The Language Teacher
September 2000

What is a Kokusaijin? A 10-year study

Judy Yoneoka

Kumamoto Gakuen University

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This is the first in a two part series of articles. The second article, "Ten Years of Kokusaika: Has progress been made?" will appear in the October TLT.

Introduction

In Japan, the 1980s may be considered the heyday of the terms kokusaika (internationalization) and kokusaijin (lit., international person). Children growing up in those years heard the terms frequently from parents, teachers, on news and TV programs and commercials, especially for English conversation schools and travel agencies. The National Council of Educational Reform (Rinkyoushin) in 1987 put forth special recommendations regarding kokusaika, which included "restructuring the Japanese higher education system from an international perspective" (Ehara, 1992, p. 269). The ultimate goal of these measures was, as Ishii et al (1996, p. 237) put it, "the development of awakening as a Japanese and the rearing of 'kokusaijin' (literally, international person), whatever that may mean."

The actual meanings of kokusaika and kokusaijin are indeed problematic, as is the task of finding appropriate translations in English. Internationalization, a common literal translation of kokusaika, may not be clearly definable in English, but the term at least exists and may conjure up some similar connotations in the minds of English speakers. The term Kokusaijin, however, is different. The literal "international person" in English has no meaning, with the possible exception of a person with two or more nationalities. Horvat (1998) describes kokusaijin as "another noun that represents Japan's untranslatable world view" and suggests "cosmopolitan" as the most likely candidate. Others (Kato, 1992; Sugiyama, 1992; Watanabe, 1998) use the term "internationalized person", which conjures up the image of an end product of some sort of internationalization process, often characterized as more passive than active. Thus one may evolve into a kokusaijin, but not strive to become one. Still worse, the term precludes the possibility of anyone being born into international circumstances --thus assuming a monocultural background for every kokusaijin.

To discover what kokusaika and kokusaijin actually connote to Japanese, a survey of over 100 Japanese university students (Yoneoka, 1991) was undertaken in 1989. Results showed that one of the major connotations of a kokusaijin was the ability to use a foreign language, especially English. Also, knowledge of foreign countries, knowledge of Japan, experience in traveling abroad and dealing with foreigners were deemed to be important attributes of a kokusaijin. Of lesser importance, although often mentioned, were the abilities to express oneself and one's opinions. These findings were in sharp contrast with similar questionnaires conducted with students in the USA, Germany and India (cf. Yoneoka, 1991). Language ability and actual experience was ranked lower in all of these countries than in Japan (in fact, German students did not mention language ability at all). Instead, students from these three countries tended to emphasize emotional attributes such as tolerance, interest in foreigners and foreign countries, volunteerism, and concern for world peace and the environment, attributes which appeared in the Japanese data quite infrequently if at all. Again, this trend was most marked in the German data.

Today, the image of kokusaijin may be changing. Although no longer a major buzzword, kokusaika continues to be used along with newer competitors like guro-barize-shon (globalization) and bo-da-resu (borderless). The term kokusaijin, on the other hand, has virtually disappeared from common use,1 and there has been no parallel coinage of a term such as "globaljin." Thus, it can be argued that children of the 1990s may have had less exposure to stereotypical and media-defined connotations of kokusaijin, and consequently have a more balanced but less well-defined interpretation of the term than did their predecessors 10 years ago.

In addition, Japan's internationalization (to a great degree, westernization) has continued at a breakneck pace, with (for example) more McDonalds in Japan than any other country in the world besides the US. Thanks to the JET program, the number of foreign English teachers has risen dramatically, meaning that most university students today have had personal experience with at least one foreigner. The number of foreign students in Japan, too, has risen from a mere 10,000 in 1983 to well over 50,000 in 1998. Moreover, the use of the Internet as an international communication medium in Japan has increased, so more students have an opportunity for exchanges through e-mail and chat-based programs such as ICQ. Thus, since most students today have had more international communication and experience than students ten years earlier, their interpretation of kokusaijin may have changed accordingly. To better understand this issue, two questions were raised:

1. How do children growing up in the post-kokusaika boom of the 1990s interpret the term kokusaijin?

2. Do we find differences between university students today and 10 years ago in terms of attitudes towards kokusaika?

In this study, the 1989 questionnaire (with minor changes, see Appendix) was administered in April 1999 to a similar population of Japanese students who were divided into two groups. Answers to these questions can reveal if and how Japanese society and its educational system has changed over time with respect to kokusaika.

