Cultural differences: English writing for Japanese researchers
Japan has an impressive range of Japanese-language research journals and a well-developed academic publishing ecosystem. However, it has seen relatively weak growth in international publications. Publishing in English is vital to maximizing research impact, but this in itself is a challenging hurdle. While Japan is still a top-class research nation, many Japanese researchers report difficulties in using English, particularly in terms of vocabulary. Why do Japanese academics experience these problems, and how can they be overcome?
A brief history of Anglo-Japanese exchange and learning
For thousands of years, Japanese and European tongues traced entirely different courses. After brief contact with the Portuguese, Japan entered its sakoku era. Besides a limited trading partnership with the Dutch, the Japanese had no need to communicate with any westerners. This came to an end in 1852, when the Perry Expedition from the United States effectively forced the country open. Japan, having no choice but to cooperate with Anglo-American power, soon recognized the necessity of English education.
During the Meiji period, thousands of consultants, mostly from the United Kingdom or United States, were employed to aid in modernization and many of Japan’s brightest studied abroad. Outside a brief period before and during the Pacific War, Japan has enjoyed good relations with English-speaking countries.
However, Japan has made little progress in English education recently. The EF English Proficiency Index puts Japan at #87 of 113 countries in 2023. Shockingly, proficiency is declining, particularly among younger people, which is in stark contrast to global trends and contrary to increasing emphasis on English education. Improvements in neighboring countries like South Korea show this is not solely due to linguistic differences.
The surprising generation gap
In their excellent 2021 editorial, Karagiannis and Yamanaka discuss the apparent tendency for younger researchers in Japan to show more difficulty using English than their older colleagues. Besides issues like English education methods in Japanese K-12 schools, they noted two interesting reasons for the declining interest in English among younger academics that I have rarely seen discussed.
First, Japan experiences among the lowest rates of immigration and emigration among researchers, in spite of the many initiatives to increase the number of international researchers. Japan has little brain drain, but also little brain circulation. Thus, many academics have scant experience of working in international teams, meaning that many simply never work in English. With fewer scholarships for international research, younger researchers are often missing out on this vital experience.
The second reason is the prominence of private companies as employers for researchers. Permanent positions for academics are increasingly difficult to obtain. With industry offering better pay and benefits, many researchers prefer to move to industry soon after obtaining their doctorates. Karagiannis and Yamanaka note that these companies often have unique working cultures that do not value experience gained as a university postdoc or in foreign companies.
Japanese: A victim of its own success?
Japan is a top nation in book publications, also making it per capita one of the biggest book publishing nations. The same goes for its domestic research publications; J-Stage lists 1289 Japanese-language journals in its archives, and 31,997 peer-reviewed articles were published in 2023 alone compared to only 14,271 in English. Japanese researchers have the luxury of a rich publication landscape that many other nations don’t have.
Additionally, Japan is a major entertainment producer and exporter. In Japan, consumers are spoiled for choices in domestic entertainment, and overseas entertainment is almost universally fully translated and localized. This creates an environment where young Japanese simply never encounter English outside of their obligatory school lessons, which have their own well-documented issues.
Helping Japanese researchers become better English writers
Despite the understandable reasons for the poor growth of English in Japanese academia, publishing in English is absolutely worth the effort. Researchers understand this, but putting it into practice remains difficult. Overcoming the structural hurdles that hinder English in Japan will require evidence-driven initiatives and long-term planning. Nonetheless, how can overseas colleagues and professionals in academic publishing help Japanese academics with their challenges?
To go further, what can the challenges of Japanese researchers tell us about helping colleagues with less developed English skills, regardless of their nationality?
Encourage extensive exposure
Soseki Natsume, one of Japan’s most esteemed novelists, was also an English teacher and accomplished translator. He recommended that Japanese learners read English books as much as possible, worrying little about fully understanding the contents. This is in stark contrast to the grammar translation method used to teach in Japan, which demands students thoroughly analyze every word and expression. Recently, his method has been rediscovered and applied as pedagogy in Japanese schools, with decent results.
For the Japanese academic, this means extensively reading English articles from their field. As well as exposing readers to the rhetorical devices in English writing, extensive reading also provides vital vocabulary input. When working with Japanese researchers, providing examples of English academic writing, without expecting them to thoroughly read and understand, can help their learning journey.
Reconsider demands for English skills
The English skill gap is being recognized as a source of injustice in academia. While it would be hard to suggest that journals should accept articles with language issues, language editing services and new technologies are streamlining the writing process and helping non-native researchers compete and collaborate on a level field.
Being kind and patient
One of the common traits of Japanese learners is their anxiety around learning and using English. This can result in affective challenges that harm learning and communication. Essentially, the more “painful” using English is, the more difficult it is for learners to progress. When dealing with colleagues with lower English skill, it is worth recognizing their communication efforts and not nitpicking them.
Conclusion
Japan and its researchers need English. While overcoming the issues that Japanese researchers face is difficult, it is not an intractable problem. With proper measures, Japan should be able to secure its position as a global research leader.
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