Negotiation of gendered language and social identities by students of Japanese as an additional language in Australian universities

© 2017 Dr Maki YoshidaThis research qualitatively explores gendered language and gender identities negotiated by seven tertiary students of (pre-)advanced Japanese as an additional language (JAL) in Australia. Japanese is argued to be a language where gender differences appear prominently, and are marked by a variety of (para-)linguistic features. While former studies illustrated the ways in which speakers of Japanese as a first language creatively exploit these features and negotiate gender identities, the approaches used by JAL speakers have not drawn enough attention thus far. In addition, despite the long-standing critique of stereotypical ‘women’s language’ and ‘men’s language’ represented in classroom practices, there has been little research conducted on how these practices have impacted upon JAL speakers’ acquisition of gendered Japanese and their employment of those resources in communication. Based on analysis of verbal/written interactions between JAL participants and their interlocutors in outside-of-classroom contexts as well as interview data conducted with them regarding these interactions, the present study explored how the seven JAL participants negotiated gendered language and gender identities in the targeted settings. The research questions were devised to investigate 1) JAL participants’ gendered language resources, 2) their reflective accounts upon acquisition of gendered Japanese, 3) their attitudes towards gendered Japanese, 4) their employment of gendered Japanese in communication, and 5) discursive power relations influencing 1) to 4). Examination of the data demonstrated that JAL participants’ gendered language resources echoed the conventional dualist categorisation of ‘women’s language’ and ‘men’s language’. Based on JAL participants’ accounts, classroom practices played a significant role in familiarising them with the binary categories and gender ‘appropriate’ language based on their perceived gender identities. The analysis also showed that JAL participants were susceptible to language and gender ideologies, and overwhelmingly positioned themselves and were positioned as ‘learners of Japanese’ even in outside-of-classroom contexts. This ascribed ‘learnerness’ greatly impacted upon JAL participants’ negotiation of gendered language and gender identities in the targeted interactions. While this salient ascribed social identity of ‘learners of Japanese’ encouraged all JAL participants to adopt ‘correct’ (gendered) Japanese, what exactly this ‘correctness’ meant differed for each JAL participant, depending on their other reflective and perceived social identities—such as nativeness, gender, age, class, and race. The multiple and discursive aspect of identities that are susceptible to discursive power relations in a given context shaped each JAL participant’s sense of self differently in JAL acquisition. The findings of the study highlight the prevailing language and gender ideologies involving JAL participants’ Japanese interactions. These findings contribute to render visible the inequalities and unequal power relations (re)produced in both inside and outside-of-classroom contexts. The findings encourage stakeholders in JAL pedagogy to critically examine the conventional naturalised practices. This critical examination plays a role in fostering JAL students’ sensitivity towards diverse social identities, awareness of discursive power flows in any interaction, and sense of self as ‘speakers of Japanese’ rather than ‘learners of Japanese’