Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT
Ryuko Kubota
This article examines many ideas of how culture plays a role in learning and in the world. Kubota begins by giving examples of how culture is used in the classroom. Whether a student should bring their culture with them into the classroom and how this is treated by the teachers and schools. As a Japanese woman Kubota, is trying to just lay out the idea of culture, I do not think she is trying to take a side.
She talks about the idea that Japanese culture does not include self-expression in the classroom. This is later shown to be false in some ways. In elementary schools and preschools self-expression is used regularly. This is not the case in Japanese secondary schools, where memorization is key educational tool. while this is not the case, the students to have many activities after school that do us self-expression. Also, Kubota talks about the group goals of Japanese culture. That all their activities are group oriented and not for the individual, and that the West all activities are for the individual. This shows that Western culture is about self interest, we do things to better ourselves not the group.
Kubota states that the way we learn our first language is reflected in how we approach our second language learning. In this case the teacher should teach or at least try to teach for towards what the students expect in their culture. They should recognize how they behave and use this as a teaching tool. At the same time, she says that we must realize not all people are the same in their culture, even in the same cultures. So one Japanese person may have a different view of culture from another.
The idea of Othering comes into this article also. The example of women as others is also explored here. Western authority says that they are one thing and we are the other. The phrase Extending Knowledge is presented here as a Western idea that in the west we are constantly reconstructing our knowledge and coming up with new things in our culture. But in the East they have Conserving Knowledge where their knowledge of things are preserved and they do not use new ideas in their culture.
More ideas of Japanese culture are then described and the research of how self-expression is presented here. She shows how they are a free thinking culture and they do come up with new knowledge. Also, she describes how Westernization is taking Japanese identity but they are now forming new identities.
I think this article explored some ideas I had not thought of before. For instance how Westernization was taking their identity away. I knew that Westernization was, in my opinion, not a great thing, but I never thought about it in those terms. I think we need to teach towards cultures in our classrooms. I think we need to find a common ground between our students and ourselves and try to use that to become better teachers. The students will benefit greatly if they can bring parts of themselves and their cultures to the classroom. They will have a much better learning experience, in my opinion.
She talks about the idea that Japanese culture does not include self-expression in the classroom. This is later shown to be false in some ways. In elementary schools and preschools self-expression is used regularly. This is not the case in Japanese secondary schools, where memorization is key educational tool. while this is not the case, the students to have many activities after school that do us self-expression. Also, Kubota talks about the group goals of Japanese culture. That all their activities are group oriented and not for the individual, and that the West all activities are for the individual. This shows that Western culture is about self interest, we do things to better ourselves not the group.
Kubota states that the way we learn our first language is reflected in how we approach our second language learning. In this case the teacher should teach or at least try to teach for towards what the students expect in their culture. They should recognize how they behave and use this as a teaching tool. At the same time, she says that we must realize not all people are the same in their culture, even in the same cultures. So one Japanese person may have a different view of culture from another.
The idea of Othering comes into this article also. The example of women as others is also explored here. Western authority says that they are one thing and we are the other. The phrase Extending Knowledge is presented here as a Western idea that in the west we are constantly reconstructing our knowledge and coming up with new things in our culture. But in the East they have Conserving Knowledge where their knowledge of things are preserved and they do not use new ideas in their culture.
More ideas of Japanese culture are then described and the research of how self-expression is presented here. She shows how they are a free thinking culture and they do come up with new knowledge. Also, she describes how Westernization is taking Japanese identity but they are now forming new identities.
I think this article explored some ideas I had not thought of before. For instance how Westernization was taking their identity away. I knew that Westernization was, in my opinion, not a great thing, but I never thought about it in those terms. I think we need to teach towards cultures in our classrooms. I think we need to find a common ground between our students and ourselves and try to use that to become better teachers. The students will benefit greatly if they can bring parts of themselves and their cultures to the classroom. They will have a much better learning experience, in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment