日本語とジェンダー第14号（2014)【研究例会 IN ハンガリー発表】

教科書作成におけるジェンダーバイアス
The Gender Issue in Textbook Design
Noriko Sato
Anna Székács
The users (learners) of business Japanese language textbooks would expect to increase knowledge
about the Japanese language, culture and society, master the Japanese manner, and develope thecommunication skills with the Japanese business people through the textbooks. In today’s Japanese society
we can find so many gender biased language uses, words, sentences, manners and etiquetts, behaviours ofworking persons in workplaces, which are traditional and conventional, in other words, almost everyone
applies. This presentation tries to show the business Japanese textbook designers’ and authors’ dilemma ofwhether to (or how far we should) teach the present situations and conventions in Japan in order tocommunicate easily with Japanese people or to (or how far we should) show the possibilities andpotentialities of gender free language uses, manners and behaviours applying in textbooks. We examine how
to handle these sensitive issues from the approaches of the crosscultural understanding, that is, the contrast
and the dialogue between the past and the present in Japan and Hungary or the learners’ communities, anddiscussions among learners and teachers, which would develop the learners’ critical cultural awareness.
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Since the 1990’s, in the Japanese Department of Budapest Business School we have published morethan 10 kinds of Japanese language textbooks, dictionaries and teaching materials. In 2006 we scrutinized
the business Japanese textbook used at that time in our institution from the viewpoints of gender. Then we
found a number of problems.
In 2007 we launched a new project, supported by the Japan Foundation, to write a Japanese textbook
for beginners titled DEKIRU, which means We Can, based on the CEFR (Common European Framework ofReference for Languages) with other Japanese and Hungarian colleagues.
This was a sort of international teamwork.

During the project we tried to make use of ourexperiences of this study which dealt with gender in textbooks. However, it was a pity that we wereconfronted with various difficulties concerning gender issues on which we already held a presentation at thelast meeting of the society of the Japanese Language and Gender held at Budapest Business School in 2011.
After DEKIRU 1 and DEKIRU 2 were successfully published in 2012, dr. Székács Annya and I started a newproject, which was writing a business Japanese textbook, the BUSINESS DEKIRU.
In designing the new textbook we would like to check the crucial issues of gender which could
appear in various business situations of the textbook not to fall into a trap of gender. But before discussing
the gender issues in a business Japanese textbook, first we have to clarify why there is a special need for abusiness Japanese textbook.
First, no such Japanese language textbooks exist for Hungarian learners in Hungary.
Secondly the economic relations between Japan and Hungary have been dynamically developing since the1990’s and more and more Hungarian people started to work at companies which have connections to Japanand to work with Japanese people in Hungary. Furthermore, many Hungarians, including our graduates, arealso working in Japan because the Japanese companies have realized the significances of diversity. As a32

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日本語とジェンダー第14号（2014)

result, employing people of different nationalities is now part of their international business strategy.
Therefore, they began to employ foreign people, though their number is still limited. Subsequently, the needs
for business Japanese textbooks, which show how to communicate with Japanese businesspersons or workers,
are increasing. In other words, the users (learners) of business Japanese language textbooks would desire toacquire knowledge about the Japanese language, culture and society, master the Japanese manner, anddevelop communication skills with Japanese business people through textbooks. But in today’s Japanesesociety we can find so many gender biased language uses, words, sentences, manners and etiquettes, as well
as behaviors of working persons in workplaces, which are traditional and conventional in Japan.
Here we have been confronted with the dilemma about the role of textbook, whether to (or howmuch we should) teach the present situations and conventions in Japan in order to communicate easily withJapanese people, or whether to (or how far we should) show the possibilities and potentials of gender freelanguage uses, manners and behaviors applying in textbooks.
Anyway we have to design a textbook which provides not only the knowledge and skills of verbal
and non-verbal communication to communicate with the Japanese businesspeople but also knowledge likethe Japanese business customs, practices, social conventions, etiquettes and the Japanese way of thinking orJapanese patterns and characteristics of behaviors, taking account of the perspective of gender or the gendersensitive authors’ dilemma.
Now we show you the outline of our new business textbook, the BUSINESS DEKIRU:
The level of this textbook is B2 to C1 which is upper intermediate business Japanese. The languages used
are both Japanese and Hungarian. The large parts of explanations would be written in Hungarian. In the firstpart of each lessons we put the can-do statements learned there: for instance, which communication strategy
can be used in certain situations and why.
As I have mentioned earlier, in today’s Japanese society we find many gender biased language usesand situations. Should the language textbook reflect the current language use and situations which arestrongly gender biased? Or should we show the possibilities and potentials of gender free language use,manners and behaviors in the textbook? Will the gender sensitive teachers approve our textbookdesignreflecting the ideal situations and language uses?
For instance, before working out the structure of the textbook, we have to create the characters
appearing in the different scenes in the textbook, and decide where the stories will take place, in Japan, in
Hungary, in a Japanese company or at a Hungarian company. Who should be the main character/characters,
should it be a woman or man, what should their age be, ahould they be a Hungarian or Japanese?
At the same time it is very dangerous to show the situations and language uses we think of as idealin the textbook because in actual situations, learners may not be able to use such communicational strategies,
words or expressions they have learned in textbook. So we have to take care of such troublesome situations.
We have to avoid making textbook which is useless.
So we chose a Hungarian woman and a man as the main characters. The Hungarian young ladyfound a job in a branch office of German company in Japan, where most of her collegues are Japanese menand her boss is also a Japanese man, whreas only the director of the branch is German. The other main
character is a Hungarian man working at a Japanese company in Hungary.
After every third lesson we show Japanese business customs and etiquetts, including how tonegotiate with the Japanese people. These items

