthly Web Magazine), 47(2), 31–47. Hoshino, A., Suematsu, K., Boonlert-U-Thai, K., & Ogake, I. (2016). A New Trend of Japan-Southeast Asia Student Mobility: What Is Happening Now? Paper presented at the APAIE Annual Conference and Exhibition. Jackson, J. (2008). Language, Identity and Study Abroad: Sociocultural Perspectives. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. Kobayashi, Y. (2010). Discriminatory attitudes toward intercultural communication in domestic and overseas contexts. Higher Education, 59(3), 323–333. Kobayashi, Y. (2011a). Applied linguistics research on Asianness. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), 566–571. Kobayashi, Y. (2011b). Expanding-circle students learning ‘standard English’ in the outer-circle Asia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32(3), 235–248. Kobayashi, Y. (2017). ASEAN English teachers as a model for international English learners: Modified teaching principles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 682–696. Ng, J., & Tan, A. (2009, March 11). Private schools to face tougher checks: New rules and standards to be set to improve the way they are run. The Straits Times. Ochi, T. (2016). The implementation of the AIMS programme by the faculty of engineering, TUAT: Developing human resources in the field of practical engineering throughout Asia [Text in Japanese]. Ryugakukoryu [Student Exchanges] (JASSO Monthly Web Magazine), 62(5), 1–6. Ono, M. (2013). Emerging ‘Look Malaysia’ in Japanese tourism-related mobility. JAMS Discussion Paper (Japan Association for Malaysian Studies), 2, 31–36. Retrieved from http://jams92.org/jamswp02/jamswp02-031.pdf Park, J. S.-Y., & Bae., S. (2009). Language ideologies in educational migration: Korean jogi yuhak families in Singapore. Linguistics and Education, 20(4), 366–377. Rahman, D. (2016, June 23). Malaysia’s higher education mid-year report. The Star. Sim, W. (2016, November 5). With eye on China, Japan ramps up presence in ASEAN. The Straits Times.

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Tan, A. (2009, February 21). Private school shuts down without notice. The Straits Times. Tan, J. (2016, Septemeber 16). What happened to the global schoolhouse. University World News. Yong, J. A. (2010, September 19). MM Lee’s Singapore dream. The Straits Times. Young, C. (2001). ‘You dig tree tree to NUS’: Understanding Singapore English from the perspectives of international students. Reflections on English Language Teaching (Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore), 1, 23–35.

4

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes toward language study

Literature background The first aim of this chapter is to update my previous journal article (Kobayashi, 2002) that explores gender differences in foreign language learning attitudes, in particular young Japanese women’s favorable attitudes towards current and future English learning. As part of my doctoral dissertation research (Kobayashi, 2000), I conducted a questionnaire survey with 555 Japanese students (242 male and 313 female, aged 15–17) at two high schools that send more than 80% of the students to varying kinds and levels of postsecondary institutions. The students were thus presupposed to have a certain level of academic motivation to advance to postsecondary institutions. The statistical analyses revealed that female students’ means were significantly higher than male students’ ones in the following five scales: 1

2

3

4

5

Attitudes towards long-term English learning (e.g., I want to go into a profession which gives me a chance to use English; I am thinking of starting to study English by myself in the future; I am going to take English courses at university even if they are not compulsory as long as they are effective) Interest in culture and communication (e.g., I am interested in learning about life and culture in English-speaking countries; I want to communicate with many people in English; I am interested in learning about various kinds of language and culture) Perceptions about studying English in a school context (e.g., Studying English for entrance examinations is a good opportunity to build up grammar and vocabulary; English study at school raised my interest in learning English; I am good at English) Images associated with English (e.g., Professions involving the use of English sound intelligent; English proficiency is very important for the internationalization of Japan; I think it is cool to be able to speak English fluently) English learning activities outside school (e.g., joining English study club at school or outside school; going to an English conversation school; reading English books, watching English movies, or listening to English music)

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Japanese female students’ positive attitudes

In addition, one Japanese male teacher of English stated during an interview with me that female students were more willing to participate in his school’s summer English study program in Canada and opt to major in English at college, although he provided no explanations for his personal views. In Kobayashi (2002), I discussed Japanese female students’ favorable attitudes toward English study in the light of gendered academic and occupational choices, lack of critical thinking and future perspectives, and Japanese women’s marginalization and consequent freedom: 1 2 3

Many girls are socialized to major in feminine domains and an English major is one of the socially ideal choices in Japan and elsewhere; Formal schooling in Japan and elsewhere is in part held accountable for the reproduction of gendered educational/occupational choices; Women’s marginalized status in the Japanese business world induces female students to pursue their interest in English in non-traditional social spaces (e.g., seeking employment from foreign companies in or outside Japan, learning languages for pleasure).

Pertinent findings are reported in other studies conducted outside Japan. Through a questionnaire survey, Lai (2007) garnered numerical data from 1,048 Hong Kong secondary school students (555 boys and 493 girls), followed by group interviews with 40 of the questionnaire respondents (19 male, 21 female). Lai (2007) reveals gender differences in Hong Kong secondary school students’ orientation to English study: “While girls expressed an integrative inclination towards English, boys’ consideration tended to be pragmatic” (p. 96). Lai (2007) argues that boys’ pragmatic and girls’ integrative orientations to English are accounted for by their social positioning that differently impinges on their perceptions of English. In other words, boys’ social standing allows them to perceive English pragmatically as “an essential tool” or “as a means” to “achieve other [educational/occupational] goals” in Hong Kong society (e.g., majoring in science, starting a business) (p. 99), whereas girls’ social status rather endorses them to associate English with the outside world, yielding their yearning for the West and English-speaking westerners: “they admire the living environment in Western countries and they perceive English speakers as a more friendly and competent group” (p. 97). Citing female students’ interview data originally collected in Cantonese, Lai (2007) attributes girls’ integrativeness to their mixed perceptions about gender equality in Hong Kong which “is much better than many other countries, like Japan and Taiwan” (p. 98) and yet pales in comparison to other western nations because “traditionally Chinese people value boys more” and “males are better valued than females” in Hong Kong (pp. 98–99; emphasis in the original). The compatible findings from Kobayashi (2002) and Lai (2007) suggest that unlike boys who come to envisage themselves becoming scientists or business leaders and using English as a tool, girls are differently socialized to find pleasure in learning and using English for cross-cultural learning and communication. Worthy of note is that college-bound students in Japan and Hong Kong access

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 47 equal educational opportunities irrespective of sex category and that most of the university graduates (are socially expected to) seek and land full-time employment after graduation. Nonetheless, such gender equality in education falls short of eliminating gender differences in academic/occupational choices, leaving more boys comfortable with the choice of masculine courses such as technological innovation and more girls with traditionally women-dominant areas such as language study majors. Girls’ integrative and boys’ instrumental orientations to foreign language are observed even in Sweden, a nation known for its highest gender equality ranking (e.g., World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Reports on Gender Inequality Index). Conducting a questionnaire survey with 532 Swedish school children (245 girls and 287 boys, average age 11.5), Henry and Apelgren (2008) reveal that girls are more positive about studying second foreign languages: “girls have more positive self-concepts as FL speakers and are more interested in the communicative potential of FLs than boys” (p. 616). Furthermore, Swedish boys are found to recognize the importance of studying second foreign languages in light of ‘Sweden’s future’. Henry and Apelgren (2008) argue: It would appear then that even at the pre-instruction stage, although girls’ [sic] have more favourable attitudes to FLs and FL learning generally, boys’ instrumental motives are nonetheless very strong. Even though they are not as enthusiastic as girls about FLs, they are just as aware of the personal importance of FLs in the future and, more so than girls, believe that FL skills are of importance for the future of the country. (pp. 616–617) Henry and Apelgren’s (2008) finding reminds us that the world’s highest gender equality rating is not synonymous with the non-existence of gender difference in educational/occupational choices. In an online article entitled, “Women and men still study completely different university subjects”, one Nordic article also reports the consistent gender stereotypes: “No real changes have occurred in the past decade with regard to the unbalanced gender distribution amongst Norwegian students”; “traditional conceptions and stereotypes regarding boys’ and girls’ fields of interest and work are still alive and kicking” (Amundsen, 2015). Hence, whether children are born and raised in Japan, Hong Kong, or Nordic nations, girls and boys ‘naturally’ come to pursue different academic/occupational courses during their years-long formal schooling. In other words, as discussed in Kobayashi (2002) and recapitulated earlier, (1) girls are socialized to major in feminine domains and the English major is one of the socially ideal choices in Japan and elsewhere and (2) formal schooling in Japan and elsewhere is in part held accountable for the reproduction of gendered educational/occupational choices. Critically construing the outcome of gender socialization, Bourdieu and Passeron (1996) argue that women’s increased visibility at school and at work in developed nations is achieved in such a way to sustain gate-keeping men’s privileges

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and women’s femine roles. They problematize girls’ continous choice of feminine subjects and occupations which are categorized into “simply a more expensive and more luxurious variant of traditional upbringing” (p. 182). Bourdieu (2001) categorically concludes that political action is the only solution to “the progressive withering away of masculine domination”, “with the aid of the contradictions inherent in the various mechanisms or institutions concerned” (p. 117). On the other hand, we can also argue that sociocultural reproduction of gender differences in educational and occupational preferences per se might not be a profound problem, provided that women who major in traditionally womendominant domains are aptly evaluated for their educational background. For example, higher education’s public relations materials, if accepted at face value, claim that career opportunities are wide open for college women who major in foreign languages. Many colleges’ language departments promulgate the merit of majoring in foreign languages by displaying a list of companies and lines of work to which their alumni contribute. One American private college’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures shows on its official website photos and affirmative narratives of seven female and one male alumni (four French majors; two Spanish; two Italian) who relate how their language major background “was a huge part of my personal and career development” and “has supported my professional life significantly”. The list includes a female ESL teacher who believes that her Spanish major at college “inspired me to pursue a career in teaching English as a Second Language” (the college homepage, accessed on January 28, 2017). Moreover, introducing the newly established Department of English Language and Culture in the year 2011, one Japanese private women’s college placed a full-color, full-page ad on NHK’s Radio Eikawa [English conversation] textbook more than once, showing a familiar promotional statement in Japanese, “Those armed with English can wing their way beyond borders!”, along with clichéd pictures of female student(s) paired with a white male English teacher (Appleby, 2014; Kobayashi, 2014). These educational institutions’ promotional messages might not be deemed as utterly fabricated, if college graduates from language programs do find employment with which they are content. And yet, there are at least two issues in dispute. First of all, foreign language programs are increasingly pitted against more ‘practical’ competitive programs and subjected to department downsizing. In the Modern Language Association’s 2015 report (Flaherty, 2015), the executive director, Rosemary Feal (Ph.D. in Spanish) refers to the mindset of today’s (American) students who are pressured to choose college majors that ensure stable employment and thus exclude the choice of foreign language programs: “We don’t know if what’s happened is part of the overall decrease in humanities enrollments. One pressure that I think a lot of students are feeling is to concentrate all their educational eggs in baskets that appear to be career ready.” Such a view is shared by Gillian Lord, Chair of Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. She emails to the article reporter: Our students are under increasing pressure to go to college so that they can get a high-paying job upon graduation, which of course is a worthy goal, but

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 49 what used to be the underlying assumptions behind that goal – strength in liberal arts, broad disciplines, critical thinking, etc. – seems to have fallen by the wayside in recent years. The article, nonetheless, ends with some positive developments, including Dr. Feal’s opinion that language programs that equip students with proficiency “make students more marketable, not less”. The present chapter might not be able to end with such a positive outlook. That is because, as the second point of contention, although many companies continue hiring many female students who major in feminine domains, those female job seekers are hired as clerical office ladies, segregated from male job applicants and deprived of opportunities to use language and cross-cultural skills as global workers. A case in point is a female job applicant who lived in North America for four years, has been back in Japan for eight years and yet was rejected by companies that claim to be ‘very Japanese’ and instruct her to work abroad: At job interviews they would ask me to speak English and when I did they would look at me and say, “If you’re so fluent, why don’t you just look for a job abroad?” I’ve also had companies tell me “Our Company is very Japanese so it wouldn’t be good for a returnee . . .” This made me really angry but I also felt sorry for this interviewer. (Yoshida, et al., 2009, p. 274) This type of discrimination against (many female) applicants with language and cross-cultural skills has not changed over the two decades. Back then, Iwao (1993) claimed that the Japanese male-dominant business world relegates women to a peripheral position, encouraging some women to seek jobs from foreign companies in Japan: Many of them [foreign companies in Japan] have attracted bright young women with career ambitions and some foreign language proficiency. Ninety percent of these foreign companies are small or medium-sized corporations, but they also offer challenging jobs and good pay on a more equal level with men than most Japanese companies and are therefore famous for being “woman friendly”. One reason they do offer such good conditions for women is that they have trouble drawing from the pool of the most talented male employees. Their handicap in recruiting outstanding male employees, due to their not providing the security and benefits offered by large Japanese corporations and to their lower ranking in terms of prestige than that of Japanese companies, paid off unexpectedly in the windfall of bright, elite young women. It is not at all an anomaly to find Japanese women on the management staff of foreign companies. They had difficulty finding interesting jobs in Japanese companies, and because working women are not part of the mainstream of the Japanese work force, they are freer to take the risks involved in working with foreign companies. Compared to men, they have less to lose in

50

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes terms of social standing by not being employed by the companies at the top of the hierarchy of employment prestige in contemporary Japan. (p. 169)

Analogous findings of gender segregation are also reported in studies on Japanese companies’ overseas branches in Hong Kong (C. Sakai, 2004) and London (J. Sakai, 2004). None of the Japanese college departments’ websites or publicity materials allude to this deep-rooted, illegitimate corporate practice of underappreciating female job applicants with language and cross-cultural skills and constraining them, among many other women, to work as peripheral employees and retire when they get married, pregnant, or are not-so-young anymore (e.g., Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s 2015 survey on maternity harassment) (McCurry, 2015). Thus, what distinguishes Japanese female learners of foreign languages, possibly from those from Hong Kong, Scandinavia, or the US is likely to be the third point discussed in Kobayashi (2002): women’s marginalized status in the Japanese business world induces female students to pursue their interest in English in non-traditional social spaces as well as traditional social positioning. The subsequent section discusses three routes that are open to Japanese women with language and cross-cultural skills and interests.

Routes left open to Japanese women with language skills The choice of leaving the domestic business world As pointed out by Iwao (1993) two decades ago, one of the routes open to female job seekers with language and cross-cultural skills is to explore opportunities outside the Japanese business world by landing jobs at foreign companies in Japan or working abroad. During my research conducted at Singaporean ESL schools (Kobayashi, 2011), most school staff remarked on Japanese women in their twenties to thirties who are drawn to Singapore for jobs. Eleven out of 15 female participants also responded positively to one of the questionnaire items, “I decided to study English in Singapore because I want to get a job in Singapore in the future”. Opting to be interviewed in English, one 25-year-old female from Osaka (five months’ of enrollment) talked, in fluent and accurate English, about her college study (English major) and work experience (a clerical worker at an English conversation school) before her migration to Singapore. She was confident about her good job prospects, relating that she has heard about or personally known Japanese women who did find a job in Singapore “very easily”. Accounting for many Japanese women’s ‘easy’ employment in Singapore, she refers to the close-knit Japanese community (e.g., the Japanese Association of Singapore) as a good place for networking and the Japanese-owned agencies that “take care of everything” (school enrollment, housing, employment, etc.). Although her opinion was shared by the staff members, none of them makes mention of, or appears to be aware of, Japanese companies’ gender-biased

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 51 employment practices at their overseas branches that locally hire bilingual Japanese women as fixed-term assistants for monolingual Japanese male employees who are sent from the headquarters as expatriates. In other words, whether in Singapore (Ben-Ari & Vanessa, 2000; Thang, MacLachlan, & Goda, 2002), Hong Kong, (C. Sakai, 2004), London (J. Sakai, 2004) or other global cities, English-speaking young Japanese women can find employment with overseas branches of well-known Japanese companies because these female job seekers are tantamount to disposable office ladies and segregated from Japanese male expatriates who are considered the legitimate global workforce in the Japanese corporate world. It is also reported that Japan’s infamous corporate glass ceiling disposes a limited number of elite women to earn their degree abroad and/or set up their own company that caters to female customers’ needs (e.g., health and beauty) (Nishio, 2012). Nishio (2012) analyzes the profiles of 25 Japanese female executives and 30 ‘Women of the Year’ chosen by a women’s magazine from 2010 to 2012. Among a total of 55 Japanese female executives or presidents, 27% of them or 15 women are found to have studied in the US or UK, mostly to pursue an MBA degree at college or graduate school (e.g., The City University of New York, State University of New York, University of California, Stanford University’s graduate program, MIT’s graduate program, University of London’s King’s College London, University of Bradford’s graduate program). Except for one who remained in China, all 14 women returned to Japan with overseas degrees and 11 of them launched their own business as the president or CEO. While appraising these women’s brilliant [kagayakashii] entrepreneurship, Nishio (2012) points out that such an audacious option might have been ‘the second best’ as they were, very likely, cognizant of the Japanese gender-biased labor market that prioritizes male job applicants fresh out of college (p. 4).

The choice of waiting for opportunities until later in life The choice of landing jobs at foreign companies in Japan, working abroad, or starting their own business is not the most popular career course taken by Japanese female college graduates. Instead, coming to terms with gender discrimination in the Japanese business world, many women abandon their initial dream of using their language skills at work while leaving a possibility of rekindling their dream later in their life. The business world is astutely aware that women’s positive attitudes toward foreign language study yields enormous benefit for the language industry. As such, those with economic sense spare no effort in rekindling working women’s interest in using language skills for professional purposes outside their current workplace. One business strategy is to feature housewives who turn over a new leaf by becoming English specialists and, so they say, financially and psychologically independent. A case in point is the author of a 1996 book (revised in 2008), Onnna ha eigo de yomigaeru [Women can be reborn with English skills]. Yasui Kyoko majored in modern German history at university, worked as an English teacher at a public

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Japanese female students’ positive attitudes

middle school in Tokyo for seven years, quit her job, and returned to her hometown in Toyama. As reported in an English newspaper article, “she began feeling stressed about spending her days stuck at home as a housewife raising their son and daughter,” started relearning English at age 33 and became a successful bilingual tour guide, translator, and English instructor (Kan, 2009). The release of the 2008 revised version – 12 years after the publication of the first edition – shows that her story has been well received by female readers who are interested in ‘being reborn with English skills’ as translators or interpreters. By the same token, the Japanese publishers have encouraged (former) working women to re-study English. AERA, the major weekly news magazine, is one of them, inviting their female readers at home to re-invest in English: “Let’s change your life with ‘housewife English’, a tool to turn yourself into someone you want to be. Ms. Aoyama Shizuko gives us eight tips for your continuous learning” (March 14, 2011, pp. 22–24, translated into English by me). Similar to Ms. Yasui reviewed earlier, Ms. Aoyama majored in English literature at college, lived as a housewife for years, re-studied English on her own, and then transformed herself into a professional interpreter. She is celebrated as ‘Charisma’ [Karisuma] among Japanese (former) workers and housewives who have long wished to utilize their language study background for professional purposes. Nonetheless, the number of housewives whose English skills are already high enough to try becoming translators or interpreters is limited. The language industry then eyes a potentially larger number of housewives who are favorably disposed towards the idea of taking specialized English lessons and then teaching English to small children at home or at elementary school between household duties (Fukui & Nomura, 2011; Okuda, 2011). This niche business became pronounced in the fiscal year 2011 when English lessons were introduced to fifthand sixth-graders at all the 6-year elementary schools. For example, ALC, a major language teaching player in Japan, reports that due to an increasing number of housewives who want to teach jidou eigo [elementary children’s English classes] the number of inquiries about the program has quadrupled over the past five years (Fukui & Nomura, 2011). Aeon, another major player, also inaugurated its teacher training courses nationwide, with the tuition for the once-a-week, yearlong courses set between about 200,000 yen and 400,000 yen (approx. US$ 2,000 to 4,000) (Okuda, 2011). The competition has been intensified even further by rival companies that lower the standards of requirements: ECC Junior airs television commercials nationwide, calling for “Home Teachers” who can teach English to children at home as long as they have junior high school-level English and an interest in teaching children. In collaboration with Berlitz, Benesse also reassures applicants on its homepage that they need neither English certificates nor a professional level of English to assume teaching responsibilities. Here, one might wonder why housewives or female clerical workers whose pay is substantially lower than male counterparts (see, for example, OECD, 2012) can afford to pay for special English classes. One reason is that Japanese women are employed in the world’s third largest economy and those with full-time or

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 53 part-time jobs can save for the future over the years before quitting their jobs or between households. Furthermore, many stay-at-home wives and mothers in Japan are in charge of family finances (e.g., “Feeling the pinch: The housewives of Japan are giving less spending money to their husbands”, The Economist online, September 29, 2012).

The choice of studying languages for self-enrichment purposes The most popular route taken by Japanese (former) female workers with language and cross-cultural skills and interests is to engage in language study and use for nonprofessional, personal enrichment by studying or traveling abroad during weeks-long holidays or taking online or in-classroom language lessons. Japanese women’s fashion magazines advocate such feminized orientation to language study, together with other women’s hobbies such as cooking and yoga that are touted to rejuvenate themselves and boost ‘women’s power’. Showcased below are parts of feature articles that appear in popular fashion magazines targeted at Japanese women in their 20s and 30s: More (April 2011, pp. 240–243): HAPPY off-time with new encounters and new hobbies! I will change myself by starting “women’s study!” Korean language lessons, bouldering [a kind of rock climbing], bread-making, yoga, vegetable sommelier, photography courses, calligraphy, etc. Ozplus (September 2011, pp. 42–43): Women’s power goes up with a new routine, at lunch break. Spend a few minutes every day on foreign language study: English, French, Korean. . . . Get your hands on a language you’ve always wanted to learn. The 2011 articles above that specifically reference Korean language study for Japanese female readers are germane to the Korean pop culture boom, ‘Korean wave’ in those days. Launched as South Korea’s “nation-branding” (Huang, 2011) and soaring in 2004 in Japan, the popularity continued its momentum until 2012 in Japan. For reference, the Korean Wave has manifested itself in language enrollments in the US as well, according to the aforementioned MLA report (Flaherty, 2015). The celebration of language study as an educational hobby to heighten ‘women’s power’ appears not only in many fashion magazines but also in a magazine that is specifically designed for young college-educated women working in cities. According to the official English website of Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., Monthly Nikkei WOMAN “is a magazine for working women in their 20s and 30s who yearn to work and live by their own values” and “packed with topics that are of strong interest to its readers such as information on how to acquire higher business skills and develop their careers or what other working women of the same generations think and do”. However, as showcased in the article below, even the magazine that publicizes its ‘support for all working women’ on its

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official website and cover page encourages its readers to study foreign languages as a hobby. Nikkei WOMAN (September 2012, pp. 42–43): Women learning a second foreign language are on the rise! Chinese, Korean, etc. Let’s get your hands on the language of a country you’re interested in, shall we? The best part is, you can study a second foreign language as a hobby, simply because you like the country’s culture! Let’s get in touch with the fun of learning “another foreign language” by listening to the voices of those who are actually learning! A caveat is that the magazine does carry other types of articles intended for women who (are made to) believe that their high scores in business English tests would be conducive to in-house recognition, promotion, or job transfer: Nikkei WOMAN (September 2011, pp. 109–119): You can keep studying without fear of failing if you begin re-studying English with us now! A good reason for aiming for higher TOEIC scores is, your societal value and English ability keep on rising! Do you want to miss a chance for promotion or job change just because your English is not good? Start studying right now to score more than 800 points and you won’t regret it. Chapter 8 delves into magazine articles on language study to advance an understanding of how media coverage exposes (former) working adults to different types of language study discourses in such a way to sustain the Japanese maledominant mainstream society.

The role of language professionals in female students’ orientation to English study Not surprisingly, the issue of gender discrimination in Japan’s labor market is unmentioned in advertisement materials published by colleges or the educational industry, although university-based teachers should be conversant with gender discrimination in the Japanese corporate world. Hypothetically then, gatekeeping faculty members – Japanese men – might reason that female college graduates who wish to utilize their language skills after graduation can/should do so outside the male-dominant corporate world and that such life planning is the best choice for those women. In other words, rather than retooling their programs that defy the corporate practice, many faculty members in or outside language programs might believe, as if thinking of their daughters, that their female graduates can have a more peaceful, fulfilling life by choosing a path divergent from mainstream male workers, for example, by working abroad or using English during overseas leisure trips. This hypothesis is within the realm of possibility, given that higher education’s language programs commonly claim to cultivate (many female) students who can flourish in ‘the international society’ and ‘the world’, not in the male-dominant Japanese business world.

