Language and Society in Japan (review)

Nanette Gottlieb's latest book, Language and Society in Japan, continues a high standard of inquiry into Japanese language issues but is more varied in its subject matter than her previous work. Chapter 1 begins by unpacking the notion that "Japanese" is a monolithic entity. For the reasonably aware linguist, it goes without saying that language is a diffuse and evolving phenomenon, yet the image of Japan that has emerged over the last century gave rise to two tenacious myths: that of Japanese uniqueness and that of Japanese homogeneity. The extent to which Japanese have cooperated in fostering these myths is a subject that has received some attention, but the willingness of people, including academics, outside Japan to accept them is also a matter worthy of inquiry. This book dispels these beliefs with a close look at the internal logic of linguistic identity (chapters 3, 4, and 5) along with some commonsense evidence that Japan has never been immune to external influence (chapters 2 and 6). I will take up the chapters in this order below.

Chapters 3 and 4 review evolving notions of national identity, first at the citizen level (what it means to be Japanese) and then at the policy level (how standards for language were established and are maintained). Chapter 5 provides a general description of the writing system and literacy (in Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning, University of Hawai'i Press, 2004, J. Marshall Unger does a more complete and more critical analysis), contemporary policy, and attitudes. This is all familiar territory for Gottlieb (see Nanette Gottlieb, Kanji Politics, Columbia University Press, 1996; and Nanette Twine, Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese, London: Routledge, 1991), and there is no better chronicler in English of Japanese language policy. These chapters provide an abbreviated grounding in how Japanese came to be what it is today (standardization), what forces triggered policy, and how those forces correlate with people's sense of who they are in the world (identity)-all critical to understanding forces of change. After all, without norms there can be no resistance. Gottlieb's observations on the teaching of Japanese and of English as a foreign language are especially timely. Language teaching (primarily the teaching of English), she observes, is a thirty-billion-dollar-a-year industry in Japan (p. 66). Clearly, people know (and have known for some time) that there is a great deal at stake in Japan's "global literacy" (p. 70). Yet, according to 1998 statistics, Japan ranks number 180 out of 189 countries in national TOEFL scores (p. 67). This abysmal rating has generated even greater than usual internal reflection on language policy and what demands should be placed on Japanese citizens (through the education system).

Gottlieb's narration of the conversation that goes on about language issues neatly captures the tenor of the policy debate. I wish that she had been a bit more critical of its content. She acknowledges, for example, that the use of standardized tests to measure language capacity is a major component of the problem (pp. 54, 72). Whether the test is the university entrance exam or the TOEFL or TOEIC, Japan has a reputation for "teaching to the test" at the expense of other usable skills. A more nuanced approach might ask why people in Japan so rarely question the tests themselves as well as just what standardized tests measure-whether they are good predictors of college success (the TOEFL is not) or indicators of practical skill levels. One connection Gottlieb does make is that between language and script. In her discussion of the teaching of Japanese, which has grown in fits and starts along with the economy since the 1970s, Gottlieb reviews the stake of the Japanese government in promoting Japanese-language learning and closes with the sober observation that "the enduring tendency to equate language and script" (p. 76) colors all language policy and, by extension, most teaching. This connection...