Globalization and Language Learning in Rural Japan: The Role of English in the Local Linguistic Ecology

Globalization and Language Learning in Rural Japan: The Role of English in the Local Linguistic Ecology RYUKO KUBOTA University of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada SANDRA MCKAY San Francisco State University San Francisco, California, United States Drawing on a study of current language use in a rural community in Japan, we question to what extent English actually does serve today as a lingua franca in multilingual, internationally diverse communities Specifically, we report on a critical ethnography of a small Japanese community with a growing number of non–English-speaking immigrants, largely from Brazil but also from China, Peru, Korea, and Thailand We investigate how people in the community view and engage in local linguistic diversity and how this is related to their subjectivities and to their experiences in learning and using English We analyzed the public report of a community survey on diversity conducted by the city and interviewed three Japanese volunteer leaders who are teachers and learners of English and two Japanese who study Portuguese in order to support the local Brazilian migrant workers Based on our findings, we highlight four emergent themes that provide insights into the significance of learning English in a linguistically diverse context We also discuss the pedagogical implications of the local linguistic ecology for the teaching and learning of English I haven’t found yet what I want to be in the future, but I want to use my English in the future I want to go abroad and make friends, many many friends, and communicate with them And so in order to that, I have to learn English, … And practice makes perfect, and so I will learn English every day … I, I, I my best.’’ (Big applause) (A 1-minute fast monologue by a high school female student in an English class demonstration at a symposium on teaching English held in Tokyo, March 3, 2007) Today I went to an information forum for junior high school immigrant students preparing to go to high school The event was organized by a support group in TESOL QUARTERLY Vol 43, No 4, December 2009 Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:30 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 593 Morino Prefecture I was asked to attend to the English table as an interpreter Approximately 50 people (students and parents) came There were three Portuguese tables, a large Chinese table, a Spanish table, and a Thai table None came to the English table (Kubota’s field note in Japan, October 14, 2007) s globalization advances, English language teaching is increasingly emphasized in many expanding circle countries like Japan in which English is taught as a foreign language This emphasis is linked to a common belief that English proficiency is essential for global communication in business, tourism, information technology, and other domains As the first opening quote indicates, English is perceived to enable communication with people in the world An assumption here is that people in the world use English to communicate Yet, the second quote casts doubt on this assumption in this specific context in which English is not a contact language to connect local people Citing a projection of the demand for English in the education systems of the world, Graddol (2006) states that over billion people globally not speak English as either their first or second language This means that over three quarters of the world population are non– English speaking Thus, contrary to the common belief about English, not all contexts for international communication allow English to serve as a mutually shared language Such contexts often exist within expanding circle countries with an increasing migrant population One rural city in Japan has been experiencing a rise of newcomers from non–English-speaking countries (e.g., Brazil, China, Peru), creating an unprecedented kind of linguistic diversity Scholarly discussions of the role of English in international communication contain diverse and competing views from descriptive studies of Englishes to neo-Marxist, postcolonial, and poststructuralist critiques of the role of English, providing multiple understandings of the global role of English However, researching, discussing, and critiquing English colludes with the idea that English connects people from diverse L1 backgrounds It also diverts our attention from the significance of teaching EFL in a context where English is widely taught and yet does not usually connect multilingual populations In order to broaden our understanding of linguistic diversity today, it is useful to start with the assumption that English is not a shared language in many situations and examine how learning English impacts people’s experiences and subjectivities in the local linguistic ecology This article draws on a larger investigation in which extensive qualitative data was gathered on language learning among adults in a small Japanese city.1 We investigate how local people view and engage in A This research was funded by the Japan Foundation 594 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) linguistic diversity in their community and how their views and engagements are implicated in their subjectivities and experiences in relation to learning English We analyze the public report of a community survey on diversity conducted by the city, as well as interviews with three women volunteer leaders in the community who are teachers and learners of English These women’s views and experiences are contrasted with those of two men who study Portuguese in order to support Brazilian migrant workers in the city Based on our study, we explore implications for teaching English as a foreign language RETHINKING THE ROLE OF ENGLISH Scholarly discussions on the use of English in the world have produced such terms as English as an international language, English as a lingua franca, English as a global language, and English as a world language (Seidlhofer, 2004) Whatever term is used, issues surrounding the global spread of English have been discussed from various perspectives The discussion is often framed from a macro-perspective, focusing on the social, political, and economic value of English as a global language (e.g., Crystal, 1997), diverse regional features and norms of English represented by world Englishes (e.g., Kachru, Kachru, & Nelson, 2006), individual and structural inequalities between English and other languages and their speakers as symbolized by linguistic imperialism (e.g., Phillipson, 1992, 2003), and the ultimate loss of minority languages described as language death or linguistic genocide (e.g., Nettle & Romaine, 2000; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000) Furthermore, postcolonial appropriation of English to express hitherto subjugated voices (e.g., Canagarajah, 1999), description of lingua franca English, in which speakers accommodate and negotiate linguistic forms and meanings based on their available resources (Canagarajah, 2007), and the application of the poststructuralist notion of performativity to English language use (e.g., Pennycook, 2007a) have disrupted the essentialist understanding of English and identities and the fixed relationship between them In most cases, however, the academic discussion of English in the world colludes with the idea that when people from different L1 backgrounds meet, they customarily communicate in English This idea also exists outside of the academe, as in the following government document called Action plan to cultivate ‘‘Japanese with English abilities’’ (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2003): English has played a central role as the common international language in linking