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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

Duty, desire, and Japaneseness

A case study of Japanese high school study abroad

| Monash University

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.

Keywords: study abroad, cultural identity, Japanese, duty, desire, second language identities
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
Published online: 30 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.15016.dur
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