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 • 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

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

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?

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?

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.

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

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”

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

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

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]?

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”

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.

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)

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”

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.”

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

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.”

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??

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???

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…

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?

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?

L2 Names and Ideal L2 Selves