Language Learning Motivation in Japan
326
Language Learning Motivation in Japan
326Hardcover
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781783090501 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Channel View Publications |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2013 |
| Series: | Second Language Acquisition , #71 |
| Pages: | 326 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Dexter Da Silva is Professor in the Department of Psychology and Horticulture at Keisen University. He has been working in the field for over 25 years, researching student motivation, identity development, trust and classroom dynamics.
Terry Fellner is Associate Professor at the Center for General Education at Saga University. He is a section editor of @CUE in The OnCUE Journal and his research interests include vocabulary acquisition, outdoor language learning and L2 reading.
Read an Excerpt
Language Learning Motivation in Japan
By Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry Fellner
Multilingual Matters
Copyright © 2013 Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry FellnerAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78309-050-1
CHAPTER 1
Foreign Language Motivation Research in Japan: An 'Insider' Perspective from Outside Japan
Ema Ushioda
In this paper, I would like to develop an evaluative commentary on foreign language motivation research in Japan, in my capacity as both an 'insider' and an 'outsider'. In terms of academic credentials, my insider status stems from the fact that I have been 'inside' the L2 motivation field since my doctoral studies in the early 1990s. Most of my research and publication work over the past 20 years has focused on language learning motivation and associated issues of learner autonomy and language pedagogy (e.g. Ushioda, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008; Dornyei & Ushioda, 2009, 2011). From a professional perspective, my insider status stems from the fact that most of my language teaching experience in the decade before I began my doctoral research was with Japanese students of English, both in Japan and in the UK. From a personal, linguistic and cultural perspective, my insider status stems from the fact that I am ethnically Japanese, born of Japanese parents, with whom I continue to interact mostly through Japanese rather than English. At the same time, however, my perspective on foreign language motivation research in Japan is that of someone born and educated outside Japan – namely, in Ireland – and based since 2002 in a UK academic environment. Japan is not geographically 'home' for me, and I have spent only three years of my life living there, as a language teacher in the 1980s.
So with my insider perspective from outside Japan, my purpose is to offer an evaluative commentary on foreign language motivation research in Japan. As evidenced by the range of papers in this volume, foreign language motivation is a major research topic in Japan. It is interesting to consider why this may be so and to evaluate how this body of research in Japan connects with and contributes to the broader field of research on language learning motivation outside Japan. I will begin by considering this wider international field and discuss possible reasons for the current growth of interest in L2 motivation in general. I will then focus on the Japanese context and explore three key areas of inquiry in foreign language motivation research in this context. I will evaluate the empirical, theoretical and pedagogical insights deriving from this body of work, and position these in relation to current broader developments in the field of L2 motivation research. In doing so, I will show how foreign language motivation research in Japan is contributing in no small measure to advancing current thinking in the field, and I will highlight the importance of localized understandings of L2 motivation in shaping theory and classroom practice.
L2 Motivation in the New Millennium: A Vibrant Field of Research
Before we consider why foreign language motivation is currently a major research topic in Japan, it is important to take a step outside Japan and ask a broader question: Why is L2 motivation research such a vibrant research field right now in general? For there is no doubt that it is, as evidenced in the surge of L2 motivation studies and papers published since the turn of the millennium, and continuing to be submitted to international and local refereed journals across the globe. More particularly, within the last few years, several book-length publications on L2 motivation have appeared. These include two research monographs by Nakata (2006) and Gu (2009) and two volumes of conceptual and empirical papers edited by Dornyei and Ushioda (2009) and Murray et al. (2011), respectively. Across these two edited volumes, there are as many as 39 L2 motivation researchers represented, hailing from different parts of the world. To this I should add that I have just edited another volume of papers on international perspectives on motivation in English language teaching (Ushioda, 2013a). In short, within the space of just a few years since 2009, the field of foreign language motivation research will have generated three substantial collections of papers. Prior to this, the most recent anthology of L2 motivation studies dates back to just after the turn of the millennium (Dornyei & Schmidt, 2001). It is clear that L2 motivation research across the globe has become much more vibrant within the last few years, as attested to by the publication of these new collections of studies as well as journal articles, and by the growing popularity of motivation-themed conferences in the language education field. This begs the question: why are we so interested in foreign language motivation these days?
Of course it is difficult to specify the exact reasons for this recent surge in interest in L2 motivation across the globe. Undoubtedly, however, what seems key to the analysis is the nature of this global context – or more specifically, the impact of globalization and global English on all aspects of our lives, including language learning and education. For if we ask ourselves what recent debates within the L2 motivation field have centered on and what has provoked these debates, it is unquestionably the impact of globalization and the dominant status of English.