The Questionnaire

In April 1989, the questionnaire in the Appendix was administered to 105 first year economics students at Kumamoto University of Commerce (Jpn89-E for Japanese 1989 ­ Experience), as well as a group of 19 seniors who had participated on a seminar trip to China (Jpn89+E for Japanese 1989+Experience). See Yoneoka 1989, 1991 for details. A very similar questionnaire was administered ten years later, in May 1999, to two groups of Kumamoto Gakuen University students: one of 78 first year economics majors (Jpn99-E); these students are similar to Jpn89-E insofar as the economics department and student population have not changed greatly in10 years. The questionnaire was also given to 76 second to fourth year students in the foreign languages department (Jpn99+E).

Of the Jpn99+E foreign language department group, approximately one-third of the students were majoring in East Asian studies (Chinese and Korean) and two-thirds were majoring in English and American studies. All of the foreign language students were required to participate in a summer abroad study program in their third year. Even though this group ranked lower in traveling abroad (i.e. not all the students had been out of Japan, although most were planning to do so in the next one or two years), the latter group was considered comparable to the Jpn89+E group on the basis of their probable heightened interest in internationalism as evidenced by their choice of major.

There was very little difference in the design of the questionnaires used, with two small exceptions: (a) in question 2, the names of famous people who were rated in terms of their degree of internationalization were updated (e.g. from Reagan to Clinton), and (b) questions 12 and 13 were reformulated from ranking from 1-6 to ranking the top 3 only, as several students from 10 years ago were not able to answer the original question properly. Students were given as much time as they liked to complete the questionnaire, which was anonymous.

Results

The questionnaire provided information on both students' perceptions of what and who a kokusaijin is, as well as insights on how the students saw themselves in terms of kokusaika. In addition, students were asked to provide details about their actual international-oriented experience, which will be discussed in further detail in Yoneoka, 2000b. Comparisons of these data with similar data from the 1989 survey of students from four countries are presented in this paper.

What is a "kokusaijin"?

The characteristics of a "kokusaijin" given by the 4 groups of Japanese students in 1989 and 1999 are shown in Table 1 below in comparison with responses from students of other countries.

It is clear that the Japanese interpretation of a kokusaijin continues to differ from that of the other three countries and has not shifted dramatically either towards the US/Indian interpretation of an "internationally-minded person" or the German interpretation of a "weltoffener Mensch" (see Note 3 for a detailed discussion of the nuances of these terms). Language ability ranks the highest among Japanese (a response that was rarely, if ever, mentioned by students in other countries). Also, we can note that the percentage of this response increased over the ten years for both the +E and ­E students. There is a longitudinal shift away from emphasis on actual experience in both pairs of students, which will be discussed at greater length in Yoneoka, 2000b. Provisionally, however, we may assume that this shift may be due partially to increased exposure and experience with international affairs.

Table 1. Characteristics of the Kokusaijin by Counrry

Country condition (in order of frequency of JPN89-E response)	**Jpn89-E (N=105)	**Jpn89+E (N=19)	Jpn99-E (N=78)	Jpn99+E (N=76)	*Germany (N=32)	*India (N=92)	*USA (N=95)
Knowledge of foreign language	32.5	28.9	42.86	34.78	1.2	5	8
Knowledge of world affairs (including knowledge of Japan)	21.2	8.9	19.55	22.98	0.0	16	17
Experience abroad with foreigners	23.2	20.0	15.04	12.42	2.4	2	7
Broad-mindedness	12.3	20.0	5.26	13.66	32.5	22	19
Sociability	5.4	8.9	7.52	9.32	19.3	22	17
Lack of prejudice and fear	4.4	0.0	2.26	3.11	16.9	9	8
Interest in affairs	1.0	2.2	5.26	3.11	14.5	11	7
Interest in peace, human rights and environment	0.0	0.0	2.26	0.62	12.0	15	12

*data from Yoneoka, 1993 **data from Yoneoka, 1991

Borrowing terminology from Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (1956, 1971) and Steinaker and Bell (1978), I classified eight characteristics listed in Table 1 according to three trait types: cognitive (or knowledge-oriented attributes), experiential (or experience-oriented attributes) and (affective or "heart"-oriented attributes) (see Table 2). This organization allows us to better understand the differences in the interpretations among the four Japanese groups.

