With the 2007 academic year now about to begin in Japan, it's a good time to take a look at English-language teaching in the nation's universities. Yes, the tides are indeed running there. The emphasis is shifting determindly toward the utilitarian: English as a tool for Internet communication; English as a lingua franca for international commerce.

For those students who primarily wish to use English in such ways, the tide is coming in.

But what about the need to know English, or any other foreign language, in order to open the mind to cultures beyond one's own? That tide is already ebbing beyond the visible horizon.