Typology and Classification of Target Culture Perception in Foreign Language Learning: A Case of Japanese L2 Learners

Year 2023, , 1 - 19, 29.04.2023

Tolga Özşen

https://doi.org/10.31464/jlere.1160163

Abstract

This study discusses the knowledge about, perceptions of, and interaction with the Japanese culture of Japanese language L2 learners who are majoring in Japanese at the undergraduate level in Turkish universities. The field survey was conducted with 298 undergraduate students in a Japanese Language Programs in early 2019. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. As a result, it was confirmed that the participants acquire a wide range of academic knowledge about Japanese culture during their undergraduate education, and their perceptions of Japanese culture are based on historical and social facts as well as popular culture. However, the students have little interaction with Japanese culture in daily life. In the light of the data obtained in the research, Japanese cultural perceptions of the Japanese L2 learners were classified into typologies and discussed in terms of knowledge, perceptions, and interaction.

Keywords

C2 teaching, Japanese language teaching, Japanese culture, culture typologies, culture perception

References

• Abel, J. E. (2011). Can Cool Japan save Post‐Disaster Japan? On the Possibilities and Impossibilities of a Cool Japanology. International Journal of Japanese Sociology, 20, 59-72.
• ACTFL. (2006). Standards for foreign language learning in the 21st century. National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project.
• Agyeiwaah, E., Suntikul, W., & Carmen, L. (2019). ‘Cool Japan’: Anime, soft power and Hong Kong generation Y travel to Japan. Journal of China Tourism Research, 15(2), 127-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388160.2018.1540373
• Alptekin, C. (1993). Target language culture in EFL materials. ELT Journal, 47(2), 136–143.
• Befu, H. (1980). A Critique Of The Group Model Of Japanese Society. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Anthropology, 5(6), 29-43.
• Befu, H. (2001). Hegemony of Homogeneity: An Anthropological Analysis of “Nihonjinron”.Trans Pacific Press.
• Benedict, R. (1946). The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Houghton Mifflin.
• Berreman, J. V. (1944). The Japanization of Far Eastern Occupied Areas. Pacific Affairs, 17(2), 168-180.
• Byram, M. (1989). Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Multilingual Matters.
• Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Competence. Multilingual Matters.
• Coleman, S. (2009). Teaching Culture in Japanese Language Programs at the University Level: Insights from the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Japanese Language and Literature, 43(2), 319-333.
• Dale, N. P. (1986). The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness. Croom Helm and the Nissan Institute.
• Doi, T. (1971). Amae no Kōzō [The Anatomy of Dependence]. Kōbundō.
• Eguchi, S. & Kimura, K. (2020). Racialized im/possibilities: Intersectional queer-of-color critique on Japaneseness in Netflix’s QueerEye: We’re in Japan. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 1-19.
• Esenbel, S. (2006). Editor's introduction: Reflections on Japanese and Turkish modernization and global history. New Perspectives on Turkey, 35, 5-19.
• Furstenburg, G. (2010). Making culture the core of the language class: Can it be done?. Modern Language Journal, 94, 329–32.
• Goldstein-Gidoni, O. (2005). The Production and Consumption of ‘Japanese Culture’ in the Global Cultural Market. Journal of Consumer Culture, 5(2), 155–179.
• González de la Fuente. (2021). In which Ways is Karate (dō) Japanese? A Consideration on Cultural Images of Bushidō and Nihonjinron in the Postwar Globalization of Martial Arts. Journal of Inter-Regional Studies: Regional and Global Perspectives, 4, 1-16.
• Guarné, B., & Yamashita, S. (2015). Introduction: Japan in Global Circulation: Transnational Migration and Multicultural Politics. Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology, 40(1), 53-69.
• Hendry, J. (1993). Wrapping Culture: Politeness, Presentation and Power in Japan and Other Societies. Clarendon Press.
• Hinkel, E. (2014). Culture and pragmatics in language teaching and learning. In M. Celce-Murcia., D. Brinton., & M. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language(4th ed)(pp.394-408). Heinle & Heinle.
• Hosokawa, H. (2002). Nihongo Kyôiku wa Nani wo Mezasu ka?Gengobunkakatsudô no riron to jissen [What does Japanese Language Education aim for?: Theory and practice of the language and cultural activities]. Akashi shoten.
• Hosokawa, H. (2005). ‘Ko no bunka’ sairon: nihongo kyôiku ni okeru gengo bunka kyôiku no imi to kadai [Reconsideration of ‘Ko no bunka’: Language and culture activities in Japanese language education]. 21 seiki no Nijon Jijô: Nihongokyôiku kara Bunka Riterashii he [Japan Topics in 21st Century: From Japanese Language Education to Cultural Literacy], 5, 36-51.