Table 2.Percentages of Interpretation of Kokusaika

Country/ condition	**Jpn89-E (N = 105)	**Jpn89+E (N = 19)	Jpn99-E (N = 78)	Jpn99+E (N = 76)	*Germany (N = 32)	*India (N = 92)	*USA (N = 95)
Cognitive (1-2)	53.7	37.8	62.4	57.8	1.2	21	25
Experiential (3)	23.2	31.1	15.0	12.4	3.6	2	7
Affective (4-8)	23.1	31.1	22.6	29.8	95.2	77	68

First, we see that the above mentioned longitudinal shift away from experience has resulted in an increased emphasis on cognitive attributes (i.e. knowledge) for both groups as compared with 10 years ago. As for affective attributes, both groups of +E students had higher averages than ­E students although the percentage of these responses did not change for either the +E or ­E groups.

These results suggest a link between students who have a natural interest in international affairs (as evidenced by the choice of seminar for the 1989+E group, and the choice of major for the 1999+E group), and a higher emphasis on affective attributes relating to kokusaika. However, the data also indicates that there is no relationship between an emphasis on the students' emotional outlook and the increased exposure and experience that 1999 students have enjoyed in terms of JET program teachers and increased opportunities to travel abroad.

Who is a "kokusaijin"?

Students were asked to rank themselves, their high school foreign language teachers, and their fathers with respect to kokusaika, along with noted political figures and personalities. On a scale of 1-10, the averages that resulted were as shown in Table 3.

Table 3 shows that self-evaluation has improved slightly in ten years for both the JPN99+E and ­E groups; however, Japanese students continue to rate themselves (and especially their fathers) much lower than famous politicians or personalities. Even the Iranian and Iraqi leaders Khomeini (1989 survey) and Hussein (1999 survey) were viewed as being more international, which was not the case for foreign students. The evaluations of father and self by Japanese students in 1989 and 1999 are lower than those given by students in other countries.

Table 3. Ratings of internationalization of various figures by country

Person	**Jpn89-E (N = 105)	**Jpn89+E (N = 19)	Jpn99-E (N = 78)	Jpn99+E (N = 76)	*Germany (N = 32)	*India (N = 92)	*USA (N = 95)
Soviet prime minister	7.5	7.1	5.3	6.6	7.7	8.4	6.5
US President	7.5	7.1	8.1	7.1	5.0	7.3	6.5
Iranian and Iraqi leaders	5.0	5.5	5.2	5.1	1.0	3.0	3.2
Japanese prime minister	4.3	3.9	5.3	5.3	6.1	7.8	6.5
Famous personalities (average)	6.0	5.2	4.9	5.5	2.6	5.5	5.3
Foreign language teacher	4.2	5.1	4.7	4.6	6.0	3.9	6.1
Father	1.9	1.2	1.7	2.2	7.6	5.7	4.7
Self	1.6	1.9	2.1	2.9	7.5	4.5	5.8

This trend may partially be attributed to Japanese kenson (humbleness), but it also indicates a link with the expectations of knowledge and experience vs. students' emotional outlook when we look at the data of the other three countries. Thus, for each country, students tended to evaluate themselves lower when they placed more emphasis on knowledge and experience. Nevertheless, the slight rise in self-evaluation over 10 years in both Japanese groups may be due to the possibility that increased experience with foreigners and international travel, to some extent, has been of some benefit in developing increased confidence with respect to self-internationalization.

Student attitudes towards kokusaika

Several questions were asked regarding student attitudes towards kokusaika, and the averages are shown in Table 4. First, regarding the question "At present, how much do you feel the need to be internationalized?", the percentages of students responding either 'rather strongly' or 'very strongly' differed greatly between the two Japanese student groups: both of the +E groups showed a much higher desire to internationalize (84% and 87% respectively) than their ­E peers (39% and 44% respectively). These averages were near 70% for the other three countries.

