Extrapolating from an Inquiry into Curricular Issues Concerning the Adoption of English as Medium of Instruction in a Japanese University Situation

Abstract

Abstract Japanese universities have lately begun to teach academic content in English instead of Japanese. In this article, I examine curricular and ideological issues related to having English as a medium of instruction (EMI) at a Japanese university before examining their links to larger cultural-political forces in Japan, including neoconservative agendas. My discussion is framed within the setting of a Japanese higher education facing the challenges of: (1) low enrolments and institutional solvency; (2) curricular reform in keeping with the need for institutional renewal. Specifically, based on a critical narrative inquiry into a workplace encounter involving two university courses, one in introductory psychology and another in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), I will explore the ideologically-embedded nature of discourses affecting professional understandings of language, meaning making and curriculum. I will also observe that the ‘changes’ resulting from the adoption of EMI are only superficial and that the role and status of English, in reality, remains circumscribed.