people who have different mother tongues … it is essential for GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 595 [children] to acquire communication abilities in English as a common international language However, the idea that English is an international language can be critiqued as discursive construction In reconceptualizing the notion of language, Pennycook (2007b) argues that English as well as metalanguage about it (e.g., English as an international language, English as a language of economic opportunity) is an invention or a myth rather than an objective truth They are invented through social, historical, and political processes of defining and describing the language system and use, and yet they invoke realistic or contingent discursive representations He states, This understanding of construction … points to the ways in which myths work by constantly talking about things, by constantly assuming the existence of things; it highlights the idea of heroic stories that tells us about the origins or nature of various phenomena, or explain how something came to be From this perspective, the question of reality is put on hold (p 97) Drawing on Foucauldian thought, Pennycook (2007b) further proposes that what truly matters is not whether or not English exists but how the effects of truth about English are produced by discourses of language industries including linguist, educationalists, and policy makers Likewise, we argue that an important question is what effects the discourse of English as a shared/international language has on the construction subjectivities and social practices It is necessary to politicize the discourse of English as a shared language—the metalanguage that presupposes the very specific nature of how people might communicate across languages Increased multilingualism in local communities actually creates speech situations counter to the idea of English as a shared language Block (2007) demonstrates how a Portuguese-speaking Brazilian man tries to speak in Spanish, rather than in English, with Spanish-speaking coworkers in London (see also Goldstein, 1996, and Norton, 2000, in the context of Canada) In expanding circle countries where a growing number of non–English-speaking people are crossing national boarders to seek employment, the major lingua franca is usually the dominant language of the host country, which threatens minority languages (Mufwene, 2002; see Gottlieb, 2008, for languages in Japan) This asymmetrical relation of power involves yet another layer in an EFL context—a growing emphasis on learning English As noted earlier, the sociocultural and ideological effects created by teaching English have been extensively discussed in relation to discourses of colonialism, linguistic imperialism, and power struggle 596 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) (e.g., Hashimoto, 2007; Kubota, 1998, 2002; Oda, 2007; Pennycook, 1994, 1998; Phillipson, 1992) To move these critiques further, it is necessary to shift our focus toward the investigation of how the discourse of English as an international language intersects with the local multilingual context where English does not serve as a shared language In order to better understand the role and impact of English in this type of linguistic context, it is necessary to take a bottom-up emic approach and focus on a local setting, examining people’s language use and attitudes toward languages in the local community and how their experiences and views are implicated in larger discourses SETTING AND BACKGROUND Hasu in Morino Prefecture (pseudonyms) is a midsized city with a population of approximately 160,000 Along with agriculture, the manufacturing industry that produces small machinery and electronic products prospers Since the 1990s, Hasu has had an influx of foreign residents or so-called newcomers (as opposed to longtime residents of Korean descent) like some other cities in Japan In 1990, the number of registered foreign residents in Hasu was approximately 700, whereas in 2006 it grew to over 6,000, constituting 3.7% of the population.2 Of this population, approximately 50 percent comes from Brazil, followed by China (17%), Peru (8%), Korea (6%), and Thailand (4%) While it could be argued that the size of this population is too small to refer to the community as diverse, the attention given to this population by the local government, as seen in various services provided, is visible if not sufficient Most of the newcomers work for manufacturing companies in the city Hasu also has two Japanese language institutes for adult international students mostly from China and Southeast Asia, and two universities that have a sizable body of international students mainly from China, Korea, and developing countries in Asia It is important to note that foreign residents tend to live in geographical pockets throughout Japan where a strong manufacturing industry exists As of 2007, Hasu belonged to a league of 23 cities and towns with high percentages of foreign residents, ranging from 2% to 16% with an average of 5.2% The league has held an annual conference since 2001 to discuss issues of healthcare, education, community support, and law enforcement The surge of migrant workers, especially from South America, was prompted by the 1990 enactment of the revised Immigration Control Law, which allowed nikkeijin or foreigners of Japanese descent and their families down to the third generation to legally live and work in Japan The percentage of foreign residents nationwide in 2006 was 1.6% GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 597 The nikkei diaspora in South America, exemplified by emigration to Brazil and Peru, began around the turn of the 20th century, when there was a high demand for farm labor in these countries Almost a century later, labor demand in Japan brought a large number of nikkei families to Japan With regard to the migrant workers from China and other developing countries in Asia, the implementation of the Industrial Training and Technical Internship Program in the early 1990s allowed these industrial trainees to stay and engage in training in Japan for up to years A majority of these trainees in Japan are from China Wandering or driving in Hasu, one does not visually notice its ethnic diversity because many of the newcomers are of light-skinned Asian descent However, in stores, family restaurants, and sports clubs, one often hears diverse languages spoken In contrast, white- and darkskinned presence is visible albeit fewer in number Dark-skinned people are mainly from South Asia and South America While some of the Caucasian residents are non–English-speaking newcomers from South America, others are mostly English teachers or Christian missionaries Despite the size of the city, opportunities exist for adults to learn English During 2007, two major nationwide chain eikaiwa [English conversation] institutes offered lessons An Internet search yielded close to 10 privately run English institutes providing eikaiwa lessons People also make private arrangements with native speakers of English for oneon-one or group lessons Kubota, the first author of this article, a Japanese-English bilingual scholar of Japanese descent, spent year in Hasu observing eikaiwa lessons, interviewing adult learners of English and Portuguese, tutoring Japanese as a second language (JSL) in public schools, and engaging in participant observation in various community activities involving foreign residents McKay, the second author, is an English-Spanish bilingual scholar of Anglo-American descent who visited the Hasu community during the data-gathering period Both authors investigated the ways in which adult Japanese learners of English and Portuguese negotiate linguistic diversity in the community through a lens of critical ethnography