ERIC Number: EJ1298004
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jun
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0039-8322
EISSN: N/A
Language-in-Education Policies in Japan versus Transnational Workers' Voices: Two Faces of Neoliberal Communication Competence
Kubota, Ryuko; Takeda, Yuya
TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, v55 n2 p458-485 Jun 2021
Foreign language education primarily aims to cultivate learners' competence to communicate in an additional language. However, the meaning of communication competence is not entirely transparent, especially given the current neoliberal valorization of communication in the knowledge economy. The meaning of communication can be scrutinized in two contradictory trends observed in language education: the exclusive focus on teaching English as a global language, signifying a homogenizing trend, and increased scholarly attention to the heterogeneity of linguistic forms and practices. This article examines how communication competence is differentially understood by policymakers and corporate workers in Japan. The authors examine a government report that evaluated the attainment of educational goals for coping with globalization and contrasting it with interview data drawn from another study on the communicative experiences of Japanese transnational workers in Asia. Political discourse analysis and content analysis reveal the paradoxical nature of what can be called neoliberal communication competence, which on the one hand conflates global communication with use of the four measurable skills in English to transmit information and, on the other hand, challenges linguistic norms, foregrounding plurilingualism and co-constructed interactional competence. Transformation of policies and pedagogies can be pursued by appropriating neoliberal communication competence for achieving broader educational goals.
Descriptors: Neoliberalism, Communicative Competence (Languages), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English (Second Language), Knowledge Economy, Teaching Methods, Corporations, Employees, Government Publications, Global Approach, Coping, Employee Attitudes, Political Attitudes, Discourse Analysis, Overseas Employment, Intercultural Communication, Work Environment, Educational Policy, Educational Objectives, Foreign Countries, Language of Instruction, Language Usage
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Japan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A