Table 4. Percentages of student responses to questions

regarding attitudes towards kokusaika and foreign countries

Country/ condition	**Jpn89-E (N = 105)	**Jpn89+E (N = 19)	Jpn99-E (N = 78)	Jpn99+E (N = 76)	*Germany (N = 32)	*India (N = 92)	*USA (N = 95)
Desire to internationalize	39	84	44	87	71	70	70
Personal influence on internalization	2.0	4.0	3.4	4.4	7.2	7.6	6.2

Table 4 also reveals that Japanese students believe that they have less personal influence on their own international development as compared with German, American, and Indian students. This may be due to students assuming that they cannot be responsible for such a demanding task as internationalizing oneself in terms of knowledge and experience, especially when the passive aspect of the kokusaika process is taken into account (cf. Note 2). However, it is noteworthy that the averages for Japanese students rose in 10 years (by almost 1.5 points for the ­E groups) and that, again, the +E students of both generations show higher averages than the ­E groups.

Discussion: Being a kokusaijin vs. being Japanese

Sugiyama (1992) makes a useful distinction between three different levels of kokusaika --national, organizational and individual. The meaning of kokusaijin is intuitively related to the individual; however, like the Japanese students in our survey, Sugiyama defines this level in terms of knowledge rather than affective responses: "It entails the extent of knowledge of foreign languages and foreign countries; adaptability to life in foreign countries; and acquisition of the sensitivity, linguistic capabilities and other abilities necessary for international experiences" (Sugiyama, 1992, p. 73). It is clearly in terms of the "sensitivity and other abilities," almost relegated to the status of an afterthought by Sugiyama, that the Japanese kokusaijin differs from US and Indian "internationally-minded people" and German weltoffene Menschen.

Thus, it is clear that the current Japanese conceptualization of being international tends to place less emphasis on affective attributes than in the other countries surveyed. As mentioned in the introduction, the kokusaika introduced in school curricula was meant not only to internationalize, but also to Japanize, i.e. to advance "the development of awakening as a Japanese" (Ishii 1996, p. 237). Smith goes so far as to say that what Japan meant by kokusaika in the past decade was actually "a revived nationalism it feared the world (especially its neighbors and the Americans) would not accept" (Smith, 1997, pp. 32-33).

We also see an emphasis on "being Japanese" in that fact that a large proportion of students from each Japanese group regards "knowledge of Japan" as an integral part of a kokusaijin. When asked about their reasoning for this response, many students related imagined or actual experiences of potentially embarrassing situations, which involved not being able to correctly answer questions by foreigners about various aspects concerning Japan and Japanese culture.

Knowing a lot about one's own country seems to be an aspect peculiar to the concept of kokusaijin since it does not appear at all in the data of the other three countries. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine an American being overly embarrassed at not being able to answer questions about John Wayne movies or Dixieland jazz. Many Japanese, however, feel shame if they cannot name a Kurosawa film or explain gagaku (traditional Japanese court music) to a foreigner, even if they feel no particular interest in the topic. However, they would probably not feel the same pangs of embarrassment about not being able to discuss such topics with their Japanese peers.

Part of this emphasis on knowledge of Japan seems to be due to confusion between modern culture (e.g. PHS and purikura), which students do know, and cultural heritage (as in the examples above), which students think they should know. However, it is also closely connected with what I have referred to in previous studies as the "uchi-soto (inside-outside) wall" (Yoneoka, 1999), or the largely self-induced "island mentality" which emphasizes an inherent difference between Japanese people and the rest of the world. This mentality itself is part and parcel of the Japanese cultural heritage with its historical background of sakkoku (closed country), and is integrally bound up with what is often referred to as "Japanese identity."

In one sense, this "inside-outside" mentality may a role in the perpetuation of Japanese group consciousness, but on the path to internationalism it can only be regarded as a roadblock. The key to mutual respect and tolerance for cultures and people throughout the world is the recognition of our differences while acknowledging the underlying universality of mankind. Both types of acceptance are necessary -- either one alone is bound to lead to discrimination and ethnocentrism.

In Japan today, however, sensitivity training, with respect to disabled and other groups that have traditionally been victims of discrimination in Japan, is receiving more and more attention in primary and secondary education in recent years. Placed within the contexts of ijime (bullying) and tokokyohi (refusal to go to school), recent curriculum revisions have dictated the inclusion of courses in "morals and ethics" (dotoku) at elementary and junior high school levels. With the inclusion of such courses, both teachers and students should be able to develop heightened sensitivity in exactly the affective areas that are lacking on the questionnaire: broadmindedness, lack of prejudice, tolerance, and a healthy respect for peace and human rights. However, whether such training is being applied to multicultural contexts, or whether it will transfer naturally, remains to be seen.

