A social skills approach to English language education in Japan

The primary purpose of language is to interact with other people; it is a social process. Due to long-term historical isolation, Japanese social interactions can be quite different from those of European cultures. These differences, which are usually not addressed in EFL curriculum, can create difficulties for Japanese students, both in terms of interacting with foreign faculty and in terms of having meaningful relationships with non-Japanese people. Japanese students would therefore benefit from explicit social skills training to help them thrive in non-Japanese social environments. This paper will explain how social skills approaches can be adapted into the EFL classroom and outline areas for future research.