study abroad in the philippines - Open Collections

STUDY ABROAD IN THE PHILIPPINES:

DISCURSIVE PRODUCTION OF ITS LEGITIMACY AND

JAPANESE EL LEARNERS’ DESIRES

by

Aika (Alice) Ishige

B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2014

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS

in

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES

(Teaching English as a Second Language)

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

(Vancouver)

October 2021

© Aika (Alice) Ishige, 2021

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The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate

and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled:

Study abroad in the Philippines: Discursive production of its legitimacy and Japanese EL

learners’ desires

submitted by Aika (Alice) Ishige in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the degree of Master of Arts

in Teaching English as a Second Language

Examining Committee:

Dr. Ling Shi, Professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC

Supervisor

Dr. Ryuko Kubota, Professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC

Supervisory Committee Member

Dr. Anna (Yanning) Dong, Lecturer, Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC

Supervisory Committee Member

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Abstract

To reflect more diverse needs and wants from learners, study abroad (SA) markets have

continued to grow, diversifying the SA options ranging from durations, countries to school

programs. In the field of TESOL, the diversification of SA destinations is particularly prominent

in recent decades. Although traditionally, English language learners generally pursue their SA in

Western English-dominant countries (e.g., the U.S., Canada) to immerse themselves in English

spoken by (who they believe as) authentic speakers of English, there is an increasing number of

English language (EL) learners who choose their SA in other places. In this context, this thesis is

aimed to shed light on the emerging phenomenon of SA in the Philippines sought by Japanese

EL learners.

This thesis reports findings from document analysis and a multiple case study, which

examine the discursive production of SA in the Philippines and Japanese EL learners’ SA

experience there through the lens of desire from TESOL and Deleuzian perspectives and

poststructuralist discourse analysis. The following documents were collected for the document

analysis: agency websites, blogs, eBooks, and school websites. Four participants were recruited

for the multiple case study, and data were generated through a pre-interview questionnaire

survey and two online interviews. The data were analyzed through the following procedures:

transcription, two cycles of coding, and collaborative translation.

Findings suggest that the Philippines is constructed as a cost-effective SA destination for

Japanese EL learners due to the offering of numerous one-on-one lessons at affordable costs. The

analysis of the participants’ desires illuminates that although they positively described their SA

experience in the Philippines, the Philippines was only utilized as ‘a springboard’ to their

following SA in Canada, which was conceptualized as the embodiment of their core SA desires.

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This study responds to a gap in the literature about the practice and production of emerging SA

in non-Western, non-English-dominant countries for English learning purposes. It also sheds

light on the potential of desire as a construct to analyze global geoeconomic and sociolinguistic

hierarchies.

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Lay Summary

This study seeks to explain how study abroad (SA) in the Philippines is discursively produced

through multiple stakeholders. Given the pervasive notion that SA grants access to abundant

interactions with native speakers, this study specifically explores how SA in the Philippines is

legitimized for English language (EL) learners in Japan. In addition, this study examined these

EL learners’ SA experience in the Philippines through their post-SA narratives. The study finds

that although SA in the Philippines is positively consumed by Japanese EL learners, its

desirability is constrained to the cost-effective EL environments enabled by the low living and

labor costs. In addition, the stakeholders leverage dominant ideologies in a complex manner to

legitimize the Philippines as a SA destination and an EL site. Finally, the research supports the

use of desire as an analytical construct to explore global geoeconomic, sociolinguistic hierarchies

reproduced through language learning.

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Preface

This study has undergone an ethical review process and was approved on June 16, 2020

by the University of British Columbia Behavioural Research Ethics Board. The Human Ethics

Certificate H20-00802 for “Were my desires fulfilled in the Philippines?: Contextualization of

the Philippines as an English Learning Site and its Legitimacy from a Japanese Learner’s

Perspective” closed on May 4, 2021. This dissertation is the original intellectual product of the

author, Aika Ishige. Parts of this thesis have been published in:

• Ishige, A. (2021). L2 Desires from a Deleuzian perspective: Case study of a Japanese

woman studying English in the Philippines [in press article]. Proceedings of

Communication in Multicultural Society Conference 2020.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii

Lay Summary .................................................................................................................................v

Preface ........................................................................................................................................... vi

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ vii

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. xiii

List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. xiv

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................xv

Dedication .................................................................................................................................. xvii

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1

1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 The purpose of the study and research questions............................................................ 3

1.3 Definition of terms .......................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Organization of the thesis ............................................................................................... 5

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature & Theoretical Framework ..............................................6

2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6

2.2 SA trends among Japanese SA sojourners ...................................................................... 6

2.3 Japanese EL learners’ SA in Western, English-dominant countries (WEDCs).............. 7

2.3.1 Language-related desires ........................................................................................ 8

2.3.2 Language-unrelated desires and factors ................................................................ 10

2.3.3 Akogare (憧れ) ..................................................................................................... 11

2.3.4 Implications........................................................................................................... 12

