Venue
Gakushuin University (East, Bldg. No. 2, 13th Floor, Conference Hall), Mejiro 1-5-1, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Access
Registration Info
Marga Dinkel, DIJ
Language Regimes in Transformation. The Future of Japanese and German in Science, Economy and Politics
September 13 - September 14, 2005
Over the past half-century German-Japanese relations have intensified. Economic relations, commercial exchange, scientific cooperation, university partnerships, student exchange programmes have increased steadily. At the same time, however, the interest in both countries for each other’s languages has been stagnant if not dwindling for some time being eclipsed by the overwhelming importance of English. Increasingly, therefore, Japanese and Germans speak English with each other, rather than German or Japanese. This is an issue concerning not only the shaping of bilateral relations between the two countries but the future of the German and Japanese language. At this time, both languages belong to the select group of the world’s languages that are suitable for scientific communication and, more generally, can be used in all communication domains. Whether or not this is desirable is a question seldom asked, because it is taken for granted. However, it is not clear that German and Japanese can sustain their full functional potential if their own speakers are using them in certain domains with lesser frequency. The diverging prerogatives of borderless communication in a single language, on one hand, and maintaining highly cultivated all-purposes languages, on the other, are obvious. Whether there are any feasible answers to the question of how to reconcile them is not. It is not so clear as it would seem whether English as the international lingua franca of science and economic transactions should or shouldn’t be welcomed. Arguments from both points of view must be scrutinized and weighed carefully. This symposium co-sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the German Institute for Japanese Studies and the Faculty of Law of Gakushuin University is intended to contribute to this process.
Presentations
Day 1 September 13th (Tuesday)
09.30 – 09.45 h
opening remarks
INOUE
09.45 – 10.30 h
Ist die auswärtige Förderung von Sprachen wie Deutsch oder Japanisch heute noch zeitgemäß?
Ulrich AMMON
10.30 – 11.15 h
Japanese Language Education and Globalization – Quandaries and Prospects
Tessa CARROLL
11.15 – 11.30
coffee break
11.30 – 12.15 h
Reinventing Language Policy in an Era of Globalisation
Nanette GOTTLIEB
12.15 – 13.30 h
lunch break
13.30 – 14.15 h
Effects of Globalization on Minority Languages in Europe and Japan
Kiyoshi HARA
14.15 – 15.00 h
Debate on English as Official Language in Japan: Focus on the Opponents' Language Ideologies
Patrick HEINRICH
15.00 – 15.30 h
coffee break
15.30 – 16.15 h
The Idea of Language Rights in the Age of Globalization and Democratic Governance
Takao KATSURAGI
16.15 – 17.00 h
Tokio oder Tokyo? Tschudo oder Judo? – Zur Schreibweise fremdsprachiger Namen und Begriffe
Elmar HOLENSTEIN
17.00 – 17.30 h
Comments and discussion
Andrew HORVAT, KIMURA Goro
Day 2 September 14th (Wednesday)
09.30 – 10.15 h
Language Use and Preference in Bio-Medical Communication in Japan
John MAHER
10.15 – 11.00 h
Ökonomische Einsprachigkeit und luxurierende Mehrsprachigkeit
Konrad EHLICH
11.00 – 11.15 h
coffee break
11.15 – 12.00 h
Zwei Kulturen des Wissens? Japanische und deutsche Wissenschaftssprache
Christiane HOHENSTEIN
12.00 – 13.30 h
lunch break
13.30 – 14.15 h
The Case for Choice. Language Preferences in Japanese Academic Publishing
Florian Coulmas
14.15 – 15.00 h
Changing Economic Values of German and Japanese
Fumio INOUE
15.00 – 15.30 h
coffee break
15.30 – 16.15 h
National Languages at a Time of Economic Globalisation: a New Rationality for Communities of Communication
Josef LOBIANCO
16.15 – 16.45 h
General comments
Daniel LONG