Date:
November 1995
Page No.:
213
Writer(s):
Graham Law, Waseda University
If English has not always been taught in Japan as a language of international
communication, then why and how has it been taught? This paper discusses
three non-communicative purposes which have motivated state-sponsored English
education in modem Japan, together with their ideological underpinnings. They
are: 1) English as a classicallanguagej 2) English as an inverted image ofJapanese;
and 3) English as a set of arbitrary rules. It is argued that these motives are now
archaic but still largely continue to determine methods of study. Finally, specific
suggestions are offered concerning the implications of these ideological traditions
for current efforts toward communicative reform.
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