Japanese Native Speakers’ Perceptions of Non-native Speakers: Communication Between Japanese Medical Professionals and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Nurse Trainees

Abstract

Awareness of the necessity of effective communication with non-native speakers of Japanese (NNSJ) has increased in Japanese society over the last two decades. At the same time, the varieties of Japanese language spoken by NNSJ have gradually been recognised, reflecting the growth in the number of NNSJ. To address labour shortages due to its ageing society, the Japanese government has made numerous changes to their foreign labour policies such as the employment of nurse and caregiver trainees under Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) . Although the EPA scheme aims to strengthen the economic partnership between two countries, it is clearly a test case for using foreign labour to supplement the workforce. This chapter presents the results of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews conducted with Japanese medical professionals who have worked with EPA nurse trainees. It examines native speakers of Japanese (NSJ)’s perception of the Japanese language proficiency of NNSJ and the key issues that are seen by NSJ to have an impact on their work with NNSJ. The results demonstrate that NSJ tend to underrate the Japanese language proficiency of NNSJ in medical settings, which suggests NSJ’s sense of ownership of the language. The clear boundary between NSJ and NNSJ in terms of cultures, customs and religions also indicates the dichotomy between Self and Other in their relationships. These findings prove that Japanese native-speakerism practiced by NSJ, who are not Japanese language teachers, is embedded in Japanese society. Tackling Japanese native-speakerism, therefore, requires a totally different approach compared to native-speakerism practiced in language teaching.