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 55 Then, how about the role or perspectives of native-English-speaking teachers – mostly western men – who are affiliated with language departments or centers and have ample opportunities to hear the voices of their avid learners of English – mostly women? To the best of my knowledge, McVeigh (1997) is the only book that specifically studies college women who hope to be internationalized by taking ‘international’ courses on western languages and cultures and taking part in study abroad programs. However, although the book provides a detailed description of ‘Takasu International College’, a college that consented to McVeigh’s conducting an ethnographic research while teaching, McVeigh (1997) engages in no discussion on his role or perspective as a western English teacher of Japanese female students who are attracted to the ‘international’ college only to find themselves trained and then hired as office ladies in two years. Several years later after he moved to a four-year university in Japan (and then back in the US), he disclosed that he “never had any intention of teaching English in Japan”, had “no training, credentials, or professional qualifications to teach English” but took the job simply because “Teaching English in Japan – which often meant commodifying my foreignness – was a convenient, easy, and lucrative way to survive as a grad student” (McVeigh, 2003, p. 137). More recently, several studies have been published by western male English teachers in Japan or abroad that explore like-minded colleagues’ positioning and identity at Japanese universities (e.g., Rivers, 2013; Whitsed & Wright, 2011). Again, neither the studies nor the research participants notes Japanese female students’ positive attitudes toward English study or discusses their role in female-dominant classes. Rather, the teachers are found to identify themselves as a professional with international experience who can help Japanese students widen their perspectives. Based on interviews with 33 male and 10 female ‘foreign’ English teachers who have working experience at Japanese universities, Whitsed and Wright (2011, pp. 40–41) quote some participants who are proud of their traveling experience: Foreign teachers are a great resource in many ways because they are all people who have done what you would like the students to do themselves. They have travelled. They have moved . . . re-located to a different country and got on. [P]art of the teachers’ job is to raise students’ awareness to bring them [students] into the bigger world and to point out that while Japan is a great country, there is a far wider world to see and far more things to be aware of than just Japan. . . . So awareness raising of major world issues is an important part [of what we do]. These western teachers’ globe-trotting background and identity as “globalized citizens” (Whitsed & Wright, 2011, p. 40) resonate with a limited number of Japanese female learners of English who consider overseas employment as one of their lifestyle choices, either as the first choice or second-best one. Furthermore, western English teachers working in Japan or elsewhere are in the same boat with Japanese female job seekers who are also marketable on account of their physical appearances and expected to leave the workforce when they are not young and

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attractive anymore. In fact, both western male scholars and their research participants (western English teachers) in Japan are well informed of the discrimination that functions in their favor as they are hired to add a cosmetic, international look at Japanese universities. Rivers’s (2013) research participants have the following to say: In having the terminal contract, the university is aiming to keep EC [The English Centre] staff young which is a business model as they are selling young faces to students. (pp. 77–78) In many ways the EC is a glorified English conversation school. They are using the fact that there are so many native-English speaking teachers as their core promotional tool and this feeds into the English-only language policy and, the advertising campaign where we all have to dress in formal suits like business people and have pictures taken in front of attractive buildings. It kind of says ‘look how many happy foreigners we have here’. (p. 82) Whitsed and Wright’s (2011) one focus group participants also share the view: “The main role of the university education is socialisation. The academics take a back seat . . . and in order to draw students in, you want to give the image that you are international and that you have got a strong language program” (p. 36). Although the extent to which western English teachers empathize with their female students remains unknown, both western English teachers and Japanese college women are situated in, or consent to their superficial work role as ‘happy foreigners’ or office ladies, who are constantly subjected to the evaluation based on appearance and at the least expected to serve as lifelong human resources in the Japanese labor market. Western teachers’ awareness of their own peripheral positioning in Japanese society might dispose them to position themselves in ‘a far wider world’ and encourage their students to travel and move, rather than discussing together their current/future ornamental role in the Japanese labor market. On the other hand, citing Rivers (2013) and Whitsed and Wright (2011) and other studies on native English teachers in Japan, Appleby (2016, p. 763) points out that those studies tend to focus on western male English teachers’ marginalization rather than their privileged marketability. Appleby (2016) then poses a politically sensitive question as to how researchers who “have an interest in promoting social justice and equality” can “highlight or critique the structural benefits that participants may accrue – as a consequence of their whiteness, masculinity, heterosexuality, native-speaker background, or Anglo-American origin – without damaging rapport or betraying participants’ trust” (pp. 758–759). The publication of Appleby (2016) in TESOL Quarterly, one of the highly recognized journals in the English research community, suggests that this unexplored question is of pivotal importance, especially when “[S]pecific guidelines to assist

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 57 researchers in dealing with the microethical dilemmas related to researching participants’ privilege are relatively rare” (p. 760). Furthermore, as suggested by recent studies on western female native English speakers’ under-representation in Japan’s higher education (Appleby, 2013, 2014; Hayes, 2013; Hicks, 2013), they are excluded from a “system based on in-group networking in which [western] men tend to recommend other men” (Hicks, 2013, p. 154) for job openings screened by Japanese male-dominant faculty members. Drawing on these studies, I myself discuss in Kobayashi (2014, p. 2) that “Western male NSs [native speakers] might be tapping into a vein of masculinity in east Asia, which has long marginalized local women and been denounced in the West as Asian men’s oriental, backward sexist culture”. This internationally infamous gender discrimination in Japan’s ‘man’s world’ numerically and psychologically marginalizes both Japanese and western women who (want to) teach English at universities. Nagatomo (2012), a study of Japanese university English teachers (seven female, one male) cites one female participant at a private university who is excluded from in-group networking at her maledominant faculty (92 male, eight female): “She attributes this exclusion to the ‘deeply rooted sexist beliefs of the male professors’ that she says consider women as ‘unimportant’ in the politics of her university” (p. 141). That said, one can also dwell on whether employment opportunities exclusive for western male native-speaking English teachers in East Asia or elsewhere deserves to be called or discussed as a ‘privilege’. In other words, in the same way that Japanese young college women’s access to employment as office ladies is not identified as a privilege by themselves, western male native English speakers’ easy access to employment as ‘happy foreigners’ is not perceived as a privilege either by themselves or others. In fact, according to Stewart and Miyahara’s survey (2016), an academic community that is frequented by native English-speaking teachers based in Japan excludes itself, or is excluded from, the government-level discussion on Japan’s English education practices and policies. Responding to Stewart and Miyahara’s survey (2016), JALT, the Japan Association for Language Teaching, claims no “interest in influencing policymaking” (p. 143) and seeks no opportunity to forge a face-to-face relationship with the Ministry of Education and to discuss issues that are well argued in academic papers (e.g., native English teachers’ marginalization in Japan’s higher education). Indeed, JALT’s core members – native English-speaking professionals affiliated with Japanese universities – have never been invited by the Ministry’s special advisory committee on Japan’s English education policies, and yet, to the best of my knowledge, none of them has ever raised a voice in protest. Although it is not part of Stewart and Miyahara’s survey (2016), JALT’s lack of dialogue with the Ministry of Education conceivably arises from their vulnerable and peripheral position in the Japanese higher education, rendering the organization disempowered to be part of Japan’s English teaching policymaking. In other words, positioned on the margin and yet “dedicated to the improvement of language teaching and learning in Japan” (JALT’s official website, accessed February 12, 2017), JALT might have no choice but to do what it can out of sight of powerful

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Japanese policymakers by, for example, not inviting government officials to its conferences but rather liaising with the international community as an official affiliate of the TESOL International Association based in the US. JALT’s stance, or perhaps their only choice, of steering clear of policymaking is in stark contrast with the Japanese-dominant JACET or Japan Association of College English Teachers, which is “the only one [language teacher association in Japan] that claims to influence policy in any way by ensuring that it is a member of policymaking bodies, actively canvassing policymakers, and inviting officers from MEXT [Ministry of Education] to its conferences” (Stewart & Miyahara, 2016, p. 143). Given that (predominantly Japanese or western male) university teachers have neither the intention nor the power to promote the empowerment of women with English and cross-cultural skills in the real world, most female college graduates can only choose from three gendered ways of relating to English after graduation: (1) carving out a career outside the domestic business world, (2) waiting for opportunities to use English until later in life after marriage or pregnancy, and (3) relinquishing the use of English for professional purposes and instead studying English or other foreign languages for self-enrichment purposes in combination with other women’s hobbies such as cooking and yoga. Chapter 5 attends to the voices of administrative and teaching staff in Canadian and Malaysian ESL programs who have witnessed the arrival of Japanese (non-) working men and women over the years and come to understand some prominent features of their (lack of) attitudes toward English study.

References Amundsen, B. (2015, August 21). Women and men still study completely different university subjects. Science Nordic. Appleby, R. (2013). Desire in translation: White masculinity and TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 47(1), 122–147. Appleby, R. (2014). Men and Masculinities in Global English Language Teaching. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Appleby, R. (2016). Researching privilege in language teacher identity. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 755–768. Ben-Ari, E., & Vanessa, Y. Y. F. (2000). Twice marginalized: Single Japanese female expatriates in Singapore. In J. Clammer & E. Ben-Ari (Eds.), Japanese Presences in Singapore (pp. 82–111). London: Curzon Press. Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine Domination. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1996). Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (R. Nice, Trans., Second ed.). London: Sage Publications. Flaherty, C. (2015, February 11). MLA report shows declines in enrollment in most foreign languages. Inside Higher Ed. Fukui, Y., & Nomura, S. (2011, March 14). Change your life with ‘housewife’s English’: English is a tool that changes you into someone you want to be [Text in Japanese]. Asahi Shimbun. Hayes, B. E. (2013). Hiring criteria for Japanese university English-teaching faculty. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (pp. 132–146). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Japanese female students’ positive attitudes 59 Henry, A., & Apelgren, B. M. (2008). Young learners and multilingualism: A study of learner attitudes before and after the introduction of a second foreign language to the curriculum. System, 36(4), 607–623. Hicks, S. K. (2013). On the (out)skirts of TESOL networks of homophily: Substantitve citizenship in Japan. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (pp. 147–158). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Huang, S. (2011). Nation-branding and transnational consumption: Japan-mania and the Korean wave in Taiwan. Media, Culture & Society, 33(1), 3–18. Iwao, S. (1993). The Japanese Women: Traditional Image & Changing Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kan, S. (2009, April 28). The Japanese and the English language: English offers mothers control over careers. The Daily Yomiuri. Kobayashi, Y. (2000). Japanese Social Influences on Academic High School Students’ Attitudes toward Long-Term English Learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto, Toronto. Kobayashi, Y. (2002). The role of gender in foreign language learning attitudes: Japanese female students’ attitudes towards English learning. Gender and Education, 14(2), 181–197. Kobayashi, Y. (2011). Expanding-circle students learning ‘standard English’ in the outer-circle Asia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32(3), 235–248. Kobayashi, Y. (2014). Gender gap in the EFL classroom in East Asia. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), 219–223. Lai, M. L. (2007). Gender and language attitudes: A case of postcolonial Hong Kong. International Journal of Multilingualism, 4(2), 83–116. McCurry, J. (2015, November 18). Japanese women suffer widespread ‘maternity harassment’ at work. The Guardian. McVeigh, B. J. (1997). Life in a Japanese Women’s College: Learning to Be Ladylike. New York: Routledge. McVeigh, B. J. (2003). Performing the part of the English teacher: The role of the anthropologist and the anthropologist of roles in Japan. In E. P. Bueno & T. Caesar (Eds.), I Wouldn’t Want Anybody to Know: Native English Teaching in Japan (pp. 134–146). Tokyo: JPGS Press. Nagatomo, D. H. (2012). Exploring Japanese University English Teachers’ Professional Identity. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Nishio, A. (2012). Naze josei shachou niha ryuugaku keikensha ga ooinoka [Why have Japanese female presidents studied abroad?] [Text in Japanese]. Ryugakukoryu [Student Exchanges] (JASSO Monthly Web Magazine), 14(5), 1–7. OECD (2012). Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now [Japan]. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179370-en[Japan]. Okuda, S. (2011, April 21). Education renaissance: Teachers hope certification will help them shine. The Daily Yomiuri. Rivers, D. J. (2013). Institutionalized native-speakerism: Voices of dissent and acts of resistance. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education (pp. 75–91). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Sakai, C. (2004). The Japanese Migrant Women in Hong Kong and the Possibility of the Reconfiguration of Gender and Ethnicity: Can Migrant Women Share Their Experiences? Ochanomizu University the 21st Century COE Program: Frontiers of Gender

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Studies Proceedings International Workshop for Junior Scholars: Migrant Domestic/ Care Workers and the Reconfiguration of Gender in Asia, 121–131. Sakai, J. (2004). The Clash of Economic Cultures: Japanese Bankers in the City of London. New Brunswick, USA and London, UK: Transaction Publishers. Stewart, A., & Miyahara, M. (2016). Language teacher associations in Japan: Knowledge producers and/or knowledge disseminators. ELT Journal, 70(2), 137–149. Thang, L. L., MacLachlan, E., & Goda, M. (2002). Expatriates on the margins: A study of Japanese women working in Singapore. Geoforum, 33, 539–551. Whitsed, C., & Wright, P. (2011). Perspectives from within: Adjunct, foreign, Englishlanguage teachers in the internationalization of Japanese universities. Journal of Research in International Education, 10(1), 28–45. Yoshida, T., Matsumoto, D., Akashi, S., Akiyama, T., Furuiye, A., Ishii, C., et al. (2009). Contrasting experiences in Japanese returnee adjustment: Those who adjust easily and those who do not. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(4), 265–276.

5

Japanese (fe)male learners’ (un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts

Japanese female students’ high enrollment in overseas ESL classes As discussed in Chapter 4, a gender socialization process takes place even in the most gender-equal Nordic nations and naturalizes girls to choose traditional feminine domains such as foreign language study. However, this international trend of female students’ high enrollment in language programs is not applicable to an international body of English learners who (are induced) to equate English skills with socioeconomic capital. As shown in Table 5.1, 10-year statistics on student enrollment numbers at a large Canadian ESL school with several branches shows that the gender ratio is relatively even among five large groups of students from Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea. The conventional pattern of female dominance is observed only in students from Japan and Taiwan: Japanese students are 73.1% female and 26.9% male; Taiwanese students are 72.2% female and 27.8% male. The school’s female director, who had 17 years’ teaching experience at the branch and was in charge of data management, was surprised by her own data: That surprises me. I’ve had never, well, the Japanese one [pattern] surprises me as well because I’ve never looked at it. No, I have never noticed before until you mentioned it and then until I pulled the numbers I have. I’ve never noticed that there were more, significantly more Japanese females than males. And I have never noticed, really, that there were significantly more Taiwanese females than males. Mainland Chinese students were off the list of the largest groups at the school branches partly because, according to the school staff, the school’s tuition fees are higher than the local industry average. Moreover, as mentioned later, Chinese students, who constitute the vast majority of international students in North American higher education, opt to study in pre-university intensive ESL programs, not regular programs that accommodate short-term holidaymakers. Japanese female students’ numerical dominance arises partly from the sheer number of Japanese colleges that send a group of their students to western English-speaking nations for weeks-long English-abroad programs. Collective

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Table 5.1 Statistics on 10-year student enrollment by gender from 1997 to 2007

Female Male

Germany

Brazil

Switzerland

Korea

Mexico

Japan

Taiwan

49.7 50.3

49.9 50.1

50.3 49.7

52.7 47.3

57.8 42.2

73.1 26.9

72.2 27.8

Note: The number of students is not shown here to make the identification of the school difficult.

short-term study-abroad programs devised by their schools or the educational travel industry cater to the needs of Japanese learners of English with low English proficiency who are interested in such experience and yet balk at a solo, longer sojourn. Japanese female learners of English from liberal arts backgrounds constitute the core participants in these packaged educational tours. In contrast, the needs for such group programs are little to none among college students from other countries (e.g., Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, South Korea, Mexico) who already feel prepared for a solo, longer study-abroad experience. For instance, Shin (2016) references, as one example, Korean Air’s ‘Flying Mom’ service that caters to ‘children who fly alone’, many of whom travel to English-speaking nations to study English during their holiday (p. 510), and for another, the major Korean companies’ ‘overseas injae recruitment’ staff who “travel around the globe to offer job fairs for or to conduct job interviews with Korean students in the renowned foreign universities” (p. 514). Another conceivable factor behind Japanese female students’ high enrollment at overseas ESL schools is the presence of Japanese female adults who individually study English abroad during weeks-long seasonal holidays or venture to quit their jobs in search of career advancement or as a once-in-a-life-time chance. These women hail exclusively from Japan, constituting the most accessible group of students in my previous studies on Japanese students who individually study at Canadian or Singaporean ESL schools (Kobayashi, 2007, 2011b). Kobayashi (2007) addresses the complexity of these single female adults’ audacious decision to quit their full-time job and use their savings to be enrolled in overseas ESL schools for months, a decision which is in conflict with their English study history and future plans. That is, they are found to engage in no voluntary preparatory English study prior to their departure, have no plans to seek employment abroad or to continue studying English even for self-enrichment purposes and, instead, plan to revert to their previous social positioning as clerical workers back in Japan while they are still young enough to do so. Their lack of motivation to utilize their improved English skills for their next career is out of accord with their commitment to English study at overseas ESL schools, to the point where the school directors notice and recommend them as reliable interview participants. In fact, one of the interviewees below was once chosen as the best student in her class by the other students, a result of student voting: I always wanted to live in a foreign country and thought, “Right, I’ve got to get moving on my own.” And I just wanted to live abroad and that’s that.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 63 I’m not like other people with an ambitious goal and I was not like, “I will study English hard and get a job with the English skill.” My motive was just a frivolous one. But I thought, “I’ve got to do it now.” I am now 31. And I’ve got to do it now. When I picture myself in three years, I would regret not doing it because it would be really late even if I tried to go abroad three years later. And I know it is going to be more difficult to find a job. So I came now so that I would not have to regret later. And I was thinking, “I’ll go home in half a year if I find this stay not worthwhile.” That’s why my initial plan was to stay here for half a year. These women who transform themselves into English learners for a limited time only are independent of, at least, the other three types of Japanese female learners of English. First, they are different from more career-oriented women who study abroad with an aim to land jobs at Japanese companies’ overseas branch offices (Kobayashi, 2011b) or a small cadre of elite women who earn degrees overseas such as MBAs and launch their own business in Japan (Nishio, 2012). They also differ from a larger number of (former) Japanese working women with an English major background who quit their jobs for marriage or pregnancy, not for monthslong sojourn experience, and re-invest in English study in order to boost ‘women’s power’ and become more attractive women, or be ‘reborn’ as ‘home teachers’ who teach English to children between household chores (see Chapter 4). Second, these Japanese female adults with beginner-level English and timelimited determination to study English diverge from a burgeoning number of Japanese and other East Asian holidaymakers who prioritize after-school activities, not English acquisition or cross-cultural friendship at overseas ESL schools. This tendency is noted, for example, by a Japanese coordinator at a Canadian school with a branch in the vicinity of resort areas: nearly all the Japanese students choose the branch so as to entertain themselves with skiing, without studying English or making friends with many Swiss or other international students, after successfully beguiling their parents into believing that their sons and daughters study English hard in Canada (Kobayashi, 2006). Third, Japanese female learners of English investing in overseas-, time-limited English study are distinct from an internationally well-known representation of Japanese young single women who study English to have romantic relationships with western men, including western male teachers at local conversation schools (Kelsky, 2001; Kubota, 2011), although some of those western men are documented to exploit their ‘whiteness’ and ‘masculinity’ and are criticized by local women for their own unethical interests in the ‘foreign adventurer’s paradise’, whether in Japan (Appleby, 2014; Kelsky, 2001), China (Farrer, 2010; Stanley, 2013), or Taiwan (Lan, 2011).

Japanese male students’ low enrollment in overseas ESL classes As pointed out by Teutsch-Dwyer (2001, p. 175), studies that focus on male language learners are outnumbered by those on female language peers: “Generally

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speaking, despite the new approach to research on gender and second language acquisition, male learners – as opposed to their female peers- have received relatively marginal attention so far”. She raises two hypothetical reasons for this gender imbalance in research: first, the scholarly tradition of treating male linguistic practices as the ‘norm’ against female ones, and second, social pressures that “‘disallow’ men from divulging their inner failures and tribulations” about their learning while “making female informants more accessible and more informative”. Another more practical reason would be the numerical dominance of female language learners that make them the most accessible population, in particular, for university language teachers who conduct research with their own students. In the present section the issue of imbalanced gender ratio in Japanese student enrollment at overseas ESL schools is approached from this overlooked focus on Japanese men’ attitudes towards English study abroad. The section draws on a study I conducted at Canadian ESL schools with its focus on Japanese male students (Kobayashi, 2012). This theme was stimulated mainly by the minority representation of Japanese male learners of English in my previous studies at Canadian and Singaporean ESL schools (Kobayashi, 2006, 2007, 2011b). Even though those studies were part of a larger investigation into Japanese students who study abroad on their own, it was often the case that students who are recommended as reliable students by the school staff were women, which was conducive to the publication of the aforementioned paper on young Japanese female, previously employed, temporary learners of English (Kobayashi, 2007). Furthermore, a review of Japanese and international scholarly literature identifies no discussion on Japanese male learners of English, which is in distinction from international publications on Japanese or Chinese female students’ motivation to study in overseas higher education (e.g., MBA degrees, professional training as interpreters) (Bamber, 2014; Habu, 2000; Ichimoto, 2004; Matsui, 1995).

Participants This study was conducted in the summer of 2008 with ESL administrative/teaching staff and Japanese male students at a total of five renowned, large-scale Canadian ESL institutions, some with several branches in other North American cities. The participants include two directors (President and Director), three associate directors, one coordinator, one Japanese-speaking coordinator, three full-time instructors, one part-time Japanese female staff member (a former student), and five Japanese male students (two long-term students, two short-term students, and one former student already back in Japan). The three long-term current/ former students’ profiles are summarized below: 1

A 21-year-old student who, although admitted into a university in Japan, started missing classes from the very first semester, earned no credits for the first two and half a years, spent one year as a part-time worker, and finally decided to try a new life overseas.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 65 2

3

A 33-year-old whose growing dismay at his life in Japan led to his decision to quit his full-time job as a public officer and to challenge himself with something new overseas, while leaving open the option of returning home by the age of 35, the ‘deadline age’ for reentry in the Japanese workforce as a full-time worker. A former student, interviewed in Tokyo, quit his full-time job as a travel agent employee in his late 20s to study abroad, studied at two ESL schools for two years, started pursuing a BA in accounting at an American university, and yet midway returned to Japan in 1999 as a full-time employee in an English-free workplace again. Keeping in touch with some staff members through seasonal greetings, this former student, when contacted by the associate director about his interest in participating in the interview, returned a very prompt, positive, and concise email that ends with the line: “I hope you understand my English because I haven’t used English for a long time. I mean ‘FORGOT’”.

Procedure The initial stage of the research procedure entailed providing potential participating institutions with the researcher profile and research proposal, gaining formal consent, and inquiring about the specific research procedure (e.g., feasibility, degrees of collaboration, ways to invite participation from a small pool of Japanese male students). This process also led to the identification of other participants such as a full-time instructor who, learning about the research from the coordinator, volunteered to participate in an interview session and the abovementioned former Japanese male student who was well remembered by the president and associate director and met with me in Tokyo. Interview sessions, taped except for two cases, were conducted to suit school regulations and personal preferences. Each session lasted from half an hour to two hours. After the interview sessions, follow-up dialogues were held with some of the participants who provided more detailed information about their students in person or the latest developments through email greeting cards.

Limitation As anticipated, my research focus on Japanese male students at overseas ESL schools faced more challenges than my previous studies that address genderneutral ‘Japanese students’. As shown earlier in Table 5.1 and discussed as follows, the ratio of Japanese male students enrolled at Canadian ESL schools is much smaller than that of Japanese female students, which poses a problem for the school staff members to identity a certain number of prospective research participants who study on their own, not on a collective study-abroad tour. By taking into account the present study’s numerical limitation, the section below appropriates generous space to the quotation of interview data. A caveat is that Canadian ESL directors and teachers do recall a limited number of ‘hard-working Japanese male students’, although their identification might be

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triggered by that limited and thus fresh memories of those sporadic male students. For instance, a Japanese coordinator at the aforementioned large school differentiates from a major electronics company’s unmotivated young businessmen fresh out of college another group of senior employees who, sent by a manufacturer of auto parts, literally hold their nose to the grindstone in intensive classes that last from 9AM to 4:45PM. Citing one senior who once said to her, “I’ve got to study here because I have no time to waste”, she commends them for their awareness of precious time that can be devoted to overseas training, autonomous study before/after class, and courage to admit their limited English and seek for extra assistance. A Canadian male ESL instructor at another school also credits Japanese senior businesspersons with “emotional maturity” who study harder than junior trainees (“The older, the better”). Moreover, the female director with 17-years’ work experience at the same school recalls “just a small number of” Japanese male students, “maybe one or two a year”, who are “more successful language learners”, “feel more comfortable in our society” and “don’t fit my general perception of the typical Japanese male student”: They’re not afraid to take risk. They don’t seem to care what people think about them. They’re very more independent spirits and so that translates into their culture where they’re not shy to express their opinions. They’re very interested in other students but that seems to be a very – is more of a character, a dominant personality type as opposed to someone who is adhering to the norms of their society or their cultural background. And it just translates into the classroom, so they tend to be more successful language learners. [. . .] Almost like they feel more comfortable in our society norms as opposed to Japanese society norms and I’ve had conversations with [the name of the male student interviewed by me in Tokyo] and at least two another students who told me they like Canadian society better because they feel more at home in the society than in their own society because of the independent spirit or the different kind of personality. Nevertheless, her recollection of “just a small number of” of hard-working Japanese male students is in stark contrast with the high enrollment of Japanese female students who more readily conjure up an image of ‘hard-working’ Japanese learners of English in the minds of ESL school staff members (Kobayashi, 2007, 2011b).

Factors behind Japanese male students’ low enrollment and motivation Low demand for English-speaking Japanese male job seekers During a one and a half-hour group interview with the president, director of studies, director of administration, and a teacher (14,028-word interview data),

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 67 the president expounded that the Japanese male-dominant corporate culture generates a sense of ‘why bother to study English’ in Japanese male students who can expect stable employment irrespective of their language acquisition and cross-cultural experience during their college life: Until the major corporations in Japan begin to demand that their employees have better English, why bother learning English? If I’m a male and I know that I’m going to be employable if I get good grades whether I speak English or not, I’m not going to bother with English. Three long-term Japanese male students, who all major in masculine subjects at college, also acknowledge their tendency of developing ‘why bother’ attitudes toward English study. A 21-year-old economics junior student, who was influenced by his elder sister and interested in studying English at home and abroad, differentiated himself from the “70 to 80%” of his male fellow students who “can’t be bothered” [mendokusai] to travel or study abroad when so much fun is available at their fingertips. The student also admits that he himself was like his peers for the first two years in that he postponed English study in favor of everyday entertainment and “had too much fun” [asobisugi] in his surroundings. Moreover, a 33-year-old long-term student with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical systems engineering had “absolutely no interest” in English in the past, similar to many other male engineering students around him when he was at university. When studying at English language school in Japan as part of his preparation for studying abroad, he met two working men of the same engineering background who assumed the same ‘why bother’ attitude. He recalls that those two men “didn’t look so crazy about studying English” even though they occasionally go to the US on business and need English. Another example is a former long-term student with a bachelor’s degree in law, who had been long back in Japan, has stayed in touch with the school staff, and been remembered as an unexceptional Japanese male student. Interviewed in Tokyo for over an hour, he eloquently related that he had hardly dreamt of studying abroad when he was at university where “there are, really, only a bunch of men around”. He remarked, “Why bother? I was having a good time working part-time [at a hotel] and it was giving me a lot more fulfilling experience”. According to the president and female director, who recommended the former student above as a perfect interviewee, the school accepts a group of Japanese “all male” “junior executives” who are sent by a well-known Japanese global electronics company every year for the past 3 to 4 years. They, who are “usually in their 20s and in the later 20s and sometimes early 30s”, sit in tailored business English classes and thus are excluded from the school’s student enrollment data by country (Table 5.1). As mentioned earlier, the school’s Japanese female coordinator, who acts as a liaison to the company, is critical about this group of Japanese businessmen who are “still in the student mood”. The president also argues that Japanese companies’ good international performance and seemingly

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ad-hoc hiring practices generate Japanese men’s ‘why bother’ attitudes towards English study: If employment is, if access to work is difficult because of high unemployment, I will probably invest more in learning English because it will increase my opportunities for employability. But if the level of unemployment [in Japan] is very low as it is right now [. . .], again why should I learn English? So until there is a financial motive, most students will say to themselves, ‘why bother?’ And the Japanese companies were continuing to take employees that they hired and say, “Well, your English isn’t very good, so we’re going to send you over to Canada to learn English”. Japanese students are smart not to learn English because this will wait until the company says, “Okay, here you go, 6 months in [the name of a Canadian city] to learn English”. The president contrasts Japanese companies with European ones that “have a very clear idea of what sorts of standards of English capability are acceptable or required as a minimum for them to employ somebody who is likely to be sent to international positions”. These specific requirements then help overseas ESL schools design effective business English courses. This point is also raised by a female instructor of business English classes at another well-established school with several branches in North America: “They [sent from European companies] are highly motivated. They tell me what they want and you just have to produce for them”. Japanese companies’ employment of monolingual male and female job seekers, either as future executives or time-limited office ladies, dovetails with Japanese higher education’s rather cosmetic approach to ‘globalization’ that can afford to graduate their students without internationally competitive English skills or study-abroad experience. Their rhetorical globalization policy also manifests itself in the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Data on ‘International students in the US’ in 2015/2016: The number of Japanese students who study at American universities (19,060) is dwarfed by that of students from China (328,547), India (165,918), Saudi Arabia (61,287), and even from Japan’s neighbors with smaller populations: South Korea (61,007), Vietnam (21,403), and Taiwan (21,127). The expanding population of Asian counterparts who need English and American college degrees for decent employment back in their country is in contrast to Japanese male students who are enshrined in the maledominant Japanese society and can afford to assume ‘why bother to study English’ attitudes. During the group interview, the Canadian ESL school’s president refers to a point of contradiction between Japanese companies’ non-global hiring policy in favor of monolingual Japanese men and their business success on a global scale: “so obviously they have found the ways to make their businesses successful around the globe. And maybe they have a different approach to human with English need”.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 69 Japanese men’s perceived social pressure to stay in Japan In the meantime, a male ESL instructor, who is recommended by his female director at a university-affiliated ESL center, sympathizes with businessmen in Japanese society by showing his understanding that “It must be difficult for Japanese men to deviate from the path”. In a similar vein, a part-time Japanese female coordinator at a different school, who is her director’s trusted advisor as the one who stays abreast of all the Japanese students at the school, contrasts Japanese men saddled with job responsibilities with Japanese women who possess little to “abandon” or “secure” in Japan. She refers to the sheer number of Japanese women in Canada who have abandoned Japan with no lingering attachment to the country, a country that is “harsh” to women. This Japanese female coordinator also adds that Canada might be more harsh to Japanese men than to Japanese women, witnessing that nearly all the Japanese male students she remembers never fail to return to Japan even when they are not the eldest son in the family and thus are spared the need for taking care of their family business or aging parents. Her inference – that Japanese ESL male students’ decision to go back to Japan crystalizes their realization that Japan is sweeter than Canada for Japanese men – is unlikely to solicit acknowledgement from many Japanese men in Japan who underline family responsibilities foisted onto their shoulders and belittle women’s allegedly carefree life. The former male student interviewed in Tokyo is one of such Japanese men when recalling discouraging words from his colleagues who hear him quitting his full-time position as a travel agent employee and studying abroad (e.g., “Forget it”, “You shouldn’t do that”, “Why on earth?”). He maintained that Japanese men have to work full-time, because otherwise, “people look coldly at you” whereas many job-hopping Japanese women do not have to work fulltime seriously. Mentioning in passing that might smack of gender discrimination, he nonetheless spoke his mind by mimicking Japanese woman’s high-pitched, drawling way of talking (Ohara, 2001): Women can up and quit the job. When asked, “Where are you going after this?”, they would just say, “I’ll try just a tad overseas study” [⤴ high-, rising-pitched, drawling intonation]. And when they come back, they can work part-time, like, “Working as temp is fine with me” [⤴ high-, risingpitched, drawling intonation]. Just like that. That’s not an unlikely scenario for women. But things won’t work like that for men. You have to stay employed, full-time. Otherwise, people look coldly at you, like, “Look at you, you aren’t a full-time worker!?” I guess that’s a social something. This former ESL student’s perspective can be discussed further in light of masculinities. Raewyn Connell, a leading gender scholar, argues that the choice of “deviating from the path” imposes a greater risk upon the mainstream men. Construing such constraint as “the conditions of the advantages”, she contends

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that they “cannot predominate in the capitalist economy without being subject to economic stress and paying for most of the social services” (Connell, 2005, p. 248; emphasis in the original). Furthermore, Connell points out that “Men’s interest in patriarchy is further sustained by women’s investment in patriarchy” (p. 242). This is the case of many young single female workers in Japan who trade in their career for household duties and Japanese female bilinguals who are locally hired by overseas branches of Japanese companies with a small salary and on fixed contracts to report to monolingual well-paid Japanese male expatriates.

Japanese men’s masculine pride and fear of making mistakes In addition to the stories about Japanese male junior executives who are “still in the student mood” during weeks-long English training, the school directors and teachers share another type of Japanese male students with a lackadaisical attitude toward classroom activities. These students are often compared with Japanese female adults who finance their overseas education. The female instructor of business English classes acclaims career-minded Japanese women who are “extrovert” “high achievers” and study abroad for career advancement: “I don’t get kind of shy, quiet, retiring women in business [English classes]. I don’t remember ever, ever having that kind of Japanese women. They do extremely well and they really try to improve”. A Canadian female coordinator of an ESL center affiliated with a renowned university reminisces about her most toilsome encounter with a host of 16–20 Japanese students – “mostly men” – sent by a top-ranked national university’s law and economics department to study with other international students for 4 months. Their “rude” behavior is beyond control of both the teachers who “just tear their hair out” and this coordinator herself who has 12 years’ experience as the coordinator and 2 decades of employment at the center. Her one-shot teaching of special grammar classes designed for them left her a very negative impression that they are “really, really difficult students to handle” and made her wonder, “So they come and they come with so much negative attitude. It’s really weird. Why on earth will you come?” No, we mix them with other students. They have some things that we do specifically for them, like I used to do grammar. But I refused to work with them anymore because they would come to class and there was this one kid who will just take his socks off, lay on the table and wouldn’t do anything. They came to class because they felt that they have to and they will be reprimanded and they will be on some trouble back home if they didn’t but they didn’t do anything. And so they really have become the sort of – and we always call them ‘[The university’s name] Boys’ because, even though it is a mixed sex university, as I said, mostly they are men. Continuing with her unpleasant memory, she speculates that their mere participation in a semester-long study-abroad program is “just one way, maybe, they

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 71 get more credits than they would if they just did one semester study at home”. She then goes on to infer that the unexpected division between their pride as Japan’s top elite male students and their alleged lowest-level English skills is the root cause of their classroom behavior: I think what happens is they are in shock when they realize how low they are. They come with the expectation, feeling, you know, ‘We are from a very, very good university and I’ve studied English at school [for long]’. [. . .] I think they are also very reluctant to accept and admit that they aren’t as good as they thought they were. So instead of saying, ‘Oh god, I should learn English’, they are, ‘Okay, then I’m not going to do anything’. And still because there’s always a fair number of them [. . .], they end up with many, many of them in the same class. Other interview participants recall their encounter with Japanese men whose sense of pride as Japanese men heightens their anxiety of speaking English and making mistakes in class, which is a recipe for futile language learning. The president at a school with several branches has the following to say in the group interview: But picking up on one of [the name of the instructor sitting next to him] themes, it seems to me, in my dealings with Japanese male learners, is that they are really much anxious about their – perhaps fearful, is too strong a word but they are – it seems to me frightened to make mistakes. They are afraid of losing face in front of their colleagues, particularly I think if they have other Japanese race in the classroom and perhaps, more so if there’s a Japanese female student than another Japanese male student. But they’re definitely afraid of losing face through making mistakes. And fear of making mistakes is one of the really great inhibitors of language learning. Willingness to make mistakes is the best strategy they can adapt in language learning because it gives them the opportunity to experiment, find out if something is wrong and have the opportunity for a correct form to be made available. So, this is a huge impediment I believe for Japanese male students to have this anxiety. His outlook is shared by the female instructor who has taught business English classes at another well-reputed school for 6 years. During the earlier half of a two and a half-hour-long interview (12,137-word data), she, who speaks Japanese as her second language and knows “a little bit about Japanese culture”, also identifies a relationship between Japanese male students’ attitudes toward English study and their ‘manliness’: “And I know there is a saying in Japanese which expresses the manliness of a Japanese man, and I think it’s certainly in every student I’ve come across, from the very young 20-year-olds to, I think, the oldest Japanese male I’ve ever had, I think he was 75”. Interestingly, she and another male teacher at a different school both allude to compatible masculine identity between Asian and western men who dread

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admitting their ignorance (e.g., asking someone for directions) and thus resort to “face-saving strategy”, counter to South American male students who “dominate floor” by paying no mind to errors or mistakes in their English output. This cultural difference is mentioned in The Atlantic, a well-known American magazine of cultural and political issues. Featuring the issue of American mainstream teachers’ misapprehension of language-minority students, its online article quotes an immigrant rights advocate who points out gender differences in classroom participation among the population of Central American students (Anderson, 2017): A girl from rural Central America . . . they are taught not to talk back. We have a lot of teachers complaining that the girls don’t participate, they don’t get involved in class. At the same time, we have kids that are very outspoken, because in their culture, male is the voice of authority. So unless [teachers] understand all these little details, it’s very difficult to engage a student.

The mismatch between boys’ preferences and their social responsibilities Later in the interview, the above-mentioned Canadian female instructor of business English draws attention to the unprecedented global demand for foreign language skills in the current era which takes a toll on many male learners of foreign languages around the world who “have no flair for foreign language” but “have to learn it”. She talks extensively about her viewpoint of male language learners who expect in vain to “see real achievements” as they do in engineering and other masculine studies: But the other thing that I find interesting, many years ago, people who learn foreign languages were people who had a flair for foreign languages. They love them because they had this feeling ‘I can learn foreign languages’. Nowadays, people who have no flair for foreign language have to learn it, and this is where all the trouble starts. Because, if you are teaching a foreign language, it’s not like teaching physics or something. They cannot pick it up eventually. Some people can never ever improve. [. . .] And I think you have Japanese males coming in. They are not necessarily people who have a flair for languages. [. . .] I think that’s the one thing that European males, South American males and Japanese and Korean males have in common, [. . .] and the frustration builds when they cannot see real improvement [. . .] They’ve got to see achievement, because obviously, in their own world where they study, engineering or politics, whatever they’re studying, they see real achievements. It goes up steadily and they would get their degree. But in the language, real achievement is difficult to grasp, and if they’re not getting it, if they stay in the same level for many months, the frustration is huge. Gender differences in attitudes towards foreign language study are well documented in the scholarly literature as well (e.g. Carr & Pauwels, 2006; Clark &

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 73 Trafford, 1995; Henry & Apelgren, 2008; Kobayashi, 2002; Lai, 2007; Williams, Burden, & Lanvers, 2002). However, this widespread ideology – ‘Real boys don’t do languages’ (Carr & Pauwels, 2006) – might seemingly eliminate the case of English whose worldwide status as the language worthy of educational investment draws equally large numbers of male and female students from Asian nations to Canadian ESL schools or American colleges, except for students from certain countries (e.g., Japan). That said, as pointed out by the business English teacher, the world’s largest numbers of international students who study in the US and other English-speaking nations are likely to include many male students who unwillingly do so. For instance, a female director at another school shares a story about Chinese male students with “a lot of behavioral problems” who appear to arrive in Canada against their will. Over “98%” of the international students at her school aim for postsecondary education in North America and thus “we are not a pure English language institute” unlike the other four Canadian ESL institutions that participated in my study. She surmises that “it might not be the dream of the students” to study in North America against the wishes of their parents who make “a big sacrifice” to send their children abroad and “count every penny”. She then describes many of their classroom troubles (e.g., working on individual assignments in groups, submitting assignments after deadlines, dozing off in class, demanding make-up assignments to redeem their absenteeism). Their classroom troubles reached the level of urgency at the school at one point where she had to provide “special training” for the baffled teachers, after Chinese students became the dominant group around the year 2000, followed by “a huge push from the middle-class for the past three or four years”. It should be added here though that during the interview sessions none of the presidents, directors, or coordinators referred to the issue of their equality management in education, that is, the fact that they accept unprepared students, while tacitly knowing the consequences, even though Canadian ESL schools themselves have a say in setting their own criterion for student screening. For instance, while moaning at length about “really, really difficult students to handle” from a top-ranked Japanese national university, the seasoned Canadian female coordinator made no reference to her institutional decision to continue accepting those students for the past several years. That is also the case with the aforementioned female director at a pre-college ESL school whose student population is dominated by disobedient Chinese students. One female teacher of business English was the only participant who mumbled anxiously about her school’s recent shift of its focus from quality education to revenues. Her word of disaffection was heard only after our more than a two and a half-hour-long interview and when we were walking to the nearest train station. She succinctly added that the teachers at the well-reputed school with several North American branches are now required to accommodate short-term students/holidaymakers every week, which constrains the teachers from delivering effective teaching.

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English-speaking ASEAN nations as a better choice for Japanese male students with ‘why bother to study English’ attitudes? As discussed in Chapter 3, an increasing number of Japanese engineering and science departments have forged a partnership with ASEAN institutions so as to have (predominantly male) Japanese students work collaboratively with ASEAN students outside classrooms. Moreover, my study conducted at well-reputed private Malaysian university-affiliated ESL centers from November 2016 to March 2017 (Kobayashi, 2017) suggests that English-speaking ASEAN sites could be a (more) feasible destination for Japanese male students who, with ‘why bother’ attitudes toward English study, are disinclined to travel far and spend hundreds of dollars in the first place, and/or for those who are excessively fearful of making English mistakes in front of their peers. To recap, the study data comprises written data from a total of 26 ESL professionals who responded to my online survey questionnaire and interview data garnered from 10 of them. Among 26 instructors and directors who participated in the online survey, all but one respondent provided information about their teaching experience with Japanese and other East Asian learners of English for at least 2 years. Below are some of their descriptions: • • • • • •

“a class of 1–4 Japanese students per intake in the years of 2014 and 2015” “a class of the average number of 5–6 Japanese students per semester for about 3 years now” “a class of around 5 to 10 Japanese, Chinese, Korean students since January 2010” “around 400 Chinese, Japanese and Korean students for 6 consecutive years” “about 25 Japanese students for 2 consecutive years” and “Chinese students from China for almost 10 years now” “between 10–15 (per intake) Japanese and Korean students, mainly adult learners, university and school students, since 2000”

Both the survey respondents and interview participants are resolutely confident that Malaysia’s multilingual atmosphere contributes to the reduction of Japanese students’ anxiety and heightened willingness to speak English with the same Asian fellow schoolmates. Below are samples of some survey responses: •

•

“The benefit that I notice among Japanese students is them [sic] gaining confidence in using the language [English] and being introduced to the many different aspects of inquiring English through a variation of culture in this country”. “The biggest advantage is the fact that most people speak English in these [ASEAN] nations. This situation offers ample chances to practice speaking the language without fear or favors. So when international students come over to study English they are getting the best platform for learning efficiently”.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 75 •

“Here in Malaysia – a multicultural country – students from China, Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries have benefited greatly. They have a chance to be immersed in an ‘international’ environment of learning and using the lingua franca (English) of the globalised world”.

Many research participants also highlight the strength of local Malaysian ESL professionals whose nonnative English speaker status and multilingual background make them “more culturally sensitive” and capable of practicing “more effective delivery in the classroom”. One survey respondent writes: “The English teachers/instructors in Malaysia are also more culturally sensitive and this will be translated to more effective delivery in the classroom”. As quoted in Chapter 3, the same view is reiterated by a Chinese Malaysian male director both in person and writing: Non-native English teachers (e.g. Asian English teachers) could also be a plus factor for Japanese students of the low level proficiency group as these teachers are known to be more cultural sensitive and able to connect or relate with the students better. This will help in making the students more participative in class. Local Malaysians’ and international students’ respect for Japan and Japanese culture is cited as an additional element that can help Japanese students feel at home and engage in communication with them: “Most Malaysians have very high regards for Japanese and Koreans and the students would be treated with much warmth and hospitality during their stay here.”; “Classmates want to know more about Japan, its culture, technology, etc. This creates an environment where the Japanese are nearly always engaged with others from around the world and never alone. Their English and soft skills are exercised”. On the other hand, those supposedly anxiety-reduced classes managed by ‘culturally sensitive’ Malaysian ESL professionals and attended by classmates interested in Japan fall short of transforming Japanese students into verbally active classroom participants: • •

•

•

“They are very quiet. Usually they do not give a response unless they are asked a question. I need to say their name”. “Another challenge [for Japanese students] is the learner-centred classroom. Japanese and Korean students are not used to this style of learning. They are very quiet and take some days/weeks to warm up before they begin to participate in class”. “Some Japanese students are quite reserved and shy in facing students from other nationalities. They do not know how to approach students with a distinct culture. They still stick to their own nationality to feel safe”. “East Asian students have the tendency to keep to themselves, or their groups, hence, not much socializing among the local students may take place”.

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The teachers acknowledge that Japanese and other East Asian students’ reluctance to speak English in class demands the teachers’ extra effort to encourage their English use in class. One Indian Malaysian teacher finds a way to take into account East Asian students’ reticence by drawing on rich multiculturalism in her class. In one of her classes attended by students from Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and Arab countries, she groups them by L1 and has them discuss preparations for a class presentation in their L1 before they give the presentation to the whole class in English and engage in further class discussion. This mixture of mono- and multilingual pedagogy turns out to be highly effective for Japanese students’ development of confidence and friendship, an achievement acknowledged also by the director during her interview session with me. In the meantime, none of the research participants, either in my online survey questionnaire or interview sessions, alludes to their encounter with a new breed of Japanese holidaymakers found at Canadian ESL schools who are keen on extracurricular activities and absent from class and those who unwillingly study abroad and deliberately misbehave in class. Rather, they share stories about a proverbial image of ‘hardworking, obedient and passive’ East Asians: For us teachers, it is another learning experience as we have to know how to bring the best out from the East Asian students who are usually being labeled as the hardworking, obedient and passive students. They have well equipped with all the English grammar knowledge and the skills in handling exams. The challenging part is how to bring them out of their shells and apply their English knowledge in the real world. One exception is the Indian Malaysian teacher above who candidly acknowledges that “well-to-do” Japanese and Muslim students develop drinking habits after school in Kuala Lumpur where alcohol is readily available. Nonetheless, given the surging popularity of English study in English-speaking ASEAN nations among East Asian students and their home-country institutions, it is a matter of time before local ESL professionals come into contact with untraditional Japanese and other East Asian students who are not necessarily ‘hardworking, obedient and passive’ or ‘well equipped with all the English grammar knowledge’. They then might have to rely on their trial-and-error approach because a large body of literature provides insight only into a familiar type of East Asian students who are culturally ‘good-mannered’ and ‘wellintended’, and divert from the western(nized) norm of verbally active students, whether in western ESL contexts or at-home EFL ones (e.g., Liu & Jackson, 2011; Nakane, 2006; Shao & Gao, 2016). Not to mention, the extant literature knowledge is vital to contend with racial discourses that rest on the discriminatory comparison between Asian students and European peers such as “quiet”, “passive”, “sullen-looking”, “alien quality” Asian students as opposed to “great sparky” European students “right on the ball” (Ellwood, 2009, p. 112) (see also, Kobayashi, 2011a). However, such discussion has a risk of essentializing ‘East Asian students’ and leaves no room for discussion of other types of small yet increasing numbers of students.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 77 For example, excluded from the conventional discussion on East Asian students’ performance in EFL/ESL classes would be the Japanese elite male students who make the Canadian female coordinator and her colleagues “just tear their hair out”. These students, who must have been ‘good’ students prior to university admission, can afford to misbehave since the end of entrance exams because their university’s prestigious reputation brand overrides such misconduct which, in fact, entails no adverse consequences for their graduation and employment. Such students are reported to disrupt Japanese and western teachers even at a top-tier private university in Tokyo (Baseel, 2015) and a prestigious national university in Northern Japan (Perry, 2010) (see also Chapter 3). The present chapter that addresses overlooked types of Japanese female and male learners of English provides a new look at ‘Japanese learners of English’ in overseas ESL contexts, ranging from formerly employed young women who strenuously work on their lowest-level English for months without future prospects to Japanese male students who major in masculine areas of studies with ‘why bother to study English’ attitudes. The discussion in this chapter hopes to contribute to ESL professionals’ better understanding of (un)traditional Japanese (fe)male learners of English who (in)voluntarily study English in overseas ESL classes with varying degrees of motivations and future planning.

References Anderson, M. D. (2017, February 28). The nonwhite student behind the white picket fence. The Atlantic. Appleby, R. (2014). Men and Masculinities in Global English Language Teaching. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Bamber, M. (2014). What motivates Chinese women to study in the UK and how do they perceive their experience? Higher Education, 68(1), 47–68. Baseel, C. (2015, October 20). University lecturer calls out his lazy Japanese students, praises his hard-working Chinese ones. Japan Today. Carr, J., & Pauwels, A. (2006). Boys and Foreign Language Learning: Real Boys Don’t Do Languages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Clark, A., & Trafford, J. (1995). Boys into modern languages: An investigation of the discrepancy in attitudes and performance between boys and girls in modern languages. Gender and Education, 7(3), 315–325. Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (Second ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. Ellwood, C. (2009). Uninhabitable identifications: Unpacking the production of racial difference in a TESOL classroom. In R. Kubota & A. Lin (Eds.), Race, Culutre, and Identities in Second Language Education: Exploring Critically Engaged Practice (pp. 101–117). New York: Routledge. Farrer, J. (2010). A foreign adventurer’s paradise? Interracial sexuality and alien sexual capital in reform era Shanghai. Sexualities, 13(1), 69–95. Habu, T. (2000). The irony of globalization: The experience of Japanese women in British higher education. Higher Education, 39(1), 43–66. Henry, A., & Apelgren, B. M. (2008). Young learners and multilingualism: A study of learner attitudes before and after the introduction of a second foreign language to the curriculum. System, 36(4), 607–623.

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Ichimoto, T. (2004). Ambivalent ‘selves’ in transition: A case study of Japanese women studying in Australian universities. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 25(3), 247–269. Kelsky, K. (2001). Women on the Verge: Japanese Women, Western Dreams. Durham: Duke University Press. Kobayashi, Y. (2002). The role of gender in foreign language learning attitudes: Japanese female students’ attitudes towards English learning. Gender and Education, 14(2), 181–197. Kobayashi, Y. (2006). Perspectives from Japanese staff in Canadian ESL schools regarding Japanese students’ groupsim. TESL Canada Journal, 23(2), 40–53. Kobayashi, Y. (2007). Japanese working women and English study abroad. World Englishes, 26(1), 62–71. Kobayashi, Y. (2011a). Applied linguistics research on Asianness. Applied Linguistics, 32(5), 566–571. Kobayashi, Y. (2011b). Expanding-circle students learning ‘standard English’ in the outer-circle Asia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 32(3), 235–248. Kobayashi, Y. (2012). Working adults’ (un)willingness to study L2: Preliminary findings and research issues. In H. Pilay & M. Yeo (Eds.), Teaching Language to Learners of Different Age Groups (Anthology Series 53) (pp. 218–227). Singapore: SEAMEO RELC. Kobayashi, Y. (2017). ASEAN English teachers as a model for international English learners: Modified teaching principles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 682–696. Kubota, R. (2011). Learning a foreign language as leisure and consumption: Enjoyment, desire, and the business of eikaiwa. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 14(4), 473–488. Lai, M. L. (2007). Gender and language attitudes: A case of postcolonial Hong Kong. International Journal of Multilingualism, 4(2), 83–116. Lan, P.-C. (2011). White privilege, language capital and cultural ghetooisation: Western high-skilled migrants in Taiwan. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37(10), 1669–1693. Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2011). Reticence and anxiety in oral English lessons: A case study in China. In L. Jin & M. Cortazzi (Eds.), Researching Chinese Learners: Skills, Perceptions and Intercultural Adaptations (pp. 119–137). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Matsui, M. (1995). Gender role perceptions of Japanese and Chinese female students in American universities. Comparative Education Review, 39(3), 356–378. Nakane, I. (2006). Silence and politeness in intercultural communication in university seminars. Journal of Pragmatics, 38, 1811–1835. Nishio, A. (2012). Naze josei shachou niha ryuugaku keikensha ga ooinoka [Why have Japanese female presidents studied abroad?] [Text in Japanese]. Ryugakukoryu [Student Exchanges] (JASSO Monthly Web Magazine), 14(5), 1–7. Ohara, Y. (2001). Finding one’s voice in Japanese: A study of the pitch levels of L2 users. In A. Pavlenko, A. Blackledge, I. Piller & M. Teutsch-Dwyer (Eds.), Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, and Gender (pp. 231–254). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Perry, C. (2010). Dealing with discipline problems in Japanese university classrooms. NEAR Conference Proceedings Working Papers [North East Asian Regional Language Education Conference Sponsered by JALT Niigata Chapter], 6, 1–18.

(Un)motivation in overseas ESL contexts 79 Shao, Q., & Gao, X. (2016). Reticence and willingness to communicate (WTC) of East Asian language learners. System, 63(3), 115–120. Shin, H. (2016). Language ‘skills’ and the neoliberal English education industry. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 509–522. Stanley, P. (2013). A Critical Ethnography of ‘Westerners’ Teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai. London and New York: Routledge. Teutsch-Dwyer, M. (2001). (Re)constructing masculinity in a new linguistic reality. In A. Pavlenko, A. Blackledge, I. Piller & M. Teutsch-Dwyer (Eds.), Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, and Gender (pp. 175–198). Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Williams, M., Burden, R., & Lanvers, U. (2002). ‘French is the language of love and stuff’: Student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language. British Educational Research Journal, 28(4), 503–528.

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The mismatch between Japan’s strong economy and poor English education

The economy and English investment in South Korea and Japan: how do the two nations differ? South Korea’s middle- to upper-middle households make investments in early study abroad and overseas higher education in order for their children to be hired by Korea’s leading companies (Kang, 2012; Park & Bae, 2009; Shin, 2016; Song, 2011, 2012). Shin (2016) reviews and argues that South Korean families’ frantic investment in their children’s English study and the proliferation of the English education industry have manifested themselves in various contexts and ways. For example, Korean Air provides the ‘Flying Mom’ service for minor children who (are forced by their parents to) travel to the inner- or outer-circle nations on their own to attend intensive English study programs that are managed by the flourishing jogi yuhak [early study abroad] industry in Korea and abroad (pp. 510–511). Another example, that has been reported by the western media as well, is South Korean ‘goose’ families whose fathers and mothers opt to have separate lives in Korea and abroad for the sake of their children’s early English education in the inner- or outer-circle nations so as to “gain edge in ‘brutal’ education system” (Reed, 2015) back in Korea even if such family choice is documented to result in the parents’ and children’s sense of isolation and stress (Onish, 2008; Reed, 2015). South Korean parents’ relentless child-rearing practices with the goal of educating them as marketable global human resources emanated from its “entry to OECD, or to the globalized market economy” in 1996 and “the vulnerability of its economy to foreign capital”, followed by its humiliating IMF Crisis that “led the [debt-ridden] Korean government to sign the IMF bailout packages” in 1997 (Shin, 2016, p. 512). The nation has been also agitated by a sense of vulnerability, “increasingly being squeezed between the larger economies of Japan and China” (Onish, 2008). According to the World Bank data base, the percentage of trade in relation to GDP in the year 2015 is high in South Korea (85%) and other nations with small domestic markets that thus have to sustain their economic growth by selling the largest amounts of products to overseas consumers (e.g., Vietnam 179%, Switzerland 114%, Saudi Arabia 73%). Export items include not only natural resources and manufactured goods but also cultural contents known as ‘soft power’. Highly

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dependent on foreign trade for its GDP, the South Korea government has made immense investments in the creation and export of Korean pop culture, yielding the worldwide vogue of ‘Korean Wave’ (Ravina, 2009). As a nation with a small domestic market, South Korea also has an increased need for human resources who can deliver in the competitive global businesses, pressuring its young nationals to obtain English skills and degrees in marketable areas of studies (e.g., business) so as to secure employment with top-brand companies, which vastly depend on foreign trade. Accordingly, South Korea is the third largest sender of its students (63,710) to American universities in 2015–2016, followed only by China and India (Institute of International Education, 2016), and Korean and KoreanAmericans “enjoy a high status” back in South Korea because “they possess a crucial tool for globalization, that is, their knowledge of English” (Grant & Lee, 2009, p. 53). Overall, the cross-border educational migration epitomizes Korea’s high dependency on foreign trade and its high demand for English-speaking Koreans with degrees from globally competitive institutions. In contrast, Japan, with more than double the population of South Korea, sent only a third of its students (19,064) to the US in the same year (Institute of International Education, 2016), and neither Japanese nor Japanese Americans with American college degrees can expect a hero’s welcome from Japanese leading companies. Japan’s obsession with English study is distinct, at least, from the South Korean one in that many Japanese do not migrate to English-speaking nations for early or higher education, and top-tier university students who graduate with little practical English skills are sought after by Japan’s large companies. Monolingual college graduates’ successful employment then grants their university English teachers maximum leeway to teach English in their own way, whether it is English literature translation, linguistic comparison between Japanese and English, or everyday conversation modeled after American English. Bill Emmott, a former editor of The Economist, explains that Japan’s large middle-class domestic market decreases its need to rely on foreign trades or overseas-educated English-speaking elites: “Japan is not a very globalized country at all. For an island economy to be engaged in trade (imports plus exports) equivalent to only 28% of GDP in 2006 is surprising. . . . English, the language of globalization, is taught in all Japanese schools. But just as few Britons emerge from school able to converse in French despite years of supposed study, so few Japanese emerge confident in English” (Emmott, 2008, p. 116). Japanese nationals’ massive household savings have also shored up Japan’s financial independence in the world and its economy prosperity over the four decades: Savings deposits [in Japan] had successively financed the enormous investments required for industrial expansion and the budget deficits of the 1970s. . . . Japan, the world’s largest creditor nation, was accumulating substantial foreign assets and running both a balance of payments and a budget surplus, while its financial institutions were expanding internationally. . . . Tokyo overtook New York as the world’s biggest stock market in 1987, the

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Thus, facts and figures show that Japan’s economic prosperity from the 1970s to the early 2000s was achieved by the lucrative household savings and the worldclass affluent domestic market, which financed the cutting-edge technological innovation and created well-paid jobs, which then allowed the nation to rely little on English-speaking human capital. Accordingly, in spite of the globally fixed image of Japan as a world-scale exporter, many monolingual Japanese nationals obtained a decent job and started a middle-class family. Indeed, English has never cemented itself as societal capital required for Japan’s future elites and nonelites, ever since the postwar resurrection period (1950s) through the years of ‘miraculous’ economic growth (1960s) and up to the era as the world’s second(1968–2010) and third-largest economy (2010–2017) in the world. Nonetheless, economic accounts succumb to the worldwide image of Japan as a global trading power that, just like South Korea, depends on trade surplus and thus fuels its nation-wide English craze. Many correlate Japan’s seemingly high trade dependency with its seemingly strong English needs by citing Japan’s years-long English education, its nationals’ interest in the topic of English study, and so on. Such a correlation would be well received among many laypeople and language education researchers who are unconversant with, or purposefully overlook, the fact that Japan has been the world’s top-ranked economy even though the majority of its policymakers and businesspeople are monolinguals educated in domestic schooling. As someone who notices the mismatch between Japan’s economic power and its leading companies’ monolingual hiring practices, the president of a large-scale Canadian ESL school wonders: “so obviously they [Japanese global companies staffed with monolingual Japanese businessmen] have found a way to make their business successful around the world with. And maybe they have a different approach to deal with English” (interview data, 2007). Furthermore, while providing a multifaceted insight into issues germane to South Korea’s educational investments (e.g., the English divide, the corporatization of higher education), a growing body of studies on South Korean children’s educational migration (Kang, 2012; Park & Bae, 2009; Shin, 2016; Song, 2011, 2012) fail to articulate that it is not a pronounced tendency in every East Asian nation. For example, one of the leading studies in early study abroad, Song (2011), rather misleadingly argues that it “has been very popular in traditional Expanding Circle countries (Kachru, 1992), especially with middle-class families in East Asia such as Chinese and Korean families” (p. 749), begetting the misunderstanding that such migration is practiced extensively by East Asian parents and their children. The comprehensive discussion on the ‘East Asian’ English craze warrants caution because such generalization overly distorts the power of English ideology as if it could have a categorical and universal power to dictate numerous East Asian students’ English study attitudes and career opportunities. In fact, the English craze has exerted varying degrees of impact on East Asian learners of English,

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depending on, at least, their individual differences (e.g., socioeconomic status, exposure to (non)native English) and their home country’s economic structure (e.g., foreign trade dependency, companies’ hiring practices). Stimulated by the intricate and yet overlooked mismatch among Japan’s years-long English education, poor English results, and world-class economic performance, the next section starts with the review of Suzuki (1999), one of the longtime sellers whose title is the most asked question, Why are Japanese Poor at English?, and explores whether or not Suzuki (1999) attends to the perplexing coexistence between Japanese’ internationally subdued English proficiency and Japan’s world-class economic performance.

