1. Connotations of Japanese
Returnee English Maintenance
& Usage.
IATEFL, Glasgow 2012
Carol Begg
Kanda University of International Studies
carol-b@kanda.kuis.ac.jp

2. Outline
Returnees / Kikokusei 帰国生 & “Returnee Problem”
Study
Results: Quantitative
Results: Qualitative & Connotations
Questions

3. Japan
Interdependence / Amae
“...a complex web of mutual obligations
and responsibilities...”
Indicated and supported through verbal & non- (Rohlen, LeTendre, 1996: 119),
verbal communication.

4. • The word entered the Japanese lexicon
in the 1970s
Returnee / Kikokusei Kikokushijo
帰国生 帰 国 子 女
return country girl
boy/child
• Criteria differ across governmental
departments & educational facilities
• Only commonality is the lack of agency
in the sojourn

5. The Returnee Problem /
帰国生 問題
"When Japanese leave Japan, their
membership is suspended.
Every year they are away, re-entry as
Ambassadors members of the group ... becomes
more difficult.
It is particularly difficult if after reentry
Victims they betray their exposure to foreign
ways, which reminds others of the
severing of bonds.
Privileged Elite Re-entry raises questions of identity
that can be silenced only by strict
conformity and virtual denial of the
foreign experience."
Ching Lin Pang. 2000: 171

6. Returnee / Kikokusei
帰国生
• Acquire the communicative norms
of the host country/countries
Direct/Indirect styles
Eye contact
• Perceived fluency & native-like
pronunciation
• International perspective, ‘critical’ of
‘home’ country

7. The Returnee Problem /
帰国生 問題
• Social
“Can’t read the air” (Kejime)
Relationships & Language
• Education Expectations
English Ability
Japanese Ability
Different learning styles
• Nationality / Labels
Kanno - differentiated reintegration & assimilation

8. The Returnee Problem /
帰国生 問題
• Educational programmes 1980s
• Readjustment - Japanese society
• Remedial - Japanese Language
‘peeling off the foreignness'
ひらがな (gaikoku hagashi)
カタカナ
漢字
Romanji

9. The Study
• Stakeholder expectations:
帰
国
生

10. The Study
Aims
What role(s) does English play for Returnees?
What does it mean to the individual?
How is it perceived collectively?
Is English ability more symbolic or practical?

11. Website & Online
questionnaire
English &
日本語
1
Former Students
Returnee Schools
Multiple choice / Likert scale
Social Networks
Sentence completion
2
18+ Participants self-labelled
Researcher as removed Anonymous
as possible Voluntary Open-ended questions
for qualitative responses
The Study Method

12. Usage
• Usage Groups
15%
5%
RL2
JL2
NL2
80%
• Native Users
5%
Native User as Optimal Native-like proficiency 22%
for Improvement is important
Agree Agree
Disagree Disagree
78%
95%

13. Qualitative Data: Connotations
Utility Internationalism
Identity

14. Utility & Advantage
• Exams & Education
English is just a tool to pass entrance exams
for universities for kikokusei.... they can take
exams much easier than normal high school
students have to take.
• Jobs & International Business
For me, English is a capital to surpass my
competitors in different occasions of society.
Ability to speak English is highly valued in
Japanese society, but not all English learners
can obtain that.

15. English in the Japanese Institution
• English needs to be objective and
quantifiable.
• The “educatio-examination
system” (Mc Veigh. 2002)
• Tests become ordinary educational
activities and are accepted as the
norm. (Horio. 1988. O’Donnell. 2005)

16. Internationalism & Transformation
• For me English is...
... a thing that connects me with other cultures.
... a language that completely changed my life by letting me see the whole
wide world.
... a language tool and something which keeps me international than being
national. Whenever I speak English, it is a great chance to express my
ideas which could not be expressed in my mother-tongue

17. English & Internationalism
• Foreign Teachers - JET, ALTs
• Foreign Students
• Study abroad programmes
• International Studies
• An international person is ‘someone who interacts with
foreigners in a natural way but does not forget that he is
Japanese’ (Ching Lin Pang. 2000)

18. Identity
• For me English is... • For Kikokusei, English is...
... a necessity. One key factor that sets
... part of who I am
us apart from other students.
... one of the parts of my identity.
When I speak English, I feel like I
am different from me speaking
Japanese
... it is part of who I am. English
helps me express the other part of
me that I cannot express in
Japanese.

19. Language as group membership
• Kikokusei identity is constantly challenged - Pronunciation, Reticence.
• Their identity is unique as Kikokusei (Sasagawa, Toyoda & Sakano).
• Not unusual or wrong for bilinguals to have different identities in each
language. (Pavlenko. 2006.)
• The classroom is a compound bilingual space - the languages present should
be seen as intertwined not exclusive. (Van der Meiji, Zhao 2010)
• Bilingualism should be celebrated not penalised. (Kanno. 2000)

20. Glocal Teaching. Learner Goals.
• Successful bilingual programmes strengthen students’ sense of
worth, identity and value of their own culture. (Montero-Sieburth,
Perez. 1987)
• Labels admit & exclude: TCK, Internationalism, Transcultural/
Transnational
• Unique to the context
• Unique to the individual

21. carol-b@kanda.kuis.ac.jp