Week 15 Post: The Globalization of English

Week 15 Blog Post

4-23-12
World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing (2010) by A. Matsuda and P. Matsuda
Impact of Globalization in Language Teaching in Japan (2002) R. Kubota

      Kubota’s 2002 article discusses the tension of globalization in language learning and teaching in Japan.  It relates this tension to a triangle consisting of three main points: 1) ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity in the local communities, 2) the prevalence of English and 3) nationalism endorsed by linguistic and cultural essentialism.  It explains that the first and second dimensions tend to threaten national identity and stimulate the third dimension.  When trying to make sense of these dimensions, the last state seems to help.  Japan feels the threat of losing its nationalism because of the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity that is rising in many of its communities.  This then brings in the English language because many of the diverse cultures and ethnicities tend to speak English.  So in order to keep everything in check, they turn towards the classroom and endorse linguistic and cultural essentialism.  This all seems to have probably gotten worse in the last decade due to the major influx of non-Japanese individuals who now live in Japan.

      These dimensions, though, present some contradictions, however.  The increased local diversity within Japan is not compatible with convergence to the American norm, Nationalist views also are sometimes promoted by using a Western mode of communication in the classroom.  These contradictions are resolved in a discourse called kokusaika.  Kokusaika is a discourse that blends Westernization with nationalism but fails to promote cosmopolitan pluralism.  It tends to promote convergence to predetermined norms rather than divergence towards cultural and linguistic multiplicity. (Kubota, 2003)

     This seems like a concept that I will need to continue to learn about because I am still struggling to make sense of it.  I think the terms that are keeping me from completely understanding the definition is what “cosmopolitan pluralism” is.  If I had to guess what it means I would infer it means the accepting of diversity within an urban setting.

      Kokusaika has influenced language learning and teaching in Japan.  It apparently blends Anglicization and nationalism. Anglicization I could infer means that white individuals who speak English are in power or in the process of obtaining power.  Nationalism is what I believe to be having pride or strong connective feelings towards to country and in this context would be Japanese nationalism in a power struggle with the globalization of English and Anglicization.  This article was a tough read, I hope I have understood it and that I am not completely off track, but I am sure everything will be cleared up in class.

      The second article by A. Matsuda and P. Matsuda, World Englishes and the Teaching of Writing, also discusses the globalization of English.  At the beginning of the article, the authors make a statement which I find very interesting and involves something that I have never considered: “The English language is not a monolith but a catchall category for all of its varieties—linguistic and functional—hence the term World Englishes (WE).” (Matsuda & Masuda 2010)  It is hard to believe their next statement as well, “A majority of English language users today have acquired English as an additional language.”  This makes me feel, as an American, that we definitely do not “own” the English language by any means.

    The authors then go in to talk about the different principles that teachers can adopt that help guide them while negotiating the relationship between standardization and diversification.
1.    Teach the dominant language forms and functions.
2.    Teach the non-dominant language forms and functions.
3.     Teach the boundary between what works and what does not.
4.    Teach the principles and strategies of discourse negotiation.
5.    Teach the risks involved in using deviational features.