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2.4 Japanese EL learners’ SA in the Philippines ................................................................ 13

2.4.1 Unique SA contexts in the Philippines ................................................................. 13

2.4.2 A brief history of SA in the Philippines................................................................ 15

2.4.3 Japanese EL learners’ SA in the Philippines ........................................................ 16

2.4.4 Implications........................................................................................................... 18

2.5 Sociohistorical relationships between the Philippines and Japan ................................. 19

2.6 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 23

2.7 Theoretical framework .................................................................................................. 24

2.7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 24

2.7.2 Desire in TESOL................................................................................................... 24

2.7.2.1 Summary and relevance to this study ............................................................... 26

2.7.3 Desire from a Deleuzian perspective .................................................................... 27


2.7.4 Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis ..................................................................... 30


2.8 Summary of the Chapter ............................................................................................... 32

Chapter 3: Methodology..............................................................................................................34

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 34

3.2 Two approaches ............................................................................................................ 34

3.2.1 Document analysis ................................................................................................ 34

3.2.2 A multiple case study ............................................................................................ 36

3.3 Data sources and methods of data generation ............................................................... 37

3.3.1 Sources of documents ........................................................................................... 37

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3.3.1.1 eBooks............................................................................................................... 38

3.3.1.2 Agency websites ............................................................................................... 39

3.3.1.3 School websites ................................................................................................. 40

3.3.1.4 Blogs ................................................................................................................. 41

3.3.1.5 Summary ........................................................................................................... 42

3.3.2 Methods of data generation for a multiple case study .......................................... 43

3.3.2.1 Recruitment ....................................................................................................... 43

3.3.2.2 Participants ........................................................................................................ 44

3.3.2.3 Pre-interview questionnaire survey................................................................... 46

3.3.2.4 Online interviews .............................................................................................. 46

3.4 Procedure of data analysis ............................................................................................ 48

3.4.1 Transcription ......................................................................................................... 48

3.4.2 Two cycles of coding ............................................................................................ 49

3.4.3 Translation ............................................................................................................ 50

3.5 Reflexivity..................................................................................................................... 51

Chapter 4: Construction of the Philippines as a legitimate SA site for Japanese EL learners

........................................................................................................................................................54

4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 54

4.2 SA in the Philippines for beginner EL learners ............................................................ 54

4.3 Legitimizing SA in the Philippines as more than a springboard .................................. 58

4.3.1 English schools run by Japanese people for Japanese people............................... 58

4.3.2 The Philippines as a ‘better’ alternative to WEDCs ............................................. 59

4.3.3 Delegitimizing SA in WEDCs .............................................................................. 63

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4.3.4 One-on-one lessons in the Philippines, group lessons in WEDCs, and eikaiwa

lessons in Japan ..................................................................................................................... 65

4.4 Construction of Filipinos, the Philippines, and Cebu ................................................... 67

4.4.1 Legitimizing Filipinos as English speakers .......................................................... 67

4.4.2 Legitimizing Filipino instructors as English speakers .......................................... 69

4.4.3 Legitimizing Filipino instructors as desirable for Japanese EL learners .............. 70

4.4.4 “SA in the Philippines,” or “SA in Cebu”?........................................................... 72

4.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 74

Chapter 5: Japanese EL learners’ desires and their SA in the Philippines ...........................75

5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 75

5.2 The participants’ language desires before their departure ............................................ 75

5.2.1 Long-term desires to learn English and to be an English speaker ........................ 75

5.2.2 Desires detained .................................................................................................... 77

5.2.3 Desires disparaged ................................................................................................ 78

5.2.4 Desire revitalized or developed ............................................................................ 80

5.2.5 Summary ............................................................................................................... 85

5.3 The participants’ desires and SA in the Philippines ..................................................... 86

5.3.1 The participants’ decisions to study in the Philippines ......................................... 86

5.3.2 Imagined Cebu vis-à-vis imagined Philippines .................................................... 90

5.3.3 Learning environments in the Philippines ............................................................ 91

5.3.4 Filipinos as English speakers ................................................................................ 94

5.3.5 The Philippines as a springboard to Canada ......................................................... 99

5.3.6 Summary ............................................................................................................. 102

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Chapter 6: Conclusion ...............................................................................................................103

6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 103

6.2 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 103

6.2.1 Legitimacy of SA in the Philippines ................................................................... 103

6.2.1.1 Cost-performance versus authenticity............................................................. 103

6.2.1.2 “Nothing more than English”: No akogare encapsulated in SA in the

Philippines....................................................................................................................... 105

6.2.1.3 Leveraging native speakerism and the hierarchy of English varieties ............ 106

6.2.2 Desires encapsulated in SA in the Philippines .................................................... 107

6.2.2.1 Imagined Philippines and Cebu: Stakeholders’ capitalistic desires ................ 107

6.2.2.2 Participants’ pre-SA desires ............................................................................ 109

6.2.2.3 Participants’ desires reflected on and (re)shaped through their SAs in the

Philippines....................................................................................................................... 110

