The research I am conducting in Japan focuses on language ideologies and the language socialization of young adults as they move into the workforce. In Japan, the transition from college student to “new company employee” is seen as a major life stage which culminates in one’s development as a mature adult. Training in formal Japanese speech styles is an important aspect of this transition because college students are seen as ill-prepared for the behaviors and language use that are expected in the business world. Many companies provide new employees with several days of training in “business manners” covering everything from how to bow and present one’s business card to how to answer the telephone.
My research project is ethnographic study of such business manner and speech training. The methodology involves participant observation of one or two-day business manner training conducted by companies that specialize in workforce development training. I have participated in two of these courses as a student and have been able to observe and record three additional classes. Some of these training sessions are for employees of a specific company while others are “open seminars” attended by employees of a variety of different companies. I have also been able to interview several instructors and people responsible for course development. All together, I have been able to gather information on the courses offered by seven different training companies.
Despite the rhetoric of discontinuity between the roles of “student” and “member of society,” much of what is covered in these courses, from group greetings to the emphasis on proper attire, is grounded in the trainees’ prior educational experiences. Trainees are videotaped giving a one-minute self-introduction followed by a critique from the trainers on everything from hairstyles and posture to language use. Rather than learning entirely new speech patterns, the focus of the course is on eradicating forms viewed as slang, vulgar, or incorrect. Trainees are critiqued on their word choice, intonation, and use of incorrect honorific forms. As in traditional Japanese arts, the focus throughout is on learning and imitating the correct form. Awareness of deviations becomes the basis for setting individual self-improvement goals. The courses draw on and reproduce familiar cultural practices at the same time that they attempt to transform students into idealized company employees.
As another aspect of this study, I have also enrolled in a three-month public speaking class at a “Speech Center” that trains people in how to give effective speeches. This class has proved to be a rich source of data on Japanese ideologies of language and human relationships. For example, the first class was a lecture on how greetings contribute to good human relationships. The motto of the Speech Center is “Before there are words, there is the heart. After the words, there is action,” and their goal is not only to produce effective speakers, but to help participants develop a more “bright” and sincere heart.
Participants practice giving three-minute speeches in which they use their own observations and experiences to draw out a moral theme which becomes the thesis of the speech. They are assigned to prepare speeches describing how they have put the speech center’s teachings into practice through engaging in positive thinking, cheerfully greeting their coworkers and family members, and so on. In the process of learning and practicing effective speaking techniques, they also learn to produce a narrative of self-improvement showing how their behavior and attitudes have changed as a result of the speech center’s teachings.
One aspect that intrigues me about the teachings of both the speech center and the business manner classes is the relationship between form and feeling, kokoro (the heart) and kihon (the standard forms). In both types of training, a great deal of emphasis is placed on exact details of form such as how to bow correctly, and yet there is also a message in both contexts that the form is valueless unless it is suffused with feeling. It is no good simply saying the correct phrase unless you sound like you mean it. Rather than a tension between form and feeling , the idea is that using the correct form is what enables one to best express sincere feeling. Of course, this presumes that the feelings that one wants to express are the socially normative or approved ones, and it allows no avenue to critique or change existing social systems. I am interested in exploring the techniques used in both types of courses to motivate the students to put these teachings into practice.
My research project is ethnographic study of such business manner and speech training. The methodology involves participant observation of one or two-day business manner training conducted by companies that specialize in workforce development training. I have participated in two of these courses as a student and have been able to observe and record three additional classes. Some of these training sessions are for employees of a specific company while others are “open seminars” attended by employees of a variety of different companies. I have also been able to interview several instructors and people responsible for course development. All together, I have been able to gather information on the courses offered by seven different training companies.
Despite the rhetoric of discontinuity between the roles of “student” and “member of society,” much of what is covered in these courses, from group greetings to the emphasis on proper attire, is grounded in the trainees’ prior educational experiences. Trainees are videotaped giving a one-minute self-introduction followed by a critique from the trainers on everything from hairstyles and posture to language use. Rather than learning entirely new speech patterns, the focus of the course is on eradicating forms viewed as slang, vulgar, or incorrect. Trainees are critiqued on their word choice, intonation, and use of incorrect honorific forms. As in traditional Japanese arts, the focus throughout is on learning and imitating the correct form. Awareness of deviations becomes the basis for setting individual self-improvement goals. The courses draw on and reproduce familiar cultural practices at the same time that they attempt to transform students into idealized company employees.
As another aspect of this study, I have also enrolled in a three-month public speaking class at a “Speech Center” that trains people in how to give effective speeches. This class has proved to be a rich source of data on Japanese ideologies of language and human relationships. For example, the first class was a lecture on how greetings contribute to good human relationships. The motto of the Speech Center is “Before there are words, there is the heart. After the words, there is action,” and their goal is not only to produce effective speakers, but to help participants develop a more “bright” and sincere heart.
Participants practice giving three-minute speeches in which they use their own observations and experiences to draw out a moral theme which becomes the thesis of the speech. They are assigned to prepare speeches describing how they have put the speech center’s teachings into practice through engaging in positive thinking, cheerfully greeting their coworkers and family members, and so on. In the process of learning and practicing effective speaking techniques, they also learn to produce a narrative of self-improvement showing how their behavior and attitudes have changed as a result of the speech center’s teachings.
One aspect that intrigues me about the teachings of both the speech center and the business manner classes is the relationship between form and feeling, kokoro (the heart) and kihon (the standard forms). In both types of training, a great deal of emphasis is placed on exact details of form such as how to bow correctly, and yet there is also a message in both contexts that the form is valueless unless it is suffused with feeling. It is no good simply saying the correct phrase unless you sound like you mean it. Rather than a tension between form and feeling , the idea is that using the correct form is what enables one to best express sincere feeling. Of course, this presumes that the feelings that one wants to express are the socially normative or approved ones, and it allows no avenue to critique or change existing social systems. I am interested in exploring the techniques used in both types of courses to motivate the students to put these teachings into practice.
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