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L2 Names and Ideal L2 Selves

L2 Names and Ideal L2 Selves. Meredith “Koyomi” Hanson, University of Hawai’i at Manoa and Concordia Language Villages. Overview. Theoretical Models Context Research Questions Data Collection Coding Process Patterns in the data Discussion Questions. Theoretical Models.

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L2 Names and Ideal L2 Selves

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  1. L2 Names and Ideal L2 Selves Meredith “Koyomi” Hanson, University of Hawai’i at Manoa and Concordia Language Villages

  2. Overview • Theoretical Models • Context • Research Questions • Data Collection • Coding Process • Patterns in the data • Discussion • Questions

  3. Theoretical Models • Dörnyei (2005)’s L2 Motivational Self System • Ideal L2 Self+Ought-to L2 Self+L2 Learning Experience • Speaking Japanese is part of who I want to be • Participatory Research • Ethics • Practicality

  4. Context: Mori no Ike森の池 • Japanese language and cultural immersion summer camp for “villagers” aged 7-18 (all levels) • All staff and villagers choose and use Japanese names • 1- and 2-week noncredit, and 4-week HS credit summer programs

  5. Research Questions (from the overall project) • How do villagers describe the importance of their Japanese names in their lives inside and outside the program? • What effects (if any) do participants say choosing and using a Japanese name has had on their language-learning experiences and motivations? • How do villagers position themselves as speakers of Japanese and participants in a Japanese-speaking community? How might this be influenced by the use of Japanese names?

  6. Research Question here: • How do Japanese names fulfill the necessary conditions described in Dörnyei and Ushioda (2010) for ideal L2 selves to have a motivating impact on learners?

  7. For Ideal L2 Selves to be motivating… (Oyserman et al. 2006; Pizzolato, 2006; Yowell, 2002) • They must exist. • They must differ from the current self. • They must be elaborated. • They must seem attainable. • They must require effort to achieve. • They must be somewhat socially acceptable. • They must be thought about, often. • They must have connected strategies. • They must be offset by a feared alternative.

  8. Participants (Researchers) • 10 HS credit villagers (9 returners) were villager-researchers (VRs) who developed questions and collected this data • This fulfilled their final project requirement • Required to ask interview questions in Japanese; interviewees usually responded in English • Very briefly trained in recorder usage and interviewing strategies • VRs presented their results, in Japanese, to the entire camp, poster-session style

  9. VRs’ projects: 6 different themes • Describing villagers’ connections to their JN, esp. as they change over time • Investigating whether how villagers chose their JN affects their experience in different ways • Describing what it’s like to use JN and their perceived effects on learning • Investigating villagers’ connections to anime, manga, or other characters they named themselves after • Comparing villagers’ feelings about L2 names in the program vs. in school settings • JN and participants’ “Mori no Ike personalities”

  10. Participants (Interviewees) 62 interviews, 38 interviewees (half were interviewed more than once, by different VRs, up to 4 times) 21% have taken HS or college Japanese courses; 56% do not study Japanese in any formal way outside the program. 3 heritage speakers of Japanese

  11. Interviews • Between 2-18 min. long (most 3-6 min.) • Each interviewer or interview team asked different questions (with considerable overlap) • Interviewers carried English translations of their questions, which they used when negotiating meaning in Japanese was unsuccessful • Interviewers were instructed to ask follow-up questions and let interviewees talk • Conducted during study halls and free time • Audio-recorded

  12. Example Interview Questions • How did you choose your Japanese name? • What does it feel like to use a Japanese name? • Has your connection to your name changed over the years? • Do you like using Japanese names at Mori no Ike? • Why do you think we use Japanese names at MnI? • Has using a Japanese name affected your personality? (Do you have a MnI personality?) • Do you use your Japanese name outside of MnI? • Do you want to become [like] [the character whose name you adopted]?

  13. Evidence for ideal selves Dörnyei (2010): “If the person we would like to become speaks an L2, the ‘ideal L2 self’ is a powerful motivator to learn the L2…” • Taka represents what I want…to be free… • Yuuto would like to be more like an actor he admires • “I would love to be able to emulate [a Japanese hip-hop dancer]…dance like him, look like him, that would be so kakkoii” • “Satoru’s a better person than [real name]” • Having a Japanese name “allows you to be who you are and be free to be who you want to be”

  14. J-name selves are different • I feel like I could start over; become a new person, someone who uses Japanese; at home I don't use Japanese at all • [This summer I] wanted to be Reiko [again], I didn't want to have to be someone else • Having a Japanese name’s created a new personality for me • I feel like my personality is a little bit different when I speak Japanese…don't know if it's the name or the language • Masami's like my other personality • Every time I come here, I feel like I'm having a new personality take over and like I'm restarting my life, pretty much, and if feels good.