The bestselling Japanese book on Japan’s poor English (Suzuki, 1999) Takao Suzuki, Emeritus Professor of linguistics at Keio University, is one of the most prolific and bestselling authors of Japanese publications on Japanese people’s better relationship with English. His decades-long dissemination of opinions to the general public in Japan has been well received in the Japanese book market where his paperback books are always found on the shelves at physical and online bookstores. Among dozens of his bestselling publications, Suzuki (1999) has been reprinted 18 times for 16 years, presumably because of his nationwide fame as Japan’s authority in his field and its irresistible book title: Why are Japanese Poor at English? Gottlieb (2005), reviewing this book that “attracted considerable attention in 1999”, summarizes his main argument of “elites-only approach” that high-quality English education should be provided only for those who professionally need English for the benefit of national and corporate interests: Suzuki Takao [. . .] believes strongly that Japan should concentrate on fostering just a small group of advanced-level English speakers and at the same time defend its own “linguistic sovereignty.” An advanced ability to interact in English is not altogether a good thing, he argues, if it means that on the international scene high-level Japanese politicians converse in English with their international counterparts rather than in Japanese through interpreters. To do this cedes power to the English camp rather than defending linguistic equality for the Japanese. [. . . .] This is not to say, however, that he does not support English education for Japanese. He does, but envisages an elite body of globalized Japanese capable of interacting at high levels of proficiency in English rather than a broader base of less-proficiency citizens. Suzuki would restrict English-language education to those Japanese working in fields with a requirement for substantial international contact, such as politics, business, scientific research and engineering, who have a pressing need to speak English and ought to be able to speak it fluently. The majority of Japanese having no real need to speak English at all, government spending on English-language education could be more usefully diverted to other areas. (pp. 68–69)

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Rather surprisingly, Suzuki’s longtime bestselling book, Why are Japanese Poor at English?, devotes only a few pages in the Introduction to this most asked question. He succinctly argues that Japanese college graduates with years-long English study have shockingly low English proficiency to the point where they are incapable of showing foreign tourists the way in English (p. 1) because, first, English is a difficult language for Japanese speakers and, second, ordinary life in Japan does not require English (pp. 2–5). The rest of the book’s content is more about his call for what he conceptualizes as the Japanese way of learning and speaking Japanese-style English [nihonshiki eigo] for the purpose of Japan’s national interests. After criticizing Japanese people’s longing [akogare] for foreign language in Chapter 1 (pp. 7–22), Chapter 2 (pp. 23–50) redefines the purpose of English education (i.e., not an assimilation into the western English-speaking world but the dissemination of Japan to the world); Chapter 3 (pp. 51–66) advocates the conception of “English as an international auxiliary language”, not “Native English” or “Ethnic English”; Chapter 4 (pp. 67–93) stresses the need for multilingual foreign language education by offering more Asian and Arabic languages (e.g., Arabic, Persian, Malay, Indonesian), diversifying Japan’s foreign language education dominated by a few western languages (English, German, French) and cultivating global human resources who can work for the national interest in the power-shifting, non-western parts of the world. Chapter 5 (pp. 95–139), the longest chapter, provides more detail about his ideal English reform (e.g., the introduction of textbooks designed for the cultivation of Japanese nationals who can transmit information about Japan to the world) and corresponding teaching practices (e.g., the use of Japan’s English newspapers, not western ones, the exclusion of ‘international understanding’ from English study objectives); Chapter 6 (pp. 141–163) points out Japanese people’s longing [akogare] for English conversation [eikaiwa] with westerners, criticizing the Ministry of Education’s policy of hiring westerners as assistant English teachers as “very dangerous” (p. 142), and claims that ‘the American style’ (e.g., American English, American communication styles) is not universal and that Japanese learners of English should engage in English communication in the Japanese way; Chapter 7 (pp. 165–173), the shortest chapter, and Chapter 8 (pp. 175–194) reiterate his call to disseminate Japanese culture and values to the world in Japanese-style English. As pointed out by Gottlieb (2005), Suzuki’s (1999) third and, most likely, primary answer to the question ‘Why are Japanese poor at English?’ would be Japan’s failure to employ an “elites-only approach”. According to Suzuki (1999), the implementation of all-inclusive English education for every schooler is doomed from the start, because the majority of Japanese learners of English are faced with no professional English needs, thus wasting the government budget and hindering the efficiency of English education. The current English education should be, he believes, replaced by elite education designed for budding professionals who speak ‘Japanese-style English’ and work for the cause of national interests.Professor Masayoshi Harasawa, Department of English, Keio University, who could have been Suzuki’s (1926– ) colleague on the same campus in

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the 1970s, also made a similar suggestion four decades ago in his ELT Journal article’s concluding section: Another important issue is that of making English an elective rather than a compulsory subject, even in higher education. This must imply the possibility of the universities and/or senior high schools voluntarily eliminating English from their entrance examinations. If this were done it would certainly change the whole picture and serve to make our English teaching the [sic] more effective, because, on the one hand, the average motivation and linguistic aptitude of students of English would rise and, on the other, they would work harder and more willingly, having chosen to study English rather than having been forced to do so. It has been absurd trying to teach English to the whole population, as we have so far been doing. If this ceases, I shall be more optimistic about the prospects of English in this country. (Harasawa, 1974, pp. 78–79) A leading Japanese scholar of English imperialism, Tsuda, also claims that “English should be made an optional subject only for kids who want to learn the language” (Tonedachi, 2010). Moreover, Suzuki’s (1999) opposition to English education for the purpose of ‘international understanding’ (pp. 95–109) illegitimatizes the majority of Japanese learners of English, including many Japanese college women who, bound to be hired as clerical office ladies, study English in spite of the slim chance of using English for professional purposes. Reprinting Suzuki (1999) for more than 15 years implies that Suzuki’s “outspoken” call for “elites-only approach” (Gottlieb, 2005, p. 68) remains distinct from the rest of the mainstream discussion that theoretically espouses the equality of English education opportunity, ascribes Japan’s English education misstep to politically correct factors such as grammar-focused entrance exams, and suggests corresponding reforms supposedly designed for its nationals from all walks of life. For example, Terasawa (2017) calls for the Japanese government to “implement a highly drastic measure for eliminating the English divide”, which is “yielded by socioeconomic gaps” and “makes a large difference in terms of exposure to English language lessons and produces gaps in English proficiency”: Considering this indirect reproduction process, equal opportunities of access to English skills in a substantive sense can be created by reducing general educational inequalities. Governments, if taking this issue seriously, should take some affirmative actions, which will provide larger financial and educational resources for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. (p. 682) The dominance of this egalitarian discussion in the language education community comes as no surprise because the language policy truism – that the mandatory foreign language education in schooling alone cannot transform all the

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pupils into successful target language users, however well-planned and deftly delivered it is (Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997, pp. 128–129) – could be construed as a sign of imprudent tolerance towards ethical particularism. While critical of Japan’s all-inclusive English education, however, neither Harasawa (1974) nor Suzuki (1999) wonders why the product of Japan’s non-elite English education, i.e., Japanese monolingual college graduates with a poor command of English, made their way in the real world, contributing to the world’s second-largest economy from the 1970s to early 2000s. In other words, while stating matter-of-factly that Japanese college graduates’ English proficiency is too low to show foreign tourists the way in English (p. 1), Suzuki (1999) overlooks the incompatibility between uncompetitive English education at Japan’s topranked universities and those monolingual elite students’ access to professional life (e.g., elite businesspersons, government bureaucrats). Suzuki’s (1999) silence about the disunion between Japanese elite college students’ low English proficiency and their employment with Japan’s renowned institutions bears a resemblance to many other conventional, non-economic discussions. Even a small number of studies on Japanese university English teachers are similar in kind in that there is no economic discussion involved. For instance, Harasawa (1974), in one of the oldest discussions on the dominance of English literature scholars and grammar-translation believers at Japanese universities, is critical of them and yet provides no clues as to why they are at liberty to teach such ‘English’ classes (see Chapter 1). That is, he acrimoniously critiques “what I might call academic prejudice on the part of the teachers, especially those at higher level”, arguing that “Many of our academics despise anything practical”, “devote themselves entirely to the pursuit of obscure theories”, exhibit “excessive fondness for hair-splitting discussion of grammatical details”, and “neglect them [students] so irresponsibly” (p. 75). And yet, no discussion ensues in Harasawa (1974) as to why supposedly hapless university students who “come under the instruction of such egocentric teachers” (p. 75) and make little or none English improvements can make a smooth transition into one of the world’s largest economies as a cadre of monolingual elites. On the other hand, unlike Harasawa (1974) and a limited amount of discussion on Japan’s university English education, most discussion on Japan’s flawed English education attends to English teaching from primary to secondary education as the primary culprit for its nationals’ poor English proficiency as if eschewing the mystery of Japan’s college English education that is no longer thwarted by infamous entrance exams and has yet to produce students with internationally competitive English skills, who, however, are marketable in the Japanese job market. That said, it stands to reason that the mainstream discussion focuses on Japan’s poor exam-oriented English education prior to higher education because an acknowledgement of higher education’s poor English education and many semi-monolingual college students’ high employment rate is tantamount to rendering college English teachers’ existence moot. Studies of critical pedagogy are also partially uncritical about the reality that English teachers at Japanese schools can exercise their own discretion in teaching

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‘English’ because Japan’s ‘English’ education purposes and outcomes have been independent of Japan’s decades-long global prosperity bolstered by the monolingual Japanese workforce. Hashimoto (2007) argues that “English is adopted only as a tool so that the values and traditions embedded in the Japanese culture will be retained, and cultural independence will be ensured” (p. 27) while Yoshino (2002) contends that Japanese teachers of English play a vital role in teaching distinct differences between Japanese and English, between the Japanese way of thinking and the western one, and implanting into pupils a sense of Japaneseness. These studies imply, ironically, that the site of Japan’s English classes could be an ideal venue for those who aspire to teach English for their own purposes (e.g., nationalism-oriented education, western literature appreciation, grammatical scrutiny) without worrying about their education’s (non) contribution to their students’ English acquisition or job prospects.

Japan’s non-elite English education and semi-monolingual English teachers The de-facto compulsory English education for every student at school translates into a great many English teaching jobs and thus favors the language teachers who can then secure their employment and voice the demand for more teachers even if that increase is composed of novice teachers with lack of English proficiency and teacher training. In fact, this situation, where semi-monolingual Japanese teachers of ‘English’ are not a rare presence at Japanese schools, has not changed over the decades. As cited in Chapter 1, Harasawa (1974) names Japan’s English education’s lax teacher training as one of the “grave defects in our teaching of English”: Another is concerned with the professional training of teachers. There are some 70,000 teachers of English, including 4,500 in the universities, and I suspect that many of them are unqualified or only partly qualified. Our qualifying system is so loose and easygoing that any university graduate, however dull, can become a qualified teacher so long as he obtains during his undergraduate years a certain limited number of credits, coupled with brief and very perfunctory practice in teaching. (pp. 74–75) Four decades after the publication of Harasawa (1974), Japan’s English teachers continue to be limited in their command of English. Here, some space is allocated to Japan’s Ministry of Education’s recent data on Japanese secondary-education English teacher’s English proficiency. Since 2015, Japan’s Ministry of Education has conducted a nationwide ‘survey on the implementation of English education reforms’ [eigo kyouiku kaizen jittshi joukyou chousa] with over 9,000 public junior high schools and more than 3,000 public senior high schools to garner English classroom data (e.g., the frequency of English-medium activities, Japanese teachers’ English use, the presence of ALT or native-English-speaking assistant language

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teachers, students’, and teachers’ English proficiency by prefecture). The results, open to the public on the Ministry’s homepage, are also featured in the national news media, including online English newspaper articles: “Many of Japan’s English teachers miss proficiency benchmark” (Nikkei Asian Review, 2016); “Ministry study: Long way to go for English levels in public schools” (Asahi Shimbun, 2016); Japan Times’ “Japan’s latest English-proficiency scores disappoint” (Aoki, 2017). The national survey measures Japanese students’ and teachers’ English proficiency by the Test in Practical English Proficiency called EIKEN. Its previously administered tests are freely downloadable from its website. EIKEN is predominantly adopted by schools in primary to secondary education. Eiken Foundation of Japan’s English website states, as of April 2017, that EIKEN has been administered to a total of 90 million examinees since 1963 and that there are 2.3 million test-takers annually “with the backing of” the Ministry of Education and “in cooperation with Japanese prefectural and local boards of education, public and private schools”. As shown in Table 6.1, EIKEN has 7 grades with the equivalent 5 levels of CEFR or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. EIKEN’s highest Grade 1 is equivalent to CEFR’s second-highest level C1, not the highest C2. Put plainly, EIKEN’s highest Grade 1 certificate holders, who “are expected to be able to understand and use the English necessary to participate effectively in a wide range of social, professional, and educational situations” (EIKEN’s official English website), might not be on par with CEFR’s highest C2 achievers who have “the capacity to deal with material which is academic or cognitively demanding, and to use language to good effect at a level of performance which may in certain respects be more advanced than that of an average native speaker” (CEFR’s official website). The Ministry’s fiscal 2016 survey (MEXT, 2016) reveals that75% for senior high school teachers and 50% for junior high school peers failed to pass the EIKEN Pre-1 Grade test, which is the Ministry’s benchmark for Japanese English teachers. The date across 47 municipal prefectures and city governments in Japan also unveils

Table 6.1 EIKEN grades and level comparison EIKEN grade CEFR comparison

Examples of recognition/use

1

C1

Pre-1

B2

International admissions to graduate and undergraduate programs; MEXT benchmark for English instructions (EIKEN Pre-1)

2

B1

Pre-2

A2

3 4

MEXT benchmarks for high school graduates MEXT benchmark for junior high school graduates

A1

5 Note: The table above is reproduced from EIKEN’s official English website, www.eiken.or.jp/ eiken/en/grades/, on April 1, 2017; MEXT stands for The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

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regional divisions, which are listed in Tables 6.2 and 6.3. The percentage of junior high school teachers with the EIKEN Pre-1 Grade ranges from 56.3% in Fukui Prefecture to 15.6% in Iwate Prefecture, an average of 32%; the percentage of senior high school teachers also varies from 89.1% in Kagawa and 85.8% in Fukui down to 45.6% in Fukushima, an average of 62.2%. The best-performing Fukui Prefecture, ranked the highest in 2015 as well as in 2016, is known for its highest secularistic achievements in Japan. Calling itself “the Center of Education in Table 6.2 Japan’s junior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders Japan’s 47 prefectural and city governments

The percentage of junior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders in the fiscal 2016

Fukui

56.3

Tokushima, Toyama, Tokyo

Respectively 49.3, 47.9, 46.7

Hiroshima, Ishikawa, Shiga, Okinawa, Saga, Miyazaki, Oita, Nara, Yamaguchi, Niigata, Kyoto, Mie, Chiba, Shimane, Aichi, Kumamoto, Kagawa, Ehime

39.3 down to 30.4

Osaka, Nagasaki, Okayama, Kagoshima, Akita, Kanagawa, Tochigi, Shizuoka, Hyogo, Wakayama, Hokkaido, Nagano, Fukuoka, Miyagi, Saitama, Kochi, Gunma

29.8 to 25.9

Ibaragi, Yamagata, Gifu, Aomori, Tottori

24.7 to 20.7

Yamanashi, Fukushima, Iwate

Respectively, 19.9, 18.2, 15.6

Table 6.3 Japan’s senior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders Japan’s 47 prefectural and city governments

The percentage of senior high school teachers’ EIKEN Pre-1 Grade holders in the fiscal 2016

Kagawa

89.1

Fukui, Ishikawa, Kumamoto, Toyama

85.8 down to 81.2

Ehime, Saga, Hiroshima, Nagano, Gifu, Miyazaki, Tottori, Yamanashi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Kyoto

79.4 to 70

Okinawa, Gunma, Nagasaki, Oita, Shizuoka, Mie, Yamaguchi, Hyogo, Shiga, Ibaragi, Osaka, Aichi, Okayama

68.2 to 60.2

Kanagawa, Niigata, Fukuoka, Kochi, Aomori, Tochigi, Akita, Saitama, Nara, Shimane, Kagoshima, Yamagata, Iwate

59.4 to 51.7

Miyagi, Hokkaido

Respectively 49.9, 49.7

Chiba, Wakayama, Fukushima

Respectively 46.1, 45.9, 45.6

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Japan” on its English website, the snow-country prefecture triumphantly declares that frequent visits are paid by groups of domestic and overseas educational delegates: “In one year, more than 2,000 teachers from all over Japan and overseas visit Fukui to observe classes and learn about education in the prefecture”; “In June 2015, members of WALS (World Association of Lesson Studies) visited Fukui for a Lesson Study Immersion Program lasting three days. They observed classes and joined in lesson discussions with teachers”. Overall, the population of Japanese teachers of English in secondary education continues to be staffed with many who are below the EIKEN Pre-1 Grade level and thus unable to “understand and use the English necessary to participate effectively in a wide range of social, professional, and educational situations” (EIKEN’s official English website). The aforementioned newspaper article summarizes: “A review of English-language education at Japanese public schools shows that teachers need improvement as well as their students, with fewer than one-third of middle school instructors having passed proficiency tests at a high level” (Nikkei Asian Review, 2016). A word of caution is that the wording “a high level” is misleading because the national survey asks if Japanese English teachers have attained the EIKEN’s second-highest grade (Pre-1), not Grade 1 which is lower than CEFR’s highest C2. So far, many Japanese teachers of English are free from any sanction against their limited English skills, which could partly account for the survey results.

Japan’s (same-old) poor English and its (more recent) dwindling economy As discussed above, the years from the 1970s to the early 2000s witnessed no discussion in the language education domain on the pronounced gap between Japan’s world-class economy and its infamously poor English education (and semi-monolingual Japanese teachers of English). Japan’s robust economy and abundant fiscal resources permitted the English teaching community to be committed to the malfunctioning English education for decades undaunted by the high probability of a doomed effort. However, since Japan’s ‘bubble economy’ collapsed in the early 1990s and its international standing as the world’s second economy was overtaken by China in 2011, the mismatch has become a thing of the past, and both economic performance and language education are officially on a low note. Some scholars as well as laypeople have started attributing Japan’s sluggish economy to poor English education, claiming that effective English education works in synergy with Japan’s economic revitalization, while being silent on the long incompatibility between Japan’s three-decades-long economic glory since the 1970s and English education’s consistently lackluster performance: In the past decade, Japan has experienced economic stagnation and struggled to find solutions to overcome the causes of its economic malaise. A common political discourse which purports to address this economic downturn has been that Japan has no choice but to accept globalization, and hence is

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forced to modify its economic and social structure to compete with other economic powers in the world. It is widely believed that Japanese people must be equipped with better communicative skills in English and that raising the ability to communicate with foreigners is a key remedial measure to boost Japan’s position in the international economic and political arena. (Butler & Iino, 2005, pp. 25–26) It is probable that this recent discourse on the causal relationship between Japan’s poor English education and its economic decline will be reproduced by all the parties concerned from now on. First of all, this cause-and-effect logic would be embraced by English education policymakers who, by drumming up support for English education amid Japan’s supposedly national crisis, can secure an ample budget for English education reforms. University English teachers might also welcome this English education-economy causality because it could help them fend off criticism over liberal arts English programs and instead accentuate the significance of university English education without shedding light on the fact that many of those teachers feel stigmatized in their assigned role as ‘practical English teachers’ (see Chapter 1 and Chapter 2). The English teaching industry would also tap into job-seekers’ and employees’ feelings of growing insecurity about their companies’ in-house English policies and increased employment of foreign workers so as to maximize their sales of English study products (e.g., TOEIC preparation materials, online business English lessons, study abroad tours). Meanwhile, the business news media has been mixed in terms of their stance on the (non)relation between Japan’s economic downturn and its consistently ineffective English education. First of all, most business articles on Japan’s sluggish economy allocate no space to the issue of formal English education but rather focus on a number of fiscal and monetary problems. The frequency of such business reports has reached a point where even laypeople and non-economic scholars are to some extent informed about the economic and structural reasons behind Japan’s deterioration: (1) the declining birthrate and a shrinking population of young people, which saps Japan’s strong domestic consumption; (2) the rapidly aging population, which places an immense burden on Japan’s social welfare and pension expenses, and public services; (3) Japan’s enormous national debt – the worst among other developed nations – and deflation, that hinder the expected results from a series of economic policies; and (4) the unprecedentedly competitive global market characterized by the emerging Asian economies, that deals a blow to Japan’s losing competitive edge, etc. Second, Japan’s leading business magazines repetitively showcase successful stories of Japanese companies’ in-house English reforms that transform their monolingual employees into those who confidently use English as a working language (see Chapter 7 for further details). The Economist’s online article refers to Sony that “has long insisted that workers be able to explain the workings of its products in English”; Rakuten, “an e-commerce giant with operations in 30 countries” that “decreed that English should become the firm’s main language”;

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Honda that “said last year that by 2020 it too will make the linguistic shift” (“Learning English in Japan: The government hopes to boost the economy with English lessons”, August 25, 2016). Furthermore, The Japan Times, Japan’s leading English newspaper, carries an online article, “Rakuten forges ahead in English” (May 23, 2015), publicizing that the business world’s English policies and practices override formal English education tainted with images of decadeslong unproductivity: E-commerce giant Rakuten has managed to do what the educational system apparently can’t – get Japanese people to speak English competently. After years of Rakuten building the English level of its employees, Chief Executive Officer Hiroshi Mikitani noted recently that the effort has finally paid off. [. . .] Mikitani has based his company’s global expansion on employees following an English-only policy, which the company calls “Englishnization.” All meetings, presentations, documents, training sessions and emails inside the company are conducted entirely in English. More than almost any other company in Japan, Rakuten has radically transformed its corporate policies – indeed its corporate culture – to embrace English as its working language. [. . .]It is important for the government, education and business to understand that English is not just a practical way of doing business, but involves a turn outward to search for new ways of thinking about doing business. The hopeful business news of Japanese corporate English policies yielding tangible results could be both good and bad news for English educators. It might be a blessing especially for university scholars who defy practical English teaching in, what they believe, a venue of ‘higher’ and more academic education. After all, providing that Japan’s dire economic straits afford no time to spare and Japanese companies can do “what the educational system apparently can’t”, what is the point of striving in vain to provide practical English classes in formal education? And yet, Japanese teachers of English should know better than to celebrate the news of Japanese companies’ fruitful in-house English policies because such achievement could discredit the significance of college English teachers. Japan’s global position as the world’s second-largest economy over four decades rendered English-speaking global talents ideologically important but practically peripheral. But now that the domestic market has been graying and shrinking, Japan’s success formula reliant on the Japanese style no longer works. Optimistically speaking, Japan’s dwindling domestic market and losing battle against the emerging economies around the world could finally galvanize Japan’s elites to revamp its monolingual systems and open its door to non-traditional talent, including a large number of career-minded Japanese women who have been excluded from the mainstream job responsibilities and expected to resign after marriage and pregnancy (see Chapters 4 and 8). In other words, the drawn-out recession and intense global competition might work for the better by leading Japan to take the first baby-step before finally parting ways with the Japanesemale-dominant hegemonic culture to create a more equal and diverse society

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where willingness to work globally substantially matters. The next several decades will surely render a decision on the hypothesis. The coming decades will be a new era, especially for Japan’s English education and concerned parties. As discussed in Chapter 1, Japan’s Ministry of Education’s English policy statements for higher education are increasingly selective and financially focused on the top-tier ‘key’ universities that remain left behind in the global competitiveness. Worthy of future scrutiny is whether or not the unprecedentedly financially pressed Japan will veer to competitive elitism, and how or to what extent Japan’s English education from primary to higher education will (not) change in the wake of, on the one hand, the seemingly promising and yet risky discourse that Japan’s good English education can make the economy strong again and, on the other, the business news that Japanese companies can weather a crisis on their own without any help from formal English education (see Chapter 7 for further details). Suffice it to say that any critical discussion on Japan’s English education has been a blessing in disguise for the language teaching community because the reproduction of such discussion ascertains at least that Japan’s English education and its numerous teachers remain excused from displacement, at least for the moment (see also, Miñana, 2017, a discussion paper on the crisis of language departments at American colleges).

