ELF education for the japanese context

Abstract

Based on the notion that the acceptance or rejection of new pedagogy greatly depends on its negotiation with indigenous environments, this chapter discusses locally-appropriate approaches to ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) education for the Japanese context. Sociocultural values and linguacultural traditions in Japan which should be taken into account in this regard include awareness of internationalization, quest for equality, orientation toward indigenization, and need of models. Each of these factors is examined to analyze the significance of ELF as well as possible implementations of the concept in the teaching of English in Japan. The discussion highlights the importance of eclecticism, or the need of going beyond a particular school of thought. It is argued that an integration of multiple paradigms of global Englishes, such as WE (World Englishes) and EIL (English as an International Language) along with ELF itself, will prove to be productive for pedagogical practice in ELF.