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Philippe Meister Dr. Fowler ENG 330 5/13/13 It came from Corporate: English in the Japanese Company In The Role of English in the 21st Century Melvia Hasman says, English is divesting itself of its political and cultural connotations more people realize that English is not the property of only a few countries. Instead it is a vehicle that is used globally and will lead to more opportunities (20). On the surface, this view coincides with the current use of English as a language of commerce, but this viewpoint is problematic because it does not acknowledge the history of relations between power, culture, and language. English has a long history of evolution, and has not come to be the language of commerce merely by happenstance. Hasman offers a second possibility that is more true to the history of the English language. She says, A language shift, in which individuals change their linguistic allegiances, is another possibility. These shifts are slow and difficult to predict. But within the next 50 years, substantial language shifts could occur as economic development affects more countries (20). The future of the world languages is uncertain, there is bound to be transition and change among them. Currently English as the language of commerce exists in the world. Through historical knowledge of the English language in concert with a Rhetorical Genre Studies perspective, I will use the change in the official language (genre) of the Japanese company Rakuten from Japanese to English to show that English as a language of commerce is not divest of political and cultural connotations. The global marketplace has created a platform for a world language, but the closest entity is use is English as the language of commerce. The global economy is driven by foreign manufacturing, resource distribution, and international companies. In the current market we see

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companies like Rakuten which are founded in highly developed nations expanding to multiple markets. Such internationalization is illustrated in three ways. First, companies change their basic goals to conform to a global marketplace. Second, they adapt their products to local markets. But most importantly, they do not set up international bureaucracies; instead, they hire foreign nationals who understand the local markets (Hasman 18). Many international companies originated or has ties to English speaking nations, it is no surprise that English has dominated as the worlds lingua franca. Rakuten, for example, has switched to English to create foreign business ties. Worldwide 1.4 billion people speak English as an official language, over 70% of the worlds scientists read English, about 85% of the worlds main is written in English, and 90% of information in computer databases is written in English. The number of secondary or foreign language English speakers in 2010 was projected [according to dated projections] to exceed the number of native speakers. English has been placed into its position by the expansion of English speaking businesses, the English demand for resources, and the consumption rates of Western cultures; English speakers have instigated the language of commerce, placing a stronghold on other nations to adopt the western business model. The way each individual nation adopts the use of English will depend on many economic, cultural, and political factors. English has been more easily adopted by foreign nations, not only because of economic and political dynamics, but also because English is strong in the sciences, English drives consumption of technology and commerce, Englishs has incorporated vocabulary form other languages, and various English Dialects have become acceptable (Husman 19). This business language shift is the genre that will be analyzed at Rakuten. Rhetorical genre studies analyzes English as a language of commerce through who is speaking it, how they

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are learning it, and how it is being used. RGS gives us a framework to follow step by step how the English has a trickle down influence on cultures around the world. The modern view of genre, held in Rhetorical Genre studies is a within a general awareness of the range of genres, of their shapes, their contexts, speakers, and writers newly make generic forms out of available resources(Bawarshi & Reiff 81). The national language use studied through a Rhetorical Genre Studies perspective shows us that language is no longer merely generated for individual expression, but rather, aspects of language function more distinctly as social cultural communication. The link between individual expression and social communication makes it possible to see how large scale changes affect each individual, as well as how the individual changes can affect language. The way language is used is genre, RGS employs multiple levels of genre to form a cultural genre theory. The genre system beginning with the most broad perspective: Activity system > Meta-genre > genre system > genre > primary genre > secondary genre > individual manifestations. I will use national language use as the Genre of the language of commerce activity system. Genres have the ability to combine our knowledge and our actions. Genres, as forms of situated cognition, are able to communicate but also reproduce social norms and knowledge. The genre of national language use is the site where the RGS system come full circle, through genre we can see how the global language factors affect the individual and we can see how the individuals create the global factors. Genre is the relationships as language and culture interact with one another. Language is a cultural artifact, so the language use is intimately tied to culture. Therefore, we can see language changes as inducing cultural changes. The similarity of language and culture is the driving force behind RGS theory. Language genres develop out of responses to reoccurring situations in response to individual manifestations. For genres to last over time they

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must balance individual knowledge as well as common social perceptions. The stability and change in genre allows genre to evidence the type of communication a culture engages in. We can see the genre interaction in Japan where the CEO of Japans largest online trading site Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani, changed the companys official language of business to English to avoid being excluded from the larger meta-genre of global commerce. The language change was done to expand into the global market and break from the smaller Japanese market. Mikitani said that the language change was necessary to expand outside of Japan and that it would help broaden the perspective of the small nations company. The language change affects about 7,100 (Neely) Japanese employees, who must now become proficient English users. If they dont, their job security is at risk. The company is giving employees two years to learn English and then they much pass proficiency tests. When the change was announce, CEO of Honda Takanobuto Ito commented that Its stupid for a Japanese company to only use English in Japan when the workforce is mainly Japanese. The language remains unchanged as the company aims to increase commerce with expanding companies in China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Brazil. The company is even broadening its leadership base, currently half of the senior executives are not Japanese and do not speak Japanese. The company reports that half of their employee can communicate in English, and 25% (Neely) of their employees regularly communicate across national borders. In this example Rakuten is prospering; But how does is affect their culture? And how does English affect the culture of less economically developed countries? Very few of the people in sparsely developed countries have access to white collar jobs that require English skills, which causes their English education to be a waste of time. If the country could have established a basic literacy in a common language their infrastructure would have been greatly improved. The