References Aoki, M. (2017, April 6). Japan’s latest English-proficiency scores disappoint. The Japan Times. Asahi Shimbun (2016, April 5). Ministry study: Long way to go for English levels in public schools. Asahi Shimbun. Butler, Y. G., & Iino, M. (2005). Current Japanese reforms in English language education: The 2003 ‘action plan’. Language Policy, 4, 25–45. Emmott, B. (2008). Rivals: How the Power Struggle between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade. London: Penguin Books. Gottlieb, N. (2005). Language and Society in Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Grant, R. A., & Lee, I. (2009). The ideal English speaker: A juxtaposition of globalization and language policy in South Korea and racialized language attitudes in the United States. In R. Kubota & A. Lin (Eds.), Race, Culture, and Identities in Second Language Education: Exploring Critically Engaged Practice (pp. 44–63). New York: Routledge. Harasawa, M. (1974). A critical survey of English language teaching in Japan: A personal view. ELT Journal, 29(1), 71–79. Hashimoto, K. (2007). Japan’s language policy and the ‘lost decade’. In A. B. M. Tsui & J. W. Tollefson (Eds.), Language Policy, Culture, and Identity in Asian Contexts (pp. 25–36). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Institute of International Education (2016). Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Washington, D.C.: Institute of International Education. Kachru, B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English across Cultures. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

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Kang, Y. (2012). Singlish or globish: Multiple language ideologies and global identities among Korean educational migrants in Singapore. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16(2), 165–183. Kaplan, R. B., & Baldauf, R. B. J. (1997). Language Planning from Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Kobayashi, Y. (2013). Global English capital and the domestic economy: The case of Japan from the 1970s to early 2012. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34(1), 1–13. MEXT (2016). The Fiscal 2016 Survey on the Implementation of English Education Reforms [Heisei 28 nendo eigo kyouiku kaizen jittshi joukyou chousa]. Tokyo: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Meyer, C. (2010). China or Japan: Which Will Lead Asia? (A. Shaw, Trans.). London: Hurst & Company. Miñana, R. (2017). Making change happen: The new mission and location of language departments. Modern Language Journal, 101(2), 413–423. Nikkei Asian Review (2016, April 5). Many of Japan’s English teachers miss proficiency benchmark. Nikkei Asian Review. Onish, N. (2008, June 8). For English studies, Koreans say goodbye to dad. The New York Times. Park, J. S.-Y., & Bae, S. (2009). Language ideologies in educational migration: Korean jogi yuhak families in Singapore. Linguistics and Education, 20, 366–377. Ravina, M. (2009). Introduction: Conceptualizing the Korean wave. Southeast Review of Asian Studies, 31, 3–9. Reed, B. (2015, June 16). ‘Wild geese families’: Stress, loneliness for South Korean families heading overseas to gain edge in ‘brutal’ education system. ABC [Australia] News Online. Shin, H. (2016). Language ‘skills’ and the neoliberal English education industry. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 509–522. Song, J. (2011). Globalization, children’s study abroad, and transnationalism as an emerging context for language learning: A new task for language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 45(4), 749–758. Song, J. (2012). Imagined communities and language socialization practices in transnational space: A case study of two Korean ‘study abroad’ families in the United States. The Modern Language Journal, 96(4), 507–524. Suzuki, T. (1999). Nihonjin wa naze eigo ga dekinai ka [Why Are Japanese Poor at English?]. Tokyo: Iwananmi. Terasawa, T. (2017). Has socioeconomic development reduced the English divide? A statistical analysis of access to English skills in Japan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(8), 671–685. Tonedachi, M. (2010, October 16). Interview/Yukio Tsuda: Stop being ‘happy slaves’ of English hegemoy. Asahi Shimbun. Yoshino, K. (2002). English and nationalism in Japan: The role of the interculturalcommunication industry. In S. Wilson (Ed.), Nation and Nationalism in Japan (pp. 135–145). London: RoutledgeCurzon.

7

Japanese business magazines’ special issues on English study methods A window on the division between Japan’s business world and formal schooling

Japanese business magazines’ ideal readers The present chapter examines Japanese media coverage of English study for Japanese businesspersons, informed by the theoretical underpinning for media discourses that are addressed to ‘an ideal subject’: “what media producers do is to address an ideal subject, be it viewer, or listener, or reader” (Fairclough, 2001, p. 41; emphasis in the original) while “the media operate as a means for the expression reproduction of the power of the dominant class and bloc” (p. 43). The producers of Japanese business magazines’ English study editions address an ideal Japanese reader who is imagined to feel concerned about English and TOEIC study methods. For reference, TOEIC is developed, administered, and assessed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the US as a test that “directly measures the ability of nonnative speakers of English to listen and read in English in the global workplace”, according to its official homepage. TOEIC has become widely recognized, predominantly in Japan and South Korea, since well-known corporations in both nations (e.g., Nissan, Samsung) started adopting its scores as a tool or reference for recruitment, promotion, or global job assignments. The Japanese major magazines’ periodical publications of front-cover featured issues on English study methods would not necessarily lead many ordinary businesspersons to identify with ideal English learners and start studying English. Rather, they negotiate their relationship to the magazines’ ideal subjects and some or many fail to relate to them: “people do negotiate their relationship to ideal subjects, and this can mean keeping them at arm’s length or even engaging in outright struggle against them” (Fairclough, 2001, p. 45; emphasis in the original). Furthermore, discussing the case of advice books on the ideal women’s way of talking, Cameron (1995) argues that the strong sales of self-help books could attest to many who opt not to practice any of such advice and guidance: It is important to bear in mind that we cannot know whether women actually followed the advice they were given: conduct [sic] literature offers us only an indication of the norms that were in circulation at a particular time, and its endless repetition of particular norms (e.g. silence) may even suggest that many real women stubbornly refused to comply (just as old elocution

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Business magazines’ English study methods manuals telling people how not to speak can be used as indirect evidence of how they actually did speak). (p. 175)

The recurring publications of English study materials targeted at Japanese businesspersons and ‘endless repetition’ of discourse on English needs for Japan’s global success thus might be indicative of a great many Japanese businesspersons who fall short of identifying with ideal subjects, i.e., Japanese businesspersons pressed for English, and decide not to make immediate investments in English study.

The major business magazines’ special articles about English study Here, some space is allocated to the description of headlines and subheads that adorn the covers of the four major business magazines’ 19 special issues on English study, which are widely sold at bookstores, station stands, convenience stores, and supermarkets: • • • •

President (March 2016, September 2015, April 2015, June 2014) Business Associé (April 2016, August 2015, February 2015, August 2014, April 2014, June 2013) Toyo Keizai (January 2017, January 2016, January 2015, November 2013, June 2012) Diamond (December 2016, April 2015, August 2014, January 2014)

The first, the bi-monthly President, has published a front-cover featured issue on English study methods at least once a year since 2014. This magazine, first published in 1963, is a business magazine targeted at company executives and junior managers. Tapping into or inflating Japan’s current and future executives’ anxiety over the growing (discourse about) English needs at work, the covers of the magazines feature simple yet exaggerated advertising phrases. Translated here is what is printed below the magazine title PRESIDENT (Note: Japan’s SoftBank president Mr. Masayoshi Song is referred to as President Son): The World Proves: 1,500 Words are Enough Speak Fluently with ‘JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH’ ‘The World’s Easiest English Conversation’ by President Trump vs. President Son (2017/4) Brand-New ‘ENGLISH’ Study Method Big Change in TOEIC Format! (2016/3)

Business magazines’ English study methods 97 Practice Manual! You Can Change Your Brain ‘ENGLISH’ Study Method that Needs 0 Seconds (2015/9) Japan’s Easiest ‘ENGLISH’ Study Method (2015/4) This is Japan’s Best ‘ENGLISH’ Study Method! TOEIC Scores Go Up by 100 Points in a Month! (2014/6) The second, Business Associé, published first in 2002, is a monthly magazine targeted at businesspersons in their 20s to 30s. The magazine has published frontcover stories about effective English study at least once a year since 2010, including the 2011 and 2012 issues that feature both Chinese and English study (Kobayashi, 2015). As mentioned above, 2011 marked a historic year for Japan when China eclipsed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, a prestigious status Japan had enjoyed since 1968. Among a total of six issues published since 2012, the June 2013 issue’s cover is exceptionally wordy, garnished with as many as 10 emphatic headlines and subheads below the magazine title, in addition to what is printed above the title, ‘Smash the wall of ‘I’m poor at English’! The must-read 70 pages’: You Cannot Escape Even if You are Poor at English English Study Method to Survive SMASH ENGLISH WALL! Must-Read for Poor English Speakers! What if you are suddenly assigned to a job in English one day? Break English Barrier on the Job! ‘SURVIVAL ENGLISH’ Work Skills A meeting with a foreigner in a week, An overseas business trip in a month . . . Magic Formula for ‘FULL READINESS’ with No Failure in English Farewell to ‘FEAR OF NATIVES NOT UNDERSTANDING YOUR ENGLISH’! ‘KATAKANA + ENGLISH LETTERS’ Pronunciation Method that Works 100% ‘Katakana’, a syllabic script, is one component of the Japanese written language which is written with a combination of katakana, hiragana and Chinese characters. Katakana is often used to represent pseudo-English sounds pronounced with a Japanese accent, which many Japanese remember and use as ‘real’ English (e.g.,「サバイバル」or ‘sabaibaru’ for ‘survival’).

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The third, the weekly Toyo Keizai, published first in 1895, is the oldest business magazine in Japan. Half a year after Business Associé’s first publication of a special English study issue (‘Eye-Opening English Re-Study Method’ in the March 2010 issue), Toyo Keizai featured a front-cover issue titled ‘Non-Native English Study Method: You Can Speak English Only with 1,500 Words!’ in the September 2010 issue. Since then the magazine has published a special issue dedicated to English study methods once a year, except for 2014 and 2011: Toyo Keizai’s February 2011 issue featured Chinese study only, one year after China surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. Akin to most of the other magazines’ covers, Toyo Keizai’s cover is also designed with big headlines and several smaller-font subheads. For instance, its January 2017 issue’s cover reads as shown below, in addition to three subheads that are printed above the magazine title: ‘Full Use of Spare Time: 5-Minute Study on Train and in Restroom!’, ‘EyeOpening Katakana Pronunciation Method’ and ‘Efficient Business English Skills with AI [artificial intelligence]’: QUICK ENGLISH MAXIMUM RESULTS FROM MINIMUM TIME Master English Email Writing in a Month Full Preparation for New TOEIC Format: Exercises Included Charisma English Teacher Mr. Yasukochi Says: ‘Use E-Cat if You Really Want to Speak English’ ‘Charisma English teacher Mr. Yasukochi’ also appears in the cover of Business Associé’s April 2016 issue. He is a celebrity English instructor at Japan’s major university preparatory school and has published numerous English textbooks for university entrance examinations and the TOEIC test. The Japanese mass media often utilizes the word ‘charisma’ [karisuma] to refer to hairdressers and cramschool instructors whose prominent professional skills are believed to guarantee customers’ and clients’ ultimate satisfaction. Thus, Japanese ‘charisma’ teachers of English are positioned apart from western male ‘charisma’ teachers of English whose popularity among Japanese (or Chinese) female learners of English are ascribed to their native-English status, skin color, gender, and age, not English teaching professionalism (Appleby, 2014; Bailey, 2007; Kobayashi, 2014; Stanley, 2013). Finally, the weekly Diamond, first published in 1913, is one of the oldest business magazines in Japan. The magazine has published front-cover special issues on English study once or twice a year since 2014, the same year with President’s first publication of its special issue on English study. In the August 2011 and March 2012 issues, Diamond featured both English and Chinese study methods in the same way Business Associé and Toyo Keizai did (Kobayashi, 2015). The magazines’ cover design is relatively parallel to the looks of other three magazines. In its August 2014 issue that ‘covers presentation skills, email writing and

Business magazines’ English study methods 99 study for TOEIC’, the following headlines and subheads are shown below the magazine title: WIN IN BUSINESS WITH ENGLISH Make the Most of Spare Time Quick Study with Smartphone Learn from Nonnatives’ Asian English Survival Practice Method Can You Survive in Companies’ Globalization? Maximum Results from Minimum Time This is How to Fight for TOEIC, a Benchmark for Promotion! You Can Fight with Junior-High-Level English Worthy of reiteration is that Japan’s four major business magazines started publishing a front-cover issue on English study methods once a year since Japan was overtaken by China as the world’s second-largest economy in 2010 and that the three magazines featured both English and Chinese study methods in 2011 and 2012 (and Toyo Keizai’s 2011 February issue focused on Chinese only) (Kobayashi, 2015). Academic discussion on the possibility of Mandarin Chinese replacing English as the global language in the future (Rassool, 2007; Seng & Lai, 2010) is in synchronization with the Japanese business magazines’ twofold feature on English and Chinese study around 2010: Improving English is very important for businesspersons. And yet, that does not mean that everybody needs top-level English skills. For those who have obtained a certain level of English proficiency, it would be a good alternative to switch to another language and increase your stock of business “weapons.” As “another foreign language,” Chinese is surely the one you want to consider investing in. (BusinessAssocié, August 2011 issue, p. 67) “I thought I did some study at school but can’t handle English conversation. Spotting a foreigner on the street, I try not to make eye contact as much as possible.” This special issue is for someone like you. You can’t get through the year of 2011 anymore by saying “I can’t handle telephone calls, meetings and emails in English.” In fact, you might be additionally required to handle Chinese in 2012. Who knows!? (Diamond, January 2011 issue, p. 21) However, by April 2012 all the magazines ceased their special coverage about Chinese as the global language on par with English. Although Chinese study has maintained the momentum of popularity at school around the world (e.g., Ardayeva, 2015; Hosking, 2014), Japanese business magazines’ short-lived or

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temporarily suspended publication of special issues on Chinese study methods suggests that the sales did not meet the publishers’ expectation, possibly because Japanese businesspersons’ dominant notion of global language remains confined to English. As informed by extant knowledge, language ideologies are “constructed from the sociocultural experience of the speaker”, which are not just elites’ and media’s one-way production, “but rather a more ubiquitous set of diverse beliefs, however implicit or explicit they may be, used by speakers of all types as models for constructing linguistic evaluations and engaging in communicative activity” (Kroskrity, 2004, pp. 496–497). Factors other than language ideology that might be implicated in the publishers’ decision not to feature Chinese study is the bilateral relation between Japan and China and economic factors such as rising labor costs in China that have accelerated Japanese companies’ shift in investments from China to ASEAN (e.g., Saminather, 2015).

Commonalities among the magazines’ cover headlines and subheads By and large, commonalities among the four magazines’ cover headlines and subheads on English study methods outweigh minor disparities in cover design and letter counts. First, providing no evidence-based statements that the magazine readers (will) need English, the magazines’ special issues’ cover statements take for granted Japanese businesspersons’ urgent need of practical English skills. The magazines’ regular readers or browsers thus could be misled in believing that many other peers or ‘ideal subjects’ (Fairclough, 2001, p. 45) are acutely anxious about their limited English and frantically start re-studying English. Moreover, the cover headlines and subheads employ sentence-final particles that are characteristic of Japanese men’s language such as ‘da’, ‘ro’, ‘re’ and ‘ka’, which is a question particle and an expression of surprise in men’s traditional informal speech: •

•

•

This is Japan’s best method! [Korega nihon ichi no mesoddo da!] (President 2014/6); This is how to study for English-speaking and writing! [Eigo de hanasu kaku tameno benkyoho ha koreda!] (Toyo Keizai 2012/6); This is the method that suits you! [Korega anata ni au mesoddo da!] (Associé, 2010/3) Make a difference [Sa wo tukero] (Toyo Keizai 2016/1); This is how to fight for TOEIC, a benchmark for promotion! [Shuse no shihyo TOEIC ha ko semero!] (Diamond 2014/8) Overcome business challenges with your current English proficiency +  = ‘70% English’! [Imano eigoryoku +  = ‘7 wari eigo’ de bijinesu wo norikire!] (Toyo Keizai 2015/1); Smash the barrier against ‘I’m poor at English’ mentality! [‘Eigo ga nigate’ no kabe wo yabure!] (Associé, 2013/6)

Business magazines’ English study methods 101 •

Can you survive? [Anata ha ikinokoreru ka?] (Diamond 2014/8); Who would think of this kind of method? [Konna hoho ga atta no ka!] (Associé, 2010/3)

Phrases for corporate warriors also appear: ‘semero’ [attack] (see above), ‘ikinokoreru’ [can survive] (see above), ‘tatakaeru’ [can fight] and ‘bijinesu ni katsu’ [win in business] (Diamond 2014/8), and ‘eigo koyogoka wo ikinuku’ [live through English as an official language policy] (Associé 2010/12). As suggested by extant literature knowledge that the Japanese language is used in men’s or women’s magazines in a manner that complies with men’s or women’s speech (e.g., Chern, 2005; Nakamura, 2004), Japanese business magazines address the mainstream Japanese businessmen who (soon) need English for business and have to study English in their spare time. This contrasts with Japan’s women’s magazines’ discourses about foreign language study as a hobby to boost their personal attractiveness or as a life strategy for making extra earnings between household duties (see Chapter 8). Second, in common with any ‘best’ self-help publications (e.g., diet books), the magazines’ cover headlines and subheads categorically state that they can impart information about ‘Japan’s’/‘the world’s’, ‘surest’/‘most efficient’/‘easiest’, or ‘original’/‘secret’/‘magic’ method for improving English ‘in a week’, ‘in a month’ or ‘in no time’ by studying ‘in their spare time’ or ‘without studying abroad’ even if ‘you are fearful of speaking English’ and ‘your English is at a junior-high-school level’. Furthermore, the business magazines’ special issues on English study call for Japanese businesspersons’ departure from ‘perfect English’, which is in contrast with the pervasive native speaker norms entrenched in Japan’s English education. With the reassuring statements that ‘there is no need to speak English fluently’ and ‘you can do a job in English even if you are poor at English’, the business magazines introduce, as Japanese businesspersons’ English models, ‘the world’s easiest English conversation’, ‘junior-high-school English spoken with 1,500 words’, ‘survival English’, ‘Katakana and English letters’ pronunciation, ‘nonnative English speakers’ Asian English’, and ‘your current English proficiency + ’. The third related commonality among the magazines is that they lend credence to their assertive statements on ‘Japan’s best English study method’ by featuring celebrities and real-life businesspersons as exemplary figures. Well-known persons highlighted on the magazines’ cover are Japan’s telecommunications giant’s (SoftBank) CEO, Mr. Masayoshi Son who is known for his slow-paced, simple English with a Japanese accent (President April 2017, Associé April 2016) and ‘charisma’ English teacher, Mr. Tetsuya Yasukochi (Associé April 2016, Toyo Keizai January 2017), in addition to ‘a group of charisma English teachers’ (Diamond, January 2014). Also invoked on the cover to buttress the statements’ credibility are real-life businesspersons such as ‘nonnative foreigners who know a secret English study method’ (Associé June 2013) and ‘50 men working for trading companies who agree to unveil their top secret English acquisition method’ (Diamond, December 2016).

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Finally, a way to improve TOEIC test scores is covered in Japan’s four major business magazines’ special editions on English study methods: ‘Your scores go up by 100 points in a month’ (President, June 2014), ‘Your scores go up by 200 points even if you have little time to study’, ‘Here is a spare-time study menu disclosed by a person who scored 920 points by studying on his own’ (Associé, August 2014), ‘Your scores go up by 250 points’ (Toyo Keizai, October 2015), ‘The ultimate way to score higher in TOEIC’ (Diamond, April 2015), and ‘Maximum results from minimum time: This is how to fight for TOEIC, a benchmark for promotion!’ (Diamond August 2014). The Educational Testing Service’s announcement on its upgraded TOEIC format effective in May 2016 is also reflected in the magazines’ cover headlines that notify ‘Big changes in the TOEIC test format!’ (President, March 2016), ‘Sample tests for the new TOEIC test!’ (Associé April 2016) and ‘A complete guidance for the new TOEIC test with sample tests included’ (Toyo Keizai January 2016). Among the magazines’ covers aimed at higher TOEIC scores, Associé’s June 2013 issue exceptionally advises the readers ‘not to aim for futilely high points’ and instead introduces its ‘minimum TOEIC study method’. Toyo Keizai’s June 2012 issue is also an isolated issue that calls for a ‘departure from TOEIC-bound English study’. Its cover reads: ‘TOEIC reality No.1: Galapagos English test, with 80% of its test examinees either South Korean or Japanese’; ‘ TOEIC reality No. 2: 56% of those who scored 800 points in TOEIC cannot speak English; 70% who scored 800 points cannot write English’. Nonetheless, these two issues are exceptions. For example, Toyo Keizai’s subsequent English study editions advertise informative tricks and tips for better performance in TOEIC tests such as ‘TOEIC +250 points’ in the January 2015 issue and ‘The new TOEIC format: Your scores will go up by 200 points’ in the January 2016 issue.

Research themes on business magazines’ special issue articles about English study Several research themes arise from the preceding review of headlines and subheads that make the cover of Japanese major magazines’ special editions on English study methods. The first theme is the extent to which the special issues’ articles on English study methods depart from native-speakerism, which is defined by Holliday (2006, p. 385) as “a pervasive ideology within ELT [English Language Teaching], characterized by the belief that ‘native-speaker’ teachers represent a ‘Western culture’ from which spring the ideals both of the English language and of English language teaching methodology”. Japan’s business magazines’ cover messages about ‘easiest’ ‘survival’ English intended for busy businesspersons who have ‘poor’ ‘junior-high-school-level’ English and the ‘fear of natives not understanding them’ tentatively suggest their detachment from native speaker norms. A pertinent question is the extent to which the magazine articles are informed by academic discussion on English(es) such as WE (World Englishes), ELF

Business magazines’ English study methods 103 (English as a Lingua Franca), and EIL (English as an international language) (Kirkpatrick & Sussex, 2012; Marlina & Giri, 2014; Saraceni, 2015; Saxena & Omoniyi, 2010; Sharifian, 2009). Japanese business magazine articles are hypothesized to be constructed without reference to the scholarly knowledge base partly because there exists “a conspicuous mismatch” between the large body of scholarly discussion on nonnative English teachers and the “actual impact in pedagogical policies and practice that it has (not) had” (Saraceni, 2015, p. 179) and partly because terminology is a contentious issue even among English language researchers. For instance, George Braine, the key founder of a TESOL Caucus for NNS, has been in favor of the term ‘non-native speaker’, “mainly because a large body of research relating to NNS would be lost or sidelined if there was a name change” (Braine, 2010, p. 6), whereas Holliday (2009) argues that “Perhaps surprisingly, the ‘non-native speaker’ label has also been sustained by the people who most decry it – the NNEST Caucus”, referring to his email exchange with Ryuko Kubota who also “explains that sustaining the ‘non-native speaker’ label in this way offsets the ‘blindness’ to inequality that might arise from a ‘liberal’ desire to do away with it” (p. 24) (see also, Kamhi-Stein, 2016). The second research question is whether the magazine articles cite any existent data on Japanese businesspersons’ English needs in business. As discussed in Chapter 6, diverging from their South Korean counterparts, many leading Japanese companies abide by their conventional hiring practice that legitimizes monolingual Japanese university male graduates as future managerial personnel. Indeed, according to a large-scale survey conducted with 304 listed companies in Japan (The Institute for International Business Communication, 2013), 24.7% of the companies answer that they need no English skills and 45.7% answer that English is needed only in particular departments, whereas English is used beyond certain divisions at 29.3% of the companies. Such data is, however, likely excluded from the magazine articles because many Japanese businessmen’s limited English use at work conflicts with the magazines’ ideal subjects, Japanese monolingual businesspersons who (soon) need information about English study method for survival (e.g., ‘You cannot escape from English even if you are poor at it’ in Associé June 2013; ‘Can you survive in the corporate world’s globalization?’ in Diamond August 2014). Lastly, Japanese men’s speech markers and messages that appear on the cover of Japan’s major business magazines are indicative of hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 2005) that naturalizes Japanese men’s power in the business world and takes for granted the dominance of Japanese monolingual businessmen who are assigned to global jobs that require English skills. A research theme that emerges here is the extent to which or how Japanese female workers are represented in the businessmen’s magazine articles about English study methods. Are they introduced as office ladies, secretaries, or female managers whose interest in English study/use and English proficiency are higher than Japanese businessmen’s? Or, are they presented together with their male colleagues as those who are treated equally with men and need English during their job assignments?

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Who are introduced as English models, based on (no) supportive data? The magazines’ dual introduction of native English norms and global English practices Among Japan’s four major business magazines’ special issues on English study methods, Business Associé in particular encourages its readers to emulate the world’s top leaders’ ‘easy’ and ‘simple’ English by reading their speech transcripts: •

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Business Associé August 2015 issue illustrates ‘simple and easy-to- understand English’ skillfully used by James Dyson (the founder of Dyson), Michelle Obama, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook’s CEO), Larry Page (Google’s CEO), Sara Blakely (the founder of Spanx), Marissa Mayer (Yahoo’s CEO), and Kevin Systrom (Instagram’s CEO) (pp. 36–39). Business Associé February 2015 issue points out ‘common points’ among moving speeches made by a Nobel winner (Malala Yousafzai), Japanese top tennis athlete (Kei Nishikori) and ‘charisma female leader’ (Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg) (pp. 42–45). Business Associé April 2014 issue features three ‘top leaders’ English’ which exemplifies the ‘3Ses – simple, straight and story-’: Caroline Kennedy (the US ambassador to Japan), Steve Jobs (the co-founder of Apple), and Carlos Ghosn (Renault-Nissan’s CEO) (pp. 84–99).

President’s April 2017 issue also highlights ‘the world’s easiest English’ spoken by US President Trump and Masayoshi Son (Japan’s SoftBank CEO) on the magazine cover, with their speech scripts included in the text (pp. 20–27). While advocating Japanese and other global businesspersons’ simple yet or thus powerful English, the same magazines or the same magazine issues concurrently enact the authority of white male native English speakers by featuring them as those who are supposedly entitled to correct Japanese businesspersons’ imperfect, wrong, misleading English. (Their linguistic advice is shown in Japanese in the magazines, and thus translated by me into English.) In the Business Associé April 2014 issue (pp. 18–21), Prof. James Verdman of Asian Studies at Waseda University maintains: You cannot make yourself understood by using direct translation. Even if it perfectly makes sense in Japanese, natives could feel at odds with your translated English. It’s important to think how your English is understood by natives before you use English. Then he provides 16 examples of Japanese businesspersons’ ‘Not Good’ usage of English along with alternative expressions such as: Not OK: “Section Chief, congratulations on your promotion!” OK: “Congratulations on your promotion, sir!”

Business magazines’ English study methods 105 Not OK: “I disagree.” OK: “I’m not sure that I agree.” In the BusinessAssocié June 2013 issue (pp. 34–35), Mr. David Thayne, translator/interpreter/English instructor, who is casually dressed in a shortsleeved checked shirt with a beret, begins his business English lesson by saying: “Let’s check the following examples of Japanese businesspersons’ English usage that is often misunderstood by natives. You can learn how to get your point across and proceed with a business negotiation calmly and smoothly.” In one of his 3 photos, Mr. Thayne gives the Japanese gesture of ‘No good’ by crossing arms as a X in front of him and then, parallel to Prof. Verdman cited above, shows 10 examples of Japanese businesspersons’ ‘No good’ English expressions that he claims to be misleading for native English speakers: No Good: “What do you mean?” Good: “Could you explain this a little more? Could you go into more detail?” No Good: “Don’t be late, please.” Good: “Try to be on time, please. We all need to be on time.” Furthermore, Dr. William Vance, a teacher of business communication at Yale University, is introduced as one of the ‘charisma instructors’ who poses in suits in one of the two enlarged photos by authoritatively making a ‘L’ with his finger and thumb put on his chin and states: “You can outdo even native English speakers if you go through intensive English training” (Toyo Keizai June 2012, pp. 46–49). Quantitatively though, advice and guidance from native English teachers who make persnickety comments on Japanese businesspersons’ ‘not good’ English usage are not abundant in the magazine articles, which is understandable given that the magazines trumpet Japan’s or the world’s ‘easiest’ or ‘surest’ method for improving the readers’ ‘poor’ or ‘junior-high-school-level’ English ‘in a week’ or ‘in no time’. Another factor would be the sheer dominance of business interaction between Japanese businesspersons and other Asian English speakers, which then reins in the magazines’ market value of featuring native English speakers’ punctilious assessment of Japanese English. On the other hand, the magazine readers are often provided with conflicting advice about English study methods. For example, the abovementioned fourpage article about Prof. Verdman’s lecture on Japanese businessperson’s incorrect English usage (Business Associé April 2014 issue, pp. 18–21) comes immediately after another four-page feature article about the ‘Indian-style English study method’ and ‘global English’ lectured about by Mr. Tadashi Yasuda who teaches part-time also at Waseda University and is a consulting firm representative (pp. 14–17). According to Mr. Yasuda, the book author, the three characteristics of ‘Indian-style English study method’ are: (1) Indian-style English speakers do not worry about pronunciation, (2) they speak English by utilizing vocabulary and grammar they have already acquired, and (3) they speak English in simple sentences.