6.3 Implications................................................................................................................. 112

6.3.1 Theoretical implications...................................................................................... 112

6.3.2 Implications for SA research .............................................................................. 113

6.3.3 Methodological implications .............................................................................. 115

6.3.4 Pedagogical implications .................................................................................... 116

6.4 Limitations of this study and future directions for research ....................................... 116

6.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 118

References ...................................................................................................................................119

Appendices ..................................................................................................................................134

Appendix A : Recruitment Letter (in English and Japanese) ................................................. 134

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Appendix B : Consent Form (in English and Japanese) ......................................................... 138

Appendix C : Pre-interview questionnaire .............................................................................. 144

Appendix D : List of Questions for Interview 1 ..................................................................... 150

Appendix E : List of Questions for Interview 2 ...................................................................... 153

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List of Tables

Table 3.1 Summary of eBooks selected for document analysis ................................................... 38

Table 3.2 Summary of schools selected for document analysis ................................................... 39

Table 3.3 Summary of blogs selected for document analysis ....................................................... 40

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List of Abbreviations

EL English language

SA Study abroad

TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

WEDC Western English-dominant countries

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Acknowledgements

I would not have been able to complete (and even start) my thesis without many people’s

support. Firstly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Ling Shi, for her continuous

support with concise feedback on my thesis and, first and foremost, agreeing to be my

supervisor. There is no way I could express my gratitude to her for handing me the key to the

door I ever aspired to open. I would like to express my sincerely thanks to Dr. Anna Dong, who

supported me throughout my entire master’s study in and outside my thesis. My study would

have been completely different without her and I hope I can be an educator like her one day. My

special thanks go to Dr. Ryuko Kubota for her warm support and critical questions that have

moved me forward as a scholar. Her scholarly work has inspired me to “research good.” Finally,

I would be remiss if I did not thank my participants. Thank you for sharing your stories with me

and showing interest in my project.

I would like to thank the LLED Scholarship and Awards Committee and the Department

of Language and Literacy Education, for the research grant that I received. Without the funding,

this study would not have been possible. My special thanks go to Brittany in the LLED office for

helping me organize the required documents for this grant.

I must also express my gratitude to the Department of Language and Literacy Education

faculty, staff, and students for their continuous support and academic stimuli. I would like to

extend my thanks to the UBC-Rits family, especially Dr. Reg D’Silva and Sherri Wenman for

their warmest supports. To my dear LLEDers, learning with and from you was a precious part of

my master’s study. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Anastasia Zhuravleva, Ashley

Moore, Asma Afreen, Brittany Clark, Denise Blanchz, Kiyu Itoi, Natalia Villalobos Fuentes,

Sara Van Dan Acker, Yuya Takeda, and ももせ先生 for standing by me when I was lost,

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desperate, and depressed. To Kyu Yun Lim, thank you for spending every morning to write with

me. I owe special thanks to Elisabeth Williams-Morinaga and Masaru Yamamoto for helping me

translate the data and supporting me throughout my master’s study. I owe a very important debt

to Tomoyo Okuda, who generously provided me writing feedback on my thesis and her warm

encouragement.

Last but not least, my deepest gratitude goes to my family for patiently supporting and

understanding my aspiration. To my husband, Jason Wong, there are no words that can express

my gratitude to him for being my biggest supporter.

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Dedication

To my family in Canada, Japan, and heaven

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

No matter how accessible language learning has become in today’s globalized, digitalized

world, language learners continue to dream about study abroad (SA). The possibilities that SA

encapsulates are not limited to learners’ dramatic improvement of a target language but extend to

interrelated life-changing possibilities, such as attainment of economic and cultural capital,

transnational mobility, and a widened worldview. In order to make the most of their SA

opportunities, learners seek the best SA option for themselves while juggling with their

socioeconomic, sociocultural conditions.

To reflect more diverse needs and wants from learners, SA markets have continued to

grow, diversifying the SA options ranging from durations, countries to school programs. For

example, recent SA programs include short-term SA (e.g., Kang & Pacheco, 2021), language

teachers’ professional development SA (e.g., Wernicke, 2016), and even parent and child SA

(e.g., Igarashi & Yasomoto, 2014; Park & Bae, 2009). Indeed, SA programs have been evolved

over the years by corresponding to various sojourners’ expectations and desires. Furthermore, the

evolution reflects stakeholders’ efforts to produce desirable programs while capitalizing on

available resources.

The evolution of SA today is not entirely positive, however. According to Kommers and

Bista (2021), the current SA practice is rather commercialized than educational and reinforces

socioeconomic inequalities. For example, recent studies have highlighted the unequal

distribution of SA opportunities among learners due to factors such as social class (Sustarsic &

Cheng, 2021) and geographical locations (Ida, 2021). Given how SA experience impacts

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learners’ prospective acquisition of linguistic, economic, and social capitals, Kommers and Bista

(2021) contend the current unequal SA allocation leads to worsening the socioeconomic divides

among learners.

