The Language Teacher
November 2003

Embracing Global Education: Advice for Japanese University English Classrooms

Masataka Kasai

Ohio State University



Introduction

Why do Japanese university students need to learn global education and English, and how should teachers teach them? This paper discusses these two questions. I would like to draw three implications from this discussion: 1) It is necessary for Japanese university students to learn both global education and English; 2) Japanese university English teachers can teach global issues by teaching World Englishes in English; and (3) the instructional keys to this method are a) exposing students to varieties of English, and b) teaching facts and issues regarding World Englishes.

Rationale for Global Education and English

Japanese university students need to study global issues because they are part of the world society, whether consciously aware of it or not. The primary purpose of global education is to prepare people to be effective participants in a global society characterized by rapid change, particularly change associated with globalization (Anderson, 1979). Globalization means connecting people from every part of the world. Increasing interaction among diverse people through globalization leads to global interdependence (Becker, 1979), which means that people link with one another, and they affect and are affected by other people on a global scale (Pike & Selby, 1988). In this sense, Japan is definitely part of a globally interconnected society. Thus, Japanese university students, as members of the world, are involved in this global society. Global issues education attempts to help them to be effective and responsible participants in it.

Japanese university students also need to learn English because English is becoming an intra-national and inter-national means of communication for them. The number of registered foreigners in Japan doubled to over 1.6 million people between 1980 and 2000 (Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, 2003), and the number of foreign students doubled in only five years from 1996 to 2001, jumping to 23,400 (Ministry of Justice Japan, 2002). Many foreigners living in Japan prefer to communicate in English. Moreover, many more Japanese people are going overseas--almost 18 million in 2000, compared with less than 5 million in 1985 (Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, 2002). As English is the primary language for international communication, English has become an essential communication tool for Japanese both in and outside Japan.

Conceptualizations of Global Education

Education in global issues encourages students to develop global perspectives. Hanvey (1976) explains that global perspectives are a mixture of many elements to socialize significant groups of people. Global perspectives consist of elements such as: thought; sensitivities; awareness; competencies; attitudes; skills; and knowledge. More importantly, because we inherently possess these elements to some extent, we have the capacity to develop them. Based on Hanvey's model, there are six main elements of global education (Kasai, 2001):

  1. Perspective Consciousness: Every individual is unique, and their perspectives can be continuously formed and reformed by any influence (Hanvey, 1976).
  2. Global Issues: Global problems affect people worldwide; they are trans-national, complex, diverse, persistent, and interconnected (Kniep, 1986).
  3. Global Interdependence: People in the world link with one another, and they affect and are affected by each other (Pike & Selby, 1988).
  4. Global History: History is shared around the world, and it consists of interrelated regional histories (Anderson, 1979).
  5. Cross-Cultural Learning and Skills: Students learn about their own cultures and other cultures in order to develop skills to communicate effectively with people from different countries and cultures (Merryfield & Subedi, 2001).
  6. Participation in a Global Society: Students locally take action to solve global issues by practicing the notion of "think globally, act locally" (Alger, 1985).

World Englishes

Essentially, there are two important perspectives to consider regarding World Englishes: (a) the global spread of English, and (b) the different varieties of English. Although the total number is disputed, there are an estimated 350 million native speakers of English, and about 700 to 750 million non-native English speakers in the world (Strevens, 1992). There seem to be two agreements about the global spread of English: English still continues to spread around the world; and "English no longer belongs only to 'native speakers' of the Inner Circle; it is used by other people in bilingual/multilingual situations with various forms of pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax and discourse" (Kubota, 2001, p. 48). In short, varieties of English exist around the world because of the global spread of the language. Widdowson (1994) maintains that English has already "fallen apart" (p. 383) and that countless varieties of English are used for global communication, including but not limited to Indian, East and West African, and Singapore English. These two aspects of Englishes around the world can and should be taught effectively in a global education framework.

Instruction of World Englishes in a Global Education Framework

I would like to present how Japanese university English teachers, by teaching World Englishes in English, can encourage their students to develop the six global education elements listed above. Presenting teaching materials reflecting multiple perspectives will help Japanese university students develop perspective consciousness and recognize varieties of English. These materials foster perspective consciousness by examining multiple perspectives on issues, events, and ideas (Merryfield & Subedi, 2001). Japanese university English teachers may teach topics such as the World Cup or the Iraq War, and introduce relevant news articles in English from different countries. When students read and discuss articles about the Iraq War that are collected from newspapers in the U.S. and Iraq, for example, they will realize that this issue is described differently because of the writers' different perspectives.