Theoretical and empirical perspectives
At a theoretical level, these debates have revolved around questioning the continued relevance or value of the traditional social-psychological concept of integrative motivation, which is defined in its strong form as identification with and a desire to integrate into the target language community (Gardner, 2001). As I have discussed elsewhere (Ushioda, 2011), recent thinking is that the notion of integrating with a target language community loses explanatory power when we talk about motivation for learning English (a) when English is fast becoming a 'must-have' basic educational skill (e.g. Graddol, 2006); (b) when there is no clearly defined target language community (UK? US? The world?) into which learners of English are motivated to 'integrate'; and (c) when physical geographical boundaries separating communities of language users become dissolved in the world of cyberspace and online communication networks. Since we are referring to a global community of English language users, does it make sense to conceptualize it as an 'external' reference group, or should we think of it more as part of one's internal representation of oneself as a de facto member of this global community? This line of thinking has led us to reconceptualize L2 motivation in terms of what Dornyei and Csizer (2002: 453) call an 'internal process of identification within the self-concept', rather than identification with an external reference group or community. In other words, language learning motivation becomes closely associated with concepts of self and identity, as reflected in the titles of the recently edited volumes Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (Dornyei & Ushioda, 2009) and Identity, Motivation and Autonomy in Language Learning (Murray et al., 2011).
In short, from a conceptual and research perspective, the impact of globalization and global English on foreign language motivation is providing a richly fertile ground for theoretical analysis and empirical inquiry, as we develop new self-related and identity-related conceptualizations of L2 motivation and seek to validate these new constructs.
Pedagogical and educational perspectives
On the other hand, if we look beyond theoretical and empirical issues and consider instead the impact of globalization and global English on more practical pedagogical and educational concerns, this is where much of the current growth and energy in the L2 motivation field would really seem to be centered. As I discuss elsewhere (Ushioda, 2013b), from pedagogical and educational perspectives, the global importance ascribed to English might lead one to assume that the need to learn English is unquestionable, and that therefore, student motivation is not really a problem. In reality, of course, issues of motivation loom large and are high on the agenda for teachers and students despite – or rather because of – the significant status which English has in educational policy and curricula, high stakes gatekeeping exams and the professional job market. The pressures and stakes are very high where learning English is concerned, and the impact on student motivation is significant and complex. At the same time, the power and status accorded to English can impact negatively on students' motivation for learning other foreign languages, and on the motivation of education providers and policy makers to promote a more diversified language curriculum.
Thus, for example, Kubota (2002) comments critically on educational reforms in Japan in which discourses of internationalization (kokusaika) are underpinned by the message that English is the international language, so that 'English' becomes synonymous with 'foreign language' in the school curriculum. As Kubota argues, this results in a heavy educational bias towards 'white middle class English and essentialized Anglo culture', rather than the rich international diversity of other languages and cultures (2002: 27). Similarly, in Scandinavia, declining student motivation for learning additional foreign languages other than English has been highlighted as a cause for concern (e.g. Henry, 2013; Henry & Apelgren, 2008; Trebbi, 2003). Elsewhere, students' declining motivation for learning foreign languages other than English emerged as a significant trend in Dornyei et al.'s (2006) major longitudinal survey of Hungarian teenagers' language learning attitudes and motivation. This was a large-scale survey that involved attitudinal-motivational data from over 13,000 teenage language learners and spanned the period from 1993 (just after the fall of communism) to 2004 (on the eve of Hungary's accession to the European Union). The survey uncovered a clear developing trend in teenagers' perceptions of English as the 'must-have' language, diminishing their interest in and motivation for learning other foreign languages, including the traditional regional language, German.
In short, we might say that the impact of globalization and English as a global language can help explain not only the recent growth in theoretical and empirical literature on foreign language motivation, as we seek to reconceptualize L2 motivation in relation to notions of self and identity and validate these new conceptualizations. The impact of globalization and global English can also help explain the significant growth in interest in – or we might say concern about – foreign language motivation as a problematic pedagogical and educational issue, for the kinds of reasons outlined. These critical concerns have contributed to a rapidly expanding literature on issues of foreign language motivation in different educational contexts (e.g. see Ushioda, 2013a).
In this respect, a primary case in point is undoubtedly the fast-growing empirical literature on foreign language motivation and demotivation stemming from the 'problematic' Japanese educational context. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that nearly all the leading empirical research on demotivation in foreign language learning currently derives from Japan. While foreign language motivation in the Japanese educational context is thus seen as a major problematic issue for teachers and education providers, from a more positive perspective we might also say that this problematic situation is fostering a rich and active wave of research in Japan, and that this literature is contributing in no small measure to advancing current thinking in the L2 motivation field (for a similar argument, see also Nakata, this volume).
I will now turn to consider key issues, perspectives and insights deriving from this current body of research in Japan. I should explain that it is not my purpose to offer a comprehensive and systematic review of the L2 motivation literature stemming from Japan. Instead, I wish to highlight issues in the Japanese educational context that have provoked critical research inquiry in relation to foreign language motivation, and I will evaluate and position the insights from this research in relation to broader developments in the L2 motivation field.