As SA researchers initiated the discussion of equality in relation to current SA practices,

it is also important to shed light on the issues surrounding ethical, impartial SA practices. In the

field of TESOL, the diversification of SA destinations is particularly prominent in recent

decades. Traditionally, English language (EL) learners predominantly pursued their SA in

Western English-dominant countries (WEDCs) to immerse themselves in English spoken by

native speakers of English. However, today, there is an increasing number of EL learners who

choose their SA in Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore and the Philippines (e.g., Choe, 2016;

Jang, 2018; Kobayashi, 2018, 2020; Park & Bae, 2009). Although the diversification of SA

options itself is welcoming, the construction of the SA in these non-Western, non-English-

dominant countries requires critical attention. For example, Yeh (2019) argues the SA in the

Philippines is often promoted as “a cheap alternative” for its incurring cost compared to other SA

destinations (i.e., WEDCs; Yeh, 2019, p. 91). Similarly, Korean jogi yuhak (early study abroad)

families rationalized how their low socioeconomic condition forcefully shaped their decision to

have their children study abroad in Singapore instead of WEDCs (Park, 2014). The term, “cheap

alternative” (Yeh, 2019) suggests that SA in the Philippines or Southeast Asia does not appear to

encapsulate all the hopes that learners hold for their SA, yet it is perceived as sufficient to be a

replacement. Accounts by Park (2014) and Yeh (2019) also reflect that although the newly added

SA in Southeast Asia enacts opportunities for socioeconomically disadvantaged learners to

afford to study abroad, the desirability of Southeast Asian countries as SA destinations is

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contextualized as a less desirable option than WEDCs but selected for the low cost, which is

enabled by cheap labors.

Currently, there is a dearth of research that explores these SA phenomena in Southeast

Asia. However, potential research contributions are abundant given its complex, unique

socioeconomic, sociolinguistic, geographic contexts. The questions include but do not limit to: in

today’s diversified SA market, how do stakeholders of SA in Southeast Asia construct the SA

imaginaries to these learners; and what makes learners choose a specific SA destination in

Southeast Asia, and what hopes and desires are reflected in their decision?

1.2 The purpose of the study and research questions

This thesis focuses on SA in the Philippines pursued by Japanese EL learners and is

aimed to contribute to the existing SA literature by exploring the phenomena that embody the

aforementioned SA trends and filling the existing research gaps. To investigate this SA

phenomenon, the focus of this thesis is twofold. One is to explore ways in which SA in the

Philippines has been imagined and produced toward prospective Japanese sojourners. I drew on

multiple online documents produced by English schools, agencies, and advocates of SA in the

Philippines to explore their discursive production of SA in the Philippines. The other focus is to

examine Japanese EL learners’ SA experience through their post-SA narratives. I recruited

participants who had experience studying in the Philippines and investigated their pre-SA desires

and how their desires were reflected on and (re)shaped through their SA in the Philippines. The

study addresses the following research questions:

RQ1: To what extent and in what ways is the Philippines constructed as a legitimate SA

site?

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RQ2: What are the participants’ desires before departure, and how are these desires

reflected on and reshaped through their SA in the Philippines?

1.3 Definition of terms

In this thesis, study abroad (SA) is defined as “a temporary sojourn of pre-defined

duration, undertaken for educational purposes” (Kinginger, 2009, p. 11). This definition serves to

encapsulate the recent SA contexts of Japanese sojourners, which is characterized by an

increasingly large number of short-term, non-degree-seeking sojourners (Bradford, 2015; Kuroda

et al., 2018).

I will use WEDCs or Western English dominant countries as a reference to Australia,

Canada, New Zealand, the U.S., and the U.K. Although these countries fall under Inner Circle in

Kachru’s (1990) World Englishes framework, I use WEDCs as an alternative to align with

Japanese EL learners’ conceptualization of SA destinations (i.e., the World Englishes model is

not widely known to the target learner population).

I will also use the terms, EL and EL learners, to refer to English learning in the

Philippines and learners who study there respectively. The purpose is to avoid using “ESL,” an

abbreviation of “English as a Second Language,” which typically represents English learning

programs and environment in WEDCs. The English learning program provided in the Philippines

are structurally different from those in WEDCs. In addition, the local sociolinguistic

envirnoments in the Philippines also differs from that of WEDCs since people in the Philippines

primarily use English as a second language, although it is one of the official languages in the

country.

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Finally, I should discuss the term, ‘native speaker (of English),’ which is frequently

discussed and cited in this paper. Although, theoretically, ‘native speaker’ could be presumed to

be someone who speaks English as their first language, the previous research illuminated that the

term is often used with the connotation of their physical and cultural Westernness (e.g., Holiday,

2006; Huggins, 2003; Tajima, 2018). Despite its subjectively categorical and problematic use,

the term, native speaker, is yet pervasively used in the context of EL in Japan. In the discourse of

SA in the Philippines, native speakers are associated with WEDCs, which is believed to be

where native speakers are, whereas the Philippines is not. Being aware of the issue of

reproducing this ideology, I will still cite and use this term, native speakers, to illustrate the

construction of Filipinos as English speakers in the discourse of SA in the Philippines.

