Japanese English? Refocusing the Discussion
This paper was given at the 26 th conference of the Japan Association for Asian Englishes (JAFAE) at Kobe Design University in July 2010 as part of a closing panel, chaired by the author, entitled “The Possibility of Japanese English.” The paper outlines the indebtedness of Japan and other ‘Expanding Circle’ contexts to the world Englishes (WEs) paradigm, discusses early and current work by scholars exploring Japanese English, and then looks at more recent efforts in the area of language contact, change, and variation - including new WEs offshoots such as “new” EIL and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) - and their implications for Japan. The author argues that it may be more productive, at this juncture, to look beyond the traditional Kachruvian 3-Concentric-Circle Model and the need to gain recognition of an emergent Japanese English, to these vibrant new paradigms which increasingly focus scholarly attention on the use of English as an International language (EIL).