Learning a foreign language as serious and casual

IPrA 2009 Melbourne
Ryuko Kubota
University of British Columbia
 Focus: Views and experiences of adult men and
women foreign language (especially English) learners
outside of educational institutions in Japan
 Hobbyists orientation: Learning for no apparently
practical reasons but for serious leisure (selfactualization) or casual leisure (opportunistic selfgratitude) (Stebbins, 1997; 2007).
 Investment (Peirce, 1995; Norton, 2000) drawing on
Pierre Bourdieu’s economic metaphor of capital
 A learner expects a return: acceptance into the target
second language community;a better life with
increased cultural and linguistic capital (Pittaway,
2004).  social inclusion
 Not relevant to some foreign language contexts (Ryan,
2006) or some second language contexts (Kobayashi,
2007)
 Leisure Studies
 Serious leisure vs. casual leisure
 Serious leisure: “the systematic pursuit of an amateur,
hobbyist, or volunteer core activity that people find so
substantial, interesting, and fulfilling that,…, they launch
themselves on a (leisure) career centered on acquiring and
expressing combination of its special skills, knowledge,
and experience (Stebbins, 2007, p. 5).
 Casual leisure: “less substantial and offers no career,
…(and) an immediately, intrinsically rewarding, relatively
short-lived pleasurable core activity, requiring little or no
special training to enjoy it (Stebbins, 2007, p. 38).
 Leisure activities are not totally left to individual choice or
necessarily socially innocuous (Rojek, 2005)
 Leisure activities are linked to consumption and desire.
 Leisure activities are built on consuming goods and
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services offered for fulfillment, self-actualization,
enjoyment, and pleasure
Language learning as consumption rather than investment
Consumption is stimulated by advertisements.
Ads produce and reflect akogare[desire, longing] (Bailey,
2002; Kelsky, 2001; Piller& Takahashi, 2006; Takahashi,
2006)
Language learning involves not only pragmatic purposes
but also an emotional dimension or desire (fantasies,
dreams, fascination) (Kramsch, 2005).
 Qualitative study in 2007
 Hasu (mid-sized rural city) in Morino Prefecture
(pseudonyms)
 Some of the interviewees are eikaiwabusiness
providers with a dual role of teacher/manager.
 Sixteen English language businesses for adults and children,
including 3 large franchised eikaiwagakkô
 Other arrangements: group lessons at community center or private
home, gakushûjuku[after-school private tutorials] for children
 Cost:
Franchised eikaiwagakkô: 10,000 yen per month (50 minutes per
week), 30,000 yen for an admission fee, and 10,000 to 30,000 yen per
year for instructional materials
Lesson offered at Fitness Hasu (by a non-profit organization): less
than 3,000 yen per month (60 minutes per week)
Group lesson held at Tashiro Community Center: 2,000 yen per
month (60 minutes per week)
 Difficult to obtain data at franchised eikaiwainstitutes
 Informal interviews arranged through personal
connections
 Participant observation in eikaiwalessons
 Basic conversation, free talk
 Students talking mostly in Japanese, code mixing
 Slow pace
 In contrast, a lesson at a franchised eikaiwainstitute
follows a rigid lesson plan with repetitions and drills
and very little free talk
 Akio (34-year-old man), Takes Fitness Hasu and John’s
group lesson
“I don’t think that far. Using English at work is far from
the current reality and my English isn’t that great
anyway… it’s like a hobby, like it can be useful when I
travel abroad.” (translation from Japanese)
 Group interview with members of Koalas
 They come to lessons for fun, maintaining contact
with English, communicating/socializing with
classmates, and staying mentally active (“preventing
dementia”).
 Tae (46-year-old woman), owner of private jukufor
children, member of Koalas
“Learning a language is fun. It’s more like enjoying a
club activity than learning. … Even if you skip one
lesson, it’s not a burden at all. I like the relaxed aspect.
… The teacher says, ‘You may do your homework,’ and
no one does it. It’s that casual. We go out to have lunch
after class and it’s fun. That’s what keeps me going. If
you really want to learn, you can go abroad or to an
eikaiwaschool. … Our previous teacher was strict. He
brought difficult handouts that no one could follow.
He even corrected our pronunciation. As we get older,
we feel discouraged if we’re corrected too much.”
 Aya (32-year-old woman): Takes Fitness Hasu lesson
 Learns English to support her major hobby:
“conquering the world”
 Aware that English is not universally useful
 Previous studies have identified Japanese women’s
akogare[desire/longing] for English, Western culture,
and White men (Bailey, 2002; Kelsky, 2001; Piller&
Takahashi, 2006; Takahashi, 2006).