1.4 Organization of the thesis

The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One serves as an introduction of the

thesis. Chapter Two provides a review of the relevant literature and the theoretical framework.

Chapter Three provides two methodological approaches, namely document analysis, and a

multiple case study, as well as methods for data collection and data analysis. Chapter Four

presents major findings from the document analysis to answer the first research question (To

what extent and in what ways is the Philippines contextualized as a legitimate SA site?). Chapter

Five provides findings from the multiple case study that answer the second research question

(What were the participants’ language desires before their departure, and how are their desires

reflected on and reshaped through their SA in the Philippines?). Finally, Chapter Six presents a

synthesized discussion of the research findings, followed by implications, limitations, and future

directions for research.

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Chapter 2: Review of the Literature & Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction

In this literature review, I will first lay out the recent SA trends among Japanese

sojourners (Section 2.2). This will be followed by a review of SA literature on Japanese EL

learners, which illuminate the importance of their desires in shaping their SA experience (Section

2.3). Then, I will describe the unique contexts and the history of SA in the Philippines (Section

2.4). Finally, I will illustrate the sociohistorical relationships between Japan and the Philippines,

which adds another complexity to unpack this phenomenon (i.e., SA in the Philippines among

Japanese EL learners) (Section 2.5).

2.2 SA trends among Japanese SA sojourners

Japan Association of Overseas Studies (JAOS) publishes annual statistical reports on

Japanese SA sojourners. According to their reports, there is an emerging trend of SA destinations

among Japanese sojourners, which has been described as “Dominance of America Shifts to

Drastic Diversification of Destinations” (JAOS, 2019, p. 1). Traditionally, among Japanese

sojourners, the U.S. has been the most popular SA destination along with other Western English-

dominant countries (WEDCs), reflecting the construction of SA in association with the West and

English language learning (Fujita, 2009; Kobayashi, 2007; Kubota, 2016; Takahashi, 2013).

Many went on long-term sojourns to these Western countries through various programs,

including university-affiliated programs, the Working Holiday program, and other programs with

the assistance of agencies. Although these WEDCs—specifically, the U.S., Canada, and

Australia—still stand as the top three popular destinations, the declines in their presence have

become notable in recent years (especially the U.S.; Bradford, 2015; JAOS, 2019). By contrast,

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non-Western countries, especially neighboring Asian countries, have been successfully alluring

Japanese sojourners to study in their countries (Bradford, 2015; JAOS, 2019; Kuroda et al.,

2018). Among them, the Philippines’ skyrocketing popularity is exceptional, doubling the

number of Japanese sojourners in the last several years (JAOS, 2016, 2017, 2019; Kobayashi,

2020).

In addition, there is another trend among Japanese SA sojourners, which is to seek

multiple SA opportunities in different locations. According to Kobayashi (2020), an emerging

group of Japanese sojourners go to study abroad more than once to explore multiple regions.

Kobayashi’s (2020) survey illuminates how these sojourners go between Southeast Asian and

Western countries.

In sum, it is suggestive that Japanese sojourners have started to explore and take

advantage of multiple, diverse SA experiences, although little is yet known about their purpose

and perceptions of their SA experiences. It should also be noted that while the SA locations and

frequencies have been shifting, what remains unchanged is the purpose of their SA, which is to

learn the lingua franca of this era—English (JAOS, 2016, 2017, 2021).

2.3 Japanese EL learners’ SA in Western, English-dominant countries (WEDCs)

The vast majority of research on Japanese sojourners has been conducted in Western,

English-dominant countries (WEDCs), namely, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New

Zealand. Researchers have investigated Japanese EL learners’ SA from various aspects, but

largely in relation to their SA motives (e.g., Durbidge, 2017; Fukada, 2019; Kobayashi, 2007;

Macshane, 2013; Takahashi, 2013), the perception of the SA destination (both place and people;

e.g., Kitano, 2020; Nonaka, 2018a; Yoshii, 2016), English learning during SA (Fukada, 2019;

Shima, 2011; Takahashi, 2013) and their identity construction (Fryer & Roger, 2018; Kitano,

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2020; Takahashi, 2013). Findings suggest that these four inquiries are interlinked with one

another, and often encapsulated in one concept: their desire. Their desire, for example, includes

the desire to improve English, the desire to develop specific English skills (often

communicative), the desire to use English with their desired Others, the desire to live in their

place of longing, and the desire to become the self that they believe they can be at the SA

destination.

In this section, I review studies focusing on the Japanese EL learners’ desires, and how it

shapes their overall SA. As a whole, this section aims to illuminate how their multiple desires

intersect, entangle, and assemble to shape the learners’ SA decision and experience. To do so, I

address three different types of desires: language desires; language-unrelated desires; and

akogare.

