論 文

English Language
for a Positive International Learning Community

Satoshi Tsukamoto

要旨

本論文では，英語が日本の大学をより国際化するために，どのような役割を果たすのかを論じる。英語は学術の世界では共通の言語として位置づけられているが，英語を使った授業を提供し，より多くの留学生に日本の大学に来てもらう政策の利点と改善点をこの論文では考察する。また日本の文化や社会を留学生に理解してもらうために，英語による日本理解の授業は有効な英語の使い方であると提言する。
Keywords : globalization（国際化），higher education（高等教育），international student（留学生），role of English language（英語の役割），
power of English（英語が持つ力），communication skills（交渉力），
English as a medium of instruction（教える言語としての英語）

1. Introduction   There has been much debate on how universities in Japan can be globalized. In
the 1980s and ‘90s universities in Japan faced a variety of pressures from industry,
government, parents, and university academics (Amano & Poole, 2005). Because of― 99 ―

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No. 28global competition and rapid dissemination of information after the millennium,
issues of globalization are a hot topic in a higher education in Japan. As a notable
example, Junichi Hamada, president of the University of Tokyo, in the magazine,
Bungei Shunju (2011), claimed that an academic year starting in September, not inApril which is the traditional start of the academic year in Japan, is a significant way
to globalize students and attract more international students from abroad. President
Hamada’s comment drew a wide range of attention not only from academics but also
from business executives. I think that starting the academic year in September, like inmany other countries, will surely changes the academic culture of Japanese
universities, but as President Hamada indicated in the Nihon Keizai Shinbun (2012),
this is not the only way to globalize universities in Japan.
   To globalize universities in Japan and make them more competitive against
other universities around the world, Japanese university administrators, in general,
think that it is necessary to increase the number of courses offered in English fordomestic and international students. For example, Waseda University, one of themost prestigious universities in Japan, established its School of International Liberal
Arts in 2004, with nearly all of the classes offered in the School are conducted inEnglish (Yamagami & Tollefson, 2011, p.25). This school attracts many bright students
from all over Japan, with a third of the students are from overseas. As anotherexample, Kwansei Gakuin University, a very good university in the Osaka region,
offers an English-based Degree Program in which students can graduate only bytaking classes conducted in English except for non-English foreign language classes.
As these examples show, classes in liberal arts and social science that are conducted in
English are a key means of showing good quality education and of recruiting both
Japanese and international students. In this paper, I would like to examine the role of
the English language in universities in Japan and how it relates to the globalization ofuniversities.

2. Views on English Language   First of all, I would like to discuss how the English language is regarded inrelation to higher education in Japan. Students generally began studying English as aforeign language when they enter junior high school. Many students also go to a― 100 ―English Language for a Positive International Learning Community

private after-school called juku to study English. Since April of 2011, 5th and 6th
graders in elementary school have also studied English, particularly listening andspeaking, in a way that enables them to enjoy activities in English. In junior andsenior high school students study English as an academic subject, and take anentrance examination to get into university. English as a foreign language is arequired subject that they choose regardless of the academic field they will be
studying in college. Almost all high school graduates take English as a foreign
language in the nationwide entrance examination, although a small number ofstudents also take Chinese, French, and German.
   It is said that students rigorously study English in order to pass their university
entrance examinations, but that they are relatively poor at speaking and writing.
Japanese teachers of English use grammar-translation methods due to their lower
confidence in communicative teaching methods as well as because of pressure fromtheir senior colleagues (Cook, 2009). In addition, speaking and writing skills are
hardly tested in entrance examinations. Tested instead are knowledge of grammaticalissues, vocabulary, idioms, and reading comprehension, which is the main reason
why students’ English competency is still relatively low compared with that ofstudents in neighboring countries.

3. The Power of English   Why do students study English? One reason is that when they want to attend auniversity, they have to study English to pass the entrance examination. Anotherreason is the belief that knowing English will lead them to the wealth of the world
where economic and intellectual resources are available (Seargeant, 2009, p.8). For
high school graduates, the English language opens the door to an international world
to which Japanese language does not have access (Matsuda, 2011, p.44). English isused as a native language in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand,
and as a second or foreign language in many other countries, with a vast amount ofintellectual information produced in these countries, which is circulated around theglobe. However, if one does not understand English, he/she is left behind in manyfields. Even though translated works are available in Japanese language, there isalways a time lag, at least six months or more. To make the matter worse, many
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books contain useful ideas in English are not translated into Japanese. Without adouble, the English language is a major language for generating and disseminating
information on skills, knowledge, and intelligence, and it is believed that not having
access to English is disadvantageous in one’s education and career. Therefore,knowing English enables one to access a greater amount of intellectual resources aswell as economic ones.
   It should be noted the way in which Japanese people consider the Japanese andEnglish languages. Many Japanese people likely think that Japanese language belongs
to them, not to other nationals (Caesar, 2005). They are often surprised when a personof non-Japanese origin can speak fluent Japanese. Similarly, it is a common belief inJapan that the English language belongs to native speakers of English, particularly
Britons and white North Americans. For example, at the School of International
Communication of Aichi University where I teach, English language conversationand composition classes are taught by native speakers of English, and almost all ofthem are either Britons or North Americans. Students prefer to take English lessons
taught by them because the English language they speak is regarded as authentic. I
do not blame this tendency, but what this illustrates is that the English language
comes from outside of Japan and is definitely considered foreign.
   English is deemed a communication tool for exchanging ideas with foreigners
in Japan (Hashimoto, 2009), but there are not many opportunities to use the English
language domestically, so this aim is not easily attainable, creating situations wherethe discourse in English as a lingua franca does not reflect the actual learning
environment in Japan (Kubota, 2011, p.107). Furthermore, as Robert Phillipson(1992, 2009) states, there is an asymmetrical power relation between native English
and English as a foreign language. It is natural to assume that communication skillsof native speakers are better than those of non-native speakers, and that non-nativespeakers generally find themselves in an inferior position when communicating withnative speakers. I think that Japanese people are not so aware of the gap that exists inthe English learning environment which uncritically accepts and reinforces the powerof English as a dominant force.
   This essentialist view of language causes a problem in Japanese universities. The
most notable one is that Japanese professors of English have never been considered to
be authentic teachers of English. Even though many are very fluent speakers of― 102 ―English Language for a Positive International Learning Community