In addition, newspaper English varies in identifiable ways because "newspapers are naturally 'home-grown'" (Nelson, 1995, p. 276). Newspaper English seems different to many other forms of English discourse. For example, Baumgardner (1987) found uniquely formed words in Pakistani Newspaper English (e.g., eveninger and morninger for evening and morning newspapers), whereas Hinds (1983) found a Japanese classical written style (ki-sho-ten-ketsu) used in Tensei Jingo (column essays translated in English) in the Asahi Shinbun, a major Japanese newspaper. Articles written in different countries may enable Japanese university students to realize that different varieties of English exist in the world.

Japanese university students can also discuss numerous global issues related to the use of English worldwide, such as linguistic imperialism (worldwide dominance of English), linguistic human rights (oppressed human rights of people speaking minority languages), or linguistic divide (a difference in access to knowledge and resources due to language). For example, they can discuss a linguistic divide, a gap between the English speaking haves and the non-English-speaking have-nots in terms of accessibility to knowledge and resources. Phillipson (2001) explains that about 80 percent of the natural resources available around the world are consumed by English speaking people. English has power in various fields such as international economics, politics, and education (Kubota, 2000). Japanese university students can discuss how their fluency in English affects their personal and professional lives. They may realize possible disadvantages of an inability to speak English through learning that more companies may demand English proficiency from job applicants, as well as from employees seeking promotion.

Global interdependence can be learned by discussing the interconnectedness of people around the world through English. The role of English in cyberspace is a good example. English contributes to globalization since it has become the main language on the Internet (Pakir, 1999). For Japanese university students, English is usually the medium of interaction with people in different countries through online communication. Discussion of how English contributes to creation of a global connection in cyberspace will enhance students' recognition of how people in the world are connected, and how they affect and are affected by other people in global systems.

The history of World Englishes makes a great topic as global history. In order to teach World Englishes in historical perspective, there are two important dimensions to consider: spatial, and temporal (Pike & Selby, 1988). The spatial dimension involves the interdependent relationships among separate regional histories. It is important to teach the fact that English has influenced and been influenced by other languages in different countries. In this sense, the history of the English language cannot be fully explained without a history of countries including not only Britain and the U.S., but also France, Norway, and Kenya, to name a few. The temporal dimension represents the notion that history must be considered as a series of events or consequences within a time continuum from the past to the future through the present (Pike & Selby, 1988). Japanese university students may have difficulty fully understanding the process of the global spread of English when they learn about history as disconnected units consisting of years or decades. In short, it will be necessary for them to learn about the history of the English language within a grand time continuum from the past to the future in order to find causes and effects of the global spread of English.

In an increasingly interdependent world, students need to understand and know how to interact in English with people from different countries and cultures. Japanese university students will be able to develop their cross-cultural learning and skills through cross-cultural experiential learning, which involves reflective learning from experiences of different cultures by actually interacting with people from other cultures (Merryfield & Subedi, 2001). Japanese university English teachers may want to invite to their classrooms international students, immigrants, or people in the community who have international experience or who have grown up in different cultures. When students discuss or interview the visitors about their cross-cultural experiences, such as lifestyles and social values, they will recognize similarities and differences among different cultures, including Japan. Moreover, actual interaction with the visitors makes Japanese university students aware of varieties of spoken English, because English speakers, regardless of L1 or L2, tend to have their own accents (Lippi-Green, 1997). Thus, after the discussion, they can reflect upon their communicative experiences with the visitors in terms of varieties of English accents and effective ways to communicate with people speaking different varieties of English.

After learning about global issues related to World Englishes, Japanese university students can develop an element of participation in the global society by taking action on a local scale to make changes or solve societal issues. The most important notion is a local-global connection. In short, they need to recognize that they are both actors (causing local issues that result in global issues) and participants (reducing or solving local issues that contribute to resolutions on a greater scale) (Kniep, 1986). For example, when they learn about cultural/linguistic biases in English textbooks, they may want to critically evaluate them. Carroll and Kowitz (1994) report sexist biases in English textbooks, showing that women in English textbooks tend to be represented as busy, tall, and beautiful, while men seem to be represented by two types: (a) poor, young, strong, and tall; or (b) rich, old, strong, and fat. If students find such biases in English textbooks, they might decide to send their evaluative reports to the companies publishing those textbooks, to raise the publishers' awareness of this issue or to ask for modification of the textbooks. In this sense, Japanese university students can effectively participate in the global society by practicing the notion to "think globally, act locally."

Conclusion

It is necessary for Japanese university students to learn global education and English because they are consciously and unconsciously involved in the global society and have many opportunities to communicate with people from different countries and cultures in English, both in and outside Japan. Japanese university English teachers can teach global education by teaching World Englishes in English. In order to do so, two important keys are a) exposing students to varieties of English, and b) teaching facts and issues regarding World Englishes in English. It is high time for Japanese university English teachers to recognize the importance of English instruction and global education in order to help their students be global citizens.

References

Kasai Masataka is currently a PhD student in Social Studies and Global Education at Ohio State University. His interests include global education in the English classroom and online global education. He can be contacted at masatakakasai@hotmail.com.


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