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Moreover, while Mr. Thayne re-appears in President’s April 2017 issue (p. 20), the issue alerts the magazine readers to take precautions against nonprofessional native English ‘teachers’ (p. 30): If you are beginner-level English learners, it must be the best to learn from Japanese English teachers who are good at teaching. [. . .] Some native English teachers practice English teaching merely because they are natives. It is going to be a waste of time and money if you are assigned to those people’s classes. The same issue (pp. 85–87) also introduces the latest information about business English study in Manila and Cebu in the Philippines which “is soaring in popularity as a destination for Japanese businesspersons’ short-term study abroad” (p. 85). The readers of President June 2014 issue (pp. 18–21) might also be baffled by the mixture of information: First, its four-page article raises the alarm about Mr. Yasuda’s ‘Indian method’, Mr. Thayne’s ‘sandwich method’, and other ‘trendy English study methods’, with the pictures of their two books shown, and warns, ‘Don’t get carried away with the boom’ (p. 19). However, Mr. Thayne himself appears on the next page as “a leading authority [daiichinin sha] on English education in Japan” (p. 22). In the two-page article that ‘teaches the right [tadashii] way to communicate with natives’ (pp. 22–23), Mr. Thayne with his trademark outfit on then corrects 15 Japanese English usages (e.g., “NG: You go first – OK: After you”, “NG: It’s time for recess – OK: It’s time for a recess”, pp. 22–23). In addition to western native English teachers’ occasional lectures on correct business English, information about practical business English and study methods are imparted by a broad array of ‘specialists’, with some western native English teachers included. However, the majority of them are Japanese who have published accessible paperback books on English study methods intended for a large general readership, although their profiles extensively vary: university English teachers, university (non-English) teachers, top-tier academic high school English teachers, ‘charisma’ English instructors at examination preparatory schools, English teaching companies’ or educational NPO’s representatives, founders of English language schools, and freelance or self-employed workers (e.g., interpreters, business English instructors, textbook writers, business consultants). Those ‘specialists’ are juxtaposed to real-life Japanese businesspersons who, as discussed later, are shown to have made salient improvements in their English in their spare time.

The magazines’ nonacademic information about Asian English International companies are vibrantly colored with Singapore English, Indian English, Filipino English and so on. You might not be able to make yourself understood in Katanaka English, but English with some level of Japanese accents is very likely to be accepted. (President April 2017 issue, p. 33)

Business magazines’ English study methods 107 The business magazine articles about English study methods inform the readers that their business counterparts from Singapore, India, and the Philippines speak their own variety of English. In other words, the texts engage in what is academically contested as “a rather essentialist and nationalistic conception whereby each variety of English was identified with the specific country that gave it its name: Nigerian English in Nigeria, Indian English in India and so on” (Saraceni, 2015, p. 184). The magazines also make a list of phonetic, idiomatic, and grammatical features of each variety on the premise that businesspersons from ASEAN nations speak Singlish, Indian English, or Philippine English and that Japanese businesspersons’ familiarity with each variety is crucial when facilitating English communication and forging a good relationship with ASEAN counterparts (e.g. Associé April 2014, pp. 68–69). Below is one such example cited from Diamond January 2014 issue (pp. 78–79): Singlish: ‘What do you want ah?’, ‘You come with me, can or cannot? – Can, can.’, ‘I go there yesterday.’, ‘She study hard.’ Indian English: ‘Aren’t you busy?-No, I am busy./Yes, I am not busy.’, ‘What you are doing?’, ‘You are from Japan, isn’t it?’ Seemingly, these descriptions appear to be parallel to the domain of World Englishes research that pursues the goal of defining varieties of English by geographical, phonological, and other tangible distinctiveness. Bolton (2012) indeed maintains that “it has become almost commonplace to refer to Indian English, Malaysian English, Philippine English, Singapore English, and Hong Kong English, as distinct varieties of English” and “the study of individual varieties of English typically involves a description of distinctive features at the levels of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar” (p. 12). Nonetheless, unlike the magazine texts, academic research aims to “describe the ‘sociolinguistic realities’ underpinning distinct varieties” and “the status and functions of English within Outer Circle Asian communities” (Bolton, 2012, p. 22). And such scholarly attempts yield the insight that an increasing number of highly educated ASEAN nationals identify themselves as native English speakers. For example, Tan (2014) demonstrates that Singapore accords English the status of ‘mother tongue’ in that the majority of young Singaporeans use the language for the purposes of inheritance (e.g., raising children in English), expertise (e.g., writing a diary in English), function (e.g., counting in English), and identification (e.g., using English as the marker of national identity). In fact, educated in postsecondary institutions in western English-speaking nations, many Singaporean and other ASEAN businesspersons are very likely to belie Japanese business magazines’ preconceptions that both Japanese and ASEAN businesspeople are united as nonnative English speakers who speak regionally distinct varieties of English. Nonetheless, the Japanese business magazine articles continue projecting a monolithic image of, say, ‘Singlish-speaking Singaporean businesspersons’ either as a potential challenge to Japanese businesspersons’ communication with them or as those who can empathize with Japanese English speakers.

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The magazines’ nonacademic endorsement of nonnative English Japanese business magazines’ special issues on English study methods devote pages to the introduction of nonnative, global or international English as an ideal target model for Japanese businesspersons. For example, Toyo Keizai January 2015 issue cites a self-claimed “global human resources trainer” who advocates “Global English” (p. 83; emphasis in the original Japanese): Japanese people are surrounded by three kinds of English: (1) Global English used by nonnative English speakers around the world, that is characterized by expressions simple and easy to understand for anyone and thus makes the perfect model for Japanese; (2) Native English used by those who speak English as their mother tongue and often admired by Japanese, which is characterized by intelligible [kirei] pronunciations, and slang and other historically loaded expressions that are not so intelligible in the rest of the world and thus un-international; (3) JTE or Japanese Test English which is used for examinations in Japan and is not understood outside Japan. Without citing any particular authorities, Diamond’s August 2014 issue similarly categorizes English around the world into three kinds and promotes “International English” (p. 38; emphasis in the original Japanese): Let’s acquire ‘a global common language’ called International English. There are largely three kinds of English in the world: (1) International English which is intelligible [kirei], standard English shared both by native and non-native English speakers and used by high-ranked UN officers and other elites, which thus makes the ideal target model for Japanese global businesspersons; (2) Native English used mainly in UK and US; (3) World English which is influenced by L1 accents and regional cultures (e.g., Singlish in Singapore, Taglish in the Philippines, Spanish accent, Indian accent). Moreover, BusinessAssocié’s April 2014 issue (pp. 64–65) introduces Mr. Kaneda, the author of a book about an ‘intensive study method learned from Asian nonnatives’ and ‘Asian study method’ over a two-page spread. He reassures Japanese businesspersons that they do not need to feel uneasy about their poor English because they can expect empathy from other Asian nonnative English speakers: Nonnatives are looking at you with generous patience: You do not have to think, ‘My poor English would cause others trouble’. Many nonnatives, particularly those in Asia, have had hard time acquiring English, and thus are supportive of other nonnatives by cheering on them, ‘Calm down, and you can do it!’ The most important thing is to show your best effort to get your message across in English. (BusinessAssocié April 2014, p. 65)

Business magazines’ English study methods 109 When describing the functions of English in the business context, the magazine texts rarely draw on scholarly references, except for a few cases. Diamond’s August 2014 issue allots three pages for the profile of Jean-Paul Nerriere as the advocate for Globish and an interview with him, and the description of Globish main rules (pp. 40–42). BusinessAssocié’s April 2014 issue tersely introduces Nobuyuki Honna (Professor Emeritus, Aoyama Gakuin University) and Yuko Takeshita (Professor, Toyo Eiwa University) as, respectively, the founder of The Japan Association for Asian Englishes and one of the board members (p. 67). Instead of invoking academic literature, the magazines invite self-claimed experts and authors of nonacademic books about their original English study methods, thus entailing a risk of giving the magazine readers dubious information. A case in point is a Japanese investment firm’s representative who instructs his peers to aim for ‘bronze medal English’, which is argued to be the world’s standard English and the lowest-level English used in emerging economies (BusinessAssocié June 2013, pp. 26–27). In spite of his international experience (e.g., an MBA from Columbia Business School, work experience at finance institutions in Japan and the US), this person is found to have developed a partial view of native and nonnative English speakers in the world business. Employing native English speakers as a yardstick for English evaluation (‘100 marks’), his ‘English skill level’ chart shows the following ranking, which should be taken with a grain of salt: Japanese Americans or those who speak both English and other languages (‘80 marks’), global businesspersons who can communicate with British/ Americans or dream in English (‘70 marks’), the author himself (‘50 scores, gold medal English’), those who can think in English or have studied abroad for a few years (‘35 marks, silver medal English’), those who have EIKEN first grade certificates or have marked TOEIC 900 scores (‘25 marks’), and the world’s standard English spoken in emerging nations (‘10–20 marks, bronze medal English’). Overall, the major Japanese business magazines’ texts reference little or no academic knowledge base. The meanings attached to ‘international English’, ‘global English’ or ‘the world’s standard English’ vary, depending on magazine issues and invited ‘authorities’. Some information is constructed by self-claimed experts whose ‘expertise’ requires caution in appreciating, whether they are company representatives with global experience or English trainers with/out business work experience.

(How) do the magazines establish Japanese businessmen’s English needs at work? Without supportive data, most of the magazines’ special articles about English study methods unequivocally state that Japanese businesspersons’ English proficiency is a pressing issue: “The required level of English has been rapidly increasing whether on the job or in promotional examinations” (President March 2016, p. 50); “The skill required of businesspersons is English based on TOEIC. Business is done in English not just in English speaking nations, and opportunities to do business in English with Asian clients are on the rise” (Toyo Keizai January

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2016, p. 49). Diamond’s December 2016 issue cites what one ‘veteran’ trade company worker [shosha man] has to say about ‘a self-evident fact’: It is always a self-evident fact that ‘shosha man without English are subhuman’. However, they are not fluent English speakers in the early period of their career. Many shosha man make incredibly hard efforts to study English. This special issue hears from more than 50 shosha man about their English acquisition methods. (p. 31) BusinessAssocié’s February 2015 issue starts its over-50-page-long special edition by urging its readers to re-study English as their New Year resolution and survive: Borders in the business world are getting invisible day by day. It could happen at any company when one day a foreigner assumes the position of your supervisor without prior notice. In the days ahead the digital divide will be worsen between those who can get information directly from overseas and those who cannot. This special issue introduces English study methods that deliver instant results at work, which are perfect for busy businesspersons. (p. 21) As shown in the above examples, the Japanese business magazines’ special issues on English study methods address an ‘ideal’ Japanese reader who is in the middle of an unexpected struggle with English and searches for quick study methods. Although some readers might maintain an ‘arms-length’ relationship with such ‘ideal subjects’ (Fairclough, 2001, p. 45), the Japanese business magazines’ publishers are likely to have assessed that the sheer number of those who relate to the ideal readers is large enough for the special editions on English study methods to reap revenues. Exceptionally, Diamond’s August 2014 issue (pp. 34–35) reports on its own survey conducted with 500 full-time workers employed by listed companies on the Tokyo Exchange, revealing that respectively 69% and 67% of them answered no to questions, “Do you need English at work now?” and “Does your company take into account English proficiency at the time of personnel evaluation?” (p. 34). No comments are made on these results, whilst an article that comes a few pages prior to the data asserts: “The era has come when English is a musthave skill. You cannot get your job done or expect promotion if you are unable to use English. Such workplaces are on the rise” (p. 28). Two years later, the same magazine’s December 2016 issue reports on the results of an ‘emergency’ survey conducted with 100 major companies (not individual employees), whose results this time are supposed to verify the magazine’s assertion that “English is on the verge of becoming an essential tool even at companies other than shosha [trading companies]” (p. 52). The survey shows that 79 of the 100 companies answered yes to the question, “Are there any in-house meetings where English is used?” (p. 53) and that the largest number of 79 companies checked TOEIC in a multiple question, “Check any that your company

Business magazines’ English study methods 111 takes into account at the time of employment: TOEIC, TOEFL, EIKEN, study experience in English speaking nations, living experience in English speaking nations, and others” (p. 55). This 2016 survey does not include the previous 2014 survey’s questions about individual workers’ (limited) English use at work and their perceived (limited) importance of TOEIC at the time of personnel evaluation. Without providing data on Japanese businesspersons’ (limited) English use in business, the Japanese magazines’ special issues instead highlight real-life Japanese businessmen who used to need no English at work, yet are unexpectedly required to do jobs in English, study English in their spare time, and now capitalize on their improved English for global job assignments. Below are two such examples. These ideal English learners’ testimonials are presented in interview narratives, along with a set of personal information (e.g., full name, work affiliation, job title), the pictures of themselves, worn-out English textbooks and materials, or daily planner that accommodates English study: Mr. Yugo Arai joined Rakuten Inc. in 2005 and was in charge of domestic, Japanese-only projects for the first 5 years. Even though his company president, Mr. Hiroshi Mikitani proclaimed in 2010 the adoption of English as the official language, Mr. Arai’s English remained ‘miserable’ [boro boro]. However, when he was required to make a presentation on his own in Indonesia in front of local clients at very short notice, he devoted himself to preparing the 40-minute presentation. On the presentation day, he found himself able to speak English fluently ‘as water spills out of a cup’, which he ascribes to his presentation content’s comprehensive coverage of nearly all the words and phrases vital for business communication in English. Since then, he was assigned to more overseas projects. Starting from 2013 July (one month after the publication of Associé June 2013 issue), he is scheduled to move to an overseas branch in Europe with his family. (Business Associé June 2013, p. 14) Mr. Yosuke Murakami works in the Water Affairs Division at the Business Investment Headquarters of ORIX Corporation. Prior to his current position, he was involved in domestic sales and faced no use of English. In fact, he ‘did not really have to study English’ as a school subject for university entrance exam. That is because he was educated at a so-called escalator school that offers education from primary schooling up to college: Once preschoolers pass the exam, their continuous education up to higher education is nearly guaranteed. When transferred to the Water Affairs Division, his English needs surged as his division was vigorously competing against other foreign rivals to expand their water business in developing nations such as Vietnam. He steadily studied English by the trial-and-error method while doing his regular, weeks-long assignments in Hanoi for one to two weeks per month. Nowadays, he finds himself able to have a heart-to-heart talk with Vietnamese government officials, at least, while drinking. (Toyo Keizai June 2012, p. 56)

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Introducing non-anonymous Japanese businesspersons who managed to weather hard times by improving English through their trial-and-error experience, the magazine articles communicate a message that Japanese businesspersons’ English use at work is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’, and that even those who do not use English at work now are bound to face a need to use English sooner or later. This reasoning is in contrast with academic discussion that focuses on nonnative English speakers’ current limited English use at work and argues that many workers’ lack of English needs constitute a strong case for the ideological fallacy that aligns English skills with career opportunities (e.g., Kubota, 2011). An additional point to note is that nearly all the magazines’ special issues on English study methods devote pages to tricks and hints for scoring higher marks in TOEIC, again, without necessarily citing data on the (limited) importance of TOEIC marks or English proficiency for promotion at Japanese companies.

(How) do the magazines address gender discrimination at Japanese companies? Among the four business magazines’ 19 special issues on English study methods, a total of 17 Japanese working women are introduced in the articles as those who have tips for successful English study, together with 60 Japanese male peers. More specifically, the number of business women who appear as ‘ideal’ English learners is either zero female (8 issues), one female (8 issues) or three females (3 issues), whereas more than three times as many businessmen are invited for the same articles: six males (3 issues), five males (1 issue), four males (2 issues), three males (8 issues), two males (2 issues), one male (1 issue) and zero male (2). These Japanese business women’s profiles are comparable to their male counterparts’. That is, except for one young female whose profile is ‘high-schooleducated [kousotu] OL’ (President September 2015, p. 29), all other 16 women are classified into global business women who are either the representatives of their companies (2) or employees of the following major companies (14) who are assigned to global jobs on the same footing with their male colleagues (Accenture Japan, Calbee, Don Quijote, KDDI, LIXIL (2), Mitsui & Co., ORIX, Rakuten, Toppan Printing, Tesla Japan, Triumph International Japan, ‘foreign firm’ [gaishikei kigyo], a publishing company). Not surprisingly, the magazine articles make no mention of gender discrimination at Japanese companies where Japanese monolingual male employees are accorded privileged treatment as (future) global human resources while female peers are positioned on the periphery in spite of their experience with, and positive attitudes toward, English use in international communication settings. Furthermore, none of the magazine articles raises the question as to why a far larger number of monolingual businessmen who fear about speaking English are hired and provided access to global job assignments that require English. Nonetheless, it is very unlikely that the general readers take notice of this gender issue primarily because they – Japanese mainstream businessmen with limited English – would care less about such social norms and also because women do appear in the

Business magazines’ English study methods 113 magazines’ special articles as global business women and female ‘experts’ (e.g., university English teachers, freelance interpreters), however smaller in numbers than male contributors. Chapter 8 will study Japanese working women’s magazine discourses about English to explore how English is feminized as a hobby or means of ‘girls’ power’ [joshi ryoku] for Japanese working women in urban areas who are known for their willingness to study and use English, yet segregated from the mainstream male businesspersons and expected to retire at the time of marriage and pregnancy.

Business magazines’ special issues as a window to Japan’s English education The good sales of the major business magazines’ front-cover special issues on English self-study methods would be implausible in many other countries where English proficiency is a must-have skill for elite job candidates and those who seek white-collar, decent jobs. As discussed in Chapters 5 and 6, many Japanese companies, including Japan’s leading global corporations, adhere to the nonglobal, gender-inequality hiring practice that prioritizes monolingual Japanese male graduates. The status quo is attested by Japan’s four major business magazines’ front-cover special issues on English study methods intended for their ‘ideal’ readers – monolingual Japanese businessmen with a high level of anxiety over English, low-level English proficiency, and high likelihood of using English in business. The magazines’ front-cover issues on English study methods bond with their core readership by reassuring them that they can overcome their fear of English by practicing what they learn from the special issues without raising the question, ‘Why are they assigned to jobs that require English?’ As far as Japan’s major business magazines’ consecutive cover stories about English self-study methods are concerned, full-time businesspersons’ English experience is guaranteed to be a success, independent of their previous English study experience at school that has only implanted into them a ‘I’m poor at English’ mentality. In fact, the articles read as if the magazines’ core readers have studied English only at junior high school and nonacademic experts’ advice help the readers overcome the unexpected challenge of improving their beginner-level English in their spare time and transforming into businesspersons who can handle business in ‘English’ (e.g., international English, global English, nonnatives’ Asian English, Junior-High English, Quick English, simple English). The fact that Japan’s business magazines make nearly zero references to English education at school and academic scholarship is indicative of a void between academic communities and the business world/magazines. And yet, the business magazines’ and the business world’s distance from the discussion on global or poor English education at Japanese schools is understandable because it is the companies that continue hiring monolingual Japanese male job seekers over other candidates with language and cross-cultural skills and it is the business magazines that unproblematize such non-global hiring practices and publish special issues

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intended for non-global Japanese businessmen. As discussed in the previous chapters, such Japanese hiring practices accord higher education institutions leeway to distance themselves from the real world and engage in their own English/global education without apprehension about internationally (un)competitive educational results. Hypothetically, Japan’s major business magazines will continue publishing their front-cover special issues on English study methods as long as Japanese economic power safeguards its industrial world’s hiring practice in favor of monolingual male job seekers. To put it the other way around, by the time the Japanese economy deteriorates to the point where Japanese companies know that their resistance to drastic changes saps Japan’s economic vitality, they will finally start demanding globally-talented job candidates as the primary workforce, which then renders the magazines’ special issues on English study methods unserviceable. Accordingly, Japanese higher education would also feel the pinch and have to strive for survival by restructuring its leisure-land education in order to produce marketable, internationally competitive global talents. So far, that day is yet to come, as embodied by Japanese business magazines that can afford to devote pages to cover-story articles intended for monolingual businesspersons. Overall, Japanese business magazines’ front-cover special issues on English study methods can serve as a window on the nation’s (sense of) economic vitality, which exerts ripple-effects on skills (not) required of Japanese college job seekers and Japanese schools’ (non) global education policies.

References Appleby, R. (2014). Men and Masculinities in Global English Language Teaching. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Ardayeva, A. (2015, April 10). Mandarin gains popularity among Russian students. Channel NewsAsia. Bailey, K. (2007). Akogare, ideology, and ‘charisma man’ mythology: Reflections on ethnographic research in English language schools in Japan. Gender, Place and Culture, 14(5), 585–608. Bolton, K. (2012). World Englishes and Asian Englishes: A survey of the field. In A. Kirkpatrick & R. Sussex (Eds.), English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education (pp. 13–26). New York and London: Springer. Braine, G. (2010). Nonnative Speaker English Teachers: Research, Pedagogy, and Professional Growth. New York: Routledge. Cameron, D. (1995). Verbal Hygine. London and New York: Routledge. Chern, J. (2005). The differences of stylistic characteristics employed in men’s magazines and women’s magazines – logical or sensitive [Text in Japanese]. Mathematical Linguistics, 25(1), 32–45. Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (Second ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and Power (Second ed.). Essex: Pearson Education. Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385–387. Holliday, A. (2009). English as a lingua franca, ‘non-native speakers’ and cosmopolitan realities. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), English as an International Language: Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues (pp. 21–33). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Business magazines’ English study methods 115 Hosking, W. (2014, July 7). Mandarin now fourth most-popular choice for primary school pupils. Herald Sun. The Institute for International Business Communication (2013). A Survey on English Use at Japanese Listed Companies [Jojo kigyo niokeru eigo katsuyo jittai chosa]. Tokyo: The Institute for International Business Communication. Kamhi-Stein, L. D. (2016). The non-native English speaker teachers in TESOL movement. ELT Journal, 70(2), 180–189. Kirkpatrick, A., & Sussex, R. (Eds.). (2012). English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education. Switzerland: Springer. Kobayashi, Y. (2014). Gender gap in the EFL classroom in East Asia. Applied Linguistics, 35(2), 219–223. Kobayashi, Y. (2015). Ideological discourses about learning Chinese in pro-English Japan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25(3), 329–342. Kroskrity, P. V. (2004). Language ideologies. In A. Duranti (Ed.), A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (pp. 496–517). Malden, MA: Blackwell. Kubota, R. (2011). Questioning linguistic instrumentalism: English, neoliberalism, and language tests in Japan. Linguistics and Education, 22, 248–260. Marlina, R., & Giri, R. A. (Eds.). (2014). The Pedagogy of English as an International Language: Perspectives from Scholars, Teachers, and Students. Switzerland: Springer. Nakamura, M. (2004). ‘Let’s dress a little girlishly!’ or ‘Conquer short pants!’: Constructing gendered communities in fashion magazines for young people. In S. Okamoto & J. S. S. Smith (Eds.), Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology: Cultural Models and Real People (pp. 131–147). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rassool, N. (2007). Global Issues in Language, Education and Development: Perspectives from Postcolonial Countries. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Saminather, N. (2015, October 29). Japanese companies remain more keen to invest in ASEAN than China. Reuters. Saraceni, M. (2015). World Englishes: A Critical Analysis. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Saxena, M., & Omoniyi, T. (Eds.). (2010). Contending with Globalization in World Englishes. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Seng, G. Y., & Lai, L. S. (2010). Global Mandarin. In V. Vaish (Ed.), Globalization of Language and Culture in Asia: The Impact of Globalization Processes on Language (pp. 14–33). London: Continuum. Sharifian, F. (Ed.). (2009). English as an International Language: Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Stanley, P. (2013). A Critical Ethnography of ‘Westerners’ Teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai. London and New York: Routledge. Tan, Y.-Y. (2014). English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore. World Englishes, 33(3), 319–339.

8

Japanese women’s magazines’ articles about English study A window on Japanese women’s status in the business world

Studies on western women’s magazines’ discourses Critical language studies that analyze newspapers, magazines, and other media coverage rest upon the viewpoint that “the media operate as a means for the expression and reproduction of the power of the dominant class and bloc” (Fairclough, 2001, p. 43) in implicit, cumulative, and discursive manners to the point where “the learning of a dominant discourse type comes to be seen as merely a question of acquiring the necessary skills or techniques to operate in the institution” (p. 76). Institutional practices which people draw upon without thinking often embody assumptions which directly or indirectly legitimize existing power relations. Practices which appear to be universal and commonsensical can often be shown to originate in the dominant class or the dominant bloc, and to have become naturalized. Where types of practice, and in many cases types of discourse, function in this way to sustain unequal power relations, I shall say they are functioning ideologically. (Fairclough, 2001, p. 27; emphasis in the original) The present chapter examines Japanese working women’s magazines’ coverage of English or other foreign language study, informed by the theoretical underpinning for media discourses, in particular, western women’s magazines’ discourse about womanhood (Duffy, 2013; Kauppinen, 2013; Machin & van Leeuwen, 2003). These studies reveal that neoliberalism discourse evokes women’s sense of self-centered identity and postfeminism, which is supported by its core values of women’s self-management, -determination, -control, and -confidence, while incorporating into the neoliberal cause women’s proactive consumption of women’s products and ideas in the capitalist society. For example, Duffy (2013, p. 151), in a study on Glamour and Cosmopolitan, argues that “women’s magazines and advertisements are increasingly infused with various rhetorics of authenticity, but in no way have these texts (to draw on Wolf’s phrase) lost their commercial function” (emphasis in the original). Kauppinen (2013), in a study on German Cosmopolitan’s articles on work, also claims that female readers are subject to both pro-women discourse that celebrates women’s agency and a

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 117 seemingly contradictory one that guides them to seek ‘a real me’ through the consumption of mass-produced commodities. Nearly two decades ago, Talbot (1998) pointed out that any women’s magazine’s financial reliance on key advertisers that place glossy advertisements in the magazine constrains the magazine’s capability to challenge the manufacturing of femininity: The powerful influence of business interests limits the range of voices permitted into magazines. This amounts to censorship. In publications that are dependent on advertising revenue from companies producing cosmetics and other beauty products, critical perspectives on ‘health and beauty’ are unlikely to be heard. Even the Marie Claire feature in praise of wrinkles simultaneously supports what Naomi Wolf calls the ‘beauty of myth’. The feature is illustrated with photographs of various well-known ‘older women’ who are still conventionally beautiful and . . . it is in any case a promotional feature for Body Shop products. (p. 180) The organizational ownership and censorship account for women’s magazines’ tendency to tutor their female readers to pay for activities and products that transform them into ideal women from a male standpoint (Darling-Wolf, 2006; Duffy, 2013; Kauppinen, 2013). The Japanese working women’s magazine, Nikkei WOMAN, is not an exception. As announced on its online English website, its “key advertisers include educational services, cosmetics and financial products” and thus it has to carry advertisements and articles that promote these advertisers’ products and services, including lessons at language schools and TOEIC preparation textbooks. Feminist critical discourse studies often end their discussion with a gloomy outlook. After studying jewelry advertisements in Singapore’s English newspapers from a critical feminist perspective, Lazar (2014) argues that “the de–politicisation in consumer feminism transforms a collective social movement for social change merely into a marketing strategy” (p. 222). Her study then concludes with the following remarks on academic critiques’ limited role in challenging popular discourses that have been galvanizing young women’s commercialism-driven quest for well-being and empowerment: When disseminated widely in popular discourses, consent and participation of (young) women are sought, for whom the idea of creating their own seemingly autonomous pleasures and rituals of enjoyable femininity from the goods made available by consumer culture becomes very appealing. Presented this way as a ‘modern’ lifestyle decision, critique then has no place in it and any anxiety about feminism as a force to be reckoned with is dispelled. The postfeminist feminine I-dentity, seductive as it appears, then, reinstalls a ‘new’ normativity that does little to unsettle the status quo. (p. 223)

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Similarly, Kauppinen (2013, p. 145) discusses that the “disastrous consequences” of “gritty realism” for German working women are “presented as entirely natural, as simply the state of things today” in a way “to render the notion of changing or even criticizing these conditions unthinkable”, voicing her bleak view of the status quo in the Conclusions: What this [‘sound’] advice [from the German Cosmopolitan] does, however, along with the rest of the discourse of postfeminist self-management, is to lead readers to participate enthusiastically in the neoliberalized order of the world of work without leaving them any room for doubt or criticism. (p. 147) On the other hand, Duffy (2013) leaves the possibility of women’s magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan reaching the limits of their strategy with time: “Not only are 21st-century consumers aware of the smoke and mirrors of contemporary advertising (i.e., digital photo retouching and editing), but media producers feel their audiences are self-reflective about the media production processes” (p. 151). For reference, Japanese Cosmopolitan was discontinued in February 2006, ending its 26-year history in Japan, but was re-launched as a digital magazine in January 2016.