which aims to problematize taken-for-granted social assumptions and uncover how unequal relations of power are perpetuated through social structures and individual daily experiences (Madison, 2005) As such, this study problematizes the notion of English as a shared language and provides critical insight into the meaning and purpose of learning English in a diverse linguistic community The data described in this article come from an existing report of a community survey and interviews with five adult Japanese residents The community survey report provides insight into the general public’s views of local diversity and the role of English, whereas the interviews offer an in-depth account of the experiences and subjectivities of specific individuals who 598 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) are engaged language learning Because the research focused on Japanese adults’ views and experiences of learning English, it only provides limited information on views of foreign residents that was obtained through an informal interview and participant observation Foreigners, Internationalization, and English The city of Hasu established a Council for Supporting Foreign Residents (CSFR) in 2005 in order to address issues of tabunka kyoˆsei [multicultural co-living—literally, ‘‘coexistence of multicultures’’; see Tai (2007)] in the areas of education, employment, social welfare, and community support Involving representatives from the local government, private corporations, and volunteer organizations, the Council investigates ways to promote integration of foreign residents into the local community This initiative was urged by a recommendation made in the 2006 report on tabunka kyoˆsei which was commissioned by the central government (Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2006) The word kyoˆsei (co-living) represents a political shift in the view of migrant workers— the previous focus on labor and law enforcement shifted to the need to integrate these workers as residents in the local community In 2006, Hasu’s CSFR conducted a community survey in order to better understand the views and experiences of the migrant workers and longtime residents in the city for establishing kyoˆsei Questionnaires were sent to newcomer residents, Japanese residents, newcomer school children in public schools, newcomer school children in two private Brazilian schools, Japanese parents with Grades 1–9 school children, and public school teachers The questionnaires included multiple-choice items as well as a space for open-ended comments The results were compiled into a 90-page report, which was made available in the same year Below, we will focus on the responses of Japanese residents (205 responses with 41% return rate) and Japanese parents of school-aged children (257 responses with 32.1% return rate) and highlight some perspectives that relate to English and kokusaika (internationalization) because they are closely related We translated the responses in Japanese into English Japanese residents’ view of the rise of foreign residents is rather divided While 38% of the respondents view it positively for socioeconomic benefit and kokusaika, 11% thought it is undesirable because of potential social conflicts, and 47% thought it is neither positive nor negative Such division of opinion is pronounced and gravitated toward the negative when they were asked about their impressions of the foreign residents—while 28% marked positive, 40% negative and 24% neutral Of numerous open-ended comments, some provide insight into GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 599 the views of multiculturalism in relation to language Those with positive attitudes commented that they hope to promote mutual understanding through interaction and collaboration Of respondents with negative comments, some thought foreign residents not contribute to kokusaika, as seen in the following comment: ‘‘There are too many foreigners who have nothing to with economy or kokusaika.’’ Although the intended meaning is unknown, the image of kokusaika here is something other than the actual ethnic and linguistic diversity and could be more linked to Whiteness and English In response to what the Japanese and foreign residents can in order to create a better community, one respondent wrote, ‘‘It is important to provide children with English language education from an early age!!’’ Of other recommendations made by the respondents, the following comment sheds light on a view on the relationship between the local linguistic ecology and the role of English: Some nationalities naturally wish to create their own community This is observed among people who not share a lingua franca and they often ignore rules Thus, there are fundamental issues that the national government needs to improve, such as teaching English as a lingua franca from an early age I think the first step is to know each other through language, so I suggest creating guidebooks in Portuguese and Thai This rather perplexing comment can be interpreted in many ways, but perhaps this individual believes that a lingua franca is valuable for keeping the social order and it should be English This echoes the public support for teaching English at the elementary school that has been a hotly debated topic in Japan.3 The guidebook suggestion is interpreted as encouraging Portuguese- and Thai-speaking people to know about Japanese ways of living, in which case, the notion of ‘‘knowing each other through language’’ is viewed unidirectional Of the parents with school-aged children, the majority had positive attitudes toward non-Japanese students in the classroom While 57% said the intercultural contact is good for kokusaika, only 5% was negative and 32% was neutral Of positive comments, some mentioned the benefit of learning the language and culture of the non-Japanese children One commented, ‘‘It would be fun to learn the child’s mother tongue and utilize it for promoting dialogues.’’ Another parent states, ‘‘Not taking advantage of the opportunity to get acquainted with foreign languages and cultures feels like a waste.’’ Another parent is curious to learn about other cultures and states: The most recently revised school curriculum, which will be fully implemented in 2011, requires English instruction for Grades and 600 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:31 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) I want to hear in their language about how they feel I think it’s a good opportunity for mutual understanding If they cannot speak Japanese, their children can translate I’d like to hear what foreign parents have to say Despite these voices, few opportunities for learning minority languages are available Sabrina, a Brazilian Japanese-Portuguese bilingual staff at Hasu City Hall and a teacher of Portuguese at a community center commented in an informal interview that she had approached her supervisor about providing the Japanese staff with a short Portuguese lesson during breaks at work Although she thinks companies should also provide such lessons, she feels overwhelmed by the burden she would have to carry as the initiator of the project There was, however, an equal amount of negative feedback One parent who experienced difficulties of collecting dues for a neighborhood association wrote, ‘‘I don’t know what to when I cannot communicate In case of languages other than English—Peru, Brazil, etc.—I cannot write a memo or letter.’’ One parent expresses a strong xenophobia: There is no benefit of being with foreign students in the same class, so I want to have a separate class made for them … There is a rise of crime committed by foreigners and I want to stay away from them The government might think that studying together enables children to have international exchange, but there is no need for superficial kokusaika I am very worried about the fact that foreigners are in the school where my child attends The following comment is rather striking: At the secondary school, my child could benefit from learning eikaiwa from foreign students But I am dissatisfied with the fact that the teacher has to interrupt instruction to help foreign students who cannot speak Japanese When I saw as many as three foreign students in my child’s class, I didn’t understand why there were so many, when my child’s grade has four classes But this rural area would never have an American school (for them to go to), so accepting these students is inevitable This parent seems to think that the newcomer students in his/her child’s class are English-speaking Americans and the child could benefit from them In fact, Americans tend to be welcomed in the community Sabrina told us that Brazilians who look like Americans (meaning White Brazilians) experience fewer conflicts with the local residents than dark-skinned Brazilians or even Japanese-Brazilians According to her observation, Japanese people think highly of Americans Her friend’s husband, who is a White Brazilian, is often talked to in English and GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 601 treated nicely, whereas his wife, who is Japanese Brazilian, is looked down upon because she does not speak Japanese Sabrina thinks that Japanese younger generations are obsessed with things American, which is contrasted with Japanese-Brazilians like herself who have learned to be Japanese from their parents and grandparents Her observation echoes a question a 9th grade boy asked Kubota during a tutorial: ‘‘Do Japanese people like Americans?’’ When asked, ‘‘Do you think they do?’’ he answered, ‘‘Yes Because they (Japanese women) want to marry Americans.’’ Furthermore, the belief that non–Japanese-speaking foreigners are English speakers, or attempts to communicate with any non-Japanese in English, sometimes surfaced in everyday interactions For instance, Kubota once visited a junior high school to observe and tutor a newly arrived 7th grade boy from Peru When asked about his birthday in Japanese, he struggled to understand The assistant principal, who was standing beside him, tried to assist him by tossing out English words, such as ‘‘birthday,’’ ‘‘when?’’ Of course, this was of little help because the student had studied English only for a couple of months in Peru These comments give a glimpse of twisted understandings of kokusaika, multiculturalism, and English Kokusaika has been a popular term that signifies an emphasis on transnational exchange since 1980s Although kokusaika literally means internationalization, it often implies Westernization or, more specifically, Americanization with a focus on learning English while championing and essentializing the Japanese culture (Kubota, 2002; Schneer, 2007) Some of the comments above show a denial of regarding newcomers who are mostly non–Englishspeaking non-White working-class people as international This implies that only English-speaking White middle-class people contribute to kokusaika of Japan This is reflected in the rather nonsensical proposal that Japanese children should learn English to cope with the problems related to an influx of newcomers For another parent, the image of foreign students and kokusaika by extension is tied to English-speaking Americans Of the diverse comments reviewed above, some demonstrate a peculiar understanding of kokusaika with regard to what linguistic resources foreign residents bring with them, what Japanese children can benefit from them, and how Japanese children should cope with increased kokusaika Kokusaika conceived by some people excludes migrant workers from it, positioning them as the Other who brings no benefit but rather a burden to tolerate Although the number was small, the comments that refer to English seem to reflect the belief that English should be taught and used as a lingua franca in cross-linguistic situations, which poses a contradiction with the local linguistic ecology This contradiction was experienced by some community leaders Kubota interviewed 602 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) you go to the U.S or Canada … Improving Japan with Portuguese won’t let the country soar into the world When asked whether she wants to learn other languages, she smiled and said, ‘‘I can’t because of my age.’’ She emphasized that language is best learned when one is young Talking with her, my initial impression of her completely disappeared Mrs Honma (Age 61, Born in 1946) I met Mrs Honma for the first time at a Sunday Japanese Tutorial Program Mrs Honma was the coordinator of this volunteer group that provides JSL tutorials for children and adults She is a key community leader in education; her other roles include member and chair of Hasu Board of Education, member of the Council for Youth Issues, chair of the Youth Cultural Association, mediator at the local court, and JSL volunteer tutor at an elementary school When I expressed my interest in tutoring, Mrs Honma made a comment strikingly similar to Mrs Nakai’s: In the past, many people got involved in community service because they wanted to use English or become friends with people from English-speaking countries But now the main population for international exchange is Brazilians So many volunteers have left They never come back It turned out that Mrs Honma has a profile comparable to Mrs Nakai’s Mrs Honma and Mrs Nakai are friends, and they have many experiences in common Both women traveled together to Australia because they got acquainted with an Australian family that moved to Hasu Mrs Honma also joined a study tour and traveled in North America She has a married daughter who works in Hong Kong Like Mrs Nakai, she had a longing for American culture and Western life In her case, an American sitcom called Father Knows Best made a strong impression on her It depicted an attractive father in gray hair—an image very different from a typical Japanese father—a spacious living room, and a kitchen equipped with a large refrigerator, an oven, and even a dishwasher When she began learning English at junior high school, she was disappointed by the teacher’s pronunciation and the dull content of the textbook In high school, she attended a local bible class to learn English from a native speaker Although she felt happy to hear ‘‘real English,’’ she gradually felt uncomfortable about the proselytizing mission of the church Six months later, she quit GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 605 After graduating from the English Department at a women’s college in Tokyo, Mrs Honma took care of her elderly parents in Hasu while teaching English to children at home She got married and later taught English at several high schools She then engaged in various roles as described above Mrs Honma helped an Australian family and learned English from them She continues her study through private group lessons Like Mrs Nakai, Mrs Honma took English training for the Sports Fest Around the same time, Mrs Honma began tutoring Japanese to foreign residents In the beginning, she expected to teach Japanese through English, but opportunities to teach English-speaking people diminished When I asked about her interest in teaching Japanese, she responded, I got interested in teaching Japanese, or rather, there was no choice but to become interested, because I’d rather learn English Well, if I can teach Japanese using English, there is a merit for me But gradually that became impossible But you can’t quit just because there is no merit, right? If they need us—It’s been like that and here I am When asked about teaching English at the elementary school, Mrs Honma supported early exposure to a foreign language When asked about the possibility of teaching languages other than English, she said, Well, I think parents would prefer English even if multilingual programs were available I think everyone will jump at English … I think teaching languages other than English is valuable But the question is whether or not there is room Mrs Honma thinks that those who want to learn Spanish, for instance, are interested in things in Spain ‘‘Without motivation like that, I cannot picture people wanting to learn Portuguese or Spanish in the current situation of Japan.’’ She herself wants to learn Cantonese if an opportunity arises, because her daughter has a Cantonese-speaking husband in Hong Kong Reiko (Age 48, Born in 1959) Reiko was referred to me because of her active leadership as the founder of a volunteer group called English Tour Guide (ETG), which offers a free English guided tour of the city for visitors Her other roles include teaching English as a volunteer at a local elementary school, teaching English at a company and a community center for pay, and working part-time as a newscaster for a closed-circuit community 606 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) broadcasting system She said, ‘‘I like talking I always wanted to be a newscaster.’’ When she was at school, she did not like studying English At college, she was trained to teach at the elementary school and Japanese language arts at the secondary school When asked why she began learning English again in her mid 30s, she said, I had three things that I hated: English, dogs, and swimming To tell you the truth, I have overcome all of them I didn’t want to end my life still having weaknesses …I was not good at English at all—When I saw a foreigner, I used to run away When her son started kindergarten, she was looking for something to She found the English training for the Sports Fest, and this initiated her English career After the Sports Fest was over, Reiko created ETG But there are only one or two requests for service per year, and the main activity became learning English from native speakers, which was actually the main interest of the members Reiko took English lessons at eikaiwa schools and community centers As her English improved, she wanted other people to enjoy communicating in English; thus she began teaching English Teaching English also provided her with opportunities to use the language Reiko recently obtained through distance education a license to teach English at secondary school When Reiko goes to the elementary school to teach, teachers often say to her, ’’Bring a native speaker.’’ Although Reiko thinks that she is better than unskilled native speakers, she continues, The existence (of native speakers) itself is another culture We seldom see them in Hasu … For children, their existence itself is attractive That’s not enough, though I asked what image is associated with ‘‘native speaker.’’ Reiko responded, ‘‘For children in this area, foreigners are people who have different faces.’’ I asked if she meant White people She agreed The three women are all involved in community service, but Reiko took a different path She thinks that the path taken by Mrs Nakai and Mrs Honma—i.e., providing JSL support to newcomers—is more sensible She commented, We all need to support those who need help in Hasu But I want to learn English, like other members of ETG, I still want to conquer English and at the same time I want to help others as a volunteer … It (tutoring Japanese) might be different if it was a paid job, but considering the limited amount of time, I can’t this as much as I want I can’t give up (English) GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 607 With regard to making English a formal subject at the elementary school, Reiko obviously promotes it but with slight ambivalence: There aren’t many foreigners and there is very little need for English, so speaking Portuguese probably helps us get along with foreigners better So the question is why English? But English is becoming an international common language … My neighbors are from Brazil and the Philippines I sometimes speak in English with the Filipino neighbors but they probably would feel more comfortable in Tagalog, and English is useless with Brazilian people, so in terms of necessity, it’s probably more useful to learn Portuguese as a second language for co-living But I think English and computers are part of general education for all The three women all have a great amount of investment in learning English They experience a contradictory positioning created by the myth of English as an international language in the local demography In contrast, two single men, Akira and Seiji, learn Portuguese to make a social contribution Akira (Age 38, Born in 1969) When I first went to the Sunday Japanese Tutorial Program, Akira was conversing with a young Portuguese-speaking Caucasian woman who was teaching at a local private Brazilian school I sat next to him and listened to his speech filled with code-mixing in Japanese and Portuguese His Portuguese sounded quite basic, but he was able to communicate with the woman who had almost no command of Japanese At the end of the lesson, he taught me the word obrigada (thank you), and said, ‘‘You should come learn Portuguese It’s fun.’’ Actually, month later I began taking the community Portuguese class Besides JSL tutoring, Akira served as a volunteer summary writer for people with hearing disorders and a volunteer consultant for children and adults with hikikomori (social withdrawal) He currently lives with his mother and works as a part-time farm worker I asked Akira about learning Portuguese He said, I began three years ago My motivation was… Well, there are so many Brazilian people here Learning Portuguese is not for my future job, but it’s useful for me to help them It’s also community participation for me Akira graduated from a technical 2-year college and obtained a car mechanic license He worked for a car dealership for years but resigned because he did not fit into the lifestyle and network of his peers He describes himself as being an oddball and not good at socializing 608 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) Akira has a clear vision of his involvement in community service He commented that today’s society has become too wealthy and many young people spend money on luxurious cars and cell phones, and yet there are people who not benefit from the wealth He wanted to something for them The fact that he lost his father in his early 20s and his mother had brain surgery in his teens also made him wonder what the most important thing is in life Learning Portuguese is not linked to any fascination with Brazil or Brazilian culture He was genuinely interested in contributing to the community According to him, It happened to be Brazil I don’t have any strong attachment (to the language and culture) … I think it’s more about connecting to people and engaging in social participation, rather than wanting to visit there This is contrary to Mrs Honma’s view that people learn a language because they have a cultural interest Compared to the three women, who are relatively privileged in terms of their education and family background, Akira has a non-mainstream life trajectory Also, for the women, self-interest took precedent in learning English, but for Akira, language learning was a vehicle for community service Furthermore, the women’s investment in language learning exhibits exclusive bilingualism in nature, but Akira’s interest in language learning demonstrates a multilingual stance In fact, I observed him trying to learn Spanish or Chinese when he interacted with Peruvian or Chinese tutees In the interview, he expresses his interest in learning other languages Seiji (Age 42, Born in 1965) Seiji is another learner in the