Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy

Jae DiBello Takeuchi

Description

Analyses the challenges faced by second language speakers of Japanese regarding their legitimacy to speak the language

This book examines dilemmas faced by second language (L2) Japanese speakers as a result of persistent challenges to their legitimacy as speakers of Japanese. Based on an ethnographic interview study with L2-Japanese speakers and their L1-Japanese-speaking friends, co-workers and significant others, the book examines ideologies linked to three core speech styles of Japanese – keigo or polite language, gendered language and regional dialects – to show how such ideologies impact L2-Japanese speakers. The author demonstrates that speaker legitimacy is often tenuous for L2 speakers and argues that, despite increasing numbers of Japanese-speaking foreign residents in Japan, native speaker bias remains a persistent issue for L2-Japanese speakers living and working in Japan. This book extends the discussion of native speaker bias beyond educational contexts, and in the process reveals tensions between how L2 speakers aspire to speak and how L1 speakers expect them to speak.

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. This Study: L2 Speakers in Japan         

Chapter 3. 'Foreigners Don’t Need Keigo': Excusing L2 Speakers from Keigo

Chapter 4. Trying (Not) to Sound Like a 'Girly-Girl' or a 'Manly-Man'

Chapter 5. 'You’re Speaking Dialect, That’s Funny Cuz You’re a Foreigner'            

Chapter 6. 'His Japanese Makes No Sense'

Chapter 7. Conclusion

Appendix A: Sample L2 Interview Protocol

Appendix B: Sample L1 Interview Protocol

Appendix C: Transcription Conventions

Appendix D: Sample Questionnaires

References

Index

Sujets

• Disciplines
• Language Arts
• Teaching
• Lettres et linguistique
• Linguistics
• Study
• Professional
• Postgraduate education
• General officer
• Japanese
• General
• Research
• Postgraduate
• Migration

Informations

• Publié par: Channel View Publications
• Date de parution: 27 mars 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800414662
• Langue: English

