Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse
Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse
Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse
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practices through out-of-class activities. An affinity<br />
group is<br />
a group wherein people form affiliations with each<br />
other, often at a distance (that is, not necessarily faceto-face),<br />
primarily through shared practices or a common<br />
endeavor (which entails shared practices), and<br />
only secondarily through shared culture, gender, ethnicity,<br />
or face-to-face relationships. (Gee, p. 65)<br />
Gee explained this concept citing the example of<br />
Almon, an immigrant boy in Lam’s study (2000),<br />
who successfully learned language within an<br />
affinity group. Almon worried about his future<br />
career because, even after living in the United<br />
States for five years, he felt his English skills<br />
would never be good enough. However, his attitude<br />
toward English dramatically changed when<br />
he began discussing Japanese pop music with<br />
people from different countries through the<br />
Internet. Not only did Almon improve his written<br />
English skills, but also through his connection<br />
with this particular virtual community, he<br />
gained self-confidence.<br />
Such <strong>literacy</strong> practices may also occur<br />
through out-of-class activities. Chandler-Olcott<br />
and Mahar (2003a, 2003b) looked at two female<br />
students’ informal “fanfictions” (fanfics) that included<br />
anime characters, and were surprised at<br />
the students’ talent as writers. Those fanfic writings<br />
looked very different from their classroom<br />
essays. Chandler-Olcott and Mahar suggested<br />
that teachers should be aware of <strong>literacy</strong> learning<br />
that is not valued in school settings.<br />
Different writings such as fanfics can be used to<br />
get to know students’ “hidden” <strong>literacy</strong> skills,<br />
because the girls in this study admitted that<br />
they spent “far more time and energy” (2003a,<br />
p. 561) on their fanfics than they did on school<br />
assignments. The two girls in Chandler-Olcott<br />
and Mahar’s (2003a) study are like the students<br />
I studied who found “joy” in their anime-related<br />
<strong>literacy</strong> practices. Teachers may be surprised<br />
that some students who are not successful with<br />
classroom practices may be actively learning<br />
with out-of-school practices (Chandler-Olcott<br />
208<br />
“Those anime students”: Foreign language <strong>literacy</strong> <strong>development</strong> through Japanese popular culture<br />
& Mahar, 2003b; Lam, 2000). Like the students<br />
in Chandler-Olcott and Mahar’s and Lam’s<br />
studies, anime students use a tool (in this case,<br />
Japanese) to acquire agency within an affinity<br />
group.<br />
Students’ <strong>literacy</strong> practices have expanded<br />
dramatically in the Internet era. The Internet<br />
enables students to access many cultures and<br />
languages. Because of this, it is difficult for classroom<br />
teachers to imagine what kind of out-ofclass<br />
activities are connected with the students’<br />
<strong>literacy</strong> <strong>development</strong>. Although there are increasing<br />
numbers of studies on Japanese popular culture<br />
in relation to first language (English) <strong>literacy</strong><br />
<strong>development</strong> in the areas of multiliteracies and<br />
the new <strong>literacy</strong> studies (Chandler-Olcott &<br />
Mahar, 2003a, 2003b; He, 2003; Lam, 2000), little<br />
information is available to understand popular<br />
culture’s effects on J<strong>FL</strong> <strong>literacy</strong> <strong>development</strong>.<br />
What, then, is anime “good for”? What<br />
draws students to it? The purpose of this study<br />
was to identify J<strong>FL</strong> students’ perspectives on anime<br />
and to explore how three students made use<br />
of their anime knowledge while learning<br />
Japanese. Data for this study came from photographs<br />
taken by participants, individual interviews,<br />
and participants’ reflection papers about<br />
the interviews. I supplemented these data with a<br />
previous survey and interview study (<strong>Fukunaga</strong>,<br />
2000) on U.S. anime fans’ perspectives of<br />
Japanese popular culture.<br />
The current study contributes to several<br />
areas of educational instruction. In the fields of<br />
first- and second-language (L1 and L2) <strong>literacy</strong><br />
studies, this study helps teachers to understand<br />
the cultural context of anime and its value for<br />
students as an out-of-class L2 learning tool. This<br />
study also gives students and teachers a better<br />
sense of the effect and scope of popular culture,<br />
especially that originating in “other” cultures. In<br />
addition, this study provides sociocultural perspectives<br />
on learning from interdisciplinary<br />
studies including L1 and L2 <strong>literacy</strong>, multiliteracies,<br />
cultural studies, media <strong>literacy</strong>, and critical<br />
pedagogy.<br />
JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 50:3 NOVEMBER <strong>2006</strong>