Brandon K. Shigematsu, Ph.D Southwestern Illinois College Educational Testing Service

1. Bilingual Minds: How Do English Language Learners Become Aware of and Perceive a “Different Self” When Speaking a Second Language and Why? Brandon K. Shigematsu, Ph.D Southwestern Illinois College Educational Testing Service

2. Introduction • There are few researchers who investigated L2 learning and emotions. • Pavlenko’sstudies (1998) shows the interrelationship between the development of cognition in SLA and the emergence of the L2 self in the target language. • Pavlenko investigated a direct correlation between L2 discourse and identityand concluded that L2 learning is a “departure from oneself;” the higher the L2 proficiency level, the greater the distance between the L2 self and the L1 self; and that this departure leads to split national royalties and feelings of not belonging to either country.

3. Introduction Cont’d • Developing two different selves over the course of the target language acquisition(Pavlenko, 1998) • However, the degree of different L2 selfness may be a criterion for one’s L2 proficiency. In other words, L2 learners necessarily go through this phenomenon of the L2 different self, as their L2 proficiency is improved. • L2 proficiency also affects the L2 learner’s emotions. Those with lower proficiency in their L2 felt freer and more comfortable in their L1, whereas those whose L1 was undergoing attrition, favored their L2, felt better able to express themselves freely in that language, and liberated from the taboos and constraints of their L1(Heinz, 2001, cited by Pavlenko, 2006)

4. The Purpose of the Study • Focusing on the emergence of a “different self,” or the L2 self as perceived by bilinguals when learning and speaking a L2. • Describing the phenomenon of a different self (L2) perceived among bilingual speakers whose L1 is Japanese and L2 is English, or vice versa, and to discover the correlation between the L2 proficiency and such a different self phenomenon.

5. Research Questions • When did bilingual speakers first become aware of the L2 different self? (2) What aspect did bilinguals perceive as such a different self? Positively or negatively? (3) How did bilingual speakers become aware of the different selves? (4) How is the L2 different self affected by the following sociolinguistic variables? (a) Length of residence in the U.S.; (b) Frequency of the L2 use; and (c) Age of the participants.

6. Design and Methodology • Qualitative research • The background and sociolinguistic information about each participant was collected by means of a questionnaire. Education, length of residency in the U.S., and the L2 proficiency level were stated explicitly by the participants. The awareness of the L2 different self was determined by the answers to the following questions: 1. Do you notice a different personality when speaking a L2 (English)? 2. If so, when did you first become aware of such a different self? 3. How did you first become aware of the L2 different self?

7. Design and Methodology Cont’d • The reliability of the answers to these questions was tested during an initial interview. • Regardless of their answers, an explicit explanation about a phenomenon of a different self, perceived by bilinguals when speaking and learning a L2, was done prior to an initial interview. • In the initial interviews, I incorporated tape recordings • Researcher served a role of a passive participant (Spradley, 1980) during the interviews.

8. Participants • Four bilingual speakers participated in this study: a former university student; a current university student; former English as a Second Language (ESL) student; and an American bilingual speaker. • Three of the participants, excluding the American bilingual individual, came to the U.S. from Japan for academic purposes, and thus, their L1 is Japanese. Two of them have studied for either an undergraduate degree program, or ESL courses in a higher institution. • the American bilingual participant is mixed-race, half Japanese and half American (Caucasian), and his L1 is English. His father is American and his mother is Japanese, and speaks both English and Japanese interchangeably without any problems. His Japanese pronunciation and accent are native-like.

9. Conclusion • Regardless of the degree and effect (positive or negative) of the L2, the participants were aware of a different (L2) self. • Evidence of the development of such a different self in a natural L2 setting was also found in the interviews. The more exposed to the L2, the more assimilated into the C2 - this further supports Pavlenko’s (1998) argument that L2 learning is a “departure from oneself.” • In contrast, too much saturation into the C2 is problematic. For example, one participant was too assimilated into the C2 to notice her different (L2) self until her parents indicated it.

10. Conclusion Cont’d • In sum, the participants’ coherent aggregate of thoughts to the discourse topic is a crucial indicator for their comprehension of the topic (e.g., awareness of the L2 different self) and the direction of their stream of thoughts. Regardless of their coherence of thoughts in the beginning of the interviews, their endings were ultimately well-defined of the topic under study.