Nationalism and English as an international language: the history of English textbooks in Japan

ABSTRACT: It has been claimed that chauvinism of native speakers is a negative factor in promoting the idea of English as an international language. Little research has been conducted, however, on the impact of nationalism of non‐native speakers upon the teaching of English. This paper examines the cultural components of English textbooks in Japan during the past 120 years. There is ample evidence that the cultural contents of English texts clearly reflect the socio‐political environment of the times. When the Anglo‐American culture was blindly admired in Japan, English textbooks dealt exclusively with the British and American values. When the Japanese culture was blindly admired, the contents of English texts reflected traditional Japanese values. Based on these findings, the role of nationalism in the teaching of English for cross‐cultural communication is discussed.