are difficult for Hungarian people to understand. This partis written both in Japanese and in Hungarian. We apply the functional syllabus to the textbook.

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日本語とジェンダー第14号（2014)

Language functions of each lesson we selected are: request, permission, expressing oneself, giving
dissenting opinion, making a complaint, handling a complaint, making an appointment with, reserving aticket of concert, room of hotel, table at restaurant, organizing the business programs for partners, planningand organizing events in a company, introducing profiles of one’s own company, sales for own products,
writing messages, and writing e-mail.
After every 3 lessons we also have texts about the history of cultural, economic relations between
Japan and Hungary.

We have vocabulary lists in the last part of the textbook.

We would like to teach the actual Japanese business custom and etiquette in the new textbook. They
are rules and ways of Japanese behaviors ― greeting, exchange of name cards, self introduction, andetiquette at business negotiations, proceedings of meeting, requested and desired Japanese behavior, dress
code, available clothes, meanings of various colors, uniform, table manners, orders of sitting at table,
exchange of gifts, etc.
In 2006 when we scrutinized different business textbooks which we had used until then, we foundstereotypes of characters appearing in the Japanese textbooks. We found that the president and the bosses
are always men, and staffs, secretaries or subordinates are always young ladies. Now we should ask
questions: In our textbook should we choose the woman as the president in order to be sensitive to stereotypesof gender?
In our earlier project of editing DEKIRU 1 and DEKIRU 2, much effort was made in order to avoid
gender biased words, expressions and situations. Some of our efforts were successful, but some efforts havefailed. Which items were unsuccessful?
First we couldn’t find any pictures of girls or women playing Japanese traditional sports. All players
in the pictures we found were boys or men. We also found that some illustrations were problematic. One
example is in connection with characters. In one lesson the editors decided that the writer of a letter should
be a female teacher, but when this letter was translated, the translator, who was a young Hungarian, decided
for himself or maybe he believed that all teachers were men, therefore a man voiced the teacher on the CDs.
Because of this we had to change the name of the writer. Also we often found that women voiced shop clerks
and nurses. The reason to this is that some members of the editing team were not gender sensitive and I oftendrew attention on this issue for them but in vein. I couldn’t check all gender sensitive crucial points. Anotherreason is that the CD recording was made in Japan and no one could check the issue during the recording of
the CD except one young Japanese teacher.
There are 5 gender sensitive points in making a textbook. First issue is the balance of the gender ofthe characters. The second one is the balance of genders of vocations for the characters. The third one isusing or avoiding gender biased words. For example, should we teach women’s language and men’slanguage or not? The fourth one is the balance of numbers of illustrations of characters. The fifth one is how
to show Japanese business customs and etiquettes. Should we teach the present situations or situations andteach what should be expected in future?
The first issue is the balance of the gender of the characters. Which gender should the boss be? Howshould the genders of the colleagues be ballanced? What relevant situations can we find at Japanesecompanies today? We know that in this field we can find some changes in Japan. At the same time we also
have to decide the balance of genders within the Hungarian company.
The second issue is the balance of genders in terms of the vocation of characters.
What gender should a secretary and an assistant be? In the business negotiations should we put women34

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日本語とジェンダー第14号（2014)