Extrait

Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Series Editors: Leigh Oakes, Queen Mary, University of London, UK and Jeroen Darquennes, Université de Namur, Belgium .
Multilingual Matters series publishes books on bilingualism, bilingual education, immersion education, second language learning, language policy, multiculturalism. The editors are particularly interested in ‘macro’ level studies of language policies, language maintenance, language shift, language revival and language planning. Books in the series discuss the relationship between language in a broad sense and larger cultural issues, particularly identity related ones.
All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.
Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com , or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS: 172
Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy
Native Speaker Bias in Japan
Jae DiBello Takeuchi
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol • Jackson
DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/TAKEUC4648
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Names: Takeuchi, Jae DiBello, author.
Title: Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy: Native Speaker Bias in Japan/Jae DiBello Takeuchi.
Description: Bristol; Jackson: Multilingual Matters, [2023] | Series: Multilingual Matters: 172 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This book examines dilemmas faced by second language Japanese speakers as a result of persistent challenges to their legitimacy as speakers of Japanese. It explores ideologies linked to three core speech styles of Japanese - keigo or polite language, gendered language and regional dialects - to show how such ideologies impact L2-Japanese speakers”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022050554 (print) | LCCN 2022050555 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800414648 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800414662 (epub) | ISBN 9781800414655 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Japanese language—Acquisition. | Japanese language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. | Second language acquisition. | Language awareness.
Classification: LCC PL524.85 .T35 2023 (print) | LCC PL524.85 (ebook) | DDC 306.442/956052—dc23/eng/20221223
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022050554
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022050555
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-464-8 (hbk)
Multilingual Matters
UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
USA: Ingram, Jackson, TN, USA.
Website: www.multilingual-matters.com
Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters
Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com
Copyright © 2023 Jae DiBello Takeuchi.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India.
Contents
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
Why Speaker Legitimacy Matters: Foreign Residents in Japan
Japanese Speech Styles
Researcher Positionality
Outline of the Book
2 This Study: L2 Speakers in Japan
Study Background
Data and Procedures
Participants
Where Participants Lived and Worked
3 ‘Foreigners Don’t Need Keigo ’: Excusing L2 Speakers from Keigo
Introduction
Previous Studies of Keigo
Study Participants: Keigo’s Relevance for L2 Speakers
Beliefs about Keigo
Discussion
Conclusion
4 Trying (Not) to Sound Like a ‘Girly-Girl’ or a ‘Manly-Man’
Introduction
Previous Studies of Japanese Gendered Language
Study Participants and Japanese Gendered Language
Discussion
Conclusion
5 ‘You’re Speaking Dialect, That’s Funny Cuz You’re a Foreigner’
Introduction
Previous Studies of Japanese Dialect
Case Study: Ehime Dialect
L1 Study Participants’ Views about Dialect and L2 Speakers
L2 Study Participants: Encountering and Negotiating Dialect
Discussion
Conclusion
6 ‘His Japanese Makes No Sense’
Introduction
Previous Studies of Native Speaker Bias
Study Participants and Depictions of L2 Speakers
Discussion
Conclusion
7 Conclusion
To Be an L2 Speaker in Japan
Appendix A: Sample L2 Interview Protocol
Appendix B: Sample L1 Interview Protocol
Appendix C: Transcription Conventions
Appendix D: Sample Questionnaires
References
Index
Acknowledgements
This book has occupied a huge space in my mind for a long time and now that it is done, I am overwhelmed when I think about everyone who has helped me as the book went from being an idea to a reality.
I would like to thank Junko Mori for her continuing guidance and thoughtful advice about all facets of research and publishing.
I have benefitted from sharing ideas with colleagues and participating in writing accountability groups. I would like to thank Amy Clay, Jason Kemp and Tiffany Creegan Miller for your friendship, ideas and writing encouragement. Also many thanks to Clemson University’s Faculty Writing Group, organized by Cameron Bushnell, director of the Pearce Center for Professional Communication. I also want to give a shout out to the wonderful women in my FSP group, organized by the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.
I want to thank John Morgenstern, director of the Clemson University Press, for advice and guidance about book proposals and for making the process of contacting publishers less scary. I am forever indebted to everyone in Clemson University’s Cooper Library Interlibrary Loan Department, especially Edward Rock and Jamal Williams, for their Herculean efforts to help me access the books and articles I needed. I would also like to thank Nalinee Patin, program administrator of Clemson’s Institutional Review Board for her excellent (and patient!) guidance.
I am grateful to Salvador Oropesa, for his advice and support in the early stages of writing my book proposal. I am also grateful to the Clemson University Department of Languages and the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities’ Faculty Research Development Program for financial support for fieldwork in Japan.
Many thanks to Anna Roderick, editorial director at Multilingual Matters Press; the editors of the Multilingual Matters Series; and the anonymous reviewers: each of you helped me make my book better.
I am especially grateful for the support and encouragement of my family. Words cannot express my gratitude to my husband, Kenji Takeuchi, who kept me fed and never complained about being left alone while I worked through another weekend.
I want to thank my mother, Nan DiBello, for always being more interested in my research than anyone else, for offering excellent advice and for being the best role model anyone could hope for in terms of seeing and valuing the inherent legitimacy in others.
Lastly, I want to thank all the people in Japan who agreed to be study participants, made time to meet with me and generously shared some of their lives with me. I cannot thank each of you by name, but that does not diminish my gratitude. Without all of you, this book would not exist.
1 Introduction
Second language (L2) speakers have diverse experiences when they interact with first language (L1) speakers. Responses from their interlocutors run the gamut from positive affirmations that recognize them as speakers to messages that call into question their right to speak the L2. The legitimacy of L2 speakers, their ‘speaker legitimacy’, affects how they make choices about their L2 and how they use their L2, whether in social interactions or workplace contexts. The speaker legitimacy of L2 speakers refers to beliefs and opinions about who has the right to speak and have the content of their speech heard, and the absence of speaker legitimacy is a barrier to successful interactions in an L2. A central element in exploring L2 speaker legitimacy is ‘native speaker bias’, assumptions that posit L1 speakers as the standard for language use, which often take on a normative role in assessments of L2 speakers, both in terms of how L1 speakers assess L2 speakers and also how L2 speakers assess themselves.
Studies of second language acquisition (SLA), L2 speakers and L2 speaker legitimacy, while extensive, include a significant body of research that focuses exclusively on L2-English speakers and especially on L2-­English speakers teaching English as an L2. To contribute to a broader understanding of L2 speakers with regard to whether and how they enjoy legitimacy as speakers of a language, my research focuses on L2-Japanese speakers. I analyze the kinds of dilemmas and challenges L2-Japanese speakers experience in Japan and the choices they make about Japanese use as a result of their experiences. Whether they are in workplaces or neighborhoods or chatting with acquaintances, L2-Japanese speakers in Japan have experiences that explicitly, or implicitly, diminish their legitimacy as speakers of Japanese. Thus, in my research, I seek a better understanding of speaker legitimacy by analyzing the impact of challenges to L2 speaker legitimacy in Japanese as an L2, with the goal of enhancing the legitimacy of L2-Japanese speakers and, by extension, L2 speakers more generally. My findings underscore the need for consideration of how L2 speakers c