English Language Teaching in Japan as a

Localized Pedagogy:
The Implications of the World Englishes
Perspective

According to Smith (1981), “English as an auxiliary language.’ While Braj

B. Kachru means that there are many different varieties of English
throughout the world, all of which, whether native or non-native, should
be recognized equally valid linguistic variants with systematic and
reflective features. These types are referred to as "world Englishes" by
Kachru, who splits them into three subgroups of concentric circles based
on the traditional ENL, ESL ( English as a Second Language), and EFL
classifications (English as a foreign language) then labeled them as: Inner
Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle.

The innermost circle pertains to the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, where English is the primary
language. The Outer Circle depicts nations in Asia and Africa where
“institutionalized non-native varieties” occurred as a result of language
interaction between colonizers' English and locals' indigenous languages
as a result of colonization by Anglophone countries (Kachru, 1992b, p.
356). The societies in the outermost circle utilize “performance
varieties” of English (ibid.) in restricted domains such as academia,
diplomacy, economics, as well as other international communication
circumstances.

Furthermore, whereas Inner-Circle English is widely considered

standard, Outer-Circle English, or non-native, second-language English, is
generally considered second-class English. Not only do Inner-Circle
speakers perceive Outer-Circle varieties to be inferior, but
institutionalized English speakers generally do as well. Kachru and other
researchers fought against the gap between English speakers and non-
English speakers. Former colonizers continued to communicate in
English for political reasons. The World Englishes Project (WE) was
created with the aim of promoting the authenticity and legitimacy of the
Outer-Circle varieties of English through linguistic advocacy. The main
focus has been on the existing varieties of English in the Outer Circle,
which had been classified as 'outcast' in the past (Bamgbose, 2006, p.
654). Many WE scholars believe that the initial focus should be on
justifying the existence of world Englishes and their relevance.