From a Foreign Language to own Language: Resolving Conflicts Over English Education in Japan

Abstract

There have been controversies over Japan’s English education policy. The proponents argue that strengthening English is necessary for remaining economically competitive and catching up with neighboring countries. This article surveys non-academic Japanese-language books to understand various views on the English policy in Japan. The opposition to the policy came from both the right and the left sides of the Japanese political spectrum. While the former views English as a threat to the uniqueness of Japanese culture, the latter accuses the policy of being neoliberal. The author also observed that most of the arguments manifested a monolingual view of language, which reduces the relationship between languages to be a zero-sum game. The article ends by suggesting that, through adopting a multilingual view of language which regards English as a repertoire of Japanese linguistic behavior, many of the conflicts surrounding the English education policy in Japan can be resolved.

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