Japanese working women’s magazines’ cover feature of English study Limitations As a sequel to Chapter 7’s discussion on Japanese business magazines’ special coverage of English study methods, the present chapter attends to Japanese working women’s magazines to explore the extent to which and how working women’s magazines position English study as their front-cover topic theme. Due to its focus, this study entails two numerical limitations. First, unlike business magazines that are published by many publishers, including western magazines’ Japanese versions (e.g., Time, Newsweek, The Economist, Forbes), there are only two working women’s magazines as of April 2017. Over two decades from 1988 to 2015, Monthly Nikkei WOMAN was the only magazine designed for white-collar working women in their 20s to 30s, until President WOMAN was launched in June 2015. President WOMAN ’s target audience is working women in their 30s who are faced with the challenge of balancing their work and family, according to an interview with President WOMAN ’s first editor, Ms. Imai Michiko, which is posed on the website of a job placement for women (‘Woman Career’, September 19, 2016). The magazine’s underlying message for the readers is, in the words of the female editor, “Please do not give up your dream of continuing working”. Unlike the publisher’s flagship business magazine President that is designed for predominantly male, executive, or managerial businesspersons, President WOMAN ’s primary

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 119 readership is not female executives, whose presence is a rarity in the Japanese business world. Second, whereas the four major business magazines feature English study methods as their sole cover topic in 19 special issues from 2012 and 2017, NikkeiWOMAN and President WOMAN had never featured English study as the largest-font headline until 2015: NikkeiWOMAN (June 2015 issue) and President WOMAN (November 2015 issue and October 2016 issue). Even in Nikkei WOMAN ’s past six issues and President WOMAN ’s latest issue that have featured English study, the topic is one among other smaller-font subhead topics (NikkeiWOMAN ’s September 2009, February 2011, September 2011, September 2014, September 2016, July 2017; President WOMAN ’s August 2017 issue). The look of these seven issues’ covers, which are laden with gripping headlines and subheads, raises a possibility that those who browse the magazine issues at station stands or bookstores might not necessarily be attracted to the smaller-font subhead topic of English study. As for the second limitation, my previous study on Nikkei WOMAN and other women’s magazines (Kobayashi, 2015) reveals that the words and phrases such as ‘English study’ and ‘English’ are not specified on the cover even when the topic of English study is incorporated into the cover articles about naraigoto [selfenrichment lessons] or shikaku [certificates]. Thus, the present chapter’s focus on cover articles on English study inevitably excludes many non-cover articles about English study that are part of cover articles about naraigoto [self-enrichment lessons] or shikaku [certificates] and featured as a tool for women’s psychological self-enrichment and/or career opportunities. Below are some of such in-text examples: Let’s start from today! Here is a new way to spend 15 minutes each morning in studying to gain certificates, re-studying English, etc. A morning is the best for such study! The most important thing in a morning study is to continue. We hear from experts how to start a day and continue studying without fail. (Nikkei WOMAN June 2013 issue, p. 48) Whether you can continue or not depends not on your willpower or personality but on your knowledge of correct tips for continuation! Our stories cover what many fail to continue, ranging from foreign language study and certificate study to diet, a morning study, and to keeping your things organized. Let’s find a new me who can continue, and obtain confidence and chances. Why don’t you join us in opening a new door to a life of continuation? (Nikkei WOMAN August 2008 issue, p. 21) Women’s power goes UP, with foreign language lessons, total body hair removal and other self-improvement strategies. How much money do we need to boost our women’s power? (an an January 2006 issue, p. 56)

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These articles that treat English study the same as hair removal and weight loss are embedded in the Japanese society where many women are positioned to explore ways to become attractive and confident outside the mainstream workplace by engaging in women-oriented self-enrichment activities. In fact, despite the increase in the number of Japanese women who attend higher education and aspire to continue working as a full-fledged worker, many come to surrender their hope once they have a family or reach a certain age (Steinberg & Nakane, 2012). OECD (2012) provides the following summary of Japanese women in a predicament: Difficulties with reconciling work and family commitments help explain the relatively poor female labour market outcomes in Japan. . . . many Japanese women still withdraw from the labour force upon childbirth and often cannot resume their regular employment pattern: in the dual Japanese labour market, women often end up in relatively lowly-paid non-regular employment.

Headlines and subheads about English study English-study words and phrases appear on Nikkei WOMAN ’s and President WOMAN ’s 10 issues’ covers as the largest-font headlines in three issues and smaller-font subheads in seven issues. Below is my English translation of the headlines and subheads: Nikkei WOMAN September 2009 issue [Headline] Let’s start a day early: I change myself by waking up 30 minutes earlier! [Subhead] The latest and the most powerful TOEIC study method Nikkei WOMAN February 2011 issue [Headline] I’ll change my life with new morning habits!: A mere 15 minutes is OK! [Subhead] This year’s resolution to produce a result!: English improvement methods from business English to TOEIC Nikkei WOMAN September 2011 issue [Headline] Simple is the best! Tips for organized rooms and storage tricks [Subhead] It is not a dream to score 900 marks in TOEIC! English re-study methods that guarantee continuous learning! Nikkei WOMAN September 2014 issue [Headline] Interpersonal relationships can go well with ‘skills of likable people’ & ‘courage to be disliked’! [Subhead] • •

Junior-high school English can do in everyday conversation and during travel abroad! Easy but practical English phrases taught by non-native gaishikei joshi [women who work for foreign companies]

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Lessons by a karisuma [charisma] interpreter!: Natural conversation methods Secret English study methods practiced by women who work for companies that suddenly introduced an English-only policy for inhouse communications

Nikkei WOMAN September 2016 issue [Headline] Lucky people’s 85 habits: Life can be changed with new morning rituals! [Subhead]: Learn to speak English pera pera [with native fluency] without spending money!: English study methods for busy women Nikkei WOMAN July 2017 issue [Headline] The most powerful method! A 500-yen saving that okanemochi joshi [women with money] are practicing: Tips for saving 10 million yen! [Subhead] • • • •

No waste of time and money! Learn to speak English with a zero-yen method practiced by busy working joshi [women]! Junior-high-school English phrases that work Practical translation apps!

President WOMAN August 2017 issue [Headline] I will change into the best version of myself with concentration and ideas: Brain works 15 times more efficiently! [Subhead] • •

Perfectly efficient! Summer’s short-term English study-abroad Summer’s English improvement strategies

Nikkei WOMAN ’s June 2015 issue cover headline • • • • •

Departure from English inferiority complex: Japan’s easiest English study methods that can change me [watashi]! Ms. Maeda Atsuko [a former member of a Japanese idol group AKB48]: ‘Courage and a smartphone are the key to my English study’ English study for 5 minutes a day through online lessons, NHK programs, apps, manga, etc.: A perfect study method for you ‘Hau a yu’ [How are you], ‘Faito!’ [fight], etc.: The truth is, these popular English phrases sound a bit strange! TOEIC scores go up by 100 points in a month!: ‘Score-up study methods’ taught by a TOEIC perfect score team

President WOMAN ’s November 2015 issue cover headline •

Learn to speak English pera pera [with native fluency] easily and tanoshiku [with fun]: Tokimeku English [English that evokes a feeling of throbbing excitement] and the latest English study methods

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The most powerful certificates & English 2016 effective for career move, job change and re-employment

Differences from and similarities to Japanese business magazines In the same way that Japanese men’s speech markers appear on the cover of Japan’s major business magazines, the two working women’s magazines cover lines employ particles and phrases that are characteristic of Japanese women’s language, parallel to many other Japanese women’s magazines (Nakamura, 2004; Yukawa & Saito, 2004). More noticeably, akin to the business magazines’ front-cover feature of TOEIC, Nikkei WOMAN has featured TOEIC as one of the front-cover subheads four times in September 2009 issue, February 2011, September 2011, and June 2015. However, unlike the business magazines’ reassuring cover message for domestically educated Japanese businesspersons with beginner-level English skills, Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN set a high goal for their readership. For example, Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2011 issue’s subhead states: ‘It is not a dream to score 900 marks!’ Such a high target set is unseen on the business magazines’ covers targeted at Japanese businessmen with a high level of anxiety over English and low-level English proficiency. Relevantly, unlike the business magazines’ cover messages that stay aloof from native-like fluency in English for businessmen apprehensive about speaking English, both Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN set the goal of native-like ‘pera pera’ fluency in English which, according to the cover messages, is attainable without spending money (Nikkei WOMAN September 2016) and while having fun (President WOMAN November 2015). This ‘fun’ English study is exemplified in President WOMAN ’s November 2015 issue’s headline phrases such as ‘tanoshiku’ [with fun] and ‘tokimeku’ [with a feeling of throbbing excitement] and Nikkei WOMAN September 2014 issue’s subhead ‘overseas trips’. Also unlike the business magazines, the working women’s magazines juxtapose English with certificates [shikaku], as showcased by President WOMAN ’s October 2016 issue’s front-cover headline on “the most powerful certificates & English”. In this light, this newly launched working women’s magazine is no different from Nikkei WOMAN and many other general women’s magazines that naturalize white-collar Japanese working women’s interest in studying English and obtaining certificates as a way to continue working outside the mainstream workplace (Kobayashi, 2015). Concurrently though, in an analogous fashion to business magazines’ feature articles about business English needs, Nikkei WOMAN ’s front-cover subheads in the February 2011 and September 2014 issues shed light on female businesspersons who are faced with English needs, working for either foreign companies or global Japanese ones.

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Research themes on working women’s magazines’ articles about English study The aforementioned two working magazines’ front-cover headlines and subheads about English study suggest the possibility that the corresponding in-text articles address at least three types of potential readers: (1) those who consider re-studying English as a personal naraigoto [self-enrichment learning] without expecting to, or being expected to use English for business purposes; (2) those who study English to obtain work certificates [shikaku] that, they (are made to) believe, pave the way for job change or re-employment; (3) working women who need English at foreign companies or global Japanese ones. This tentative hypothesis is examined by perusing in-text articles about English study that appear in a total of 10 issues of NikkeiWOMAN and President WOMAN: Nikkei WOMAN ’s June 2015 front-cover issue; President WOMAN ’s November 2015 issue and October 2016 front-cover issue; NikkeiWOMAN ’s six issues that have featured English study as one of other smaller-font subhead topics (September 2009, February 2011, September 2011, September 2014, September 2016, July 2017).

English study as naraigoto [self-enrichment learning] Nikkei WOMAN reports that its readers’ main reason for English study is their wish to use English during overseas trips for leisure. Nikkei WOMAN ’s February 2011 issue (p. 119) and September 2011 issue (p. 114) successively conducted approximately the same survey with the magazine’s registered members on their English study experience and purposes (n = 696 in the February issue; 660 in the September issue). When asked if currently engaging in English study, 33.8 % (February issue) and 30.2 % (September issue) answered yes to the question. Asked about the reason for studying English, 34% and 36% chose one of the multiplechoice answers: “because I want to use English during overseas trips”. Nikkei WOMAN legitimizes its readers’ investment in fun English study not only by indicating the survey results but also by inviting ‘English study experts’. In Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2014 issue (pp. 110–113), June 2015 issue (pp. 40–41), September 2016 issue (pp. 88–91), and July 2017 issue (pp. 66–71), the invited experts teach the magazine’s readers how to be successful English users during travel abroad for pleasure and also when offering a helping hand to foreign tourists in Japan. First, Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2014 issue (pp. 110–113) invites a Japanese female who has made a living as “a writer & planner” after she quit her job at the age of 38, studied English in the UK for a year, and ‘successfully’ published an English study book based on her English study experience. Her in-text lessons include English expressions that can be used during overseas travel and when the magazine readers are introduced to their Japanese friends’ boyfriends [kare] or meet foreigners [ gaikokujin] at drinking parties (pp. 111–113). Comparable content is provided by Nikkei WOMAN ’s June 2015 issue that invites a Japanese female, the representative of an English conversation school,

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who also shows the magazine readers how to show foreign visitors the way in English (pp. 40–41). The issue comes with a supplementary inserted booklet titled ‘You can make yourself understood with 100 travel English phrases at airports, hotels, stores, restaurants, etc.’, which are designed for private trips to foreign countries (pp. 79–86). Another authoritative figure, Mr. David Thayne, appears in Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2016 issue and July 2017 issue. As we recall, he maintains a high profile in the business magazines as the authority who can correct wrong Japanese English (see Chapter 7). This time, wearing his trademark beret, Mr. Thayne teaches Nikkei WOMAN ’s readers English expressions that come in handy when they spot lost foreign tourists in town and when traveling overseas (September 2016 issue, pp. 88–91). In another of his overseas travel English lessons (July 2017 issue, pp. 66–71), he reassures readers that most of the English words and phrases travelers need to know are what are already learned at junior high school (p. 66). This term ‘junior-high-school English’ appears on the magazine cover as one of the cover subheads as well as in-text articles (p. 66, 67). Worthy of note is that whereas Mr. Thayne’s and Nikkei WOMAN ’s notion of ‘junior high school English’ is constructed in the context of working women’s pleasure activities, Japan’s business magazines employ the term to comfort their monolingual readers that business can be done even with their junior-high-school English. On the other hand, both Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN share a common ground with other women’s and business magazines in terms of academic scholars’ low profile in the magazines. No renowned scholars of language education are invited to provide research-based insight for Japanese women’s investment in English study. Many who appear as authorities run private English language schools and publish English textbooks for a living, drawing upon their English study history and work experience. Nikkei WOMAN invites not only ‘English experts’ but also non-anonymous Japanese working women whose English study habits and increased skills are shown to add vitality to their life. On the surface, this tactic is on a par with that of Japanese business magazines in that both invite real-life Japanese businesspersons as those who have successful English study experience to share with the readers. However, unlike the business magazines’ lay guests who study English by sheer necessity in the workplace, Nikkei WOMAN ’s invited guests comprise many who re-study English so as to use the skills outside the current workplace where they have no chance to use English. Nikkei WOMAN ’s June 2015 issue included three such women: Ms. Hayashi, 27 years old, could not make herself understood in English during her trip to Turkey and now wishes to appreciate English books and movies in the original English (p. 19). Ms. Tanaka, 31 years old, quit her job and studied English for a month in Cebu, Philippines so as to have a trouble-free trip abroad (p. 20). Ms. Muramatsu, 33 years old, studied English in Cebu for two weeks for her future career advancement and now strives to maintain her English level by studying English together with her former Japanese schoolmates from the Cebu ESL school (p. 21). Nikkei WOMAN ’s July 2017 issue also introduces Ms. Takakura, 25 years old, who decided to re-study

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 125 English after her shocking experience last year when she was unable to help foreigners in English who asked her for directions (p. 64). None of them appear to have been using English in their current workplace. These articles suggest that Nikkei WOMAN visualizes its female readers in a non-business situation where they use English for fun, stress-free, cross-cultural communication outside the workplace. Moreover, Nikkei WOMAN ’s June 2015 issue’s cover headline and in-text article articulate that the issue is designed for those who study English out of ‘pera pera ganbo’ or desire to speak English fluently and sound like native English speakers. The magazine’s headline boldly promises to realize their wish by providing information about “the most trendy, sustainable and fun study method” that “can change me [watashi]” (pp. 16–17). This type of ‘I-identity’ (Lazar, 2014) and leisure-oriented discourse about English study/use was not practiced by the newly launched President WOMAN ’s two front-cover 2015 and 2016 features on English study. However, the magazine’s latest 2017 August issue features “perfectly effective summer short-term [within a week] English studyabroad [ryuugaku]” (pp. 66–81), which includes not only intensive business English lessons in Japan and Cebu, the Philippines, but also a combination of general English lessons in the morning with leisure-oriented afternoon activities (e.g., flower arrangement and horse riding in the UK, Hula Dance in Honolulu, resort activities in Phuket, Thailand). Furthermore, as shown below, President WOMAN follows the precedent of Nikkei WOMAN and other women’s magazines by reconstructing another feminized discourse on English study as a way to obtain work certificates and fulfill Japanese women’s dream to continue to work after marriage or pregnancy.

English as one of the certificates [shikaku] Entitled ‘The most powerful certificates & English skills effective for career move, job change and re-employment’, President WOMAN ’s 40-page-long, front-cover feature article (October 2016 issue, pp. 24–67) starts with a commonly asked question to Japanese working women: “Will you be able to keep working in the same workplace for another ten years?” and then suggests that “obtaining certificates is one good way to plan out your future career” (p. 26). Based on the results of Nikkei WOMAN ’s survey conducted with its registered members, the magazine recurrently endorses their readers’ strategic investment in self-study with the aim of obtaining certificates. For example, Nikkei WOMAN ’s April 2012 issue reports that 48.3% of 597 survey respondents (average age 34.7) study for certificates (p. 112). In addition, Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2012’s survey shows that 76.3% of 966 survey respondents (average age 35.5) have obtained more than one kind of certificate (average 3.2 certificates) after they started working in the real world (p. 16). Asked about their reasons for obtaining certificates that are not required by the present work, they reply that having several certificates under their belt “is likely to increase job opportunities” and “will help me keep working for long” (p. 16).

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A competitively high TOEIC score is also identified as one of such certificates. On the cover and in the text, Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2009 issue and September 2011 issue reassure the readers that ‘It is not a dream to score 900 marks!’ The magazine’s female readers are then advised to learn from real-life women who used to be a beginner-level English learner but now have a positive English study experience to share with the readers. The September 2011 issue’s feature article (pp. 109–117) starts with the introduction of a Japanese female who improved her TOEIC marks from 280 to 804 in half a year and now works as a simultaneous interpreter (pp. 110–113). Japanese working women’s devotion to English study for career opportunities is materialized in their better TOEIC performance than their male peers. Citing the TOEIC official data, Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2009 issue reports that Japanese working women’s average TOEIC score (637) is higher than male counterparts’ (584) by more than 50 marks and that Japanese temporary contract female workers’ average TOEIC score (640) is higher than male department managers’ average score (629) and male division managers’ (601) (p. 61). The magazine feigns surpise at the data with an exclamnation mark (!) and conjectures with another exclamnation mark (!?) that this result might be due to women’s hardworking nature. These results, however, should come as no surprise to many English teaching professionals and laypeople who are cognizant of Japanese young women’s positive attitudes toward English study and use since their school days (see Chapter 4). Overall, in the same way as inspirational books for women, both Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN induce Japanese (former) working women on the periphery to listen to ‘English experts’ and ordinary women ‘who are reborn with English skills’ (see also Chapter 4) rather than waiting in vain to be treated on equal terms with their male peers and assigned to global job responsibilities that demand English use. Concurrently though, as shown below, in the same manner as the business magazines, both Nikkei WOMAN and President WOMAN feature female businesspersons, communicating a message that the presence of women who need and use English at the workplace is far from a fabrication.

English for working women assigned to global job responsibilities Whereas Japanese working women’s magazines’ readers are repeatedly exposed to the idea of aligning English study parallel to personal pleasure and womenfriendly certificates, they are also informed of business women in their 20s and 30s who are faced with opportunities to use English for their current business assignments and thus explore ways to improve their English in their spare time in order to thrive on their enhanced English skills in the workplace. President WOMAN ’s November 2015 issue features seven such real-life women who work for Adecco, ACRO, Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, Kubota, Sony Pictures Entertainment, FamilyMart, and AstraZeneca (pp. 22–35). Another three business women appear in President WOMAN ’s October 2016 issue as those who managed to improve their TOEIC score by more than 300 marks

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 127 without studying abroad while working full-time for ‘a major telecommunications company’, DELL, JAC Recruitment and Robert Walters Japan (pp. 46–49). The Nikkei WOMAN September 2014 issue features four ‘non-native gaishikei joshi’ or women working for foreign companies (Accenture, Coca-Cola East Japan, kate spade Japan, and Goldman Sachs Japan) (pp. 106–109), in addition to two ‘nonnative’ Japanese female employees at global Japanese companies (Rakuten and NTT Communications) (pp. 114–115). The magazine’s focus on female employees at foreign companies is characteristic of women’s magazines, accounting for the reality that English-speaking Japanese women can expect global job opportunities outside the Japanese-male-dominant business world. This Nikkei WOMAN September 2014 issue is followed by the Nikkei WOMAN June 2015 issue (pp. 46–48) in which two working women from Nitto Group Company and Robert Walters Japan are introduced as those whose TOEIC score is “close to full marks”. Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2016 issue (pp. 82–85) also showcases five “busy working women” as those who know how to study English effectively in their spare time without spending money so as to perform better in their workplace (Shiseido The Ginza, Dai-ichi Life Group, Ashisuto, WEGO, and Tokyo Star Bank).

Seemingly mixed discourses between English study articles and others Overall, Japanese working women’s magazines’ readers who browse the issues that feature English study are likely exposed to three types of feminized and less-feminized discourses about English, i.e., English as a self-enrichment activity, English as a certificate that is not required by the present work status, and English as a tool for business women working for global Japanese companies or foreign-affiliated ones. On the other hand, these feature articles about English study for working women are found to coexist with other non-feature articles that appear to be in conflict with English-study feature articles. For example, a two-page non-feature article in Nikkei WOMAN ’s September 2016 issue invites a Waseda Business School’s male associate professor to have him respond to a question, “Are certificates helpful for women’s career planning?” (pp. 126–127). The scholar is quoted as answering, “Now that the number of people with English fluency is increasing, the mere ability to speak English won’t serve as a powerful weapon” (p. 127). This university teacher’s modest response dovetails with the article’s introductory statement that cautions about the popularity of English study and bookkeeping among many women, indicating that such commonplace certificates might not be powerful enough to realize their dream to continue working (p. 126). Presumably, the magazine needed to take pre-emptive measures against female readers’ potential disaffection with media discourses that endorse their investment in certificates, which they later find unserviceable for their career change. Furthermore, this male business expert delivers his recommendations to the magazine readers to “engage in activities that are different from their job such as voluntary activities and find something tanoshii [fun]”, i.e., self-enrichment

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activities, which, he argues, “gradually evolve into their strength” (pp. 126–127). The magazine’s and the scholar’s seemingly supportive advice excludes any discussion as to why many Japanese women’s magazine readers in their 20s to 30s, who wish to work for a long time to come, are guided to invest a certain amount of time and money in self-study for English and certificates that are not required by their current job responsibilities. In a similar vein, President WOMAN ’s October 2016 issue features as frontcover topics ‘certificates and English’ instrumental for (former) working women (pp. 24–67), but coexists with other feature articles about Japan’s institutionalized overwork culture that constitutes a critical barrier to Japanese working women’s wish to continue working by balancing family and work (pp. 125–150). However, while both English-study and overwork-culture articles project the magazine image as a cheering squad for working women struggling to continue working, these articles counsel the readers to explore new job opportunities outside the mainstream workplace. In fact, the feature article about Japanese overwork culture makes no reference to Japanese corporate masculinity values such as parenting that pressures working mothers in double-income families to function as single mothers by doing household chores and caring for children and husbands at the end of their long day after overtime work. Another example is President WOMAN ’s November 2015 issue’s two-page non-feature article entitled ‘Dear Prime Minister Abe’ (pp. 64–65). The article is about three anonymous working women’s conversation about gender discrimination in the Japanese business world and a female associate professor’s suggestion for redressing gender division of labor in Japan. Yet again, the article falls short of discussing the male-dominant business world’s engrained resistance to the presence of women who (strive to) continue working after marriage and pregnancy, which is in line with the absence of gender-related articles in Japanese business magazines (see Chapter 7).

Japanese working women’s magazines’ pro-women and uncritical discourses Addressing Japanese (former) working women who are institutionalized to work outside the mainstream business world and retire early, two Japanese working women’s magazines are found to construct discourses about English study either as personal naraigoto [self-enrichment learning] in their personal life or for marketable TOEIC score and certificates [shikaku] as a tool to gain re-employment. Also conjured up is an image of elite business women in their 20s and 30s who use English at global Japanese or foreign companies. A question arises here as to whether these working women’s magazines are blind to the reality of Japanese marginalized working women, in the same way as western women’s magazines’ double-standard marketing strategy. As reviewed earlier, Cosmopolitan and western advertisements targeted at working women present women’s underprivileged work status “as entirely natural” and “render the notion of changing or even criticizing these conditions unthinkable” (Kauppinen, 2013, p. 145) while

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 129 ‘recuperating feminism, reclaiming femininity’ and promoting ‘I-identity’ (Lazar, 2014), ‘manufacturing authenticity’ (Duffy, 2013) and producing the discourse of ‘postfeminism and neoliberalism’ (Kauppinen, 2013). Among a total of 10 Nikkei WOMAN ’s and President WOMAN ’s front-cover feature issues on English study, none of the issues raises the ultimate question as to why Japanese young women in their 20s to 30s with their years-long willingness to study and use English for business purposes are endorsed to engage in English study for feminized purposes (i.e., self-enrichment, certificates) and why those who are found to be using English at work are predominantly represented by young women working for large companies or foreign-affiliated ones. Moreover, no scholars of language education appear in working women’s magazines’ feature articles on English study, a tendency also observed in business magazines’ and other women’s magazines’. It is not known, however, whether the magazines refrain from inviting university-based language educators, or it is the scholars’ choice to distance themselves from the commercial articles about adult English learners/users outside the school context. Future research on Japanese working women’s magazines’ pro-women discourses would serve the purpose of exposing a contradiction between the magazines’ explicit support for women and their implicit role as gate-keepers of gendered roles in society. Most of all, Japanese working women’s magazines’ articles about English study deserves more attention not only from scholars in critical discourse analyses but also from those university-based language education researchers who can then better provide guidance on career ideas for many Japanese college women with positive attitudes toward English study and use beyond the school context.

Additional note Hoping to add to existing knowledge on western women’s magazines, in particular, Cosmopolitan (Duffy, 2013; Kauppinen, 2013; Machin & van Leeuwen, 2003), this chapter ends with a literature-based comparison between Cosmopolitan and Japanese women’s magazines. First, unlike Cosmopolitan, Nikkei WOMAN employs a discourse of us/we comradery with other women when encouraging its readers to pursue their wellbeing outside the workplace through mutual engagement in naraigoto or self-enrichment activities: “New knowledge, new friends, mental and physical wellbeing . . . All sorts of effects from naraigoto are essential for us to live happily” (September 2012 issue, p. 16); “Let’s find a new me who can continue foreign language study, certificate study, etc., and obtain confidence and chances. Why don’t you join us in opening a new door to a life of continuation?” (2008 August issue, p. 21). Cosmopolitan readers are not subjected to such sisterhood discourse but rather advised to stay strong and “get through the stressful phases at work” on their own feet (Kauppinen, 2013, p. 145). Machin and van Leeuwen (2003) argue: “In the world of Cosmopolitan there is no solidarity with fellow human beings” and “It is all up to the individual, who must, alone, face the world, using

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survival strategies [provided by the magazine]” (p. 505). Relevantly, although Nikkei WOMAN and Cosmopolitan are united in their strategy of stressing working women’s discovery of their new identity, it is in the private sphere and outside the mainstream workplace where Nikkei WOMAN readers are repetitively prompted to engage in such self-discovery together with other like-minded women by studying foreign languages, studying for certificates, losing weight, and engaging in other self-enrichment activities. Nikkei WOMAN and Cosmopolitan have in common citing and introducing non-anonymous role-model business women as supportive evidence for the magazine’s argument. For example, Duffy (2013) shows that Cosmopolitan features five successful, attractive business women who, according to Duffy, “could double as models” with the following headline: “Before you even open your mouth, your appearance is broadcasting info to everyone – so you need to make sure it’s sending the message you want” (pp. 146–147). Nikkei WOMAN also utilizes the same strategy by inviting elite females and stressing that these topnotch females are no different from us all [watashitachi] and that we all are all dealing with the same anxities [onaji nayami] in mind: “Nowadays, women are turning into executives in various companies” but “They are never exclusive people above the clouds but rather are doing their work while dealing with the same worries with ours [watashitachi to onaji nayami]” (Nikkei WOMAN August 2013 issue, p. 71). Substantiating women’s magazine’s messages “by dint of expert strategies and tips” (Kauppinen, 2013, p. 139) is the staple tactic practiced both by Cosmopolitan and Nikkei WOMAN. For example, one of the German Cosmopolitan articles on success at work reads: “Ten silver bullets to success: We have asked top coaches for their career mantras for maximal success” (Kauppinen, 2013, p. 141). In the same way, Nikkei WOMAN invites ‘experts’ to provide guidance and advice for working women who struggle to continue studying English for non-business purposes. For example, a self-proclaimed ‘English study stylist’, who often appears in the magazine, inspires Nikkei WOMAN readers with little need for English on the job to remain committed to English study, for instance, by posting their messages in English on Facebook or Twitter and communicating online with people in English-speaking countries (February 2013 issue, p. 46). Overall, while advocating women’s well-being in society, Nikkei WOMAN and Cosmopolitan embrace the mainstream men-friendly dominant ideology, condone the social institution of gender discrimination, and promote women’s investment in women-specific products and activities to let them have a sense of being ‘real’ ‘fun’ ‘fearless’ women without becoming critical of their own social positions.

