The document summarizes two studies on Japanese secondary school students' attitudes toward English ownership. The first study found students viewed English as an international language but belonging to American/British cultures. They were unaware of outer circle varieties and felt Japanese English was unintelligible. The second study also found students valued native varieties over non-native like Japanese English. Both studies suggest international experience may positively influence views but were limited. Teaching should reflect global English.

1. The ownership of English
Yu Tamura
EFL540
August 30, 2012

2. How do Japanese secondary school students feel?

3. Two empirical studies

4. 1. Matsuda, A. (2003)
• A qualitative case study in 1999
– EIL users’ beliefs about the ownership of English

5. Setting
• A private secondary school in Tokyo, Japan
– “moderately competitive”
• All students planned to go to higher education
• International exchange program
– France, Germany, Australia, and US
– A few weeks or one year
– Interaction to international students was limited
Matsuda, A. (2003)

6. Participants
• One 12th grader class
– 34 students (20 female & 14 male)
– 33/34 agreed to participate
– 26 of them are 18 years old 7 are 17 years old
• Born in Japan except one born in Australia and spoke
Japanese as L1
• Had been learning English for 6 -13 years
• Had had experience of traveling or living abroad (except 4
male and 1 male)
Matsuda, A. (2003)

7. Data collection
• Over two months
• 31 students
• Questionnaire
– Two open questions about reasons and purposes of
English learning and definition of Japanese English
– 44 Likert-scale items asking perceptions and attitudes
toward English
– 12 questions about backgrounds and experiences in
learning English
– Identify the participants of oral interview
Matsuda, A. (2003)

8. Data collection
• Oral interviews
– Individual or pair
– 10 participants (selected by maximum variation
sampling)
– Interview guide was used
• Observation
– English classes, other classes, breaks, outside of the
school, dress, and personal belongings
• Teacher interview
– Four English teachers
– Asked their beliefs about English language, speakers and
teaching
Matsuda, A. (2003)

9. Results
• Students thought
– English as an international language.
– English belongs Americans and the British.
• Students seems lack of awareness of the outer circle
varieties.
• Students believed
– Japanese English was not intelligible.
– Japanese should not speak Japanese English.
Matsuda, A. (2003)

10. Conclusion
• “[H]elp them develop awareness of and familiarity with
different varieties of English” (p.493).
• Carefully make decision of selection of teaching materials
and its implementation in the classroom.
• “[M]ore personal contact with people from other countries,
especially non-US/European” (p.494).
• Assess communication skills rather than too much
emphasize on phonological or grammatical accuracy.
• “Cooperation and coordination” between all levels of people
who engaged in English language education (ditto).
Matsuda, A. (2003)

11. But

12. • The participants did not represent typical high school
students in Japan.
• More recent studies may provide different results.

13. 2. Saito, A. & Hatoss, A. (2011)
• Qualitative study
• Research Question
1. Do Japanese high school students’ attitudes differ
towards native and non-native varieties of English?
2. Do their motivations differ in the native speakers
context and in the linga franca context?
3. Do their (temporary and short) visits to an Anglophone
country affect their attitudes and motivations?

14. Participants
• 175 Japanese high school students
– 85 females, 84 males and six unknown
– 150 were 11th graders and 25 were 12th graders
– Two regional high schools (public and private) in eastern
Japan
• All students are Japanese
• 38 (22%) of the students had ever been to Anglophone
country.
• All students had studied English for at least four years.
• Language contact to non-Japanese speakers was minimal.
Saito & Hatoss (2009)

15. Method
The attitudinal instrument The motivational instrument
• Five point scale • Five points scale
• Six varieties of English • 16 items to measure
– UK, US, India, Singapore, “integrativeness” and
Japan and China “instrumentality” (p. 113)
• Six bi-polar adjectives • Measure participants’ L2
motivational orientation
• Measure positive-negative
attitudes towards each variety
Saito & Hatoss (2009)

16. Results
• “[P]ositive evaluations of native than non-native varieties of
English” (p.118).
• Japanese English is devalued.
• “[S]ignificantly higher motivation in the native speaker
context” (ditto).
• “An experience of visiting an Anglophone country” may
have positive impact on participants’ motivational
disposition (ditto).
Saito & Hatoss (2009)

17. Limitation
• The direct way of eliciting response
• The use of the term “Anglophone”
Saito & Hatoss (2009)

18. Conclusion
• Similar results to Matsuda, A. (2002) in that
– Place value on US and UK varieties
– Devalue Japanese English
• Possibility of positive influence of international experience
– Not conclusive
– Lack of additional empirical information
• “The native speaker ideal” may result from teaching
materials and pedagogical instruction, especially in junior
high school.
• English language teaching should “reflect the language
globalization” (p.119)
Saito & Hatoss (2009)

19. Reference
• Matsuda, A. (2003). The Ownership of English in Japanese
Secondary Schools. World Englishes, 22(4), 483-496.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.2003.00314.x
• Saito, A., & Hatoss, A. (2011). Does the ownership rest
with us? global english and the native speaker ideal among
japanese high school students. International Journal of
Pedagogies & Learning, 6(2), 108-125. Retrieved from
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om/docview/1022282996?accountid=3783