IPrA 2009 Melbourne

Ryuko Kubota

University of British Columbia

Consumption and Business Interest of Learning a Foreign Language as

Serious and Casual Leisure

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 (self-actualization) or casual leisure (opportunistic self-gratitude) (Stebbins, 1997; 2007).

Introduction

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)

Learning and investment in foreign language contexts

Leisure StudiesSerious leisure vs. casual leisureSerious 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.

Language learning as leisure

Leisure activities are built on consuming goods and 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).

Language learning as consumption

Qualitative study in 2007Hasu (mid-sized rural city) in Morino

Prefecture (pseudonyms) Some of the interviewees are eikaiwabusiness

providers with a dual role of teacher/manager.

Research site

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)

Where to go to learn eikaiwa: Instructional settings

Difficult to obtain data at franchised eikaiwainstitutes

Informal interviews arranged through personal connections

Participant observation in eikaiwalessons

Gathering data

Basic conversation, free talkStudents talking mostly in Japanese, code

mixingSlow paceIn contrast, a lesson at a franchised

eikaiwainstitute follows a rigid lesson plan with repetitions and drills and very little free talk

Profile of eikaiwalesson

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)

Findings (1): Hobbyist perspective

Group interview with members of KoalasThey 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.

Finding (2): Romantic akogare

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[half-blood] 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 (46-year-old woman), takes lessons at Fitness Hasu

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 (cf. M. Kubota, 2006).

Sensitivity toward diversity.Akogarecertainly exists as described by

previous studies, yet it is manifested in different ways.

Investment rather than consumptionIrony: 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 strategiesCurriculum designPayment system

Commodifiedeikaiwafor consumption

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 socializing and exposure to exotic language and culture.

Casual leisure/consumption vs. learning/developmentStimulates emotions, joys, fantasies, and dreams

beyond communicative success or professional benefit—desire in language learning (Kramsch, 2005)

“Participation” rather than learningConsumption rather than investmentEnglish, Whiteness, and native speakers are

commodified, advertised, and consumed.Yet, consumers are not affected by the discourses in

a homogeneous way.

Discussion

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?