  15. Are J-names connected to elaborated personalities? • Kiku (菊) • Has kept the same Japanese name for many years: “It’s sort of an embarrassment outside Mori no Ike, but I’m pretty proud of my name…” • Double meaning (聞く) “makes for really funny [puns]…so having it always connected me to camp; it’s nice.” • Reiko • “I really feel like the person I have self-confidence in is more Reiko than my, other, American self” • Hideaki • Dresses and tries to act like his idol (who shares his name)

  16. J-names make Japanese accessible • “When I become Miyu, then I can be a person who actually can speak Japanese.” • “As Hideaki, I'm maybe a person that's like a tiny bit Nihonjin as opposed to, like, kinda that dude…” • “[My Japanese name] helps…[me] feel more Japanese” • “When people call me Sachiko, I think more Japanese-like”

  17. Is effort required to move towards these Ideal L2 Selves? Are you bilingual? • Competence: “If I continue to…study Japanese…I will become bilingual.” • Ideal L2 Selves: • “…hopefully I’ll be bilingual, or possibly even trilingual, someday” • “I’m not like perapera in Japanese yet, but I mean, I really wanna be and I’m trying…” • “[Being bilingual]’d be really cool.”

  18. Japanese plays a role in my future (evidence of distal goals) • Going to Japan/Living in Japan • Many different professions were mentioned, but they don’t seem very solidly committed yet weak Ideal L2 Self? • Becoming a Mori no Ike Sensei • Or it doesn’t: • I don’t think I would like to live there, unless I could speak the language • [Japanese] is almost completely useless to me, it's more of an interest than an actual need • Still, few signs of Ought-to L2 Self here

  19. Japanese namesdeeper immersion? • “It makes you feel part of it” • Connects me to the language • Creates a Japanese community • Enhances feeling of integration with the language • Helps you fit in with Japanese culture • “I don’t see how you could do it without using one.”

  20. If we stopped using Japanese names? • All but one response were strongly negative • I/“people” would be mad, would hate MnI • MnI would seem different, less Japanese • Sad, depressing, confusing • It couldn’t be done/MnI wouldn’t work • It would make MnI a cram school • Ought-to L2 Self?? • It would take away the “I could be a different person” factor • Ideal L2 Self??

  21. Review: For Ideal L2 Selvescoming from J-namesto be motivating… For some, at least, they do! • They must exist. • They must differ from the current self. • They must be elaborated. • They must seem attainable. • They must require effort to achieve. • They must be somewhat socially acceptable. • They must be thought about, often. • They must have connected strategies. • They must be offset by a feared alternative. Yes! Occasionally… It depends… Hard to say… Often more so…confidence, or fitting in… It depends… Unclear… Perhaps the English-name self???

  22. Research Questions Revisited… • How do villagers describe the importance of their Japanese names in their lives inside and outside the program? • What effects (if any) do participants say choosing and using a Japanese name has had on their language-learning experiences and motivations? • How do villagers position themselves as speakers of Japanese and participants in a Japanese-speaking community? How might this be influenced by the use of Japanese names? Inside, VERY important! Outside, not used much. For their experience: important, measurable, and positive ones! Motivation is less clear though… Multiple comments about how JN make them feel more Japanese, how they give them the right to speak…

  23. More discussion… • What counts as motivated behavior here? • Participating in camp activities? • Speaking Japanese? • Doing what is needed to get good grades? • Participating in these interviews? • How can we split up motivation to be AT camp and motivation to learn Japanese? • Likewise, how can we differentiate what comes from having a Japanese name and what comes from the camp environment? • One group tried to address this… • A few participants do use their real names as JN. • Others have switched between several names. • Perhaps the reactions to getting rid of JN?

  24. Where do we go from here? • It seems that many villagers’ Japanese names may be propelling them toward developing, or at least thinking about, an Ideal L2 Self. • Further research possibilities: • Comparison with L2 name users outside Mori no Ike (though no parallels really exist)? • Further interviewing with these villagers (as L2 Selves were not a focus of the original project)? • Comparison to psychological studies of camper development in other camps?

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