Quote:
Originally Posted by atheistwithfaith
You say the British accent is less desirable, but when I was in Japan I stayed with a guy (an American) who ran his own language school and he said the Japanese still hold a belief that "English English" is the correct way of pronunciation and so being from England works in your favour just as much as being from somewhere in America with a neutral American accent.
|
It has been my experience, both with my current job, and jobs I have interviewed/applied to that American spelling and colloquial phrases are taught far more than British. Your own favour, as an example. In the nationally accepted textbooks, such as New Horizon, the u is dropped, the z is standardised (note, I don't use the z myself, but I also drop the u). When I make worksheets and the like, I have to remember to add the z, because the vast majority of Americans do.
In addition, there are three major reasons why American spelling, pronunciation, and phrases are more common than their British counterparts in Japanese English education, as far as I know from my research. If you get a chance to read Toto-chan, it touches on the subject briefly.
During the turn of the century and on into the 1930s, British English was taught in Japanese schools. At the time, the British Empire's influence was already waning, but historically, England was considered highly sophisticated, and much higher class than the American (or Canadian, for that matter) accent. Culturally, England was the influence. After WWII heated up, English was dispensed with entirely as the tongue of the enemy, first because of the UK, later because of the US. It would not return until the occupation.
The Japanese school system as we know it now, was set up in part, based on the American model of the time (although this is no longer true, because America has switched) by occupation forces under General MacArthur. If that wasn't enough to return English to the classroom, and American English at that, there were several more developments that caused the trend to follow American dialectical norms:
1) Rise of America as a Superpower.
2) The end of the British Empire.
3) American pop culture dominance.
The 20th century can, I believe, rightly be called the American century. From the Great White Fleet until the election of George W. Bush, American innovation, foreign policy, and military prowess has lead the US to be the sole Superpower left standing in the year 2000. We shall see how America fares in the next century, and this isn't an invitation to dissect current American decisions (I'm explaining the perception leading to American English's preference, not promoting a view of reality). When you're the biggest kid on the block, the other kids tend to pick up your speech patterns.
As I stated, by WWII, the British Empire was already cracking. Many of the accomplishments that lead to a perception of Eigo being Ei, that is, "superior" were no longer true. By the 1950s, the British Empire no longer existed in fact, even if it existed in name. Many nations in the commonwealth had attained self-rule, then autonomy, and even complete sovereignty. With America taking the lead on confronting world instability, the Royal Navy, long the visible symbol of British might, downsized itself into near irrelevance. True, the Falkens showed that British sailors are still quite competent, but no one asks where the
British carriers are in times of crisis. Certainly by the 1970s or 1980s it was more than clear that the sun had finally set on the British Empire.
My opinion is that military situation, the occupation years, and the rise of America as a superpower would have been enough to change the dialectical preference, but this is just an opinion. I think that what took the American accent over the top, as was mentioned by RobinMask, is the sheer amount of pop culture exported by America. Japan has consumed and still does consume a huge amount of media from the United States. Movie, music, Disney animation, TV shows (hit up a Tsutaya, and look at all the American TV you can rent). British? Not very much at all. Australian? Some, due to geographic location. Kiwi? South African? I haven't seen any.
Between these three shifts over the course of the 20th century, it makes perfect sense that American English would be considered for more relevant than British English, and that does seem to be exactly what the national education officials think based on the nationally mandated material which elevates American English over others.