Speaker
Description
This paper examines how Japanese culture is essential for understanding why Japanese speakers find it challenging to learn or acquire English. Viewing this process as a communicative practice suggests that achieving fluency requires alignment with the communicative logic inherent in the English language. Since this concerns learners' cultural orientations, their inability to perform certain aspects of the English communicative practice should not be treated as a deficiency.
Abstract section 3: Content/method
This research employs a historical relational approach, equipped to capture patterns of communication in the high-context language, which relies substantially on non-verbal aspects. It conducts historical documentary research and textual and discourse analysis of transcripts of scripted and non-scripted authentic videos and texts. Treating language itself as a cultural artefact, it shows how culture is a structuring force, like magnetism: it is invisible in itself but produces observable regularities.
Abstract section 1: Relevance
L1 has been considered highly influential in attaining fluency in foreign languages (Odlin, 1989; 2022). Indeed, the structural-linguistic difference between Japanese (L1) and English is widely regarded as one of the primary factors hindering fluency. In comparison, the concept of culture has been downplayed, as it has been treated as problematic in this area. This is despite the understanding that culture is central to communication (Hall, 1976; Kramsch, 1993), and it is still relevant in other areas, including intercultural communication. However, the historical analysis of academic debates reveals that the issue lies in what may be termed the de-cultural turn.
Abstract section 2: Contribution/research questions
Given the insufficient attention paid to the role of culture in language education in Japan, I aim to explore its potential impact by asking the following questions:
How has Japanese culture influenced Japanese communicative practice?
How does this impact the learning or acquisition of English by Japanese speakers?
Abstract section 4: Outcomes/results
Findings highlight that English communicative logic presupposes certain epistemological orientations that are not foregrounded in Japanese communicative practice, such as stating opinions and filling silences. Without recognising this difference, acquisition is misinterpreted as a deficiency rather than misalignment. Importantly, the issue is amplified by the fact that modern Japanese pedagogy has inherited written Japanese, constructed with significant "grammatical borrowing" from primarily English during the Meiji period. This paper, therefore, argues that understanding how spoken Japanese (L1) as a cultural artefact functions helps answer many questions concerning problems Japanese learners of English face within and beyond the classroom.
Abstract section 5: References
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Anchor Books.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. Cambridge University Press.
Odlin, T. (2022). Explorations of language transfer. Multilingual Matters.
| Title | L1 and Culture in English Language Education in Japan |
|---|---|
| Teaching Context | General |