English Language Education in Japan: A 'Permanent Sense of Crisis'
For readers even marginally familiar with the Japanese educational context, it is probably unnecessary for me to rehearse well-known arguments about problems with English language education in Japan. As one reads the academic and critical literature (e.g. Makarova & Rodgers, 2004; McVeigh, 2002) as well as the plentiful media literature on the subject of English education in Japan, one is struck by the rather colorful hyperboles used to portray the rather negative state of affairs. For example, high-school education is typically characterized as 'exam hell', and the English that is studied is grammar-focused 'English for exams' (juken eigo), with minimal attention paid to the development of communication skills. Once students are liberated from exam hell and reach university, the hyperboles change. Thus, in a critical piece on university education in The Japan Times, Clark (2010) comments cynically on university students' enjoyment of 'four years of "leisure-land" existence', as they are released from exam hell and face few real incentives or pressures to work hard, since progression and graduation are effectively guaranteed in a system where university name value carries more weight than quality of individual academic performance. In a similar vein, Berwick and Ross (1989: 207) have famously described English education in Japanese universities as a 'motivational wasteland', while more recently, Ryan (2009a: 407) refers to 'the permanent sense of crisis' that seems to characterize the debate surrounding English education in Japan as a whole. In short, problems abound, and they clearly raise critical issues for student motivation.
Examining the growing literature on foreign language motivation stemming from this problematic Japanese context, I would like to highlight three main areas of active research inquiry. These are:
(1) Analysis of demotivation, its definitions, causes and factors.
(2) Investigation of students' motivational trajectories through different stages of education and learning experience.
(3) Exploration of what English and learning English mean for students in terms of their sense of self, identities, goals and values.
Needless to say, I do not see these as three independent areas of research inquiry, since there is clearly a great deal of overlap between them. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this evaluative analysis, I think it is useful to consider these areas of inquiry separately, in order to situate emerging issues in relation to the broader field of L2 motivation research at large.
Demotivation
If we take work on L2 demotivation first, I have already highlighted the fact that Japan leads the field in this area of research inquiry. Demotivation is obviously viewed as a significant phenomenon in English language education in Japan, given the problems of 'exam hell' and 'motivational wastelands' noted above. Key studies that focus on L2 demotivation include, for example, Falout and Falout (2005), Falout and Maruyama (2004), Falout et al. (2009), Kikuchi (2009), Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) and Warrington and Jeffrey (2005). For a comprehensive overview of demotivation research within and outside Japan, see Kikuchi (this volume).
At one level, the value of this Japan-based research on demotivation is that through systematic analysis of student self-report data, it shows clearly the many factors in students' experience of English education in Japan which are perceived to impact negatively on their motivation. In doing so, this research uncovers some complexities in, for example, the role and impact of teachers in relation to student demotivation. Previous research studies in non-Japanese settings have typically highlighted teacher variables as the most significant demotivating factors (see Dornyei, 1998 and Oxford, 2001). However, the more extensive and systematic investigations of L2 demotivation in Japan suggest that students' perceptions of teachers are rather more complex and differentiated, and not simply synonymous with their negative perceptions of teaching methods, grammar-focused lesson content and learning materials.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Language Learning Motivation in Japan by Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry Fellner. Copyright © 2013 Matthew T. Apple, Dexter Da Silva, Terry Fellner. Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
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Table of Contents
Contributor informationEditors’ Preface
1. Ema Ushioda: Foreign Language Motivation Research in Japan: An “Insider” Perspective from Outside Japan
2. Kimberly Noels: Promoting the Motivation of Japanese Learners of English through Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness
3. Tomoko Yashima: Imagined L2 Selves and Motivation for Intercultural Communication
4. Matthew Apple, Joseph Falout, and Glen Hill: Exploring Classroom-Based Constructs of EFL Motivation for Science and Engineering Students in Japan
5. Hideo Hayashi: Dual Goal Orientation in the Japanese Context: A Case Study of Two EFL Learners
6. Rieko Nishida: A Comprehensive Summary of Empirical Studies of Motivation Among Japanese Elementary School EFL Learners
7. Kay Irie and Damon Brewster: L2 Self Motivation Development from Within: A Longitudinal, Multiple-Case Study of Japanese UniversityStudents
8. Scott Aubrey and Andrew G. P. Nowlan: Effect of Intercultural Contact on L2 Motivation: A Comparative Study
9. Yoko Munezane: Motivation, Ideal L2 Self, and Valuing of Global English
10. Tatsuya Taguchi: Motivation, Attitudes, and Selves in the Japanese Context: A Mixed Methods Approach
11. Michael Johnson: A Longitudinal Perspective on EFL Learning Motivation in Japanese Engineering Students
12. Keita Kikuchi: Demotivators in the Japanese EFL Context
13. J Lake: Positive L2 Self: Linking Positive Psychology with L2 Motivation
14. Joseph Falout, Yoshifumi Fukada, Tim Murphey, and Tetsuya Fukuda: What’s Working in Japan? Present Communities of Imagination
15. Ryo Nitta: Understanding Motivational Evolution in the EFL Classroom: A Longitudinal Study from a Dynamic Systems Perspective
16. Tomohito Hiromori: Motivational Design for Effective Second Language Instruction
17. Yoshiyuki Nakata: Perspectives on L2 Motivation: Bridging the Gaps Between Teachers, SLA Researchers and Teacher Educators