Conclusion

The Japanese image of a "kokusaijin" continues to differ from that of other countries in that it stresses experience and cognitive attributes (i.e. knowledge of language and international affairs) over affective or heart-oriented attributes. This may not be an irreversible situation, however. If educators decide this trend needs to be corrected, direct training in cross-cultural sensitivity should form part of the schoolchild's elementary school curriculum. Efforts should be made to place emphasis on human similarities first, then differences. It is hoped especially that such issues will form part of the new English and cross-cultural curriculum planned for introduction into elementary schools by Monbusho in 2002. Whether this curriculum can successfully achieve this goal, and whether such efforts will have the effect of emphasizing affective attributes in its interpretation of kokusaijin, however, will remain to be seen.

References

Bloom, B. S. (Ed).(1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The Classification of Educational Goals. Book 1. The Cognitive Domain. David McKay Co. Inc. New York.

Bloom, B. S et.al. (1971). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The Classification of Educational Goals. Book 11. The Affective Domain. Longman Group, London.

Ehara, T. (1992). The internationalization of education. In G. Hook and M. Weiner, The Internationalization of Japan. (pp. 269-283).

Hook, G. and Weiner, M. (1992). The Internationalization of Japan. London, Routledge.

Horvat, A. (1998). Lost in translation. David See-Chai Lam Centre for International Communication, available http://www.cic.sfu.ca/horvat/LostTrans.html

Ishii, T. et al (1996). Ibunka kommyunike-shon handobukku : kisochishiki kara oyo,jissen made (Intercultural communication handbook, in Japanese). Tokyo: Yukaikakusensho.

Kato, S. (1992). The internationalization of Japan. In G. Hook and M. Weiner, The Internationalization of Japan. (pp. 310-316).

Pape, W. (1998). Opening for omnilateralism: a European view. Swiss Institute for Development, available http://www.sad.ch/sid/news/05/pape.html

Steinaker, N.(1979). The experiential taxonomy: a new approach to teaching and learning. New York: Academic Press.

Sugiyama, Y. (1992). Internal and external aspects of internationalization. In G. Hook and M. Weiner, The Internationalization of Japan. (pp. 72-103).

Watanabe, J. (1998). Global Education in Need Now. Keynote Speech, ACE Japan Global Classroom Project, available www.acejapan.or.jp/exchg/globaled/WatanabeE.html

Yoneoka, J. (2000b). Ten Years of Kokusaika: Has Progress been made? To appear in The Language Teacher, Oct.,. 2000.

Yoneoka, J. (1999). Towards the 21st century: goals and obstacles in English education in Japan. Kumamoto Gakuen University Ronshu Sogo Kagaku 5-2 (p. 53-73).

Yoneoka, J. (1993). Kokusaika no ime-ji: Nihon, Doitsu, Indo, Amerika no daigakusei no hikaku. (Images of Internationalization: Comparison of Survey Responses from Japan, Germany, India and the United States, in Japanese). Kumamoto Shoka Daigaku Kaigai Kenshuron 20-2 (p. 81-95).

Yoneoka, J. (1991). Nihon to Doitsu no Wakamono no Kokusaika ni taisuru Ishiki ya Taido ni Tsuite. (Student Attitudes towards Internationalism in Japan and Germany, in Japanese). Kumamoto Shoka Daigaku Kaigai Kenshuron 19-1 (pp. 1-10).

Notes

1. Horvat points out that "cosmopolitan" means "someone who speaks several languages and knows a lot about foreign countries and cultures" whereas kokusaijin "may be an ordinary person with a flexible and open personality." (1998) This may be a bit of wishful thinking on his part. Results of the present survey show that the actual image of a kokusaijin is closer to Horvat's definition of "cosmopolitan" than he himself seems to believe.

2. For example, Ehara (1992: p. 272) notes the definition of kokusaika in Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten (1981) as sekai ni tsuyo suru you ni naru koto, or "the process of becoming accepted by the rest of the world." The passivist slant of kokusaika was also noted by Pape (1998) in his discussion of Japanese industrial economy: " the Japanese mainstream understanding of internationalization or 'kokusaika' is still too passive to lead to any pro-active input into the multilateral system which would help it also to encompass the particularities of the internal workings of their naturally very Japanese society."