Portuguese class He is a desk worker at the Department of Waste Control of Hasu City He is divorced, without parents, and lives by himself Seiji is also a longtime learner of English Although he is heavily invested in learning English and believes that learning English from a native speaker is best, he has an open vision of language learning for interpersonal understanding Seiji went to a university in Tokyo and majored in legal studies During college, he had a part-time job at a nonprofit organization, which required English skills He was also interested in traveling abroad, which motivated him to learn English After graduating, he worked fulltime at the nonprofit organization for years, before coming back to his hometown Seiji’s department deals with issues of garbage and recycling Garbage is collected according to type, and the sorting policies are quite complex Because garbage that is not sorted properly is left uncollected GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 609 at the site, conflicts often occur between Japanese and foreign residents Seiji wants to learn Portuguese in order to reduce conflict by communicating the policies to Portuguese-speaking people and listening to their voices Referring to his future, he stated, I want to be involved in issues of education because I wanted to become a teacher I submitted my request to be transferred to the Department of Education … Foreign residents must have many concerns, like children’s language learning, work, health, and so on I want to deal with their concerns So to me, learning Portuguese has become necessary Of course, English is important because it’s a common language His comment on English as a common language perhaps derives from travel experience He has so far traveled to over 20 countries and has found English useful However, unlike the three women, Seiji is interested in learning multiple languages For example, he bought many Korean learning materials because he liked to watch Korean TV dramas and travel to Korea When he went to Thailand, he made friends with a Thai man and wanted to learn Thai He said, When it comes to communication, any language is important, don’t you think? Each has its own culture and history and oftentimes you can understand people only in their language … In many cases, your intention is better conveyed in the local language, so I have a desire to speak various languages even at the very basic level Seiji supports the idea of teaching English at the elementary school, but he also supports learning other languages because it would encourage children to understand foreign residents better, increase a sense of affinity with them, and reduce ethnic prejudices against them Moreover, Seiji realizes that learning English does not necessarily lead to promoting a sense of international cooperation In his observation on the job, local people tend to welcome White English-speaking people but alienate others He thinks that education for understanding diversity of people, traditions, and ways of thinking is essential for promoting mutual understanding DISCUSSION The rise of newcomers in the city of Hasu has pressed the longtime residents to reflect on local diversity The CSFR survey results show that some residents welcome newcomers, whereas others view them as uninvited, as they not contribute to kokusaika Some residents apparently believe that the lingua franca of the local community should 610 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) be English or what they should benefit from four newcomers is opportunities to learn English Strong attachment to English was found among the three women community leaders While the two women, Mrs Nakai and Mrs Honma, responded to the community demographic needs by shifting their focus to supporting non–English-speaking newcomers, Reiko clings to English and seeks opportunities to use it through teaching Yet, they all feel ambivalence or a moral dilemma caused by the gap between their attachment to English and the community language needs Conversely, the two men, Akira and Seiji, each hold a firm personal goal to assist newcomers A fundamental difference between the women and the men is the level of interest in engaging in multilingualism—specifically, learning languages other than English Whereas one could conclude that the difference in orientation to English among the interviewees is a factor of gender, we instead take a much more nuanced view Although gender and language desire has been shown to be one factor in language learning (e.g., Kobayashi, 2002, 2007; Piller & Takahashi, 2006), we prefer to see gender from a contextualist perspective (McKay & Wong, 1996) As such, we agree with Cameron (1992) that one should avoid ‘‘explanations of difference that treat gender as something obvious, static and monolithic, ignoring the forces that shape it and the varied forms they take in different times and places’’ (p 40) In our study, all the interviewees are in some ways marginalized members of society due to profession or relative status in the community Yet each individual responds differently to the shifting language needs of the community It is perhaps Reiko’s marginalization as a factor of gender, age, and lack of equal status to the other women that leads her to cling to English and the prestige it brings In this way, for all of the participants it is the interplay of various factors that leads to their particular reaction to the local linguistic situation The diverse public opinions surfaced in the CSFR survey also showed divided attitudes toward diversity—some showed inquisitiveness and positive attitudes, whereas others were blatantly negative or perhaps confused about the role that different languages play In what follows, we discuss emergent themes that provide insights into the significance of learning English in a linguistically diverse context: (1) attachment to English which could work against the promotion of multilingualism, (2) social, cultural, and historical backdrops of the attachment which reflects symbolic colonialism, (3) classed and nationalized images of English as an international language, and (4) a monolingual orientation of the belief in English as an international language First, the three women in this study have heavily invested themselves in English and feel quite attached to it, even though they are advocates for non–English-speaking newcomers (Mrs Nakai and Mrs Honma) or acknowledge the usefulness of learning the community languages GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:32 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 611 (Reiko) Although Mrs Honma expressed her interest in learning Cantonese, the other two women did not express such interest With regard to teaching languages other than English in schools, both Mrs Honma and Reiko recognized the importance but did not support the idea, while Mrs Nakai opposed it outright because Portuguese would not enable Japanese children to ‘‘soar into the world.’’ The CSFR survey also contains a small number of voices that English does or should solve the challenge posed by the local diversity These subjectivities are contrasted by genuine interest in languages other than English and their speakers as exhibited by Akira and Seiji, who are less socially privileged than these women It is interesting that Seiji has invested in learning English and wants to acquire English as an international language Yet, the difference between Seiji and the three women is his interest in developing multilingual competency, which parallels a few voices in the CSFR survey Thus, the attachment to English in and of itself does not necessarily lead to exclusive obsession with English One’s life experience in a historical trajectory and individual background, including the amount of social and cultural capital, seem to affect the level of multilingual engagement Second, attachment to English observed among the learners seems to be influenced by social, cultural, and historical backdrops that reflect symbolic colonialism involving the superiority of English, American culture, and Whiteness In the case of Mrs Nakai and Mrs Honma, their attachment to English is influenced strongly by their contact with postwar American culture Perhaps this strong cultural desire and fantasy, along with the postwar foreign language curriculum with English as the dominant language to be learned, made them believe that English is the language to learn (cf Piller & Takahashi, 2006) Mrs Honma’s belief that cultural interest, or integrative motivation, underlies learning a language rules out the possibility of learning other languages for different purposes as in Akira’s case Such strong cultural attachment was not evident in Reiko’s case Yet in her narrative, learning English seems to be subconsciously associated with interacting with White people The Anglocentric view of English is prevalent among Japanese students (Matsuda, 2003), and teaching English in Japan is a raced practice with preference for White native speakers as teachers (see Kubota, 1998, 2002) Attachment to English reflects symbolic colonialism, which is constructed in the historical trajectory of U.S domination and the discourse that associates English with Whiteness and Americanness This study shows that such attachment could not only reinforce the superiority of native speakers but also deprive learners of English of their willingness to communicate with others in languages other than English In this sense, one underexplored question is whether willingness to learn English is negatively related to willingness 612 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:33 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) to communicate with speakers of other languages Yashima (2002) and Yashima, Zenuk-Nishide, and Shimizu (2004) found that Japanese students’ interest in international affairs, friendship, and activities is related to willingness of communicate in English A further question is whether such international interest reflects monolingual orientation toward English or a cosmopolitan awareness of cultural, linguistic, and racial diversity Third, the image of English speakers tends to be not only racialized but also classed and nationalized Mrs Nakai’s narrative particularly demonstrated the association between English speakers with transnational educated elites Being able to speak English also enables her to enjoy overseas trips The idea that English allows one to soar into the world signifies that being able to speak English enables one to work in international contexts However, the middle class tends to have greater access to such career opportunities, and the access itself initiates one to be a member of the middle class Thus being a speaker of English is symbolic of kokusaika and, simultaneously, middle-class status The comments in the CSFR survey that foreigners in Hasu not contribute to kokuksaika or that superficial kokusaika is not necessary are perhaps not unrelated to the fact that the newcomers are mostly positioned as working-class non–English-speaking migrant workers from places outside of inner circle countries A comment in the survey and a couple of Brazilian people’s comments suggest that ideal foreigners in Hasu are imagined as Americans Fourth, a belief in the power of English champions Japanese people’s bilingualism in English and Japanese while alienating non–Englishspeaking newcomers from imagined international communication in English and assimilating them into Japanese monolingualism (see Kanno, 2008) Some of the negative comments in the CSFR survey indicate that newcomers are uninvited, whereas others expect them to assimilate into the society Only a few comments advocate mutual accommodation and communication using each other’s languages The three women interviewed advocate intercultural communication, albeit only within the discourse of English as an international language It is to be achieved by teaching English to Japanese (and newcomer) children and teaching Japanese to newcomers, which is contrasted by the kind of intercultural communication pursued by Akira and Seiji What seems to be valued is exclusive bilingualism in the sense that the valued bilingualism involves only English and one’s L1 or double monolingualism in the sense that one is to be a fluent speaker of Japanese or English or both but not other languages.4 For a different use of this term, see Heller (2002) GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:33 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 613 All in all, a belief in the power of English tends to construct English as the language in an imagined international community of educated middle-class people who are often perceived to live in Anglophone countries (see McKay & Bokhorst-Heng, 2008) It also tends to undermine the value of learning languages other than English Yet, there are individuals such as Akira, Seiji, and anonymous community members in the survey who embrace multilingualism and pursue multilingual competence to interact with non–English-speaking people in the global/local communities IMPLICATIONS It is clear that the spread of English in Japan in the form of increased emphasis on teaching and learning English does not threaten Japanese language Instead, Japanese threatens the maintenance of the heritage language of migrant workers in places like Hasu because of the monolingual/assimilation orientation for newcomers (Kanno, 2008; Vaipae, 2001) What is also threatened or undermined seems to be mainstream people’s willingness to learn other languages and embrace linguistic and cultural heritage of minorities Even though the younger generations in Japan almost all have English learning experience, insufficient focus on learning other languages, monolingual assimilationist expectations for immigrants, and existence of negative attitudes toward immigrants ironically parallel a monolingual trend observed in inner circle countries, signifying double monolingualism in Japanese society.5 Even though international understanding is emphasized as part of English language teaching, the monolingual tendency along with symbolic colonialism behind teaching English keeps local people from fully affirming linguistic and ethnic diversity The rise of linguistic and ethnic diversity in the local community is not restricted to Japan in the age of global migration Cities and towns in Korea, Taiwan, and China, for instance, are facing such diversity, while an increased emphasis is placed on learning English In such diverse contexts, linguistic and ethnic hierarchies are created and perpetuated in complex ways In Taiwan, for instance, Filipina and Indonesian migrant female domestic workers are socioeconomically and discursively positioned in a hierarchical manner, the former enjoying more privilege than the latter Specifically, Filipinas who are English speakers tend to hold less demanding jobs as caregivers of children who are learning De-emphasis on learning a foreign language in higher education is demonstrated in the 1991 revision to the Standards for the Establishment of Universities, which eliminated the requirements of liberal arts (or general) education, foreign language, and physical education This led to a decline of enrollments in foreign languages or languages other than English 614 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:33 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) English at school, whereas Indonesian women, even though they may have good command of Mandarin, tend to engage in more labor intensive work of looking after the sick and elderly (Loveband, 2006) In