A Hypocritical Double Standard: Japanese Learn English as a "Tool" but Foreigners Learning Japanese as "Culture"?
It is a brilliant message on the part of business English-teaching schools in Japan everywhere. In a bid to target regular people who are nervous about the prospect of using English in their jobs, despite having zero experiences with the language in their daily lives, the schools strive to lower the hurdle for English learning. They do so with the uniform message about how English is simply a tool for business communication, and learning to speak better English does not necessarily mean one has to give up some part of Japanese identity and acquire foreign values.
It is a message that even some Japanese companies expanding their global presence have taken up with gusto, with varying degrees of success. Instead of hiring foreigners with no prior knowledge of Japanese people, language, or culture, the firms have been much more willing (and generous with company money) when it comes to training existing Japanese staff with language skills through more or less mandatory enrolment in business English programs. Here, the matching message of "English as a tool for business" in the companies and English schools help motivate adults to learn.
And without a doubt, the motivation and lowering of hurdles for learning English are quite necessary for a country where English learning, for most, is either a dreaded part of their school education or a completely unnecessary task for lives led with practically no use of the language. The lack of practical need for English is often combined with the inherent difficulty of the Japanese in learning a new language, given the natural "shyness," a deep social taboo associated with speaking casually for the sake of practicing communication in any language, especially an unfamiliar one.
Yet, the problem is that the very detached, business-only attitude of the Japanese toward the English language is not replicate for foreigners struggling to learn the Japanese language. It is necessary and smart that English schools use the portrayal of the English language as "just a tool for communication," yet apparently, when it comes to foreigners communicating in Japanese, the Japanese language cannot be treated with the same emotional detachment. Japanese language schools for foreigners in Japan, in particular, are keen to attach a cultural element to the language study.
And that cultural element is not simply a superficial one that foreigners learn on the side as a way to gain a deeper understanding of Japan as a society; instead, that cultural element is portrayed as essential for survival in the Japanese work and business environment, where social faux pas can break the long-standing business relationships and lead to financial losses for the company. Never mind the fact that foreigners are never expected or considered possible to become truly culturally Japanese, the pressure is often on for foreigners to play the cultural part of Japanese language, if just to get their jobs done.
The hypocritical double standard behind how the Japanese treat English learning for themselves and how they treat Japanese learning for foreigners implies an entrenched and largely unjustified belief on the differences between workplaces in Japan and in "foreign countries." There is certainly no doubt that being not only linguistically on the same page, but also culturally resonant can be a powerful lubricant to get business done among Japanese firms and businessmen. However, skills and knowledge a foreigner has can compensate for the lack of linguistic and cultural connections.
And it is equally unwise to be dismissive of sociocultural connections when working in business English. B global firms working in English are likely to be composed of great diversities in backgrounds, especially when compared to a Japanese-speaking environment, expression of nationalism, however indirect and subtle, would be frowned upon. Such a reality runs directly against the nature of many Japanese to represent all Japanese when outside the Japanese environment, often by unabashedly proclaiming the greatness of their home country.
The solution here is a simple one. The Japanese already has a smart method to psychologically prepare Japanese people who have difficulty learning a foreign language, by portraying the foreign language as no more than a needed tool. Why not use the same message for foreigners learning the Japanese language? Certainly, the continued cultural learning and training in business mannerisms would be preferable given their importance in Japanese business, but to call such training as anything but something foreigners need as a tool to survive in the Japanese business world is true hypocrisy.
It is a message that even some Japanese companies expanding their global presence have taken up with gusto, with varying degrees of success. Instead of hiring foreigners with no prior knowledge of Japanese people, language, or culture, the firms have been much more willing (and generous with company money) when it comes to training existing Japanese staff with language skills through more or less mandatory enrolment in business English programs. Here, the matching message of "English as a tool for business" in the companies and English schools help motivate adults to learn.
And without a doubt, the motivation and lowering of hurdles for learning English are quite necessary for a country where English learning, for most, is either a dreaded part of their school education or a completely unnecessary task for lives led with practically no use of the language. The lack of practical need for English is often combined with the inherent difficulty of the Japanese in learning a new language, given the natural "shyness," a deep social taboo associated with speaking casually for the sake of practicing communication in any language, especially an unfamiliar one.
Yet, the problem is that the very detached, business-only attitude of the Japanese toward the English language is not replicate for foreigners struggling to learn the Japanese language. It is necessary and smart that English schools use the portrayal of the English language as "just a tool for communication," yet apparently, when it comes to foreigners communicating in Japanese, the Japanese language cannot be treated with the same emotional detachment. Japanese language schools for foreigners in Japan, in particular, are keen to attach a cultural element to the language study.
And that cultural element is not simply a superficial one that foreigners learn on the side as a way to gain a deeper understanding of Japan as a society; instead, that cultural element is portrayed as essential for survival in the Japanese work and business environment, where social faux pas can break the long-standing business relationships and lead to financial losses for the company. Never mind the fact that foreigners are never expected or considered possible to become truly culturally Japanese, the pressure is often on for foreigners to play the cultural part of Japanese language, if just to get their jobs done.
The hypocritical double standard behind how the Japanese treat English learning for themselves and how they treat Japanese learning for foreigners implies an entrenched and largely unjustified belief on the differences between workplaces in Japan and in "foreign countries." There is certainly no doubt that being not only linguistically on the same page, but also culturally resonant can be a powerful lubricant to get business done among Japanese firms and businessmen. However, skills and knowledge a foreigner has can compensate for the lack of linguistic and cultural connections.
And it is equally unwise to be dismissive of sociocultural connections when working in business English. B global firms working in English are likely to be composed of great diversities in backgrounds, especially when compared to a Japanese-speaking environment, expression of nationalism, however indirect and subtle, would be frowned upon. Such a reality runs directly against the nature of many Japanese to represent all Japanese when outside the Japanese environment, often by unabashedly proclaiming the greatness of their home country.
The solution here is a simple one. The Japanese already has a smart method to psychologically prepare Japanese people who have difficulty learning a foreign language, by portraying the foreign language as no more than a needed tool. Why not use the same message for foreigners learning the Japanese language? Certainly, the continued cultural learning and training in business mannerisms would be preferable given their importance in Japanese business, but to call such training as anything but something foreigners need as a tool to survive in the Japanese business world is true hypocrisy.
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