Master’s Degree programme in Language, Economics and Institutions of Asia and North Africa in Second Cycle (D.M. 270/2004) Final Thesis English language in globalizing Japan ‘Attitude transfer’ from Japanese to English Supervisor Ch. Prof. Patrick Heinrich Assistant supervisor Ch. Prof. Marcella Maria Mariotti Graduand Rita Padrin Matriculation Number 841486 Academic Year 2016 / 2017 1 2 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to understand the role of language ideology in Japan in the rivalry between the Japanese language and the English language. Japan versus the West has been a mainstream theme in twenty-century literature about Japan, and beliefs bonding national identity to the language remain widespread. Ever since the introduction of English language in Japan, and due to the fact that English is said to be the global language, many scholars investigated the role it assumed in the country. The present work is articulated as follows. Chapter one includes the theoretical premises about language planning, language ideology and the Japanese context, while chapter two explores the globalization of English. In Chapter three, reflecting on the connection between beliefs about one’s own language and those about other languages, the ideology of native-speakerism is traced back to the idea that the monolithic conceptualization of languages, affecting both Japanese and English language, sustains the vested interests hided in a monolingual social structure. Finally, in chapter four, the attainability of this idea will be verified through reasoning about the ideas behind English language teaching for 2020 Tokyo Olympics-Paralympics, to conclude with some conclusions about what needs to be improved and what remains to be studied. 3 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 7 LINGUISTIC UTILITARIANISM VERSUS THE VALUE OF LEARNING LANGUAGES IN 21ST CENTURY ............................ 7 MULTILINGUALISM VERSUS IDEOLOGICAL MONOLINGUAL SOCIETIES ........................................................................... 9 OBJECTIVE OF THIS THESIS ................................................................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL PREMISES ABOUT LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY ........... 13 1.1 LANGUAGE PLANNING ............................................................................................................................... 13 1.2 CONCEPTUALIZING LANGUAGES: HOW CAN LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR BE CHANGED? ................................ 21 THE IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................... 21 LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................................... 23 ATTITUDE AND APPROACH ................................................................................................................................................. 26 1.3 THE SPECIFIC JAPANESE CONTEXT ............................................................................................................ 27 CHAPTER TWO: ENGLISH AS THE DOMINANT GLOBAL LANGUAGE ................................................................. 34 2.1 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE .................................... 34 GLOBALIZATION: GREATER PROXIMITY ............................................................................................................................ 34 GLOBALIZATION: GLOCALIZATION = STANDARDIZATION: DIVERSIFICATION ............................................................ 36 2.2 ENGLISH, THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE ............................................................................................................ 37 LINGUISTIC DOMINATION? .................................................................................................................................................. 37 ENGLISH DIVERSITY AND GLOCALIZATION ....................................................................................................................... 39 GLOCALIZATION: MULTICULTURAL ROOTS ...................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER THREE: THE SYMBIOTIC CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ENGLISH AND JAPANESE LANGUAGES ............ 46 3.1 HISTORY AND ROLE OF THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE IN JAPAN ...................................................................... 46 3.2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO FURTHER GLOBALIZE JAPAN .............................................................................. 52 ENGLISH: TRANSMITTING YOUR MESSAGE TO A WIDER AUDIENCE ............................................................................. 57 3.3 ‘ATTITUDE TRANSFERS’ FROM JAPANESE TO ENGLISH ............................................................................ 60 BEHIND THE IDEOLOGY OF ‘NATIVE-SPEAKERISM’ ......................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER FOUR: ‘IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH’ FOR 2020 TOKYO OLYMPICS-PARALYMPICS ........................... 69 RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING THIS CASE ............................................................................................................................. 69 THE ‘OLYMPICS FEVER’ AND THE INTENSIFICATION OF ELT IN JAPAN ........................................................................ 70 4.1 ENGLISH FOR YOUNG STUDENTS, CHILDREN AND TEENAGER .................................................................. 72 A) CONVEYING THE VALUE OF ENGLISH TO JAPANESE PUPILS ................................................................................. 72 B) REAL ENGLISH AND EIGOMURA: A SIMPLIFIED INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY ....................................................... 76 4.2 ENGLISH FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC ......................................................................................................... 82 C) ‘OMOTENASHI-EIGO’: JAPANESE HOSPITALITY IN ENGLISH ................................................................................. 82 D) COCOJUKU COMMERCIAL: “THE RIVAL IS THE WORLD” ....................................................................................... 84 CASE STUDY CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 87 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 89 ABOUT THE PRESENT WORK ............................................................................................................................................... 89 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ONE AND TWO ............................................................................................................................ 89 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER THREE: THE JAPANESE AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ........................................................ 91 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FOUR: ENGLISH FOR 2020 TOKYO OLYMPICS-PARALYMPICS ............................................ 92 LIMITS OF THE PRESENT WORK AND WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE ............................................................................ 93 APPENDIX - ORIGINAL EXTRACTS IN JAPANESE .............................................................................................. 95 4 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................................. 96 VOLUMES ................................................................................................................................................................................ 96 ESSAYS, ARTICLES (OR CHAPTERS) IN VOLUMES ............................................................................................................ 96 ARTICLES IN PERIODICAL (MAGAZINE, JOURNALS) ........................................................................................................ 98 PUBLISHED ONLINE .............................................................................................................................................................. 99 GREY LITERATURE ................................................................................................................................................................ 99 ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ........................................................................................................................................................ 100 ONLINE DICTIONARIES AND ENCYCLOPEDIA ................................................................................................................. 102 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS ............................................................................................................................................ 102 VIDEOS .................................................................................................................................................................................. 103 5 Tables and figures Index of Tables TABLE 1 SIMON JENKINS’ ARTICLE - STATEMENTS AND CRITICAL POINTS .....................................................