ABSTRACT
“Global education” often presumes the existence of a border, the crossing of which is said to allow students to develop resilience, empathy, and knowledge of self and other. Moreover, English symbolizes the “global” in Japan, hence English-medium instruction as part of the government's effort to “globalize” higher education. This chapter shows that these assumptions are being subverted by the very students who participate in such programs. Students attracted to English-taught programs tend to be not proficient in academic Japanese. Some (whom we categorize as “post-study-abroad students”) are not “Japanese” yet come to see Japan as their “home” due to their long-term stay and their future plans. Other students (whom we call “never study abroad students”) have Japanese parent(s) yet have been schooled in English inside and/or outside Japan, often feeling alienated from other Japanese while also recognizing their connections. Both categories of students see the border of Japanese/non-Japanese problematic, and consequently reject the notion that they are studying “abroad” since the label assumes such difference. These viewpoints squarely challenge the aforementioned notion of global education and the English (symbolizing “global”)-Japanese binary. Based on interviews, this chapter illustrates the irony of “global education” producing its own dissenters.
