Healthcare, Language and a Free-Trade Agreement: Institutional Logics of On-the-Job Japanese Language Training for Migrant Healthcare Workers

Autor/in	Otomo, Ruriko
Titel	Healthcare, Language and a Free-Trade Agreement: Institutional Logics of On-the-Job Japanese Language Training for Migrant Healthcare Workers
Quelle	In: Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 39 (2020) 3, S.343-367 (25 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Otomo, Ruriko)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0167-8507
Schlagwörter	On the Job Training; Japanese; Foreign Workers; Health Personnel; Foreign Countries; Recruitment; Labor Needs; International Cooperation; Licensing Examinations (Professions); Standardized Tests; Second Language Learning; Occupational Mobility; Aging (Individuals); Population Trends; Neoliberalism; Employer Employee Relationship; Immigration; Language Tests; Career Development; Skilled Workers; Caregivers; Residential Institutions; Older Adults; Indonesia; Philippines; Vietnam + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Training-on-the-Job; Japaner; Japanisch; Medizinisches Personal; Ausland; Recruiting; Rekrutierung; Labour needs; Arbeitskräftebedarf; Internationale Kooperation; Internationale Zusammenarbeit; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Berufliche Mobilität; Aging; Altern; Bevölkerungsprognose; Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Language test; Sprachtest; Berufsentwicklung; Facharbeiter; Caregiver; Carer; Betreuungsperson; Pfleger; Wohnumgebung; Älterer Erwachsener; Indonesien; Philippinen
Abstract	Faced with a pressing demand for eldercare workers, Japan signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to recruit workers from Southeast Asian countries. The EPA limits the employment period for migrant workers, unless they successfully pass the healthcare licensure examination in Japanese. Therefore, they receive on-the-job training and prepare for the examination, making their host institutions partly responsible for assisting the training and exam preparation. In this system, migrants' Japanese ability, tested against a strict standard, is the key to their being successfully accepted as good workers. Migrant workers and their employers are thus important actors in a neoliberal logic in which mastering a specific language practice and demonstrating it on standardized tests is deemed important for one's social mobility. To analyse how this logic is realised in a healthcare workplace, this paper draws on fieldwork data in an eldercare home employing EPA workers. The operation scheme of the EPA and institutional policy will be highlighted as underlying mechanisms for the creation of neoliberal subjects. I argue these measures primarily support the hierarchical relationships between Japanese and non-Japanese, and between employer and employee. I also discuss consequential ways in which on-the-job training has differentially impacted employment trajectories of the migrant workers. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	De Gruyter Mouton. Available from: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 121 High Street, Third Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 857-284-7073; Fax: 857-284-7358; e-mail: service@degruyter.com; Web site: http://www.degruyter.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01