Lecture for Leah Gilner-sensei’s ClassBunkyo Gakuin University, 30 May 2013

English as a Multicultural Language and Its Pedagogical Implications

~Three Challenging Issues in Japan’s ELT~

Nobuyuki HonnaVisiting Professor, Bunkyo Gakuin University

Professor Emeritus, Aoyama Gakuin University(Email: nyhonna@a2en.aoyama.ac.jp)

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Three Components of English Language Teaching (ELT) for

International Understanding and Communication (IU/C)

(2) Explaining

Own Culture

(1) Teaching English as

an International Language

(3) Understanding

Other Cultures

ELT

for IU/C

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Topics for DiscussionIntroduction1. English as a Multicultural Language for

International Communication2. Needs for a Paradigm Change3. Diversity Awareness Training4. English as a Self-Expressive Language

and Output-Based ELT5. Understanding Other Cultures in ELTConclusion

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Issue (1): English as a Multicultural Language

Two Major Characteristics of Contemporary English

1. Global Spread: Internationalization of English

2. Development of National Varieties: Diversification of English

Diffusion(Internationalization)

Diffusion and Intercultural Adaptation

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Adaptation

(Diversification)

Input Intercultural Adaptive

ProcessOutput

American/British

English

Regional/Local

Sociocultural Contexts

Regional/Local

Varieties of English

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Spread of English among Non-Native Speakers: English as a Multicultural

Language in Asia

Native Speakers

Non-Native Speakers

Native Speakers × Non-Native Speakers

Japanese

Chinese

Indians

Koreans

Thais

Filipinos

Singaporeans

...

Honna (2008, 2012a, 2012b) 7

The Expanding Capacity of English

Areas Native Speakers Have

ExploredSingapore/Malaysian English

You wait here, lah.

African EnglishThey blamed him, they blamed him for all the troubles that have befallen our land.

East African English It’s porridge.

West African EnglishHe has long legs.

Expanding

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(2) Needs for a Paradigm Change

American English Speaker Model in Japan’s ELT (Traditional, Unrealistic)

Input

Japanese Students

Program

American English*

Output Expectation

American English Speakers

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*American English here is used as a representative of native-speaker varieties of English for which Japan’s ELT has traditionally shown a strong preference.

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American English Speaker Model (Traditional, Unrealistic)

Sociolinguistic Presuppositions:

1. English is the American language.

2. To speak English is to behave like an American.

3. If we fail to produce American English speakers, the model is not the problem. Our quality control ability is the problem. So we should increase our quality control efforts. (Perhaps the best way to do so is to start teaching English earlier or invite more native speakers as teachers or teacher aids.)

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American English Speaker Model (Traditional, Unrealistic)

Concomitant Results:1. Students develop a feeling of failure, inferiority, and

even shame.

2. This native-speaker oriented and perfectionist approach often creates the social pressure that says: “Do not speak English before you can speak it like an American.”

3. The extent to which Japanese people can use English at international settings is underestimated only because their English is different from American English.

4. Other non-native speaker varieties are stigmatized.10

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Japanese English Speaker Model (Modified, Realistic)

Input

Japanese Students

Program

American English*

Output Expectation

Japanese English Speakers**

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*Any variety may be offered as a sample as long as it is understood and accepted internationally. (However, whatever variety may be used as a sample, the output will most likely be a Japanese variety of English.)

**This model does not deny any individuals their rights to speak like an American. It only says that that is not the goal of Japan’s public ELT.

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Japanese English Speaker Model (Modified, Realistic)

Sociolinguistic Presuppositions:

1. For Japanese, English is not an American language. For them, English is an additional language for wider communication.