References Darling-Wolf, F. (2006). The men and women of non-no: Gender, race, and hybridity in two Japanese magazines. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 23(3), 181–199. Duffy, B. E. (2013). Manufacturing authenticity: The rhetoric of ‘real’ in women’s magazines. The Communication Review, 16(3), 132–154.

Women’s magazines’ articles about English 131 Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and Power (Second ed.). Essex: Pearson Education. Kauppinen, K. (2013). ‘Full power despite stress’: A discourse analytical examination of the interconnectedness of postfeminism and neoliberalism in the domain of work in an international women’s magazine. Discourse & Communication, 7(2), 133–151. Kobayashi, Y. (2015). ‘Women’s power goes up with language study’: Japanese women’s magazine construction of ideal female adult learners in gendered Japan. In A. Jule (Ed.), Shifting Visions: Gender and Discourses (pp. 138–154). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Lazar, M. M. (2014). Recuperating feminism, reclaiming femininity: Hybrid postfeminist I-identity in consumer advertisements. Gender and Language, 8(2), 205–224. Machin, D., & van Leeuwen, T. (2003). Global schemas and local discourses in Cosmopolitan. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 493–512. Nakamura, M. (2004). ‘Let’s dress a little girlishly!’ or ‘Conquer short pants!’: Constructing gendered communities in fashion magazines for young people. In S. Okamoto & J. S. S. Smith (Eds.), Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology: Cultural Models and Real People (pp. 131–147). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OECD (2012). Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi. org/10.1787/9789264179370-en Steinberg, C., & Nakane, M. (2012). Can Women Save Japan? IMF Working Paper 12/48. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund. Talbot, M. (1998). Consumerism and femininity. In Language and Gender: An Introduction (pp. 170–189). Cambridge: Polity Press. Yukawa, S., & Saito, M. (2004). Cultural ideologies in Japanese language and gender studies: A theoretical review. In S. Okamoto & J. S. S. Smith (Eds.), Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology: Cultural Models and Real People (pp. 23–37). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Afterword

The main theme addressed in Chapter 1 to Chapter 8 is Japanese learners of English and their attitudes towards English. Situated in three contexts (Japan, English-speaking ASEAN nations, and western nations), Japanese senior high school students, college students, working adults, or former working adults study English as full-time students, short-term ESL students, holidaymakers, businesspersons, former office ladies, mothers, and so on, whose reasons for (re)studying English vary from involuntary reasons (e.g., mandatory participation in overseas ESL intensive program) to voluntary ones (e.g., job change). This book’s interdisciplinary and cross-boundary approach to Japanese learners of English and pertinent themes re-visits unchanged findings (e.g., Japan’s internationally low-level English education, Japanese female students’ positive attitudes towards English study/use) while shedding light on unprecedented changes as a new era unfolds (e.g., the growing popularity of English-speaking ASEAN nations among East Asian students, Japanese business magazines’ cover issues on English study). Furthermore, the book covers diverse topics and factors that pertain to Japanese learners of English and their attitudes towards English: entrance examinations, early English education policy, universities’ international (un)competitiveness, globalization policies, humanities and language departments, (non)western international students in Japan and abroad, native English speaker norms, English-speaking ASEAN nations’ educational hub status, Japan’s economic performance, gender differences in language study attitudes, discrimination against women in Japan, and ideological discourses about English study. This book’s scholarly discussion of Japanese learners of English in at-home and study-abroad contexts limits its capacity to engage in critical discussion of the issue of a neoliberalism that commodifies economically sought-after subject matters such as English at the expense of others (e.g., other European languages once considered prestigious in Japan’s higher education) (Kobayashi, 2013). However, this book addresses the issue by showing that those involved in English language education in Japan are increasingly expected to be at the forefront of practicing neoliberal English education and contributing to the institutional development of competitive global human resources. Yet, it is the global English ideology, not tangible English skills, that impinges on many current/former Japanese learners of English, as implied by the presence of many monolingual

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Japanese college students who have little difficulty securing employment with well-established companies. Discussing the case of South Korea in one of the six contributing articles to the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development’s special issue on language and neoliberalism, Park (2016) also points out the inconsistency between South Korean “corporations’ emphasis on English language skills” and the fact that “most employees do not need significant competence in English for their everyday jobs” (p. 458). This incongruity is ascribed to, Park (2016) argues, the ideology of language as pure potential that allows Koreans to imagine English as a resource that will enable them to realize their self in the global world, the geographical arena in which one’s sense of worth can be truly tested and demonstrated. (pp. 458–459) A caveat is that as discussed in this book, language ideology might not be the only push factor behind South Korean companies’ demand for Englishspeaking, internationally competitive Korean job candidates (i.e., its small-scale domestic market and high dependency on foreign trade). It manifests itself, for example, in their practice of dispatching their “recruiting staff” to “conduct job interviews with Korean students in the renowned foreign universities” (Shin, 2016, p. 514), an uncommon practice among Japan’s major corporations. In other words, more than this ideological English divide might be at play in South Korea where its citizens’ English proficiency and/or overseas education experience function as a predictor of their educational background, employment, and socioeconomic status. In contrast to South Korea, Japan continues to produce many Japanese graduates of elite universities limited in their English proficiency and overseas education experience who nonetheless land jobs at Japan’s top-brand companies. Female students or graduates from non-competitive universities could be more motivated to study or work abroad in search of more promising future possibilities outside Japan. Thus, as pointed out by Terasawa (2017), we can raise concerns about “the appropriateness of terms that assume a certain form of inequality, such as the phrase ‘English divide’” because in Japan “obtaining English skills is not profitable, a gap does not indicate inequality but a mere difference that reflects diverse Japanese orientation to English learning” (p. 674; emphasis in the original). Nonetheless, even in Japan it has been ideologically inculcated at the government-, institution-, media-, and individual-level that attaining English skills is more profitable than other language skills; this can be seen as part of the neoliberal conceptualization of global human resources that has increasingly dictated the role of educators in higher education and engendered an educational divide among them in light of the tangible and competitive results that accrue from college education. Needless to say, university-based language educators’ positioning and capacity in neoliberalism-driven academia bear on the future of the language education community and its research direction.

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Addressing the issue of neoliberalism for language departments at American colleges, Miñana (2017), in Modern Language Journal’s position paper that elicited six response papers, encourages his fellow language faculty to weather the ‘crisis’ by putting into practice “three action verbs that [I] regard as essential to the implementation of real change in language departments: Connect, Innovate, and Advocate” (p. 416), that is, “Connect: Humanities Leave the Ivory Tower” (p. 416), “Innovate: Humanities Enter the 21st Century” (p. 418), and “Advocate: Humanities Enter the Public Arena” (p. 420). On the other hand, as Miñana (2017) himself pointed out, amid the growing educational neoliberalism and corporatization of higher education, language faculty, positioned “often at the bottom of the pay scale” as well as prestige ranking (p. 420), might have little power to effect a ‘real change’. Henseler (2017), in one of the response papers to Miñana (2017), poses a practical question to his affirmative suggestion: As we all know, change in higher education is exhausting and it is slow. Additionally, in the process, we have to work to keep our jobs and, if we are lucky, get through tenure. We have to publish and teach. We have to serve on a host of committees and participate in our shared governance systems while developing new courses and opportunities for our students in modern languages and literatures. Now we must also address Miñana’s “Big 3”: connection, innovation, and advocacy. We must engage different communities, work with faculty and staff from other programs and departments, publish deep scholarship while also writing for broader audiences and turning ourselves into public humanists. In addition, in our spare time, we are encouraged to develop meaningful relationships with our administrators and participate in the development of our institutions’ missions all the while staying up to date and participating in the debates about the current state of higher education in the United States and abroad. Do you have the time? (p. 436; emphasis in the original) Indeed, language educators inundated with new and old job responsibilities might not have time to do more than required, let alone administer universitybased scholars’ suggestions such as academic papers’ pedagogical implications composed by outside researchers who might ritually add the concluding section in accordance with journal writing guidelines or reviewers’ requests. The issue of pedagogical implications’ practicability is discussed in TESOL Quarterly 2007 special issue’s “Symposium: Research and its pedagogical implications” (pp. 387–406). The opening paper, Han (2007), squarely raises an academically sensitive issue of pedagogical implications’ practicability. Critiquing many authors’ tendency “to have an add-on section, variously labeled ‘Pedagogical Implications,’ ‘Classroom Implications,’ ‘Applications to Practice,’ and the like, to ostentatiously link the research to practice”, Han (2007) argues that this academic writing format is tantamount to a “gesture” that “is often more pretentious than genuine, for it does not seem warranted by the research reported”

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(p. 387). Belcher (2007) is one of the four response papers that “applaud” Han’s (2007) “articulating what many of us have probably privately felt about pedagogical implications but not publicly expressed” (pp. 396–397); that is, that It is probably easy for all of us who read research to think of research articles that seem to reach for pedagogical implications not clearly motivated by the research results or that read like afterthoughts the authors would rather not have thought of at all. (pp. 396–397) Acknowledging university-based language education scholars’ and journal articles’ limitations and the complexity of ‘researching language and neoliberalism’ (Shin & Park, 2016), this book opts to ends with future prospects for the book’s themes, that is, what contents of this book will remain valid in a decade and what research themes will be replaced with new themes.

Gender in Japan’s English language learners/users •

•

Will Japan’s business world continue to prioritize monolingual male employees, and will Japanese business magazines continue to feature English study for monolingual businessmen who are (expected to be) assigned to global job responsibilities? Will Japanese pro–working women’s magazines continue to feature English study for feminized purposes, and will Japanese female students continue to develop positive attitudes toward English only to find themselves denied access to global job opportunities?

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016 shows that Japan’s gender equality ranking dropped to the 111th ranking (Thomas & Mie, 2016), due to Japanese industry’s continuous gender discrimination at work that inhibits Japanese women’s sustainable economic participation and opportunity (see also, OECD, 2012; Steinberg & Nakane, 2012). However, if the Japanese Government’s future outlook based on OECD’s data is correct (Cabinet Office, 2017), Japan will remain one of the world’s top four economic powers at least until 2030 (e.g., the estimated share of the global economy in 2030 for China is 23.7%; the US 20.2%; India 10%; Japan 4.4%; EU12.1%; and UK 3.0%). Thus, most or many Japanese companies might continue adhering to their decadeslong employment/promotion policy of discriminating male employees – the legitimate lifelong workforce – from female peers who are employed merely as young temporary assistants to the same-age male colleagues or senior male managers. Accordingly, commercial magazines, respectively targeted at Japanese lifelong businessmen and temporarily working women will continue reconstructing gender discourse about English/language study that obscures and legitimizes gender inequality in Japanese (fe)male employees’ (in)accessibility to global job responsibilities. Optimistically though, once those sectors of the Japanese

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economy become decrepit to the point where its companies no longer can afford to employ monolingual Japanese men and groom them for global job responsibilities from scratch, those profit-driven entities might decide to execute a drastic change in policy and start seeking for those who are ready to fulfill their duty from day one.

Japan’s English education and its economic performance • •

Will Japan’s much-criticized English education continue to produce monolingual Japanese and draw international attention for another decade(s)? Will the mismatch between Japan’s poor English education and strong economy from 1970s to the early 2000s never be discussed and replaced by a discussion that Japan’s English education reform is the key to Japan’s revitalization?

Given the economic forecast that Japan will hold its position as one of Asia’s top three economic powers along with China and India until 2030 (Cabinet Office, 2017), its business and educational entities might continuously have leeway to engage in ideological calls for English education reforms that rhetorically ensure the production of global human resources. Furthermore, positioned at the most marginalized organizational unit, both Japanese and non-Japanese English education scholars at Japanese universities will remain limited in undertaking sweeping change at the level of policymaking and region-level implementation. On the other hand, Japan’s economic rigor is doomed to be outshined by other Asian economic powers in years to come, for example, overtaken by India and ASEAN by 2025 in terms of GDP (Mitsubishi Research Institute, 2016, p. 9). Given that those Asian nations’ English-speaking (upper) middle-class nationals are, and will be, equipped with internationally competitive English skills, Japan’s calls for English-speaking Japanese nationals might become more than ideological in the future. In the meantime, Japan’s English education will remain one of the well-discussed topics in the international academic community as long as Japan’s higher education can afford to provide tenure jobs for Japanese and non-Japanese English teachers who have served as a primary contributor to international publications on Japan’s English education issues. In this light, future research prospects for Japan’s English education or international scholarship’s interest in it depends on the destiny of Japanese and non-Japanese universitybased English education scholars who have been increasingly required to function as nonacademic language trainers and thus have developed a sense of crisis over their professional future.

Native English speaker norms for Japanese learners of English •

Will Japanese students’ or schools’ choice of English study experience in English-speaking ASEAN nations evolve to be mainstream, or continue to be secondary to their choice of western English-speaking nations?

Afterword •

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Will Japanese college students continue to show more willingness to communicate with Western English-speaking international students in at-home contexts while socializing with other Asian students in study-abroad contexts?

The issue of native English speaker norms at the site of Japan’s English education will evolve into one of the most promising research themes in the next decade(s). It was unthinkable in the 1970s to 1990s that Japanese learners of English would learn English from young female Filipino English teachers online or at site, or travel to English-speaking ASEAN nations to study English on their own or as a school-led educational tour. Given that Japanese nationals are bound to see its economic rigor or GDP overtaken by ASEAN nations in the foreseeable future (Mitsubishi Research Institute, 2016), Japan’s interest in ASEAN will continue growing as the site of business deals and educational migration, leading to repercussions on Japanese students’ decades-long admiration for American/western English-speaking nations/nationals. A day might come in the future when English-speaking ASEAN nationals will be heralded as ideal assistant language teachers at Japanese schools, although it might be also the day when Japan’s economic competitiveness deteriorates to the level of having to halt any overpriced policy of inviting expatriate English teachers. It is hoped that those involved in English language teaching and researching in Japan and beyond will survive another unforeseeable decade to witness the continued existence of their scholarship that allows for the review of the abovementioned hypotheses.

References Belcher, D. (2007). A bridge too far? TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 396–399. Cabinet Office (2017). Report on 2030 Outlook and Reform [2030 tenbou to kaikaku tasuku fo-su houkokusho]. Government of Japan. Han, Z. (2007). Pedagogical implications: Genuine or pretentious? TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 387–393. Henseler, C. (2017). Taking the future by the horns: Making change happen from the ground up. Modern Language Journal, 101(2), 436–439. Kobayashi, Y. (2013). Europe vs. Asia: Foreign language education other than English in Japan’s higher education. Higher Education, 66(3), 269–281. Miñana, R. (2017). Making change happen: The new mission and location of language departments. Modern Language Journal, 101(2), 413–423. Mitsubishi Research Institute (2016). Medium to Longterm (2016 to 2030) National and International Economic Outlook [naigai keizai no chuchouki tenbou 2016–2030 nendo]. Tokyo: Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. OECD (2012). Closing the Gender Gap: Act Now. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179370-en Park, J. S.-Y. (2016). Language as pure potential. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 453–466. Shin, H. (2016). Language ‘skills’ and the neoliberal English education industry. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 509–522.

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Shin, H., & Park, J. S.-Y. (2016). Researching language and neoliberalism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(5), 443–452. Steinberg, C., & Nakane, M. (2012, October). IMF Working Paper: Can Women Save Japan? Retrieved from www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2012/wp12248. pdf Terasawa, T. (2017). Has socioeconomic development reduced the English divide? A statistical analysis of access to English skills in Japan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(8), 671–685. Thomas, B., & Mie, A. (2016, October 26). Japan slides to 111th in WEF gender equality rankings. The Japan Times.

Index

Note: Page numbers in bold indicate tables. advertising 116–118 American universities: Chinese students at 61, 68, 81; female foreign language majors in 48; foreign students at 28, 68, 73, 81; Japanese students at 68; language departments in 134; South Korean students at 81 Apelgren, B. M. 47 Appleby, R. 56 ASEAN nations: and male Japanese students 74–77; native English speakers in 33–34, 36–39, 107; political aspects of 29; study abroad in 24, 27–42, 136–137 Bae, S. 34, 38 Belcher, D. 135 Benesse 2, 5–7 Bolton, K. 107 Bourdieu, P. 47–48 Braine, George 103 Brooks, C. F. 22, 24 Business Associé (magazine) 96–98, 102, 104–105, 108, 110 business magazines: and Asian English 106–107; commonalities among 100–101; correct usage advice in 104–106; coverage of Chinese study 98–100; coverage of English study 95–114, 135; and English proficiency 109–114; gender discrimination in 112–113; hegemonic masculinity in 103; and nonnative English 108–109; research themes in 102–103; and speech transcripts 104–105; TOEIC score improvements in 102 business women 126–127

Cameron, D. 95 Canadian ESL schools: female students in 61–63; foreign students at 28; gender ratios in 61–62, 62; Japanese female adults in 62–63; JapaneseKorean friendship in 18–21; male students in 63–73 certificates 119, 122–123, 125–126 Chinese language study 98–100 colleges see higher education college students: conduct of 8–9; demographics of 7; on English proficiency 9–11; and international posture 10; non-western 15–17; see also Japanese students; South Korean students Connell, Raewyn 69 Cosmopolitan (magazine) 116, 118, 128–130 cross-cultural friendships: Asian-Asian 17, 21, 37–38; Japanese-Korean 18–20; non-western international students 18; in study-abroad contexts 17, 33–34, 41 Diamond (magazine) 96, 98, 107–110 Duffy, B. E. 116, 118, 130 Educational Testing Service (ETS) 95, 102 EIKEN see Test in Practical English Proficiency (EIKEN) EIL see English as an international language (EIL) elementary school 2, 4, 8, 52 ELF see English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) Emmott, Bill 81

140

Index

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) 103 English as an international language (EIL) 103 English language education: in ASEAN nations 74–77, 136–137; in business magazines 95–114; for business women 126–127; certificates for 119, 122–123, 125–126; in elementary schools 2; elites-only approach to 84–85; gender differences in 45–48, 54–55; ineffective 1–3; and juken eigo 5–6; in junior high school 2; nationallevel policies for 2; non-elite Japanese 86–88; for overseas travel 122–125; pedagogical implications in 134–135; policies for 4; promotion of 29–30; semi-monolingual teachers 87–88, 90; study methods in 106–114; teacher training in 87–88; varieties of 107; in working women’s magazines 116–130; see also ESL schools English language learners: attitudes of 4–7; Chinese male student attitudes 73; female Japanese student attitudes 45–48, 54–55, 58; male Japanese student attitudes 64–77; see also ESL schools English listening comprehension 2 English proficiency: admiration (akogare) for 6, 84; by Japanese teachers 87–89, 89, 90; measurement of 88–89, 89, 90; media coverage of 95–114; poor results in 82–87, 90–92, 136; and professional life 86–87 ESL schools: Canadian 18–21, 61–73; cross-cultural friendships 18–21; gender differences in 61–77; Japanese women teachers in 50; Malaysian 38–41, 75–76; Philippine 32; Singaporean 35–37, 50 European students: cross-cultural friendships 18–21; as a high-status group 20 faculty: and gender discrimination 54–55, 57; and internationalization 23–24, 42; native English speaking 23–24; and neoliberal discourse 134 Feal, Rosemary 48–49 female Japanese students: attitudes towards English learning 45–48, 54–55, 58, 132–133; in Canadian ESL schools 61–63; discrimination against 49; foreign language study 50;

and job opportunities 49–51, 54, 58; and native English-speaking teachers 55; socialization of 46–48, 61; see also Japanese women Filipino English teachers 30, 32 foreign language study: demand for 72; diversification of 84; downsizing of programs in 48–49; gender differences in 45–47, 50, 72–73; by Japanese women 53–54 Fujita, Y. 21, 33 gender discrimination: and faculty advising 54–55; in Japanese companies 50–51, 54, 112–113, 135; in Japanese higher education 57 gender equality 46–47 gender socialization 47–48 Glamour (magazine) 116, 118 Global 30 Project 11–12, 15–16, 29 global English 108–109 Global Gender Gap Report 2016 (World Economic Forum) 135 Globish 109 Gottlieb, N. 83–84 Gudykunst, W. B. 10 Han, Z. 134–135 Harasawa, M. 2, 84, 86–87 Hashimoto, K. 3, 87 Henry, A. 47 Henseler, C. 134 higher education: Asian students at 15–16; demographics of 7; English language education 8–12, 22–24; English policy for 93; gender differences in 46–48; internationalization of 10–12, 15–17, 21–24; and international posture 10; international roommates in 22; language study in 134–135; and native English-speaking teachers 56–57; student conduct in 8–9; study abroad in 27; under-enrollment in 7 high school students 5–7 Holliday, A. 102 Hong Kong 46 Honna, Nobuyuki 109 Hoshino, A. 27–28 international English 108–109 internationalization: and female Japanese students 54–56; and female

Index Japanese teachers 57; in Japanese higher education 10–12, 15–17, 21–24; in Japanese society 20; and non-western students 15–17 international posture 10 international students 22 Iwao, S. 49–50 Jackson, J. 41 Japan: corporate English skill assessment 95; economic decline and English skills 90–92, 114, 135–136; economic growth 82–83, 86, 90, 136; and foreign trade 81–82; non-elite English education in 86–88; poor English results in 82–87, 90–91, 133, 136; use of English skills 84 Japanese Association for Language Teaching (JALT) 57–58 Japanese Association of College English Teachers (JACET) 58 Japanese companies: and English language 67–68, 95–114, 135; gender discrimination in 50–51, 112–113, 135; hiring practices 49, 68, 82, 103, 112, 114, 135; in-house English reforms 91–92; marginalization of women in 49–51, 54; and monolingual male employees 51, 68, 70, 81–82, 86–87, 91–92, 103, 112–114, 132–133 Japanese-Korean friendship 18–21 Japaneseness: discourse of 4; and Japanese teachers of English 87; and language 2–4 Japanese students: in Canadian ESL schools 61–64; classroom culture of 41– 42; cross-cultural friendships 18–21, 33, 37–38, 41; English learning 30, 81; English proficiency of 82–87; and international roommates 22; in Malaysian ESL schools 38– 41; native English speaker norms for 136–137; preference for Western English speakers 19, 34, 36–37, 55–56; profile of 39, 42; reticence of 39– 42; in Singaporean ESL schools 35–37; and study abroad 81; see also female Japanese students; male Japanese students Japanese Test English (JTE) 108 Japanese women: employment by foreign companies 49–51; English language education 45–49; entrepreneurship by 51; in ESL programs 62–63; gender

141

discrimination 50–51, 112–113; in global business 126–127; language of 122; language study by 53–54, 62–63, 126–127; magazines for 116–125; and neoliberal discourse 116–117; self-enrichment of 120–121, 123–124; TOEIC scores 126; use of English skills 51–52, 58; see also female Japanese students Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) 3–4 Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) 27, 29, 32 jogi yuhak industry 80 Jon, J.-E. 16–17, 21 juken eigo 5–6 katakana 97, 101 Kauppinen, K. 116, 118 Kobayashi, Y. 46–47, 50, 57, 62 Korean Wave 53, 81 Kubota, R. 103 Kudo, K. 22 Lai, M. L. 46 language policy and planning 4 Lazar, M. M. 117 Lee, Kuan Yew 31 linguistic imperialism 3, 6 Mabuchi, H. 3 Machin, D. 129 magazines see business magazines; working women’s magazines Malaysia: English language in 15, 24, 27, 30–31; Japanese English learners in 38–41, 75–76; multicultural environment of 15, 32, 39, 41; Muslim students in 31, 39; study abroad in 24, 27, 30–32 male Japanese students: in ASEAN nations 74–77; attitudes towards English learning 64–77; employment of 67; masculine pride 70–72; motivation of 66–68; social pressure on 69–70 masculine pride 70–72 McConnell, D. L. 3–4 McVeigh, B. J. 2–3, 55 Miller, J. 18 Miñana, R. 134 Miyahara, M. 9, 23, 57 Morita, L. 16, 22 Murphy-Shigematsu, S. 15 Muslim students 31, 39

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Index

Nagatomo, D. H. 8, 57 National Center Test for University Admission 2 native English: in ASEAN nations 33–34, 36–39, 107; and business magazines 104–106; defined 108; and internationalization 23–24; speaker norms 136–137; teachers 55–57 native-speakerism 102 neoliberal discourse 116–117, 129, 132–134 Nerriere, Jean-Paul 109 Nikkei WOMAN (magazine) 117–127, 129–130 Nishio, A. 51 nonnative speakers 103 non-western international students: discrimination against 16–18; in Japanese higher education 15–17 Ochi, T. 29 Onnna ha eigo de yomigaeru [Women can be reborn with English skills] (Yasui) 51 Ono, M. 27 overseas travel 122–125 Park, J. S.-Y. 34, 38, 133 Passeron, J.-C. 47 Perry, Christian 8 Philippines 32 Phillipson, R. 3 Pitts, M. J. 22, 24 President (magazine) 96–98, 104, 106 President WOMAN (magazine) 118–129 pro-woman discourse 116–117, 128–129

Song, J. 82 South Korea: attitudes towards English learning 80–81; child-rearing practices in 80; corporate English skill assessment 95; education investment in 80, 82; and foreign trade 80–81; pop culture of 20, 33, 53, 81 South Korean students: anti-Japanese sentiments 19; classroom culture of 41; cross-cultural friendships 18–21, 33–34; and Singlish 34, 38; and study abroad 38, 80–81 standard English: preference for 34; in Singaporean ESL schools 35–38 Stewart, A. 9, 23, 57 Student Exchange Nippon Discovery (SEND program) 29 study abroad: in ASEAN nations 24, 27–42; Asian-Asian friendships in 17, 33–34, 41; in Europe and the United States 24, 28, 81 Suzuki, T. 83–86 Takeshita, Yuko 109 Talbot, M. 117 Tan, Jason 31 Tan, Y.-Y. 107 Tanaka, K. 16 Terasawa, T. 85, 133 Test in Practical English Proficiency (EIKEN) 88, 88, 89 Teutsch-Dwyer, M. 63 TOEIC study methods 95, 102, 112, 126 Toyo Keizai (magazine) 96, 98, 102, 108 Tsuneyoshi, R. 24

Re-inventing Japan Project 29 Ricento, T. 3 Rivers, D. J. 56 Rohlen, T. P. 1

universities and colleges see higher education

semi-monolingual teachers 87–88, 90 Shin, H. 62 Singapore: as educational hub 31; English language in 31, 107; Japanese English learners in 35–37; Japanese women teachers in 50; multicultural environment of 15; standard English expectations in 34–37; study abroad in 24, 27, 34 Singlish (Singaporean English) 34–36, 38 social identity theory 20 social pressure 69–70

WE see World Englishes (WE) Western English speakers: as globalized citizens 55; marginalization of 56–57; preference for 19, 34, 36–37, 55–56; promotion of 55–56; underrepresentation of female 57 Whitsed, C. 8, 55–56 Why are Japanese Poor at English? (Suzuki) 83–84 working women’s magazines: and advertising 116–118; coverage of English study 116–130, 135;

van Leeuwen, T. 129

Index discourse of 127–130; and neoliberal discourse 116–117, 129; pro-woman discourse in 116–117, 128–129; research themes in 123–129; uncritical discourse in 118, 128–130; women’s language in 122 World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) 90

143

World Englishes (WE) 102, 107–108 Wright, P. 8, 55–56 Yashima, T. 10 Yasui, Kyoko 51–52 Yoshino, K. 87 Young, C. 36 Yukio, Tsuda 6