Article published In:
Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education: Online-First Articles

Language learning, desire, and global power dynamics

Narrative of a Japanese woman studying abroad in the Philippines

ORCID logo | Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Drawing on the concepts of desire from applied linguistics and Deleuzian perspectives, this study investigates the desires encapsulated in a Japanese woman’s English learning sojourn in the Philippines. Data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire and through two semi-structured interviews. The participant’s retrospective narrative provides insight into her perceptions of the Philippines compared to Canada. While previous research has primarily examined the sociolinguistic aspects of studying abroad in the Philippines, the current study expands this focus to encompass other dimensions, such as material factors. The findings illuminate how the Philippines, as a study-abroad destination, is experienced and remembered by students. Further, the findings unveil the participant’s ambivalent yet irresistible akogare for the West. The marginal desirability of the Philippines as a study-abroad destination represents how the historically and economically constituted global hierarchies of power have been reproduced in the discourse and practice of transnational English learning.
Keywords: desire, English learning, the Philippines, Japanese woman, akogare
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature Review
    • 2.1Study abroad in the Philippines
    • 2.2Conceptualizing desire
      • 2.2.1Rethinking akogare (‘longing’)
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1A narrative case study
    • 3.2Participant
    • 3.3Data generation
    • 3.4Data analysis
    • 3.5Researcher positionality
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Mika’s long-term but ambivalent desire for English
    • 4.2Her decision to study abroad: Accumulation of her desires
    • 4.3The study abroad experience: Fulfilling the desire to commit to English learning
    • 4.4Mika’s imagined Philippines vis-à-vis Canada: “In Canada, I had to dress up”
    • 4.5The marginal desirability of the Philippines: “It is merely a waypoint”
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.23014.ish
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