Elementary Secondary Education; *English (Second Language);

*Japan; *Language Contact This paper explains that change is part of every language, noting that it occurs from both internal manipulation (e.g., youth culture) and external influences (contact with other languages). The paper focuses on external influences as they apply to Japanese and discusses how much external influence, specifically English, is too much. Today, Japan utilizes more than 30,000 English words, many of which have been "Japanized. " This migration to English has led to the abandonment of the original Japanese translations, and the characters that accompany them have given way to "Katakana, " the Japanese syllabic set for foreign words. This paper examines the impact of English on Japanese, noting the linguistic and social aspects of Japanese. Information comes from observations, interviews, and experiences as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to Japanese students of varying ages. It discusses the following: the linguistics of Japanese; writing systems; variants of speech; dialects of Japanese; sociolinguistics of Japanese; the impact of English on Japan; and how to teach EFL to Japanese people. The paper examines 5 years of fieldwork, offering four case studies of different types of students in different teaching contexts. It concludes with advice for prospective EFL teachers in Japan. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document