Job Discussion Forums

[womblingfree]

I'm writing a paper on linguistic imperialism right now and found this description of eikaiwa's during my research:

"In our times eikaiwa is a unique example of cultural and psychological domination of the mind in which the ELT profession, by design, participated and perhaps continues to participate. The major points of eikaiwa are:

1. it involves emotional attachment to and obsessive infatuation with Western, especially American, culture (Tsuda 1992: 32);

2. it equates the ideal speaking partners with a white middle class American (Lummis 1976: 10);

3. it elevates a particular type of native speaker position of cultural superiority and cultivates specific attitudes toward the Caucasian race in general;

4. it represents the ideology and the structure of the subculture, which is racist (Lummis 1976: 7)

5. It represents the idea of the native speaker, which in Lummiss's view (1976: 7), is mostly fraud; and

6. its use of the term 'native speaker' is exploited by business-oriented language schools for financial exploitation."

(Kachru, 1997: 97-98 )

A lot I'd agree with there but when I first read it it seemed very harsh. Especially to single out eikaiwa's when most language schools I have ever come across are run to a similair model. That's the problem. Or is he talking about some kind of eikaiwa philosophy from the past?

What do you think? Ever feel like a tool of imperialistic oppression?

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

In 1976 (possibly 1975, depending on how long it took from writing to publishing the article) English teaching was not the huge business it is now,and learning a language through communication rather than spending most of the time memorizing grammatical rules and vocabulary was seen as innovative. The bond-hair blued eyed white guy/girl from the US (speaking with an accent that most people from the US don't actually speak) is still the model used for advertisements of eikaiwa chains, and most of the other materials aimed at promoting internationalization and cross cultural communication (including the JHS kids' textbooks).

I think the description from that 1976 article would definately hold true for the most part today, if it were possible to actually get enough people that fit that description. The town next to mine specifies that they want ALTs who have blond hair and blue eyes, but they are okay with people who have red or even reddish hair as well. They were apparently very unhappy when an Australian of Asian descent showed up one year (the person didn't look 'foreign' enough- JETs in some areas are often used primarily for photo ops), and that's why they make this request.

However, I also think that the majority of Japanese people realize that the American blond haired blued eyed guy image is just a marketing ploy.

[womblingfree]

OK, I need some help now guys!

I'm using the above quote in my essay but cannot find any information as to the foundation of eikaiwas in japan.

Does anyone know their history or when the first ones opened?

[kdynamic]

I don't understand the idea of a native speaker as fraud thing. Can someone explain it to me?

[sallycat]

not sure that i agree with most of those points but i do feel that the eikaiwa system creates some kind of weird emotional parent-child relationship between teachers and students, where the english speaker is put in the position of all-knowing parent, and the learner in a childlike position. i think that the emotional demands of these roles play a large part in the high rate of burn-out amonst eikaiwa teachers. which does somewhat relate to points number 1 and 3.

or i could just be talking out my a.rse.

the caucasian thing is complicated. i have a feeling that it does play a major role, but that for the duration of the lesson, non-caucasian teachers are considered as "honorary caucasians" where they would be treated differently in a non-lesson context. or, to put it differently, many students may still hold strongly racist notions about white, middle class americans being the only authentic native speakers but actual black or asian teachers are considered exempt because of the aura of authenticity the eikaiwa provides. (yeah, i know how fucked that is).

in a similar way i think western culture is held as simultaneously superior and inferior. it is seen as providing, for example, a slightly dweeby recent university graduate with the authority to teach. but at the same time, that teacher is held as incapable of understanding japanese culture outside the bubble world of the eikaiwa (as in the common student question when confronted with any knowledge of japanese culture the teacher has "really? why do you know that?") which is felt to be deeply superior.

[abufletcher]

[abufletcher]

Actually, considering how unknowledgeable most people are about most of the topics found in conversation textbooks, I think that even worse than the "native speaker fallacy" is the willingness students show, and that many teachers seems to take as their "just due," that a teacher be considered as an expert on any topic OTHER than English. That is, the "myth of the native speaker" must be accompanied with the "myth of teacher knowledge."

