VietTESOL International Convention 2026

This presentation discusses the conference theme, "Repositioning English," by analyzing Japan’s efforts and experiences through the integrated paradigm of Global Englishes, with an emphasis on the concept of English as an International Language. Despite its status as an Expanding Circle country with limited intranational functions for English, Japan developed an aspiration for the ownership of English as early as the 1970s, subsequently facing various challenges. Japan’s failures in repositioning English include the setbacks in designating English as "a second official language," the persistent belief in native-speaker norms, and the slow progress in constructing an original model of Japanese English for international communication. On the other hand, Japan’s successes are exemplified in the adoption of locally-appropriate pedagogy, the pluralization of cultural content in teaching materials beyond Anglo-American values, the employment of teachers from the Outer and Expanding Circles, as well as the inclusion of non-native phonology in a high-stakes national English examination. In this presentation, the decades of negative and positive experiences of Japan in redefining the nature of English are analyzed to extract administrative and educational implications for other Expanding Circle countries in Asia, including Vietnam. In conclusion, repositioning English in the Expanding Circle does not require the acceptance of English as a second language as if it were in the Outer Circle. Rather, the crucial point for Expanding Circle users of English is to gain agency as owners of English as an international language.