2. English is allowed to spread only when it is allowed to diversify. (McDonald’s in India do not serve beef burgers!)

3. A common language is not a unitary, monolithic language. It has to be a multicultural language.

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Japanese English Speaker Model (Modified, Realistic)

Resultant Tendencies:

1. Better is the enemy of good.

2. Useful English is usable English.

3. We speak English, but we are not English. Let us sound Japanese.

4. Interest in other varieties of Non-native Speaker Englishes enhanced.

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Model Evaluation in View of Feasibility and Desirability

Conventional Unrealistic Understanding

Feasibility Desirability

AE Speaker Model No Yes

JE Speaker Model Yes No

Feasibility Desirability

AE Speaker Model No No

JE Speaker Model Yes Yes

Modified Realistic Understanding

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Present Recognition → New Paradigm

Feasibility Desirability

AE Speaker Model No Yes → No*

JE Speaker Model Yes No → Yes

*Notice that the new paradigm does not deny individuals all their rights to learn to be able to command American English (or any other variety). It only insists that the AE Speaker Model is not appropriate as an ELT objective in Japan’s public education system.

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Students Responses

“I observed a number of English classes…and as an Australian I found it amusing to hear North American pronunciation being modeled as the correct pronunciation. After one class, I was talking to the students and I asked them whether they wanted to sound like their assistant language teacher [from America] or whether they wanted to sound like their Japanese teacher. I was very surprised when they all quickly said that they wanted to sound like their Japanese teacher. I should add that there was nothing wrong with this ALT! But the Japanese teacher in this class spoke excellent English and with an unmistakably Japanese accent.” (Honna, Kirkpatrick, and Gilbert 2001: 80)

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Teachers Responses “I was once amazed at Vietnamese students' enthusiasm

in trying to communicate in English, and wondered what made the difference. I have now realized that we had a wrong view of English. We will feel more at ease if we know that the important thing is to communicate in Japanese English, and build up and maintain a friendly relationship with different people. Teachers of English are to blame for the stress with which Japanese people speak English, because they are not tolerant toward students’ grammatical mistakes and limit their freedom to speak. Such a stress involved in speaking English will be minimized if teachers appreciate the fact that a student has communicated in English. The first step will be to change teachers’ concept of English.” (Honna

2008:158-159)

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“Japanese businesses gain a tremendous amount of profit in countries where English is not their native language. We need to understand those people in their varieties of English.”

(Personal communication with a personnel department chief of a major trading company, 2010)

Japanese English1. It is a set of English patterns (covering

phonology, lexicon, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) that many students of average and above-average grades can produce after six to ten years of training in school and college.

2. Flavored with an array of cross-lingual/cultural transfer features, it should be the basis on which Japanese citizens could build up further layers of knowledge and skills of English for their specific vocational and professional purposes.

(For further information, see Honna 2006, Ike 2012)

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Japanese English1. paper driver, hot carpet, washlet, ire flower,

baby car, one-man car, taxi service adviser…

2. “I can do it before breakfast.” (cf. “It’s a piece of cake.”)

3. “Thank you for last night. It was a gorgeous dinner.” (cf. “?????”)

4. “I went there. Why didn’t you come?” (cf. “I was there. Where were you?”)

(The Japan Times, 2010 March 24th) 21

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①

English as a British / American Language(Native Speaker Varieties as the Standard)

②

English as a Multicultural Language 　 (Intervarietal Incommunicability)

Global Spread of English

23Hawkins (1987) and James and Garret (1991) From Honna (2008)

Intercultural Literacy

Teaching Awareness of Language(Understanding How Language is Designed and How People Use Language)

Improving Sensitivity to, and Tolerance of Linguistic Diversity

(Overcoming Inconveniences of Incommunicability Likely to Emanate from English as a Multicultural Language)

Intercultural Accommodation Training for Diversity Management

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Awareness of Language forEnglish across Cultures

Honna (2008)

①Sociolinguistics ② Cognitive

linguistics

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1. Helen is sharp. (General English)2. The Arab street is angry, but the street is

　 honest and sincere and we should listen to 　　 it. (The Japan Times, July 17, 2006: 5) (Arabian English)

3. That restaurant is very delicious. (Japanese English)

(THE WHOLE IS THE PART.)

