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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 909

Part of General Paper Session (Other abstracts in this session)

“We Are Made of How and What We Have Learned”: Recognizing and Conceptualizing Own Identities through Online Discussions by Korean Learners of Japanese as a Foreign Language

Authors: Shimazu, Momoyo
Submitted by: Shimazu, Momoyo (Korea University, Korea, Republic of (South Korea))

Learner identity has been given much attention as one of the significant impacts on second language (L2) learning for the last decade. Many studies of second language acquisition have investigated L2 learners’ identity construction in the L2 learning process and seen their identities as multiple, developed and modified in new communities over times (e.g., Norton and Toohey, 2001). These studies have also identified that learners’ identities are associated with particular linguistic forms in an L2 with the situational meanings in social contexts (e.g., Norton, 2000). In this sense, L2 learners in educational settings need to be taught not only how particular linguistic forms are used as markers of gender, ethnicity and social status in the target society, but also how these become relevant with learners’ own actions, stances and identities (cf. Ochs, 2002).

For this reason, L2 learners also need to recognize what identities they have in their own right, before they choose certain linguistic forms for expressing their identities in an L2. This study, therefore, examines how Korean learners of Japanese as a foreign language (FL) see their own identities through peer-to-peer interactions in the process of learning Japanese language and culture. While incorporating an ecological approach to FL learning into the course instruction (Kramsch, 2008), the study also explores how the learners seek and learn ways to express their identities in Japanese through the socialization process among peers.

Data for analysis were drawn from twenty students’ online discussions as assignments over the course of one semester in an intermediate-level Japanese conversation class at a university in Korea. The data consists of 1715 asynchronous electronic postings in four online discussion forums using the university portal system. In each forum, the teacher started a discussion thread by posting a question such as “What do you think about Japanese people?” that related to the course materials, and afterwards, gave her course management messages only when needed. The students responded to the teacher’s questions as well as to one another’s comments.

Qualitative analysis of the data reveals that the students in this study came to realize what their identities constitute through peer discussions and that they spontaneously co-constructed the concept of identity from their own perspectives in conjunction with Japanese language and culture learning. The analysis also shows that the students became aware of how to see and talk about cultures and identities, that is, improved meta-cognitive skills that influence the language learning process. Pedagogical implications to further understanding of language learning, especially in an FL environment are also discussed.

References:

Kramsch, C. (2008). Ecological perspectives on foreign language education Language Teaching, 41(3), 389–408.

Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. London: Longman.

Norton, B. & Toohey, K. (2001). Changing perspectives in good language learners. TESOL Quarterly, 35 (2), 307-322.

Ochs, E. (2002). Becoming a speaker of culture. In C. Kramsch (Ed.), Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives (pp.99-120). London: Continuum.