2.3.1 Language-related desires

In the Japanese TESOL industry, the problematic presence and production of native

speakers have been prominent, having attracted scholarly attention over decades (e.g., Houghton

& Rivers, 2013; Houghton, Rivers, & Hashimoto, 2018). Despite the scholarly efforts to

dismantle this concept, the last two decades continued to witness the permeation of native

speakerism in Japan, including native speakers being produced as Western-looking others and

that learning English from native speakers, is associated with the path to more correct, more

proper English (綺麗な英語) (e.g., Bailey, 2006; Seargeant, 2005; Tajima, 2018).

Native speakerism permeating in Japan is intertwined with Japanese EL learners’ desires

for SA and how they imagine and construct their SA. Before their SA, Japanese EL learners’

motives for SA are often constructed upon their assumption that they could practice English with

their imagined native speakers during SA, and this environment would enable them to acquire

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communicative English abilities (e.g., Kato & Reeder, 2015; Kobayashi, 2007; Nonaka, 2018a;

Takahashi, 2013; Yoshii, 2016). When learners arrive at their SA destination, they act upon to

actualize their SA imaginaries. Specifically, many seek opportunities to practice English with

their imagined native speakers in various contexts: from homestay, room-sharing, volunteer,

language exchanges, campus clubs, home parties, and even pubs (Fukada, 2019; Kato & Reeder,

2015; Takahashi, 2013). In other words, SA is imagined and pursued as a site where their desire

to become proficient English speakers would be fulfilled due to the presence of native speakers.

However, while some learners have successful outcomes to socialize with their desired

Others, many are forced to realize that SA does not grant them automatic access to their

desirable interlocutors (Fukada, 2019; Kato & Reeder, 2015; Takahashi, 2013). Through these

socializations and sociocultural contexts during SA, learners’ language desires diverge. Put

differently, the desires brought from home initially navigate their language learning in the early

stage of SA (Shima, 2011), but SA reality does not always align with what they have imagined.

As a result, this reshapes their language desires. Takahashi’s (2013) study particularly illustrates

this aspect through her ethnography of female Japanese EL learners in Australia, all of whom

initially sought chances to practice English with Australian native speakers. Their unsuccessful

learning experience, however, shaped their desires and learning approaches differently, leading

some participants to socialize with non-local, non-White English speakers. Other studies on

Japanese EL learners abroad (e.g., Fukada, 2019; Kato & Reeder, 2015; Nonaka, 2018a) also

documented similar findings, illuminating how English learning during SA reshapes their

language desire, especially in terms of their desired English-speaking interlocutors.

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2.3.2 Language-unrelated desires and factors

Even though Japanese sojourners predominantly list English learning as “the” reason to

study abroad or it is often conventionally assumed as such, this single factor does not usually

drive them to study abroad. In fact, their decision to study abroad is often fueled by their

language-unrelated desires (e.g., Kitano, 2020; Macshane, 2013; Takahashi, 2013; Oikonomidoy

& Williams, 2021). This is probably because there are numerous ways they can access English

learning within Japan (e.g., self-help books, in-person and online eikaiwa lessons, cram schools).

Since English learning opportunities in Japan are accessible, Japanese EL learners seem to be

driven to pursue SA only when they have another, different desire embodied in their SA. For

example, the desire to take a break from school/work as well as to be away from home.

In his study of Japanese adult EL learners in New Zealand, Macshane (2013) documented

that seven out of eight adult participants were motivated to study abroad for the purpose of

“catharsis” from their busy and stressful work lives (p. 66). New Zealand was imagined as a

place of “a slow life” and where they can be “free” in contrast to their lives in Japan (pp. 73-74).

In the case of Yoko from Takahashi’s (2013) study, it was when she was undergoing her divorce

that she made the decision to study abroad (pp. 47-48). In her case, SA was imagined not only as

a tool to fulfill her dream of living abroad and mastering English but also a method to reject her

expected identity of “a miserable divorcee” in her closed local community.

Thus, SA appears as a legitimate option under certain social, economic circumstances,

which produce and fuel these sojourners’ language-unrelated desires. Furthermore, as

Macshane’s (2013) finding suggests, these language-unrelated desires are closely tied to their

personal and social contexts before SA, often accelerating learners’ romanticization of the SA

destination being different from their home. This romanticization of the SA destination will be

11

further discussed in the following section of akogare. In sum, the language-unrelated desires and

factors play an important role in prospective sojourners’ decision to study abroad.

2.3.3 Akogare (憧れ)

Akogare is interrelated to both language-related and language-unrelated desires. It is

often conceptualized as desire, yearning, or longing for the West—including the place, the

people, the ways of living, and the language (Kelsky, 2001; Kobayashi, 2007; Takahashi, 2013).

As the English language symbolizes the advanced, admirable Western world in Japan (Kubota,

1998), akogare has been a frequently explored topic in the field of TESOL and SA studies (e.g.,

Bailey, 2006; Fujita, 2009; Kitano, 2020; Kobayashi, 2007; Kubota, 2011; Nonaka, 2018b;

Takahashi, 2013). This Occidental desire has particularly been scrutinized in relation to the

association of learning English with the romanticized Western world and the construction of

racialized native speakers (Bailey, 2006; Takahashi, 2013).

