Projecting Self and Other Through Akogare [Desire]
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PROJECTING SELF AND OTHER THROUGH AKOGARE [DESIRE] AMONG JAPANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN A CHANGING JAPAN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE EDUCATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION MAY 2017 By Chisato Nonaka Dissertation Committee: Phan Le Ha, Chairperson David Ericson Xu Di Michael Salzman Ruth Hsu Keywords: English, akogare, desire, identity, internationalization [kokusaika], Japan, higher education, TESOL © Copyright 2017 By Chisato Nonaka ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank my committee chair, Professor Phan Le Ha for guiding me through my Ph.D. journey. If I had not taken your EDEF 762 course back in Spring 2014, I would not have been here with this dissertation in hand. You will forever be the greatest scholar and mentor in my heart. I am also grateful to my other committee members: Professors David Ericson, Xu Di (Di Di), Michael Salzman, and Ruth Hsu. Thank you for being the best committee anyone could ever hope for. I sincerely appreciate your encouragement and inspiration throughout my studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. A very special gratitude goes out to Aaron Levine, Rosela Balinbin Santos, Pamela Chun, Adam Tanare, and Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer. Thank you for the great professional and personal relationship over the years. I have learned so much from all of you and I appreciate you for always being there for me. I could not have come this far without the support of my colleagues, friends, and professors at the College of Education. Thank you Wendan, Ivy, Jackie, Esmeralda, Mary, Vanessa, and many others who listened, advised, and encouraged me during my journey. Thank you Marsha Ninomiya for your help and smiles throughout my graduate studies in the College. With a special mention to Minako, Chica, Kazu, Jasmine, Genta, and Shiori. How lucky I have been to have friends like you in Hawai‘i, far away from our home sweet home, Japan. iii Also to my family and friends in Japan and Hawai‘i. You have been extremely supportive and understanding of my unconventional ways of life. Thank you Jo Ann for everything you have done for me. Kumi and Yasu, thank you for always making me feel at home whenever I return to Fukuoka. お母さん、お父さん、みっちゃん、ゆうちゃん、私 やっと卒業します! To my former and current supervisors at work. Thank you Professors Ruth Hsu and Nandita Sharma for allowing me to work flexibly and independently so that I was able to secure time for my own studies. Thank you Nezia Azmi (and her supervisor, Dean Young ☺) for your moral and emotional support along the way. I will remember your positivity and wisdom when I face challenges in the future. I would like to also offer my sincerest gratitude to all my study participants. Your generous and thoughtful contributions made this study possible. And finally, last but by no means least, to my husband David. Thank you for being the best life partner, study buddy, and cheerleader all at the same time. Countless weekends of studying together at the library finally paid off, yay! It is now my turn to return the favor in your Ph.D. journey. Aloha nui loa. iv ABSTRACT Akogare [desire] is a Japanese word laden with cultural and emotive values. In the recent TESOL [Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages] studies, akogare has been conceptualized to emphasize the Japanese specific desire for English or “the West” in general. This study not only leverages such a conceptualization of akogare, but also reframes it to highlight the complex and liberating space created by akogare where, I argue, individuals can negotiate or even transcend their ethnic, national, racial, gender, or linguistic identities. Using akogare as both an analytical lens and focus of investigation, this narrative study examines the field of Japanese higher education (JHE hereafter) in which, over the past few decades, the government has rolled out several large-scale kokusaika [internationalization] policies. While billions of yen (=millions in USD) are expended annually for such policies, few studies have yet to determine the actual effects. Moreover, these policies advocate English education (as both a subject and as the medium of instruction) with little reservation, postulating that English is the remedy for all international and global matters. To better understand the current kokusaika state of JHE and to reimagine what kokusaika should/can look like for Japan in the coming years, I examine the narratives of Japanese university students and faculty members. Specifically, this study focuses on how my study participants (over 200 students, faculty, staff, and other informants from JHE institutions) may perceive “Japaneseness” or “non-Japaneseness” at a given time and space, which has helped render a complex picture of the kokusaika landscape and of Japan at large. Methodologically, online questionnaires, follow-up interviews, and field observations are utilized to weave together threads of stories between and across different types of data. v Through the bricolage of narratives, this study presents three major findings. First, it demonstrates how “Japan” or “Japaneseness/non-Japaneseness” is collectively yet divisively imagined/practiced by my study participants. This not only helps raise awareness of the complex “-scapes” of Japan, but also addresses the urgency to create a space for alternatives voices. Second, kokusaika funds are often being allocated to a select few universities while other universities without the necessary means are left out of the kokusaika campaign. By extension, there seem to be have and have-not universities within the kokusaika landscape of Japan and their students are likewise affected. Third, the idea of English in Japan reigns across different academic contexts where it can both foster and obscure one’s akogare, even amongst the most well-established scholars in Japan. In this sense, English may be causing turbulence in the traditionally hierarchical system of JHE because one’s years of experience or academic integrity and rigor may become less important when his/her English skills are put to the test. Overall, what seems largely absent yet progressively important in today’s Japan, particularly in the kokusaika campaign, is a sense of multiplicity. I conclude, therefore, that the ongoing kokusaika campaign should be utilized as a potential and appropriate venue to foster a sense of multiplicity. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 Research Questions. ............................................................................................................................ 1 Objectives and Contributions of This Study. .............................................................................. 2 Prelude: What Is Akogare? ............................................................................................................... 3 The Inception of This Study ............................................................................................................. 9 Akogare [Desire] in Academic Literature ................................................................................ 10 TESOL in general and in Japan. ............................................................................................................... 10 Akogare in TESOL.......................................................................................................................................... 11 Japanese Higher Education as a Proposed Research Site .................................................. 16 Is Japan in transition?.................................................................................................................................. 17 Japanese higher education today. .......................................................................................................... 18 A changing Japan where internationalization, English, identity, and akogare intersect. .............................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Theoretical Framework to Research Questions.................................................................... 32 Theoretical implications of desire in TESOL. .................................................................................... 32 Theoretical framework. .............................................................................................................................. 34 Research questions and the akogare framework. .......................................................................... 43 vii Akogare as an emic cultural construct. ................................................................................................ 45 Summary of Chapter 1....................................................................................................................