Cover not available

Article published In: Study Abroad to, from, and within Asia
Edited by John L. Plews and Jane Jackson
[Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 2:2] 2017
► pp. 206–239

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Duty, desire, and Japaneseness

A case study of Japanese high school study abroad

 | Monash University
Published online: 30 December 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.15016.dur
Abstract
This qualitative study draws on identity theory to explore the short-term study abroad and language learning experiences of Japanese high school students from a private high school near Tokyo as they travelled to the UK and the USA. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews both before and after the program, combined with daily journals written by the students, and then subjected to thematic analysis. Several themes emerged among the students’ accounts of their experiences, including drawing on Japanese cultural identities to interpret difficult intercultural experiences, seeing English-mediated identities as a means to overcome pressure to conform to idealized notions of Japanese femininity, and feeling a sense of duty to parents as a motivator to study abroad. These findings demonstrate the diversity of experiences in high school programs and highlight a need for further research on students travelling from non-English-speaking backgrounds to study abroad.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Study abroad and ambivalence
    • 1.2High school and short-term study abroad programs
    • 1.3Cultural identities and study abroad
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1The school, the program, and the participants
    • 2.2Data collection
    • 2.3Data analysis
  • 3.Findings
    • 3.1Exploring Japanese cultural identities
      • 3.1.1Taka: Multi- and mono-cultural societies
      • 3.1.2Ami: I am Japanese
      • 3.1.3Similarity and ambivalence
    • 3.2English to overcome barriers
      • 3.2.1Mari: Seeing new possibilities
      • 3.2.2Sana: A career outside of Japan
    • 3.3Duty and study abroad
      • 3.3.1Daisuke: It is my duty
  • 4.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (60)
References
Bauman, Z. (1991). Modernity and ambivalence. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Block, D. (2002). Destabilized identities and cosmopolitanism across language and cultural borders: Two case studies. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 1–19.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006). Multilingual stories in a global city: London stories. London: Palgrave. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007a). The rise of identity in SLA research, post Firth and Wagner (1997). Modern Language Journal, 911, 863–876. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007b). Second language identities. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S. (2004). Subversive identities, pedagogical safe houses, and critical learning. In B. Norton & K. Toohey (Eds.), Critical pedagogies and language learning (pp. 116–137). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Churchill, E. (2006). Variability in the study abroad classroom and learner competence. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 203–227). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, H. M. (2006). Joint construction of folk beliefs by JFL learners and Japanese host families. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 120–150). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. London: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeKeyser, R. (1991). Foreign language development during a semester abroad. In B. Freed (Ed.), Foreign language acquisition research and the classroom (pp. 104–119). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dolby, N. (2004). Encountering an American self: Study abroad and national identity. Comparative Education Review, 48(2), 150–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellwood, C. (2011). Undoing the knots: Identity transformations in a study abroad programme. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(9), 960–978. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Feinberg, B. (2002). What students don’t learn abroad. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 48(34), 2–3.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gore, J. E. (2005). Dominant beliefs and alternative voices: Discourse, belief, and gender in American study abroad. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Higgins, C. (2009). English as a local language: Post-colonial identities and multilingual practices. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Isabelli-García, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks, motivation and attitudes: Implications for second language acquisition. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 231–258). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackson, J. (2008). Language, identity and study abroad. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Intercultural learning on short-term sojourns. Intercultural Education, 201, 59–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). The transformation of ‘a frog in the well’: A path to a more intercultural, global mindset. In C. Kinginger (Ed.), Social and cultural aspects of language learning in study abroad (pp. 179–204). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Japan Student Services Organisation (2016). International students in Japan 2015. Japan Student Services Organisation, Planning and Research Unit, Information Services Division Student Exchange Department, retrieved from <[URL]> (11 June 2016).