members in the delegations? In Hungary it is a normal situation when woman negotiators play active role inthe negotiation. How old should the boss and subordinates be?
In Hungary it is also normal when the bosses are in their 30’s and subordinates in 50’s.
The third issue is using or avoiding gender biased words. Should we teach the women’s language
and the men’s language or not? Should the words, businessman or businesswoman or businessperson, beapplied or avoided? Or man who is earning salary, ‘salaryman’ or employee 会社員 in Japanese? Can weuse the ’Office Lady’or ’OL’ in Japanese or we shouldn’t use them? Could we show the role of tea service
in the office, お茶汲み in Japanese, who is always a woman employee? Or can we create and use absolutely
new words and expressions in the texbook, because we would like to avoid the gender biased words? These
are the questions.
The fifth is how to show the Japanese business customs and etiquettes. Should we teach the current
situations? In Hungary and in Japan we have different dress codes. In Hungary women can wear the sexysuits, mini skirt, tight white trousers, especially décolletage. In the Japanese business situations people, notonly women but men should be dressed in a mannerly fashion. The colors of business suits are gray or darkblue.
The users (learners) of a textbook must like to use skills and knowledge they learned in the textbook
in the real situations in order to communicate with the current Japanese people. Before we started writing
the textbook, we had to take account of the appropriateness and availability of words and expressions,situations and balance of the genders of the characters. So in order to make the communication easy andsmooth, we have to show the current situations. However, at the same time, we also like to avoid agreeing
with the current situation, which are gender biased. It is not easy to keep the balance between them.
It may be important that we have to approach the sensitive issues from a cross-cultural viewpoint;that is, the contrast and the dialogue between the past and the present in Japan and Hungary or the learners’communities, and discussions among learners and teachers, which would develop the learners’ criticalthinking or critical cultural awareness.
References:
Sato N., and Székács, A. 2007. “Politikailag korrekt nyelvhasználat az európai japán nyelvoktatásban és atávol-kelet térségi kutatásban,” In: Farkas, I. ed., Japanisztika 2005-2006. Budapest. 149-160.
Sato N., and Székács, A. 2012. “Problems of Gender in Editing a Textbook of Japanese Language.”
Nihongo to Jendā.vol.12 https://gender.jp/journal/backnumber/no12_contents/sato-and-szekaks/
ブダペスト商科大学の日本語科では 1990 年代から教科書、教材作成が行われており、10 種類以上が出版されている。2006 年に従来商科大学で使用してきたビジネス日本語の教科書をジェンダーの視点から調査してみた（Sato, Szekacs 2007）。2007 年にその知見をも参考にしつつ、初級日本語教科書『できる 1』のプロジェクトに取り掛かった。しかし、本プロジェクトを進める中で、改めてジェンダーに関わる様々な問題が発生した。これについては 2011 年のジェンダー学会で発表した（Sato, Szekács 2012）。
2012 年に初級日本語教科書『できる 2』も出版に漕ぎ着けた後、本稿執筆者 2 名は、新たな教科書『ビジネスできる』の作成プロジェクトにとりかかった。執筆に当たっては、ジェンダーの落とし穴を避けるため、『できる 1』『できる 2』の経験を参考に様々な観点からジェンダーに関わる問題を検討する予定である。

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日本語とジェンダー第14号（2014)

新しい教材の企画。本教材の必要性：ハンガリーにおいて、これまで社会人向けビジネス日本語教材は作られていない。日本とハンガリー間の経済交流が拡大し、ハンガリーに進出した日系企業で働くハンガリー人だけでなく、企業の国際戦略として外国人採用枠を増やす日本の企業で働くハンガリー人のためにも、日本のビジネス習慣やエチケット、ビジネスに必要な日本語を教える必要性が高まっている。
教科書の役割。教科書の使用者（学習者）は、教科書を通じて日本語、日本社会についての知識を増やし、日本のマナーを習得し、異文化理解を深め、コミュニケーションを円滑にできるようにしたいと考えている。ジェンダーの視点から見た日本社会は、性差に満ちているが、教科書はそのような今の日本社会を映すべきであろうか。それとも、ジェンダーの面で教師が理想とする状況を映した教科書を作るべきであろうか。具体例を示そう。
『ビジネスできる』の主役、登場人物は男性がいいのか女性がいいのか。ステレオタイプになるべきではないが、現在の典型的な日本社会を反映しない例外的な状況を示すことは、実際の場面では使用できない教科書になってしまう恐れがある。
「ビジネスマン」「ビジネスウーマン」「ビジネスパーソン」のうち、どれを使用するのが望ましいのか。あるいは、教科書執筆者がジェンダーバイアスのかからない新しい語彙を創作すべきなのであろうか。教科書使用者（学習者）は教科書で学習したものを実際の場面、現代日本社会で使いたいと考えているはずである。教科書執筆に入る前に、どの表現が最も使いやすいのか、最も妥当な語彙、表現、ジェンダーバイアスのかからない場面、状況、登場人物などの使用ストラテジーを考えなければならない。また、日本のエチケットやマナーを紹介する際にも、現状肯定主義となり、ひいてはジェンダーバイアスを助長することにつながりかねない現状紹介という立場とジェンダーの視点を盛り込むという立場との間でどのように（どの程度）バランスを取るのか考える必要がある。
異文化理解は、言語行動、コミュニケーション能力、ポリティカル・コレクトネス（ジェンダーを含む）の意識の面から育成しなければならない。
（さとうのりこ・ブダペスト商科大学准教授）（セーカーチアンナ・ブダペスト商科大学教授）

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