Thought and Action on “English as an International Language” per Yoshisaburo Okakura: Focusing on Acceptance of Basic English in the Early 1930s

Abstract

Keeping in mind the theoretical issues of English language education reforms corresponding to globalization, this paper investigates the thought and action of Yoshisaburo Okakura’s later years, who lead the systematisation of English education. First, I examine and consider how Okakura accepted Basic English which was the simplifi cation of the English language system that was devised by Charles Ogden at the beginning of 1930s. Second, a twisted relationship of “English as a foreign language” and “English as an international language” is examined historically and critically.