English and Imperialism: Japan’s experience
First published in Indian Periodical, October 9, 2022
Douglas Lummis says “I never heard the expression English conversation (eikaiwa) until I came to Japan” in his book published in 1971. He summarized briefly that “English conversation offers not simply language training but a world view.” More than half a century has passed since then. Now in 2022, a Japanese online-English-lesson company provides the US news articles for the Japanese to improve their discussion skill with Filipino tutors. (It hires only Filipino tutors, with an exception of some Japanese tutors for beginners.) Their selected topics are sometime very local and specifically targeted to American readers, such as “Texas city residents could drink tap water again”. Since every news article has target readers, it is not for a Japanese, neither for a Filipino.
This sense of selection stems from an ideology of English conversation as coined by Douglas Lummis. If I summarize the ideology of English conversation described by him, I would say that that is the language version of American imperialism. Today, most English conversation lessons – not writing but speaking skill – are targeted at businesspersons. So, textbooks should be naturally designed according to their requirement. I am not knowledgeable about the business world, but at least I am sure that there are many Asian countries and people with whom we have to deal and negotiate in businesses. If students are not given the opportunities to learn various Englishes and their backgrounds, as a businessperson, they might fall short of intellectual resources required in the global business world. More significant effect results from the hidden messages given by English reading materials prepared for lessons. Some news articles are not only inappropriate for the discussion between Japanese and Filipino, but rather harmful ethically, or if I am allowed to use a stronger expression, ideologically.
Today, even NHK—the broadcasting giant media that is controlled behind-the-scenes by the Japanese government—provides Business English Radio Lessons where a Pakistani businessperson is invited as a guest for sample interviews. Or a fictional corporation located in Chennai is set up as a business partner to communicate with. Their English with local accents is familiar and easier to understand for me, having studied in India, but not for everybody, because that is a matter of experience. I remember some of my friends working in the UN. They move according to the place they are assigned almost after every 3~5 years. So, they are quite capable and tolerant of a variety of English, and cultures behind the language, because English as a lingua franca is a communication tool in the first place. In this point, some Japanese-run private companies which favor American English and the US news media, to the exclusion of other choices, are completely outdated. I don’t say their services are useless, but I would say they are harmful unless a student keeps on trying to avoid consciously and cautiously the impacts showered every day by their hidden messages. That is the essence of today’s American imperialism.
I never forget what my mother said in my childhood. I don’t remember how old I was when she told me, “It was good that America had defeated Japan at war.” I was surprised by her statement and could not understand the meaning. I was born in 1958. So, most probably it was in 1960’s when I was shocked by her words. My mother also told her memories of my brother playing with a hand-made quasi-placard in his hand, shouting “Anpo Hantai (No to Japan-U.S. Peace Treaty)”, without realizing the meaning of the slogan that he was shouting. That was the atmosphere of those days in Japanese society, on one hand.
On the other hand, American TV comedy serials were broadcasted once or twice a week in the evening and loved by kids. Yes, we loved Americans. Once upon a time, I loved Americans, too. They were all White people with blond hair and blue eyes. No exceptions. My memory coincides with the essay written by Douglas Lummis. What he describes in his essay is too humiliating for me that I can't read it without feeling anger and shame—as a Japanese who witnessed those days as a small girl.
Now I realize that my mother’s statement was a declaration of triumph of English conversation. The article “English Conversation as Ideology” was translated into Japanese and published in 1971 along with other essays in a book of the same title, because the author believed that it's the most crucial essay in the collection. The English original wasn’t published so far. That is, he wanted the Japanese to read the book. That’s why he published only the Japanese translation. His target readers were the Japanese.
Then, I ask myself, “Why am I writing in English?”