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English literacy serves to disorganize the country and allow the people with access to larger markets to capitalize on their nations hard work. English becomes an upper class language that the poor attempt to learn, but it does not serve them well. English can take the form of Primary, secondary, or auxiliary status in a culture. In more economically developed countries, like Japan, the existence of two languages is seen to affect economic performance negatively by fragmenting the economic communication. Arcand (1996) examined four conditions that may affect a nations internal structure. First, nations with a unified language have lower transaction costs within the country. This means that more transaction occurs that may not occur when the literacy is fragmented. Second, language affects contract relationships. The literacy gap between land owners and lower class workers complicates productivity and affects productivity negatively. Third, differences in credit allowed to different segments of the population based on their linguistic capitol affects production and the dispersion of means of production. Fourth, external forces on the language of commerce appear more important because much of the economic activity is predicated on that specific system of communication. (Phillipson) All of these system changes result in a growing gap between business and daily life of the workers; and these are only the economic affects. The language shift at Rakuten heavily influenced employees because the company required them to learn English on personal time. In the two years they were given to learn English, they watched movies, bought language books, make flashcards, and studies on their own time. The company did not provide any money for materials nor paid time for English education. The affect on Rakuten employees demonstrates some of the factions created between business and daily life in countries forced to compete in an English Dominated economy. Although these changes are tough on workers, this is a good situation where the company is

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economically viable, prosperous and competitive in the global marked. Japan is an emerging market compared to less developed countries who are struggling to merely establish themselves in the English driven market. When we look at the changes English has brought about in the lives of the Rakuten workers, we can see how the changes in the individual cognition can create major social changes. Speakers of English as their primary language are aware of the relationship between knowledge and cultural capitol. The relationship between language use and power systems creates intricate networks that influence life down to the last detail. Gunther Kress says, in any one society there are social situation in which the effects of power are such that not to have access to the generic forms through which power is coded, is to suffer exclusion from participation in public life, to be denied criterial elements of the social, power economic, was seen cultural as crucial goods for full, Hence active access participation to the genres and of power was seen as crucial for full active participation (Kress 464). The command of language becomes important in Rhetorical Genre Studies because of its link to power. English speakers who arent able to understand the language or the cultural context do not understand all the implications of their language use. The English language and the culture behind it have been developing for centuries; communication within a system rests on predications and predefined genres that one must be aware of. Ones ability to communicate may can be hampered if they do not understand cultural influence on language. The integration of English in the business lives of Ratukens employees is causing their cultural power structures and cultural trajectory to be altered. The trickle down to their every day existence through infrastructure, ideology, and situated cognition of their worldview will be

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significant. As the language works downward on the individual, we can see how the changes in the lives of the individual will constitute a change in the larger genres. The influence has traveled downward, from the global market economy has influence a language change which in turn has influenced the individual lives of the Japanese. The cycle will then reverse and the changes in the individual will cause the language to change, in turn causing the global economy to work differently. This cycle illustrates the consistency and change found in genre studies. Genre is a dynamic concept that will continue to be created by the changing ways we use language. Competing genres and the ideologies they embody reflect ongoing, socio-historically saturated tensions and power relations (Bawarshi & Reiff 79). That the successful Rakuten company must change their language to compete in our global economy shows the influence of English. English will continue to influence the world in language, consumption, and ideological ways. We have traced the genre construction for the Rakuten Company, but the influence of English goes much deeper into the Japanese. The RGS system provides a strong argument for why we cannot view a Lingua Franca as a neutral language. Japan serves as an example for how the English language affects the workers of a country, since it is a new policy, the totality of the cultural influence is not yet realized. But the totality may never be realized because it is a continuous process that will continue to change cultural norms.

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Works Cited Bawarshi, A. Reiff, M. Genre: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy. The WAC Clearinghouse. 2010. Online. 11 May 2013. Hasman, M. The Role of Enlgish in the 21st Century. In a Word: Newsletter of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages in Chile. Vol. 1 No. 1(2004). 13 May 2013. Kress, G. Genre and the Changing Contexts for English Language Arts. National Council of Teachers of English. Vol. 76 No. 6 (July 1999): 461-469. JSTOR. 13 May 2013. Neely, T. Global Business Speaks English Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business School Publishing. Online. May 2012. May 13, 2013.
Philllipson, R. English for Globalisation of for the Worlds People? Springer Link. N.D. Online. 13 May

2013. "The Role of English Language Education in Developmental Contexts." 123HelpMe.com. 14 May 2013