Another key aspect of akogare is that it has developed as Japanese women’s

romanticization of the West and Western men. It is also often considered that this sexualized

desire reflects the power dynamics that play out in these women’s lives in the patriarchal home

society (Kelsky, 2001, Kobayashi, 2007; Takahashi, 2013). Recently, however, this gendered

construction of akogare has been contested and challenged by Japanese female scholars. For

example, through her study of the internationalization of higher education in Japan, Nonaka

(2018b) reconceptualized akogare as “an object that is tantalizingly out of reach” in addition to

Japanese women’s desire for Western-looking men (pp. 4-5). Kitano (2020) studied Japanese

male and female sojourners in the UK and argued that akogare is “an individualized and

contextualized desire that mirrors the desires of society” (p. 215). In sum, the existing literature

12

points to the shifting phase of akogare, as well as the necessity to investigate akogare from a

more diverse population among Japanese SA sojourners.

2.3.4 Implications

In the above review, I have illuminated how Japanese EL learners’ SA is motivated,

triggered, imagined, and actualized through an investigation of their desires. The relevant studies

shed light on two important implications. First, sojourners’ stories such as Yoko from Takahashi

(2013) illuminates that even if Japanese EL learners have the desire to study abroad and learn

English, this does not lead to their immediate decision to study abroad. The release of their

desires at a specific time and space reflects the reality where their decision to study abroad is

constrained by multiple factors. According to Benesse Education Research and Development

Institute (2012), the participants listed multiple factors that hindered or constrained their decision

to study abroad, including lack of SA information, financial burden, opposition from their

parents and teachers. The data also suggested that the self-assessment of their low English

proficiency was the most significant factor that impacted their decision against SA even though

the primary purpose of SA was listed as language development (Benesse, 2012). Various desires

shape their SA decision dynamically, and sometimes contradictorily. In this regard, the presence

of language-unrelated desires in consolidating and accelerating their decision to study abroad is

noteworthy (Macshane, 2013; Takahashi, 2013).

Second, SA often entails imagination of the destination as more desiring than home in

one way or another, leading to SA sojourners’ romanization of the place, the people, and the

language. As Macshane (2013) illustrates, romanticization seems to reflect the hardship and

difficulty that they face in living in their home society (also refer to Kelsky, 2001; Kitano, 2020;

Oikonomidoy & Williams, 2021; Takahashi, 2013). Their struggle might contribute to

13

constructing their SA imaginaries (Kubota, 2016), emphasizing the differences between the SA

destination and their home, constructing the former more appealing.

As a whole, previous studies point to the importance of the contextual realities of each

learner’s life before and during SA in understanding their SA experience and desires embodied.

Furthermore, the current precarious, reconceptualizing stage of akogare suggests that the

exploration of Japanese EL learners’ desire is a timely topic. Given how SA among Japanese

sojourners has been constructed in association with their imaginary West, the present study is

aimed to explore their SA and English learning from a different setting, specifically in the

Philippines.

2.4 Japanese EL learners’ SA in the Philippines

2.4.1 Unique SA contexts in the Philippines

According to Kinginger (2009), there are three major settings in which learners gain

exposure to their target language during SA: classroom learning, accommodation, and informal

interactions outside the classroom (p. 115). Drawing on these three aspects, below I illuminate

how unique and peculiar the context of SA in the Philippines is in comparison to the

counterparting one in WEDCs.

The first major unique context of SA in the Philippines is its accommodation. In WEDCs,

typical accommodations during SA are homestay or room-share (e.g., Fujita, 2009; Fukada,

2019; Takahashi, 2013; Yoshii, 2016), and the underlying expectation is that by living with local

families or friends, learners can gain daily exposure to English spoken by expert speakers in

natural settings (Kinginger, 2009). During their SA in WEDCs, Japanese EL learners particularly

expect and desire Western-looking locals to be their host family or roommates, reflecting their

14

perception of racialized authentic speakers of English (Takahashi, 2013; Yoshii, 2016). In the

Philippines, however, the accommodation is very different as most English schools offer dorm

accommodation inside the schools (Haisa & Watanabe, 2015). Although students can meet other

students, most of them are Japanese or Korean, and their level of proficiency is of little

difference from the learners themselves (Haisa & Watanabe, 2015). In sum, the dorm

accommodation in the Philippines does not allow students to speak English with locals as they

imagine doing in WEDCs.

In addition, “locals” that the learners can meet outside the school in the Philippines do

not align with the typically imagined native English speakers in EL contexts (e.g., White). Thus,

informal interactions outside of the classroom in the Philippines essentially differ from those in

WEDCs. As discussed, since Japanese EL learners initially desire to speak English with

Western-looking Others, this aspect of SA in the Philippines is perplexing: do learners expect to

practice English with “locals” in the Philippines in the same way they desire to do so in

WEDCs?