Contributions of Cognitive Linguistics: Metaphorical Awareness and

Correctness Status

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Issue (2): English as a Self-Expressive Language

Creating Ripples of Hope for Output-based ELT

1. English Needed to Explain Own Culture2. Productive Device to Stimulate Growth of

Japanese Patterns of English3. World-Wide Implications

(For further information, see Honna 2008)

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Chinua Achebe

My answer to the question, can an African ever learn English well enough to be able to use it effectively in creative writing?, is certainly yes. If on the other hand you ask: Can he ever learn to use it like a native speaker? I should say: I hope not. It is neither necessary nor desirable for him to be able to do so.

(Jenkins, 2003: 171)

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Case Study 1: Study Questions

1. Why do you think Chinua Achebe says that it is neither necessary nor desirable for an African to be able to use English like a native speaker?

2. Would you think it is not necessary for a Japanese to use English like a native speaker?

3. Would you think it is not desirable for a Japanese to use English like a native speaker?

From A Poem by Kamila Das (1965)

Don’t write in English, they said,

English is not your mother tongue…

…The language I speak

Becomes mine, its distortions, its queerness

All mine, mine alone, it is half English, half

Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest.

It is as human as I am human…

…It voices my joys, my longings, my Hopes… (Gargesh 2006: 106)

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　　 Nissim Ezekiel (1989)

I am standing for peace and non-violence

Why world is fighting fighting

Why all people of world

Are not following Mahatma Gandhi

I am not simply understanding.

(Gargesh 2006: 106)

Using the ESSC1. The ESSC (extremely short story

competition) is a competition of stories and essays written in exactly 50 English words.

2. It was proposed by Professor Peter Hassall of Zayed University, UAE.

3. It is now sponsored by the JAFAE as its annual event. (Visit http://www.jafae.or/)

4. It is a good exercise for Japanese students to learn to express themselves in English.

5. Under the 50-word rule, it is possible for non-native speakers to compete with native speakers, and students with teachers.

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The Extremely Short Story Competition (ESSC)

“All you need to do is write anything you want to write about. You can write fiction (stories), non-fiction (facts) or even things that are “nuss u nuss.” Use the Word Count on your computer to check. Remember the title and author’s name are extra. There are 50 words here.” Japanese students become better motivated to learn English, reminded that that “Better is the enemy of good.” Hassall (2006: ) ⅸ

1. Because of You

My voice does not mean anything. My thoughts do not mean anything. Nobody cares about me. But you, you treat me as something special. Because of you I can smile. Because of you I can feel safe and protected. Everything is because of you. Mom I’m here because of you.

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2. In the Classroom on December 1

I was sitting in the classroom. No one next to me. There he came, I thought. I thought that he would sit back of the classroom, as usual. But he came straight to the front, and sat next to me. He said nothing. Just sat beside me. It delighted me.

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3. The system of society

People in this society are parts of system. We should work not to be removed by the system. So people work like gears. They are slaves of the society. Why don’t they think this is dull? I don’t want to be a slave. I want to be a free bird.

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4. The Life of Eighty

64 years ago, I was 16 years old. I studied hard for university, enjoyed playing softball and was in love with a boy. I was young like you. Having lived with my beloved for 53 years, I am happy now!” I will tell my grandchildren like that friendly at garden.

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5. Soap Bubbles

My name is soap bubbles. I disappear in about 10 seconds after my birth. So my life is the shortest in the world. This is my destiny. But I like myself. Because people often tell me, “You are exciting” or “You are beautiful.” Oh, it’s about time to go. Goodbye.

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6. Words, Words, Words!

The pen is mightier than the sword. I like this saying. I think this idea is very important in the present world, where people tend to forget the power of words to settle cross-cultural conflicts. Look at the Middle East. Even our primary schools. Let’s count on words, not arms.