Kanno, Y. (2008). Language and education in Japan: Unequal access to bilingualism. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinginger, C. (2004). Alice doesn’t live here anymore: foreign language learning and identity reconstruction. In A. Pavlenko & A. Blackledge (Eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts (pp. 219–242). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Language learning in study abroad: Case studies of Americans in France. Modern Language Journal, 921, 1–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2010). American students abroad: Negotiation of difference? Language Teaching, 431, 216–227. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Identity and language learning in study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 46(3), 339–358. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kobayashi, Y. (2007). Japanese working women and English study abroad. World Englishes, 26(1), p. 62–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject. What foreign language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leis, A. (2013). The effects of a study abroad experience on the L2 motivational self and metacognitive skills: A study of a junior high school trip abroad. 宮城教育大学紀要 / Bulletin of Miyagi University of Education, 481, 199–209.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liddicoat, A. J. (2007). Internationalising Japan: Nihonjinron and the intercultural in Japanese language-in-education policy. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 2(1), 32–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lie, J. (2004). The politics of recognition in contemporary Japan. In S. J. Henders (Ed.), Democratization and identity: Regimes and ethnicity in East and Southeast Asia (pp. 117–132). Plymouth: Lexington Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Llanes, À., & Muñoz, C. (2009). A short stay abroad: Does it make a difference? System, 371, 353–365. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maher, J., & Yashiro, K. (1995). Multilingual Japan: An introduction. In J. Maher & K. Yashiro (Eds.), Multilingual Japan (pp. 1–17). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matsui, M. (1995). Gender role perceptions of Japanese and Chinese female students in American universities. Comparative Education Review, 391, 356–378. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) (2015). Heisei 25 nendo kotogakko nado ni okeru kokusai koryu nado no jokyo ni tsuite [The status of high school international exchange for 2014]. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, International Education Division. Retrieved from <[URL]> (25 June 2015).
Mitchell, K. (2015). Rethinking the ‘Erasmus effect’on European identity. Journal of Common Market Studies, 53(2), 330–348. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murphy-Lejeune, E. (2003). Student mobility and narrative in Europe: The new strangers. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning. Essex: Pearson Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norton, B., & McKinney, C. (2011). An identity approach to language acquisition. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative approaches to second language acquisition. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norton Pierce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) (2016). OECD income distribution database (IDD): Gini, poverty, income, methods and concepts. Retrieved from <[URL]> (5 May 2016).
Pavlenko, A. (2007). Autobiographic narratives as data in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 163–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plews, J. (2015). Intercultural identity-alignment in second language study abroad, or the more-or-less Canadians. In R. Mitchell, N. Tracy-Ventura, & K. McManus (Eds.), Social interaction, identity and language learning during residence abroad (pp. 281–304). <[URL]>
Potowski, K. (2007). Language and identity in a dual immersion school. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skarin, R. (2001). Gender, ethnicity, class and social identity: a case study of two Japanese women in US universities. In E. Churchill & J. McLaughlin (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics: Japanese learners and contexts, (pp. 26–55). Tokyo: Temple University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spenader, A. J. (2011). Language learning and acculturation: Lessons from high school and gap-year exchange students. Foreign Language Annals, 44(2), 381–398. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Statistics Bureau of Japan (2015). Outline of the 2015 population census of Japan. Statistics Bureau of Japan. Retrieved from <[URL]> (5 May 2016).
Taguchi, N. (2011). The effect of L2 proficiency and study-abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension. Language Learning, 61(3), 904–939. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takahashi, K. (2012). Language learning, gender and desire: Japanese women on the move. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tan, D., & Kinginger, C. (2013). Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference. In C. Kinginger (Ed.), Social and cultural aspects of language learning in study abroad (pp. 155–177). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tanaka, K. (2007). Japanese students’ contact with English outside the classroom during study abroad. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 36–54.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tanaka, K., & Ellis, R. (2003). Study abroad, language proficiency, and learner beliefs about language learning. JALT Journal, 25(1), 63–85.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toohey, K. (2000). Learning English at school: Identity, social relations, and classroom practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsuneyoshi, R. (2005). Internationalization strategies in Japan: The dilemmas and possibilities of study abroad programs using English. Journal of Research in International Education, 4(1), 65–86. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Twombly, S., Salisbury, M., Tumanut, S., & Klute, P. (2012). Study abroad in a new global century: renewing the promise, refining the purpose. ASHE Higher Education Report 38(4), 1–168.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vande Berg, M., Paige, R. M., Lou, K. H. (2012). Student learning abroad: What our students are learning, what they’re not, and what we can do about it. Retrieved from <[URL]> (25 June 2016).
Weedon, C. (1996). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilkinson, S. (1998). Study abroad from the participants’ perspective: A challenge to common beliefs. Foreign Language Annals, 31(1), 23–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolcott, T. (2013). Myth, desire, and subjectivity in one student’s account of study abroad in France. In C. Kinginger (Ed.), Social and cultural aspects of language learning in study abroad (pp. 127–154). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Durbidge, Levi & Jeremy Breaden
2025. From global imaginaries to local realities: marginalisation of multilingual identities in post-study abroad contexts. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 28:4 ► pp. 465 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue