• Blog Post #2--Lieb, M. (2019). Culture Distance and Cultural Dimensions in Diverse ELT Environments: A Quantitative Investigation. (under review) Handout provided in class.
I couldn't help reading this article through the lens of "United States" and "Japan" interactions. My personal plan is to teach English in foreign countries, perhaps Japan, so my interest is thoroughly peaked. Ultimately, culture is a hard thing to measure. I give Ms. Lieb kudos for finding a way to actually internalize and measure some of this phenomenon. However, she cites Shevalier and Mckenzie's take of a social justice approach and i personally see no good way to implement an American version of social justice onto cross cultural interactions with Japan. This form of justice is all about identifying a victim and catering to them. It seems quite impossible to identify a true victim between Japan and the U.S historically, and will only result in conflict. So I hope they don't try that one. 
She also claims that Japan's Ministry of Education perceives native English speakers as a valuable asset. I like this, because my selfish self now realizes I have a pretty good chance of becoming one of those valued educators, though personally any government department with "Ministry" in the name gives me visions of Orwellian dystopia. 
Morality and Ethics seem very convoluted when applied across different cultures, and this is a philosophical problem. Is there truly and inherent "good" or "bad?" Or are these just constructs of imagination? Is what people perceive actually true? This rabbit hole of questions nobody can solve will ultimately cause some forms of chaos in this endeavor. I imagine some people will claim their version of morality above all others, and in response the others will do the same. Human nature is a tough, intellectually subversive, and an inherently tribal thing to overcome. I suppose the best thing to do is say "when in Japan, Japan's morality is supreme. When in the States, American values hold supreme." I find this to be fair. Granted- it results in cultural distance to a degree, but consider this: an American will have to learn, understand, and adapt to Japanese culture when in Japan and vice versa. I believe this would help alleviate cultural distance in the overall future. 

On a side note, the paper often refers to Japan's lowering population. Apparently the number of foreign born people is rising in Japan because "the government's desire to increase immigration and thereby mitigate Japan's population decline" (2). This left me a little dumbstruck because everything I've heard about Japan up to this point in my life has reflected the idea that they are overpopulated. Surely population decrease is a natural response to overpopulation? I'll admit I'm not an expert, but Japan is about the size of California and that seems like very little land to keep so many people on. I think that keeping the population from decline isn't likely the reason, but the need for increased cultural diversity is more likely the reason for the increase in... well... cultural diversity. 

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