LINGUIST List 18.1862
Wed Jun 20 2007
Diss: Applied Ling/Discourse Analysis/Socioling: Takahashi: 'Langua...'
Editor for this issue: Hunter Lockwood
<hunterlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Kimie
Takahashi,
Language Desire: A critical ethnography of Japanese women learning English in Australia
Message 1: Language Desire: A critical ethnography of Japanese women learning English in Australia
Date: 20-Jun-2007
From: Kimie Takahashi <kimieespider.com.au>
Subject: Language Desire: A critical ethnography of Japanese women learning English in Australia
Institution: University of Sydney
Program: Department of Education and Social Work
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2006
Author: Kimie Takahashi
Dissertation Title: Language Desire: A critical ethnography of Japanese women learning English in Australia
Linguistic Field(s):
Applied Linguistics
Discourse Analysis
Sociolinguistics
Dissertation Director:
David Block
Bonny Norton
Aneta Pavlenko
Alastair Pennycook
Ingrid Piller
Dissertation Abstract:
This thesis expands on the notion of language desire by exploring thediscourse of Japanese women's akogare (desire) to learn English and to gooverseas. It draws on poststructuralist frameworks to investigate processesby which akogare is constructed and impacts upon the linguistic, social,and romantic choices young Japanese women make in Japan and Australia. Iargue that language desire connects three discursive spaces; English, theWest, and identity transformation. The study also highlights themultidirectionality of power in the discourse of akogare in the context ofsecond language learning (SLL).
The study was conducted using a critical ethnographic methodologicalapproach to Japanese women's experiences in using and learning English. Thedata were collected in Japan and Australia between 2001 and 2005. The dataincluded the micro domain of in-depth interviews and fieldnotes and themacro domain of media discourses. Content analysis and critical discourseanalysis were used to analyse the data from multiple perspectives.
The thesis consists of three sections. Chapters 1-4 introduce thetheoretical backgrounds to the research. Chapter 1 states the researchaims, and illustrates how the main theme of akogare emerged. Chapter 2reviews literature on SLL with a specific focus on poststructuralistapproaches to language, identity, and gender. Chapter 3 examines thetheoretical notion of desire and Japanese women's discourse of akogare froma historical perspective. In Chapter 4, the methods of data collection andanalysis are described.
The second section, chapters 5-9, reports on the findings of the researchon the construction and negotiation of akogare for English, the West, andidentity transformation. Chapter 5 focuses on the participants' discursiveconstruction of akogare in the Japanese context, while Chapter 6 deals withtheir akogare for English and overseas study and decision-making processesof coming to Australia. Chapters 7-9 illustrate the constitutive effect ofthe akogare discourse on Japanese women's experiences in learning Englishin Sydney. Chapter 7 discusses the Japanese women's perception of desirableinterlocutors. While Chapter 8 sheds light on the way in which their agencyin learning English is constructed and exercised. Chapter 9 focuses ontheir increasing hybridity and ambivalent feelings about returning to Japan.
The conclusion, Chapter 10, synthesises the findings and offers aconceptualisation of language desire and its implications.
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