Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse
Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse Fukunaga 2006 FL literacy development using Anime ... - Oncourse
“Those anime students”: Foreign language literacy development through Japanese popular culture Setting and participants Ta b l e 1 Students’ background information Name Age Sex Major Japanese study Interests Emily 21 F Instructional Took 3 semesters Anime Club, manga, fantasy, Technology and stopped the Internet, science fiction, in Education collection of anime products (toys, cards) Ted 21 M Japanese In the 4th semester Anime Club, video games, of study collection of anime series, the Internet Sean 21 M Japanese Went straight into Anime Club, manga, the highest level Japanese films, video games, (8th semester) of Japanese book reading circle, Japanese class BBS (Bulletin Board System), the Internet In order to understand JFL students’ perspectives of anime and Japanese literacy development through anime, I conducted an interpretive, qualitative interview study. Emily, Ted, and Sean were chosen as participants in this study by purposeful sampling. The criteria for selection were (1) students who were at least intermediate level in Japanese, (2) students who were not taking Japanese classes from me when I conducted the study, and (3) students who had a particular interest in anime and Japanese popular culture. Emily, Ted, and Sean are Caucasian, were born in the United States, and are native speakers of English. The participants’ background information is described in Table 1. Emily, Ted, and Sean started watching anime when they were in high school. Thus, watching anime was a part of their youth culture. Emily and Ted regularly attend the Anime Club meetings at South University. Anime Club is a student organization for people who enjoy watching anime and playing Japanese video games. Anime Club members gather at a theater on campus to watch six 30-minute anime programs on Mondays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. For three hours, the people at the meeting listen to Japanese while they watch anime with English subtitles. Ted told me, “True anime fans only watch anime with English subtitles. Many people begin watching dubbed versions of anime on Cartoon Network on TV and most of them eventually move away from dubbed anime [because] they are not authentic.” Most anime programs last for 30 minutes and have an opening theme song and an ending song. Several members of Anime Club attend weekly leadership meetings on Wednesdays. Emily and Ted attend both meetings regularly while Sean occasionally attends Monday meetings. Data collection and analysis I used a data collection method that Allen and Labbo (2001) and Allen et al. (2002) used in their project PhOLKS (Photographs of Local Knowledge Sources). This method provides a view of students’ out-of-school lives. Students were asked to photograph important objects in their homes and neighborhoods. This project allowed teachers to “extend the classroom community to include children’s home communities, to build reciprocal relationships with families” JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 50:3 NOVEMBER 2006 209
(Allen et al., p. 314). However, the photographs that participants took were not the main focus of my study. Rather, they served as a stimulus for the interview. They also helped to create a common ground for conversation about Japanese popular culture texts. One week prior to their individual interviews, the students took photographs of things related to Japanese popular culture and language learning that they considered important in their everyday lives. Each student participated in a two-hour, open-ended, audiotaped interview and told stories about the objects. Following are some examples of interview questions: How did you become interested in anime? How does anime affect your Japanese learning? How does anime affect your social relationships? After the interview, students wrote a one-page reflection. To corroborate my initial interpretations, I asked each student to meet for a follow-up interview that lasted for about one hour. I transcribed each interview, showed the transcript to each student, and got some feedback. I analyzed the interview transcriptions, photographs, and written responses using the ethnographic content analytical method (Altheide, 1987; LeCompte, 2000). I created categories and subcategories focusing on the insider’s perspective of this cultural group. To ensure internal reliability, I used triangulation (Glesne, 1999) with the three data collection methods. I also used ongoing and final member checks for validity to make sure I represented the participants and their ideas accurately. My analysis is shaped by my status as both an insider and outsider in the anime community. As a native Japanese, I have my own conception of anime because of its strong presence in Japanese popular culture; however, I am not a fan who claims to know everything about anime. I question whether JFL students have the same concept of anime as Japanese natives. Many Japanese people grow up with anime as a part of everyday life. Throughout this study, I have been careful not to assume anything is 210 “Those anime students”: Foreign language literacy development through Japanese popular culture “normal” just because I experienced it. Rather, my goal is to understand JFL students’ perspectives on