• Ikeda, M. (1971). Nihongo kyōiku to nihon no bunka [Japanese Language Education and Culture of Japan]. Kōza Nihongo Kyōiku [Japanese Language Education Journal of Waseda University Center for Japanese Language], 9, 90-103.
• Ikeda, M. (1975). Nihongo kyōiku no naka de no `kotoba to bunka` no atsukai kata [`Language and Culture` in Japanese Language Education]. Nihongo Kyōiku [Journal of Japanese Language Teaching], 27, 9-16.
• Japan Foundation. (2018). Survey Report on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2018. https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/japanese/survey/result/survey18.html
• Kanemoto, S. (1988). Nihongo kyōiku ni okeru nihon bunka no kyōju [Teaching Japanese Culture in Japanese Language Education]. Nihongo Kyōiku [Journal of Japanese Language Teaching], 65, 1-15.
• Kawakami, I. (1999). Nihon jijô kyôiku ni okeru bunka no mondai [Cultural issues on Japanese Society Education]. 21 seiki no ‘Nihon Jijô’ [Japan Topics in 21st Century: Topics on Japan], 1, 16-26.
• Kawakami, I. (2007). Kotoba to bunka to iu kadai: nihongo kyōikugakuteki katari to bunkajinruigakuteki katari no setsugō [Language and Culture: Articulation of Anthropological Discourses and Japanese Language Educational Discourses]. Waseda Daigaku Nihongo Kyōiku Kenkyuu Sentā Kiyō [Bulletin of Waseda University Center for Japanese Language], 20, 1-17.
• Koç, N. (2019). “Contribution of University Student Expenditures to Urban Economy: An Analysis on the Students of Hitit University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences”. Third Sector Social Economic Review, 54(1), 344 – 365.
• Koschmann, J. V. (1997). The Nationalism of Cultural Uniqueness. The American Historical Review, 102(3), 758–768.
• Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
• Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and culture. Oxford University Press.
• Kubota, R. (2014). Critical Teaching of Japanese Culture. In S. Sato., & N. Doerr (Eds.), Rethinking Language and Culture in Japanese Education (pp. 218-237). Multilingual Matters.
• Kumagai, Y. (2014a). On Learning Japanese Language: Critical Reading of Japanese Language Textbook. In S. Satō.,& N. Musha-Doer (Eds.), Rethinking language and culture in Japanese education (pp. 201-217). Multilingual Matters.
• Kumagai, Y. (2014b). The Process of Standardization of Language and Culture in a Japanese- as-a-Foreign-Language Classroom: Analysis of Teacher–Students Interactions. In S. Satō., & N. Musha-Doer (Eds.), Rethinking language and culture in Japanese education (pp. 238-260). Multilingual Matters.
• Lipset, S. M. (1996). American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. WWNorton&Company.
• Mahoney, C. (2009). Teaching culture in the Japanese language classroom: A NSW case study. New Voices, 3, 104-125.
• MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages. (2007). Foreign languages and higher education: New structures for a changed world. Profession, 234–245.
• Mouer, R., & Sugimoto, Y. (1986). Images of Japanese Society: A Study in the Social Structure of Reality. Kegan Paul International.
• Murayama-Cain, Y. (2011). The Chrysanthemum No Longer Blooms: The End of Nihonjinron and Theology of Japan. Christ and the World, 21, 31-59.
• Nakane, C. (1967). Tateshakai no Ningen Kankei [Relationships in a Vertical Society]. Kodansha.
• Ong, S. W. (2019). Understanding Japanese Policy for Malaya from the Perspective of Nihonjinron. EDUCATUM Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 37-44.
• Otwinowska-Kasztelanic, A. (2011). Do we need to teach culture and how much culture do we need?. In J. Abraski., & A. Wojtaszek (Eds.), Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning(pp.35-48). Springer.
• Pehlivanturk, B. (2011). Turkish-Japanese relations: Turning romanticism into rationality. International Journal, 67(1), 101-117.
• Rear, D. (2017). A Critical Analysis of Japanese Identity Discourse: Alternatives to the Hegemony of Nihonjinron. Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 53(2), 1-27.
• Satoh, Y. (1985). Nihongo kyōiku ni okeru ‘bunka’ no atsukaikata [The Culture in Japanese Language Education]. Kōza Nihongo Kyōiku [Japanese Language Education Journal of Waseda University Center for Japanese Language], 21, 63–77.
• Sugiyama Lebra, T. (1976). Japanese Patterns of Behavior. University of Hawaii Press.
• Toprak-Okay, A., Eğri, Ö.C.,& Çetin, G. (2019). The Usage of Credit Cards: An Emprical Analysis on Turkish College Students. International Conference on Eurasian Economies, 386-392.
• Toyoda, T. (1988). Nihongo kyōiku ni okeru nihon jijō [Japanese way of life in Japanese language education]. Nihongo Kyōiku [Journal of Japanese Language Teaching], 63, 16-29.
• Vogel, F.E. (1979). Japan as Number One: Lessons for America. Harvard University Press.
• Ziebka, J. (2011). Pragmatic aspects of culture in foreign language learning. In J. Abraski., & A. Wojtaszek (Eds.), Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning(pp.263-272). Springer.