English and are very familiar with academic reading and writing, they are still viewed
as non-authentic teachers of language in a sense. Realistically, there are not many
Japanese professors of English who can conduct lessons like native speakers ofEnglish, and they tend to use grammar-translation methods to teach English atcollege, which ironically distinguishes themselves from native speakers of English in
the classroom.

4. The Roles of English in Higher Education   Concerning English education at college in Japan, there are three ways of using
English in an academic setting. One way is where English language is the subject ofstudy and Japanese language is used to explain grammatical issues and the meaningof sentences. The purpose of this kind of class is to make students understand thestructure of English sentences and paragraphs. The second way is where the English
language is the subject of study and native speakers of English teach four skills oflanguage competence in English. This type of language learning has become popularand common in Japan, and these classes are usually labeled as English conversation
or English communication skills or something similar. The third way is where theEnglish language is not the subject of study. Rather, English is just a medium ofinstruction and students study a specific subject in sociology, political science,
cultural studies, anthropology, economics, business management, or other discipline.
Professors are either native speakers of English or Japanese who have been educatedin English-speaking countries. I think that top Japanese universities are trying toimplement the third type of classes and to increase them in their curricula.
   When I was privileged to attend a conference in October, 2011, in Kyoto where
the presidents of top Japanese and Chinese universities met and discussed the futureof higher education, I noticed the different interests of both countries. While someJapanese presidents boasted of the increasing number of courses offered in English
for international students to attract more students from abroad, some Chinesepresidents, particularly Zhou Qifen, president of Peking University, posed a question
about that tendency. As you may know, Chinese students comprise the majority ofinternational students at Japanese universities. He said that Chinese students go toJapan mainly to learn about Japanese language and society or in some cases Japanese― 103 ―愛知大学

言語と文化No. 28

business management, and that when they want to study some subjects related toEnglish, they prefer to go to a university in English-speaking countries. He also
added that it is not attractive for Chinese students to study a subject in English
taught by non-native English professors. What this comment makes clear is thatwhile Japanese presidents believes that adding more English-taught courses
internationalizes their universities and attracts more international students, Chinesepresidents are skeptical about this idea and they think that more English-taught
classes actually discourages international students, particularly Chinese, to study inJapan.
   One of the main benefits of studying abroad is to immerse oneself in a local
language and culture along with studying specific subjects at college. In Japan thefocus of studying Japanese language should not be underestimated. Rather, English
can be used to promote the learning of Japanese language and culture. For instance,
while international students study Japanese language intensively, there should besome classes in which they can also learn about Japanese culture in English. At Aichi
University where I teach, I had taught Japanese culture for exchange students fromthe U.S., France, and Germany with the textbooks such as Susan J. Napier’s Anime
from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation
and Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture edited by Timothy J.
Craig. Students’ Japanese proficiency was not good enough to understand anacademic book written in Japanese, but they were very intellectually curious about
Japanese contemporary culture, and they really enjoyed the classes that I taught.
Naturally, it is best if international students can understand some academic books inJapanese, but practically this is not possible for most of international students fromcountries where Chinese characters are not used in their native language. Putting
more importance on the offering of classes taught in English, however, risks creatinga dominant and monolingual view of the world and a seeming disrespect of theJapanese language.
   A number of problems exist in implementing a positive international learning
community in Japanese universities. First, the number of Japanese professors
qualified to teach a specialized subject in English is not sufficient. To overcome thisdeficit, Japanese universities should make more efforts to recruit Japanese graduatestudents and educators who have been trained in a foreign country. Another problem― 104 ―

English Language for a Positive International Learning Community

is that when an English-speaking professor or a Japanese professor with excellent
English proficiency offers students a subject targeted at international students, it
might be difficult for most Japanese students to understand its contents because of
their limited English proficiency. I think that it is very good for both Japanese
students and non-Japanese students to study and discuss together in the classroom,and this type of class should be promoted, and universities should strongly
encourages students with better English proficiency to participate in this type of classmore.

5. Conclusion   In summary, I would like to say that the English language can be a bridge
between Japanese students and international students, particularly from the West,and that learning environments where Japanese and international students study
together should be more promoted in Japanese universities though English.

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