M-GTA monograph series 3 Nihon-go Gakushu-doki to Pop Culture (Japanese-Language Motivation and Pop Culture: A Case Study in Qatar)

In this book, an instructor working in Japanese-language education overseas points out the inconsistencies and errors in the strategy of promoting Japanese-language education overseas assumed by public institutions, as well as the process of cultivating an attitude of friendship towards Japan, based on the views of Japanese-language learners. As such, this is an empirical study to propose an alternative for the promotion model. The author’s doctoral dissertation has been partially trimmed and revised for publication as a volume in the M-GTA monograph series, with a grant from the Japanese Society of M-GTA.

The research in this book came from a feeling that the schema assumed by the Cool Japan Strategy—namely that people who have become interested in Japan as a result of popular culture will start learning Japanese and come to think positively about Japan—did not match up with how things really were on the ground. The reality is that not everyone who likes Japanese culture will become a Japanese-language learner, and a not insignificant number of those who do begin studying Japanese on this basis will soon give it up.

Interviews with Japanese-language learners who have started and completed a Japanese-language course, and with students expected to commence a course of Japanese-language study (in both cases motivated by popular culture to learn Japanese), form the core of this book. In order to shed light on what makes the difference between learning and not learning Japanese, and what role popular culture plays in this, these people are subjected to interview regarding their first contact with Japan, and changes to their relationship and interest in Japan and the Japanese language to that point; the interview data is then analyzed in accordance with the M-GTA (Modified Grounded Theory Approach) methodology.

M-GTA is an approach to qualitative research that enables the generation of original, persuasive and applicable theories based on analysis grounded in data, primarily relating to social interactions. It is not simply a research technique, but a position that deeply questions how research itself should be conducted, a guiding principle.

The gap between government-level educational policy and the reality is not limited to Japanese-language education, but can be seen in various educational settings. Accordingly, it is important to disseminate, in the form of research, perspectives and experiences from the coalface. However, the ability to objectively describe experiences and scientifically analyze the knowledge gained is key for such transmission to be given as “research” rather than as a “report.” As well as being a piece of research only possible from one so well versed in the field, this book is considered an example of the effective application of M-GTA. Furthermore, given that questions of motivation for learning and desire to learn are extremely important and serious themes in the field of pedagogy, this research could be described as having universal significance.

(Written by NEMOTO Aiko, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / 2019)