Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to explore impact of dual standard language policies on internationalization of higher education (HE) in Japan. Following the global trend to internationalize HE by recruiting international students and adopting English to teach academic subjects, the Japanese government has pushed higher educational institutions (HEI) to increase English-medium instruction (EMI) courses to create an academic environment where international students can obtain degrees in English only. At the same time, the government also strategically promotes Japanese language education at overseas universities to increase the number of prospective international students who are willing and able to study in Japanese in Japan (MEXT, 2008).

However, reaching the Japanese level necessary to enroll in Japanese HEIs is challenging for international students, particularly for those who are not familiar with the Kanji (Chinese characters) writing system; on the other hand, those whose first languages (L1) use Kanji, such as Chinese L1 students, may have an advantage in successfully obtaining sufficient Japanese skills (Ota, 2020). Given this, Chinese L1 international students and other international students are plausibly distinctive in terms of Japanese and English proficiency, which may influence their language practices on campus in the host country. Against this backdrop we conducted an online survey with 124 international students from 30 countries who are enrolled in a national university in Japan to investigate how they use languages on a Japanese campus.

A primary analysis of participants’ self-rated language proficiency of both Japanese and English showed that participants did indeed fall into two distinct groups:
1) 50 Chinese L1 international students with high ratings for both their academic and daily Japanese; and
2) 74 other international students with high ratings of their English proficiency.

Note that most other international students use English as a second language, as do Chinese L1 international students. The language choice between the two groups is distinctive in various interactional settings including the instructional languages of the courses they take interactions with the supervisor and other instructors, communication with other international students and Japanese students. The Chinese cohort used more Japanese than English, whereas the non-Chinese cohort illustrated a reversed pattern.

The results reveal that the dual language policies for internationalization have brought two types of international students with distinctive language proficiency of English and Japanese. Their language proficiency appears to limit interaction among international students and with the domestic students. In particular, those with limited Japanese may not be fully integrated into a local language community. Finally, we will provide implications for the HEIs to better support the international students while considering language dissociation.

References:
[1] MEXT. (2008). Ryugakusei 30-man-nin keikaku kosshi [300,000 International Students Plan]https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/09/18/1420758_001.pdf. Retrieved on April 11, 2022.
[2] Ota, H. (2020). Nihon no gaikokujin ryugakusei ukeire seisaku to posuto 30-man nin keikaku ni muketa kadai [Japan's policy for accepting international students and challenges for the post 300,000 plan] Ibunka kan kyoiku [Intercultural Education] 51, 38-57.

Keywords:

Japanese higher education, international students, English-medium instruction, Japanese language education.