 English-related romantic akogareis often subtle and
implicit and is felt by some men as well.
 Yayoi (46-year-old woman), takes lessons at Fitness Hasu
Yayoi: Maybe I just wanted to be able to speak (English). But I used
to have akogare for living abroad. Just an ordinary life.
Maybe in Hawaii (laugh).
Ryuko: Why Hawaii?
Yayoi: I think it’s safe, there’s good public safety, and it’s a resort... I
think mainly the image of being safe.
Ryuko: You just want to go there and live?
Yayoi: Yes, I want to live and work. And I want to have a hâfu[halfblood] child.
Ryuko: Huh?
Yayoi: I want to have a hâfuchild.
Ryuko: Why?
Yayoi: Because foreign kids are cute, don’t you think? I want to raise
a kid bilingually.
Miki: Are you serious?
Yayoi: Yes, honestly I’ve wanted to marry gaikokujin[foreigner] for a
long time.
Yayoi: Well, who’s the person on Eigo de shabera night [“You
must speak English”—a popular TV variety show for
learning English]?…Pakkun (Patrick Harlan—a white
comedian). That kind of image, I think.
Ryuko: Then a white person?
Yayoi: Yeah. I wonder about Bobby (Billy Blanks--a black
celebrity in Japan).
Ryuko: Bobby?
Yayoi: Do you know Bobby? A black man. Skin color…? … Do
you like Richard Gere? Richard Gere is cool. He was in
Shall we dance.
Yahoi’s case was exceptional.
 Misaki (28-year-old woman), takes lessons at BEONE
 Learning English for career change (investment rather
than leisure)
 Engaged to a Caucasian American teacher at BEONE
“Sometimes, I happen to talk about him …, and my
friends say ‘I’m envious’ that my partner is American.
… That’s probably because Japanese men are clumsy in
treating women. But I think it depends. For example,
my older sister’s husband is so sweet and lets ladies go
first. But men like that are too few. Foreign men with
more refined mannerism probably appeal better. …”
 When she hears “I’m envious,” she feels as though her
husband is viewed as a “merchandize.”
 Misaki’sakogare was for Japanese teachers of English
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(cf. M. Kubota, 2006).
Sensitivity toward diversity.
Akogarecertainly exists as described by previous
studies, yet it is manifested in different ways.
Investment rather than consumption
Irony: lower economic gain
 Interviews with service providers shed light on
commodification of eikaiwa
 Primary concern of eikaiwabusiness is to make profits
rather than helping learners develop English skills or
providing quality teaching.
 Student recruitment and retention strategies
 Curriculum design
 Payment system
 Yasuo (53-year-old man): His experience with his
clients
“This is really sad, but I can’t attract students unless I
have Caucasian teachers. After all, they prefer White
teachers, and Black teachers are not welcomed.”
“This business is weird. It’s like a host club (a nightclub
with male hosts for female customers). There are quite
a few women in their late 20s who continue to take
lessons for years. They are single. … They are not
particularly eager to study, and to be honest, they don’t
make any progress, but they don’t quit. I think they
like to come see a young foreign man. I can’t think of
any other reason, do you?”
 Misaki’s experience with mothers at work:
“I’ve never studied abroad or lived in America, so some
mothers were unsatisfied. … One day, a mother said, ‘I
heard your husband is American’ so I said, ‘Yes.’ Then
she became satisfied … After that, things became
easier for me, … but I didn’t feel right. If I were
married to a Vietnamese or a Brazilian, then I’d
definitely face reverse discrimination.”
 Learning EFL creates a human contact zone for
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socializing and exposure to exotic language and
culture.
Casual leisure/consumption vs. learning/development
Stimulates emotions, joys, fantasies, and dreams
beyond communicative success or professional
benefit—desire in language learning (Kramsch, 2005)
“Participation” rather than learning
Consumption rather than investment
English, Whiteness, and native speakers are
commodified, advertised, and consumed.
Yet, consumers are not affected by the discourses in a
homogeneous way.
Vexed questions:
 If learning does not really matter, why should we as
language teaching specialists pay attention to this
context?
 How would this research contribute to social
transformation?
 Is it possible to change the status quo, if the
consumers become more critical about the nature of
the service?
 But can we deny the personal benefits that learners
gain from leisure?

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