Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1-1-2012 Informal Learning Choices of Japanese ESL Students in the United States Brent Harrison Amburgey Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Amburgey, Brent Harrison, "Informal Learning Choices of Japanese ESL Students in the United States" (2012). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 755. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.755 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Informal Learning Choices of Japanese ESL Students in the United States by Brent Harrison Amburgey A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Thesis Committee: Nike Arnold, Chair Lynn Santelmann Kim Brown Portland State University 2012 INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS i Abstract This study was designed to explore possible relationships between English language learners past formal language learning experiences and beliefs about language learning on the one hand, and their informal learning choices on the other. Six Japanese English as a second language (ESL) students participated in the study. Participants were interviewed and asked to complete an English study log for one week prior to their scheduled interview. The results of the study suggested that there were likely connections between experiences, beliefs, informal learning choices. For some participants, a singular experience or belief had an effect that seemed to outweigh other experiences and beliefs. However, there were also some differences in informal learning choices among participants that might be better explained by factors outside of the interest of this study, such as personality or goal of English study. INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS ii Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………i List of Tables……………………..………….…………………………………...…..iii List of Figures……………………………….…………………………………..…...iv Introduction………………………….………………………………………………1 Review of Literature…………………………………………………………………3 Forms of Learning……………………………………………………………3 Beliefs……………………………………………………………………..…9 Methodology…………………………………………………..……………………20 Design………………………………………………………………………20 Participants and Context……………………………………………………21 Data…………………………………………………………………………25 Data Collection………..……………………………………………………28 Analysis……..………………………………………………………………31 Validity and Reliability……………………………………………………..33 Results…..…..………………………………………………………………………35 Honami……………..………………………………………………………36 Ichigo……………………………………………………….………………46 Norio……..…………………………………………………………………57 Natsuo………………………………………………………………………66 Hanako……………...………………………………………………………76 Yoshito…………………………………………...…………………………83 Summary……………………………………………………………………90 Conclusion………………….………………………………………………………96 References……………….…………………………………………….………..…102 Appendix A: Core Interview Questions……………………………………..……107 Appendix B: English Study Log…………………………………………..………110 Appendix C: Interview Transcriptions & Follow up Communication ……………111 Appendix D: Codes…………………………………………………………….….230 INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS iii List of Tables Table 1: Participant Summary…………………………….………….…………….35 Table 2: Summary of Participants’ Experiences, Beliefs, and Informal Learning Techniques………………………………………………………………………90-91 INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS iv List of Figures Figure 1: Livingstone’s Four Categories of Learning……….……...…………………4 Figure 2: Rogers’s Continuum of Learning Types…………..………………………..5 INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS 1 Introduction Informal learning is a phenomenon that has been slowly gaining attention in the fields of education and applied linguistics over the last few decades. One aspect that separates informal learning from other types of learning is learners' ability to make their own choices in terms of their goals and the techniques and resources utilized for the purpose of learning. This research explores the relationship between the choices that learners make while engaging in informal learning, their past learning experiences, and their beliefs about language learning. The population for this study is Japanese university students, who are studying English in the United States. I became interested in the topic of informal learning a number of years ago while talking casually with a group of Korean friends, who were studying English in the US. While discussing their English study habits, I found that they routinely spent several extra hours per day beyond what was required for their ESL classes. Furthermore, once they transitioned from studying for classes to simply studying for their own benefit, their methods changed. One of the more interesting revelations was that they often used the TV show “Friends” as part of their study time. In fact, they reported that many of their fellow English students had purchased or borrowed box set DVDs of “Friends” or similar shows. These discussions occurred before I had entered the field of applied of linguistics, and yet they stuck with me. When it came time to choose a topic for my thesis, I still had this fascination with informal learning habits. It was a natural INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS 2 choice for me to use this format to explore something that was both of great interest to me and potentially useful for my future career. I chose to work with a Japanese population for a number of important reasons. First, I believed it likely that I would be looking for teaching positions primarily in Japan upon my graduation. This was due both to the availability of positions that fit my professional goals and to where I was in my own personal life and relationships. Also, I already had some familiarity with Japanese culture and language, which I felt might aid the process of finding participants and building rapport. Lastly, I was aware of the intensive study that Japanese youth do outside of formal education, often in the form of attending “cram” schools, and was hopeful that these experiences might result in a population with higher rate of informal learning practices that would be relevant to this study. After establishing what is meant by and included in the term informal learning, I will examine the concept of beliefs, specifically with relation to beliefs about language learning. Having operationalized these concepts, I will report the findings of my study that examines the informal learning practices of Japanese students at the university level who are studying English in the United States. Through a series of interviews and the use of participant study logs I will explore possible relationships between the informal learning techniques used by the students, their previous learning experiences and beliefs about language learning. INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS 3 Review of Literature In the following paragraphs I will position my operationalization of the term “informal learning” with regards to both other forms of learning and other researchers’ definitions of the term informal learning itself, which have been somewhat varied. In addition, I will discuss the topic of beliefs, specifically with regard to language learning, which can play an important role in how students choose informal learning practices. Lastly, I will present some background information on the formal and “cram” school experiences that are typical for students growing up in Japan. Forms of Learning In the past, the term learning was generally associated with formal, institutionalized schooling. However, recognition of how much learning occurs outside of the structures of formal education during a lifetime has created a need to better differentiate between forms of learning. Rogers (2004) noted that since learning is an “activity which exists throughout life, then it becomes important to find new ways of breaking it into manageable units” (Non-formal education and lifelong learning/education section, para. 1). As noted above, there are many different types of learning. Livingstone (2001) placed these different forms of learning into four categories based on who the primary agent is and whether the learning is situational (tailored to student’s needs) or comes from an established tradition (pre-set curriculum), as illustrated in Figure 1. INFORMAL LEARNING CHOICES OF JAPANESE ESL STUDENTS 4 As an example, non-formal education is when people are learning of their own accord and for their own purposes, but are submitting to the curriculum of an existing institution in order to do so. Livingstone’s category of self-directed learning, in which the learner studies for his or her own purpose and at his or her own direction, falls closest to my functional definition of informal learning. Figure 1: Livingstone’s four categories of learning (2001). Primary Agency Knowledge Structure Learner Teacher Pre-Established Non-Formal education Formal schooling Further education Elders’ teachings Situational Self-directed learning Informal education Collective learning Informal Training Mocker and Spear (1982) divided their categories similarly, by establishing four types of learning in which the learner has a combination of control over two factors: learning means and objectives. Formal education,