The Discourse of Self-learning: An Analysis of Japan’s EPA Programme for Healthcare Workers from Southeast Asia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Japan signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam in 2008, 2009 and 2014 respectively, each of which includes a scheme that encourages the movement of healthcare workers into Japan. This scheme has remained a subject of intense scrutiny as a model of continuous employment of migrant workers from Southeast Asia. Applicants are required to complete one year of Japanese language training prior to working at the host institutions, and are expected to sit the Japanese-language healthcare licensure examination within three to four years of their arrival in Japan. This article examines the policy discourse of language learning practices and environments, which are important parameters for ensuring participants’ ongoing employment under this programme. The major finding is that the excessive promotion of self-learning among migrant workers correlates with a lower level of support from host institutions for their language learning. I argue that the Japanese government has shifted the responsibility for resultant negative consequences – such as the institutional burden of on-the-job training and the low exam pass rate – to the migrant workers by encouraging linguistic entrepreneurship.