Why are Japanese poor at English?

By MIKE GUEST

As an English teacher living in Japan, I find it hard to escape the question. It is asked in schools, government-sponsored think-tanks, restaurants, bars, newspapers and online chat rooms: Why are the Japanese so poor at English?

I would like to offer some reasons for this. These reasons are largely cultural and, while it is both arrogant and pretentious to presume to be able to change a culture, understanding these factors may allow teachers to reassess or temper their methods and thereby help learners adopt more beneficial approaches.

Geographical, linguistic and psychological distance from the English-speaking world
Yes, the world is getting smaller due to the ease of international travel and modern communication tools like the Internet, but Japan’s distance from the English-speaking world cannot be underestimated.

Not only does having no contiguous border with another country heighten the psychological sense of distance, but linguistic fundamentals including the understanding of written/aural units such as syllables and sentences, parts of speech, and the widespread usage of set social speech formulas have little in common with English.

The belief that there are only two socio-cultural entities – Japan and “The World”
Although all Japanese are quite aware intellectually of the multiplicity of countries, cultures and languages, on a certain psychological level, there remains for many the belief that Japan is completely distinct from the rest of the world, which can be lumped together as a singular gaikoku.

Therefore, it is quite natural that the people in gaikoku speak English well because English is the lingua franca of gaikoku, unlike Japan. This worldview ends up being supported by the feeling that:

Real Japanese don’t speak English

On TV, one can often see interviews with prominent politicians, businessmen, or celebrities from non-English-speaking countries being conducted in English. This can contribute to a foreigners-speak-English-but-we-Japanese-don’t mentality.

This belief in a fundamental handicap vis-a-vis the rest of the world can inhibit Japanese learners in mastering English, since it fosters the notion that somehow English is not “right” for the Japanese or, worse, that the Japanese brain cannot process the language in the same way that “other people” can.

In fact, some prominent figures in Japan seem to take pride in not being skilled in English, as if it might take away from their “Japaneseness”.

The lack of a real need for English

People have been talking about internationalisation as being the catalyst for English study in Japan for some time now but, let’s face it, the average Japanese really doesn’t need English.
People who know that their destiny is to labour on a farm, in a local factory or in a nondescript office in the provinces are unlikely to see too much benefit in putting forward the amount of time and effort it takes to master English.

In short, there are few intrinsic or instrumental motivations for study in Japan. In many countries, fluency in English can mean a better-paying, more rewarding job or the chance to make a living from foreign tourists, but this is very rare in Japan. Perhaps some of this is due to:

The comprehensive Japanese publishing industry

I have an Indonesian friend who is very interested in jazz and progressive music. Since there is very little information available on these genres in his mother tongue, he has developed highly competent reading/writing skills in English, since that’s the only way he can get the information he craves and discuss it with others.

In Japan, though, there is copious information available in Japanese about every possible subject. Got a passion for Islamic pottery? A hankering for breeding bloodhounds? Look no further! It’s all available without leaving the mother tongue!

A cultural propensity towards reticence

This claim may sound preposterous to anyone who has watched a Japanese “wide show”, but it is safe to say that Japanese tradition doesn’t tend to see being articulate as a virtue and regards verbosity as suspicious.

Many common Japanese expressions and proverbs serve to reinforce this attitude, an attitude that would seem to work against skills in foreign languages.

The belief that perfection equals a lack of mistakes

Why speak or write if you are liable to make a mistake? Both Japanese teachers and learners of English seem obsessed with mistakes.

Personal letters from Japanese correspondents often contain the request: “Please correct my mistakes.” There is also a pervasive belief that even the smallest error in English renders an entire text as meaningless gobbledygook.

I’ve had very linguistically skilled Japanese colleagues who were shocked to find that I understood their “incorrect” English just fine.

Can one change these general cultural attitudes in a day? No. But to guide learners across the language divide, teachers should be cognisant of these factors and may want to address them in some way so that learners may be freed from some of their inhibitions in acquiring foreign languages. – The Daily Yomiuri / Asia News Network

The writer is an associate professor of English at the Medical College of Miyazaki University.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2006/3/22/lifefocus/13589475&sec=lifefocus