Globalization and "Multilingualism as a commodity" among Nepalese students in Japan

English can be deemed as a commodity with an economic exchange value within a global labor market to facilitate international business (Tan and Rubdy, 2008; Kubota, 2011). Furthermore, commodification of English is particulary... [ view full abstract ]

English can be deemed as a commodity with an economic exchange value within a global labor market to facilitate international business (Tan and Rubdy, 2008; Kubota, 2011). Furthermore, commodification of English is particulary conspicuous among tourism and hospitality sectors (Heller, 2010). Indeed, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) aims to intensify English language education at schools by the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, along with the nation’s intention to expand the tourism industry in Japan. While English education is reinforced, an increasing number of Nepali students are studying in higher educational institutions in Japan aiming to engage in the tourism and hospitality sectors by utilizing their multilingual competence, which includes Nepali, Hindi, English and Japanese. This research will critically investigate how Nepali students’ multilingualism as a commodity is utilized in Japan by conducting semi-structured interviews with two groups (Nepali returnee students who grew up mostly in India and students who had only lived in Nepal before moving to Japan) by examining Japan’s foreign language education policies. Also, the current research attempts to shed light on multilingual turns which may need to be considered more in Japan. Finally, pedagogical implications for educators will be discussed.