3. The English and German responses, then, rather than representing differences in interpretation of terminology, may be interpreted as representing a difference in worldview, perhaps one due to a higher rate of actual international experience. This possibility forms the basis of the "heart-shift hypothesis" to be discussed in Yoneoka (2000b). According to this hypothesis, a realization that kokusai ishiki is an integral part of a kokusaijin should come about as a result of increased international experience.

The term "international mindedness" is also used in Sugiyama (1992, p. 76ff) to translate a Japanese term used in the context of a survey by the Japanese Government. The survey found an increase in citizens who responded that 'Japan should think of how it can contribute to the international community' over "Japan should protect its own interests first" and concluded that there was a higher level of "international mindedness" in Japan than in previous years. The Japanese term is not given in the paper, but it is clear that this usage is a political rather than a personal one.

4. However, there is a Kumamoto language school that still uses the following slogan "become a kokusaijin."

5. The two universities Kumamoto University of Commerce and Kumamoto Gakuen University are the same: the name was changed from the former to the latter in 1994. At the same time, a foreign language department was created, from which came the second group of students who participated in the 1999 study. The nature of the economics department was not altered by the change.

Appendix

Questionnaire on Internationalism

1. What do you think are the qualities of an "internationally-minded" person? (write up to 3)

2. From 1 to 10, how would you rate the following people as "internationally-minded" people? (1= not at all international, 10= completely international)

2.1) India's present Prime Minister_______________

2.2) Present US President______________________

2.3) Present USSR President____________________

2.4) Present Iraqi Leader ________________________

2.5) US rock star Michael Jackson________________

2.6) Your foreign language teachers (average)_______

2.7) Your father_______________________________

2.8) Yourself_________________________________

3. Have you ever spoken to a foreign person?

3.1) Never

3.2) Only through school

3.3) Personally 1-2 times

3.4) Personally many times

4. Have you ever spoken to a Japanese person?

4.1) Never

4.2) Only through school

4.3) Personally 1-2 times

4.4) Personally many times

5. Have you ever been abroad?

5.1) YES (where?)______________

5.2) b) NO

6. Would you like to go abroad (again)?

6.1) YES (where?)_______________

6.2) b) NO

7. Have you ever written a card or letter abroad?

7.1) Yes, to a foreigner

7.2) Yes, to a fellow national abroad

7.3) Yes, to both

7.4) No, never

8. Have you made an international telephone call?

8.1) Yes, to a foreigner

8.2) Yes, to a fellow national abroad

8.3) Yes, to both

8.4) No, never

9. Do you have any foreign friends?

9.1) NO

YES (what nationality(ies)?) ___________________

10. At present, how much do you feel the need to become "internationally-minded"?

10.1) Not at all

10.2) A little

10.3) Rather strongly

10.4) Very strongly

11. At present, how do you feel about foreign languages? (circle all that apply)

11.1) I like them.

11.2) I don't like them.

11.3) I'm good at them.

11.4) I'm not good at them.

11.5) I need to study more.

11.6) I don't need to study more.

11.7) I'm interested in learning to speak, but not studying grammar.

11.8) Free comments (________________________________________________________)

12. In your life, who do you think has been the most influential in expanding your international mindedness? (Rank in order from 1=least influential to 6=most influential)

12.1) Teachers of foreign languages___________

12.2) Teachers of politics/economics___________

12.3) Teachers of social studies/history _________

12.4) Teachers of ethics/religion_______________

12.5) Your parents__________________________

12.6) Yourself_____________________________

13. In general, who do you think should be the most influential for cultivating international mindedness? (Rank in order from 1=least influential to 6=most influential)

13.1) Teachers of foreign languages _____________

13.2) Teachers of politics/economics_____________

13.3) Teachers of social studies/history___________

13.4) Teachers of ethics/religion_________________

13.5) Your parents___________________________

13.6) Yourself_______________________________

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!

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Judy Yoneoka has been teaching English language, linguistics and cross-cultural education in Japan for almost 20 years. Her research interests include computers and the Internet in language education, World Englishes, and corpus linguistics. She currently resides in Kumamoto, Japan. judy@kumagaku.ac.jp

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