I think we've all had the experience of overhearing some EFL teacher here in Japan pontificating on this or that aspect of "how things are back home" to an enthralled (and apparently gullible) Japanese audience (or individual) and thinking to ourselves: "What a crock!"

[JimDunlop2]

[wangtesol]

I met Braj Krachu one time. He has first-hand experience with linguistic imperialism since his native country of India was obviously overrun with English types.

Philipson's book Linguistic Imperialism is the rather seminal piece on this topic. One of his main arguments is to expose the myths of the necessity of having a native speaking teacher, a monolingual teacher, early instruction and English only classes.

As for the history of the eikaiwa, I remember a piece in the Japan Times about the history of cram schools, in general. They dated back to over 100 years. The article was in the paper in 2004 or 2005 as an opinion piece or a community piece. (or just reference me: Wangtesol, Dave's ESL Cafe, 2006).

By the way, I recently sat in on a recruiting session and the recruiter told me that in Japan now they are pretty much only looking for blonde haired and blue-eyed teachers under 30. But maybe he just was getting back at me for questioning him about health insurance rights in Asia (I'm over 30 and not blonde).
-----
It is not so obvious looking at Canadian institutions, but American and British institutions such as the US Information Agency and the British Council are explicit government agencies for spreading English. They have budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars to promote the spread of English abroad. The USIA, now a part of the State Department, employed up to 5000 people! It might have been difficult to talk about the US as an empire before the Iraq War, but now it is obvious. So what else would you call their language policy in Iraq other than linguistic imperialism? (Highway signage is now bilingual as in Japan.)

Initially the British Council (the NUGW has a branch union there, by the way) was formed to fight fascist German and Italian propaganda in South America in the 1930s and 40s with their own English propaganda. America was barely even on the scene back then.

But now the US is gearing up teachers for Iraq. You can see people looking for jobs there on the Middle East section of this website. And according to Bill Templar of the American University in Laos, the US is using post WWII Japan as their model for language policy!

Pennycooke's article on "English as a Missionary Language" is particularly pertinent to today with evangelical and Mormon churches sending thousands of teachers (more like missionaries) to Asia. The Mormon Church sends 600 through the Interac (NUGW also has a branch union here) dispatch company to illegal ALT jobs in Japanese schools. Plus they send another 400 to teach in China.

[wangtesol]

here's the article with a bit on the history of cram schools...

'JUKU BOOM'


Cram schools cash in on failure of public schools


By MINAKO SATO


Special to The Japan Times
With Japan's economic bubble long since burst and job security fast becoming no more than a fond memory, there has been a surge in applications to private schools from primary grades up to college.

With parents fearing that the public education system will condemn their offspring to insecure, low-paid work, and competition for private-school places increasingly fierce, juku (cram schools) that help students prepare for entrance exams are experiencing a boom in business.

Big business
While in the West cram schools tend to be remedial, helping students pass exams that they failed, in Japan they are seen as a complement to regular schooling. With over 50,000 juku nationwide, cramming has become a ubiquitous part of the Japanese education system, and grown into a 10 trillion yen business.

The industry is dominated by around 20 major juku chains, the largest of which, Kumon Educational Institute, serves 1.5 million students, while its next-largest competitor, Eikoh, has over 60,000 children enrolled. Besides the big-business players, thousands of medium-size regional juku, and smaller schools, often with just a handful of teachers, bulk out the market.

Just as the scale of juku varies, so do their fees. A sixth-grade elementary school student pays around 35,000 yen to 50,000 yen per month for four hours a day, three or four days a week. A middle school student is charged around 30,000 yen per month for three hours a day, three days a week. Even at Rinkai Seminar, which is billed as having very reasonable fees, a year's schooling for a sixth-grader costs around 800,000 yen.

The history of juku goes back a long way. The first was established during the Edo Period (1603-1868) as a place to teach academic studies, martial arts and fine arts to adults, but it was not until the 1930s that juku reappeared as a supplement to regular school study. While the number of juku increased rapidly over the following decades, the real surge in their popularity probably started in the 1970s, during Japan's period of rapid economic growth, when many people found themselves able to spend more on their children's education.

High fees
According to a 2002 survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 39 percent of public elementary school students, 75 percent of public middle school students, and 38 percent of public high school students attend juku.

More and more parents are now willing, and able, to pay the high fees demanded by cram schools. Toshiko Matsumura, whose 12-year-old son goes to juku four days a week, emphasizes the advantage of private schools. "Nowadays, private schools provide a better environment for studying than public schools," she said. "Teachers take really good care of students, so there is more chance for academic achievement."

A typical cram school opens its doors at 5 p.m., with those who attend after-school club activities joining the 7 p.m. class. One lesson is two hours long, with no breaks -- a punishing grind for pre-teen kids.

It might be tough going for the children, but parents are often satisfied with the results. Natsue Higashi, who has three children, sent her eldest son, now a university freshman, to juku from the age of 10. "Thanks to juku, my son was able to get into a good public high school," she says. "Without it, he wouldn't have made it to university."

Akiko Shinozaki, a mother of two girls and a boy, has a similar view. "My son went to both private school and juku," she says. "Now my youngest daughter [14] goes to juku three days a week. It is her decision. She says she can concentrate more at juku than at school."

Like any other company, a cram school must make a profit to survive. Therefore, the management endeavors to provide service to as many students as possible with the minimum number of teachers. This sometimes leads to problems, such as students of widely differing abilities and levels of motivation ending up in the same class.

Potential problems
Despite potential problems, a lot of students find that teachers at their juku are more animated than those at their regular schools. Kanako Kitamura's 12-year-old son entered a prestigious boys' school this April after attending juku for a year. "My son says the teachers at juku were very earnest and cared very much about the students," she says. "Looking back, spending a total of 800,000 yen in a year seems a lot, but I think it paid off in the end."

Conventional wisdom has long had it that university entrance exams are the deciding factor in a person's long-term earning power; in other words, entrance to the right university is thought to pave the way to a secure, well-paid job at a respectable company. But now, this pressure extends further back, with many parents claiming that a person's future is largely dependent on entry to the right junior high school. As competition to get into prestigious public schools has become tougher, trust in state-run schools has been further eroded due, in part, to the "flexible education" system the government introduced in 2002 which encouraged the expansion of private schools through various tax breaks.

Despite all the hysteria over sending children to the best schools, and the spike in the growth of the juku business, a 2004 survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that Japanese students' math and reading abilities have fallen behind those of their contemporaries from Hong Kong and Korea.

All that frantic studying seems to have done little to improve the real academic performance of students, and questions remain over how healthy the system is for young people.

All names in this story have been changed.
The Japan Times: Thursday, July 28, 2005
(C) All rights reserved

[kdynamic]

No one wants to explain this whole thing about the idea of the native speaker as "mostly fraud"? What does that mean??

And how does all if this play into the oft-repeated idea (especially in Japan) that English is "ther international language" and thus the push to learn it is beyond reproach?

[abufletcher]

Kdynamic, the fact of the matter is that no one in linguistics has been able to formulate an airtight definition of a native speaker (or a sentence for that matter) and there is every reason to believe the the idea of a "native speaker" is everybit as much of an interactionally negotiated cultural construct as race terms such as "black" or "white."

The native-nonnative speaker dichotomy might appear solid enough in predominantly monocultural societies but in areas where bilingualism is common (which may be more common than monolingualism) common-sense understandings of NS and NNS start to unravel. It seems more likely that NS really only has significance as a category when in opposition to the NNS category (similar to the parent-child pair).

[womblingfree]

[womblingfree]

[angrysoba]