anime. I began wondering about anime students’ perspectives and their activities outside of the classroom while I was teaching Japanese at South University, observing students and communicating with them in class. Anime students reminded me of my own experience of learning English as a second language through popular culture such as Hollywood movies and the Beatles. I was curious to see what parts of anime U.S. students are interested in and why such students are fascinated with it. I avoided including students who were in my Japanese classes as participants in this study so that I did not need to worry about participants acting as “good students,” intentionally or not. Findings: Anime and foreign language literacy learning My findings fell into four categories: overview of participants’ activities with Japanese popular culture, uniqueness of anime, advantages for JFL literacy development, and individual differences. I found that anime played different roles for each student. Overview of participants’ activities with Japanese popular culture Emily, Sean, and Ted described the aspects of anime in which they were engaged. I noticed that their use of the word anime was not limited to animated films and TV programs; rather, it included subcultures around anime. In this larger concept of anime, there were subcultures of manga, video games, anime music, and anime-related activities (see Figure 1). In Figure 1, the solid lines indicate strong and direct connections between each subculture of anime while the dotted lines indicate that some parts may or may not have a direct connection to anime. JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 50:3 NOVEMBER 2006
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“Those anime students”: Foreign language <strong>literacy</strong> <strong>development</strong> through Japanese popular culture<br />
Setting and participants<br />
Ta b l e 1<br />
Students’ background information<br />
Name Age Sex Major Japanese study Interests<br />
Emily 21 F Instructional Took 3 semesters <strong>Anime</strong> Club, manga, fantasy,<br />
Technology and stopped the Internet, science fiction,<br />
in Education collection of anime products<br />
(toys, cards)<br />
Ted 21 M Japanese In the 4th semester <strong>Anime</strong> Club, video games,<br />
of study collection of anime series,<br />
the Internet<br />
Sean 21 M Japanese Went straight into <strong>Anime</strong> Club, manga,<br />
the highest level Japanese films, video games,<br />
(8th semester) of Japanese book reading circle,<br />
Japanese class BBS (Bulletin Board System),<br />
the Internet<br />
In order to understand J<strong>FL</strong> students’ perspectives<br />
of anime and Japanese <strong>literacy</strong> <strong>development</strong><br />
through anime, I conducted an interpretive, qualitative<br />
interview study. Emily, Ted, and Sean were<br />
chosen as participants in this study by purposeful<br />
sampling. The criteria for selection were (1) students<br />
who were at least intermediate level in<br />
Japanese, (2) students who were not taking<br />
Japanese classes from me when I conducted the<br />
study, and (3) students who had a particular interest<br />
in anime and Japanese popular culture.<br />
Emily, Ted, and Sean are Caucasian, were born in<br />
the United States, and are native speakers of<br />
English. The participants’ background information<br />
is described in Table 1.<br />
Emily, Ted, and Sean started watching anime<br />
when they were in high school. Thus, watching<br />
anime was a part of their youth culture. Emily<br />
and Ted regularly attend the <strong>Anime</strong> Club meetings<br />
at South University. <strong>Anime</strong> Club is a student<br />
organization for people who enjoy watching anime<br />
and playing Japanese video games. <strong>Anime</strong><br />
Club members gather at a theater on campus<br />
to watch six 30-minute anime programs on<br />
Mondays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. For three<br />
hours, the people at the meeting listen to<br />
Japanese while they watch anime with English<br />
subtitles. Ted told me, “True anime fans only<br />
watch anime with English subtitles. Many people<br />
begin watching dubbed versions of anime on<br />
Cartoon Network on TV and most of them eventually<br />
move away from dubbed anime [because]<br />
they are not authentic.” Most anime programs<br />
last for 30 minutes and have an opening theme<br />
song and an ending song. Several members of<br />
<strong>Anime</strong> Club attend weekly leadership meetings<br />
on Wednesdays. Emily and Ted attend both meetings<br />
regularly while Sean occasionally attends<br />
Monday meetings.<br />
Data collection and analysis<br />
I used a data collection method that Allen and<br />
Labbo (2001) and Allen et al. (2002) used in their<br />
project PhOLKS (Photographs of Local<br />
Knowledge Sources). This method provides a<br />
view of students’ out-of-school lives. Students<br />
were asked to photograph important objects in<br />
their homes and neighborhoods. This project allowed<br />
teachers to “extend the classroom community<br />
to include children’s home communities, to<br />
build reciprocal relationships with families”<br />
JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY 50:3 NOVEMBER <strong>2006</strong> 209
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