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Japanese-Chinese English Language Communication Exercise

( 会書練習）

1. A Japanese student asks a Chinese student a cultural question

2. C answers J’s question

3. C asks J a cultural question

4. J answers C’s question

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Issue (3): Becoming Interested in Other Cultures

Japanese-Chinese English Language Communication Exercise

( 会書練習）

1. A Japanese student asks a Chinese student a cultural question

2. C answers J’s question

3. C asks J a cultural question

4. J answers C’s question

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1. A Japanese Student Asking a Chinese Student a Cultural Question

(Greetings)…I have a question to ask you. My brother is married to a Chinese lady, so I have many Chinese “relatives.” When they come to Tokyo, they bring us a lot of presents and souvenirs. Certainly we are very happy to receive them. But we are often surprised at the way they flood us with them. While presenting their gifts, they open the boxes and bags themselves and start explaining how precious and how expensive their presents are. It seems to us Japanese that they are too direct and boastful. They seem to be a bit rude. Could you kindly tell me how we should understand the situation?(Farewell)

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2. A Chinese Student Answering a Japanese Student’s Cultural Question

(Greetings)Actually, Chinese people often give precious and expensive presents to their friends. They consider something precious as the symbol of the friendship as they know that the recipient likes the expensive gift. At the same time, giving something precious is a reflection of Chinese people's breadth of mind. If we give friends something small, we are regarded as penny pincher (scraper). The gift-giving custom isn't made to do the boasting, but to show the kindness of the giver. As the proverb says, “I am the happiest person when a friend visits me coming all the way from a far country” in Chinese, Chinese people must give the best and the most expensive presents to their friends.(Farewell)

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3. A Chinese Student Asking a Japanese Student a Cultural Question

(Greetings)

I have a Japanese friend. Whenever she comes from a trip to Japan, she brings me a present. Of course, I appreciate her kindness. But what I cannot understand is that her present is always small both in size and volume: a small box of Japanese candies from Kyoto, a handkerchief, a few cakes of soap, and the like. Can you explain why my Japanese friend does this? Many Chinese could not understand my Japanese friend’s behavior and might conclude that she is stingy, inconsiderate, or impolite. (Farewell)

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4. A Japanese Student Answering a Chinese Student’s Cultural Question

(Greetings)Actually, Japanese young ladies tend to give something small as a present to their friends. They consider something small as “pretty” (kawaii) and hope that the recipient likes the small gift. At the same time, giving something small is a reflection of Japanese people’s considerateness. We don’t want others to think about returning the favor. When we give something small as a gift, we add words like “Sorry for just a little bit of this,” or “Just a token of my heart.” Some might say precisely, “No returning the favor, please.”(Farewell)

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Japanese Students’ Reactions1. We were impressed at the English abilities

Chinese students employed.2. We came to know that Chinese students were

really interested in things Japanese.3. Chinese students were proud of their culture and

well versed in it.4. This Japanese-Chinese communication

experience reminded us that we are close to each other

5. With this experience it became clearer that English is a language for Japanese and Chinese communication as well as one for international communication.

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Chinese Students’ Reactions1. It was good to talk with Japanese

students personally

2. We understood well that English is a useful language to communicate with Japanese.

3. It was an interesting educational project.

4. We wished that we’d had a longer period for this project.

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Concluding Remarks1. In order to recognize English as a multicultural language

and to use it as an international language, intercultural literacy should be developed in ELT by means of language awareness training.

2. Japan’s ELT for IU/C purposes is composed of three major components of EIL, explaining our own culture, and understanding other cultures.

3. Creating English-using opportunities is indispensable in Japan’s ELT to let our students learn English as an intermediary language across cultures.

4. Japan’s ELT should be well prepared to accommodate Japanese varieties of English as an output of its endeavor.

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Thank you very much!非常感謝