Korea, Shin (2006) argues, English is constructed as ‘‘the language of the (imagined) global elite community’’ (p 155), whereas other languages are rendered to be valueless or illegitimate It is important to explore the impact of the spread of English not only in terms of whether it threatens other languages or how it is used as a contact language in hybrid, fluid, and heterogeneous ways, but also how it constructs subjectivities in relation to other languages and cultures It is necessary to further investigate how learning English influences people’s views and experiences of diversity involving other languages, cultures, and racialized groups of people, and how it maintains or transforms unequal racial, linguistic, and cultural relations of power not just between L1 and English but also among other contact languages As TESOL professionals, we need to critically reflect on our own attachment to English so that we can create a discourse that affirms all kinds of diversity; promotes language awareness, attitudes, and skills necessary for communicating with non–English speakers; and scrutinizes racial, class, linguistic, and cultural biases that perpetuate unequal relations of power In this sense, one direction would be integration of language awareness in teaching English to foster competency for negotiating and adjusting linguistic conventions according to the particular situation, purpose, and interlocutors from diverse L1 backgrounds (Canagarajah, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2004) Discussing teaching English as a lingua franca, Seidlhofer (2004) offers a bold proposal to replace English as a school subject with language awareness which would focus on the awareness of English as a lingua franca, including communication strategies and accommodation skills through a multilingual approach In addition to teaching lingual franca core features and encouraging students to later learn a particular native or nonnative register, the course could include strategies such as ‘‘drawing on extralinguistic cues, identifying and building on shared knowledge, gauging and adjusting to interlocutors’ linguistic repertoires, supportive listening, signaling noncomprehension in a face-saving way, asking for repetition, paraphrasing, and the like’’ (Seidlhofer, 2004, p 227) These strategies can also be developed though learners’ L1 Still we propose to take this approach further and explore how these strategies can be fostered not based on the assumption that people always communicate in English but rather imagining a possibility of encountering situations where English is not a shared language Such contexts require learners to develop willingness to communicate by using linguistic and extralinguistic strategies available to them and by seeking other possible means Furthermore, the interlocutors in such GLOBALIZATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN RURAL JAPAN Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:33 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 615 contexts are likely to be individuals from racial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, or socioeconomic backgrounds that are unfamiliar to the learner It is crucial to develop willingness and commitment to accept, affirm, and engage in diversity This leads to the need for teachers and students to develop critical language awareness in order to understand and challenge unequal relations of power that are manifested not only in language and culture but also in race, gender, class, and other social categories Such awareness would scrutinize the dominant discourse on language and examine the interrelationship between identities, ideologies, and hierarchical relations of power between groups (Alim, 2005) Drawing on critical pedagogies promoted by such advocates as Kanpol (1994), Janks (1997), Osborn (2005), and Wallace (1997), Reagan (2004) argues, Ultimately, language awareness is critical when one is concerned with the social, political, economic, historical, and ideological context in which language is used, and in which language must be metalinguistically and metacognitively understood … Beyond this, critical language awareness must also be understood to be not only an outgrowth of critical pedagogy …, but a necessary element of critical pedagogy in the foreign language context … (p 54) With critical language awareness, one may visit a junior high school in Hasu and feel overwhelmed by the gap between the imagined community created in an English class taught by a White native-English-speaking teacher and the real community of non–English-speaking newcomer students who struggle to learn Japanese with limited suggest Residents of Hasu are trying to make sense of the demographic transition, while the five adults interviewed are either feeling ambivalence in the gap between the imagined and real communities or proactively engaging in the new ways of communicating with marginalized people English teachers can take the initiative to bridge these two communities by promoting multilingualism, creating a communicative environment with mutual accommodation, and raising critical language awareness to reconstruct a real community Perhaps the first step is to realize that English is not an international lingua franca in many multilingual contexts yet it exerts invisible symbolic power THE AUTHORS Ryuko Kubota is a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Her research interests include culture and sociopolitical issues in second language education and critical pedagogies 616 TESOL QUARTERLY Tesol Quarterly tesol205412.3d 30/12/09 20:04:33 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) Sandra McKay is Professor Emeritus of English, San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California, United States Her newest book, International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts: Towards a Socially Sensitive Pedagogy (with Wendy BokhorstHeng), is an examination of the social and sociolinguistic context of present-day English teaching and learning Her research interest in English as an international language developed from her extensive work in international teacher education REFERENCES Alim, H S (2005) Critical language awareness in the United States: Revisiting issues and revising pedagogies in a resegregated society Educational Researcher, 34(7), 24–31 Block, D (2007) Niche lingual francas: An ignored phenomenon TESOL Quarterly, 41, 561–566 Cameron, D (1992) Feminism and linguistic theory London: Macmillan Canagarajah, A S (1999) Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press Canagarajah, S (2007) Lingua franca English, multilingual communities, and language acquisition The Modern Language Journal, 91, 923–939 Crystal, D (1997) English as a global language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Goldstein, T (1996) Two languages at work: Bilingual life on the production floor New York: Mouton de Gruyter Gottlieb, N (2008) Japan: Language policy and planning in transition Current Issues in Language Planning, 9, 1–68 Graddol, D (2006) English next: Why global English may mean the end of ‘English as a Foreign Language London: British Council Hashimoto, K (2007) Japan’s language policy and the ‘‘lost decade.’’ In A B M Tsui & J W Tollefson (Eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian Context (pp 25–36) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Heller, M (2002) Globalization and the commodification of bilingualism in Canada In D Block & D Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp 47–63) London: Routledge Janks, H (1997) Critical discourse analysis as a research tool Discourse: Studies in the Politics of Education, 18, 329–342 Kachru, B B., Kachru, Y., & Nelson, C L (Eds.) 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