The last point is the classroom environment in the Philippines, which is distinctive in at

least three ways. First, while the ESL student body in the WEDCs is diverse, EL students in the

Philippines are primarily Korean or Japanese, as discussed (Haisa & Watanabe, 2015). Second,

while ESL schools in WEDCs predominantly offer group lessons, classes in the Philippines are

predominantly offered in a one-on-one format. Finally, these private lessons are taught primarily

by local Filipino instructors.

These comparisons between SA in the Philippines and WEDC illuminate that the general

school system in the Philippines is fundamentally different from the ones in WEDCs. It is also

suggestive that the learners’ expectation for SA in the Philippines does not align with how they

15

traditionally imagine and desire SA (in WEDCs). To follow, I introduce a brief history of SA in

the Philippines. I then explore the relevant literature to answer the following questions: Do

learners hope to practice and develop English in the Philippines as they would in WEDCs? If

not, given these contextual differences, what discourses support the idea of the Philippines as a

legitimate place to study English for Japanese EL learners?

2.4.2 A brief history of SA in the Philippines

SA in the Philippines started in South Korea roughly in the 1990s when Korean

entrepreneurs realized the possibility of the Philippines as an English learning site, and started to

found English schools there (for more detail, refer to Haisa & Watanabe, 2015). According to

Haisa and Watanabe (2015), in Japan, this phenomenon was initially introduced as a “Korean”

phenomenon in the media, emphasizing the Japanese people’s resistance toward English learning

in Asia.

However, roughly since 2010, the boom of SA in the Philippines was also observable in

the Japanese market. According to JAOS (2017, 2019), the numbers of Japanese sojourners who

went to the Philippines have multiplied in the last several years, and in 2019, the Philippines

became the fourth popular SA destination among Japanese sojourners, exceeding the number of

those who went to the UK (JAOS, 2019). In the 2010s, Japanese entrepreneurs also started to

establish English schools in the Philippines as well as took over Korean-owned schools.

According to Ikeda (2020), currently, there are 154 English schools in the Philippines, half of

which are Japanese-owned, and the rest are primarily run by Koreans (p. 2). There was also a

shift in the dominant media discourse of SA in the Philippines: roughly since 2010, Japanese

media started to contextualize the SA in the Philippines as a boom in Japan although initially

reported it as a Korean thing (Haisa & Watanabe, 2013). In other words, the last decade

16

witnessed the dynamic shift in the attitude toward SA in the Philippines within the Japanese

society.

In this discussion of the development of SA in the Philippines, the neoliberal facet of the

phenomenon also requires scholarly attention. The Department of Tourism (DoT) of the

Philippines started to promote these English schools as a part of its national “education tourism”

in 2010 (Saavedra, 2019). The DoT particularly geared their attention to Korean and Japanese

EL learners and promoted this industry actively to those groups by sending delegates and being

part of local SA forums in these countries (Kobayashi, 2018; Yeh, 2019). The DoT particularly

advertises this new industry by promoting Filipinos as one of the most proficient English

speakers in Asia and their offering of one-on-one lessons, calling the latter as something

offerable only in their country (Saavedra, 2019). This ESL tourism is reminiscent of the

country’s outsourcing business, in the sense that the country leverages its English-proficient

citizens to attract more foreign currencies in both industries (Choe, 2016; Tupas & Salonga,

2016).

2.4.3 Japanese EL learners’ SA in the Philippines

Despite the surging popularity and its unique contexts of SA, there are only a few studies

that explored Japanese EL learners’ SA in the Philippines (e.g., Haisa, 2016; Haisa & Watanabe,

2015; Ikeda, 2020; Kobayashi, 2020). These studies, however, have illuminated three major

findings. First, Haisa and Watanabe’s (2015) pre-, during-, and post-SA interviews revealed that

Japanese EL learners generally presented positive attitudes towards their Filipino instructors.

Second, the same research project also illuminated that Japanese learners valued

communicability rather than accuracy in English learning (Haisa, 2016; Haisa & Watanabe,

2015). Finally, Ikeda’s (2020) large-scale mixed study on 103 Japanese university students

17

concluded that SA in the Philippines improved these learners’ confidence in their use of English.

These findings seem to suggest positive SA experiences in the Philippines. These studies overall

suggest that Japanese EL learners might not be as obsessed with learning from and speaking with

native speakers as previously documented. As Kirkpatrick (2014) advocated, it might seem that

studying English in Asia is free from native-speaker norms.

However, further investigations reveal more complex, nuanced Japanese EL learners’

perceptions of Filipinos as English speakers and attitudes toward SA in the Philippines. For

example, Haisa’s (2016) study also illuminated that despite his participants’ little concern for

Filipino accents, this did not mean that they viewed Filipinos as equally desirable English

speakers as those who speak English as their first language (pp. 10-11). One participant (H) even

tested his proficiency at the end of his SA in the Philippines by attending a school taught all by

(who the school promoted as) “native speakers” (Haisa, 2016, p. 11). His choice of native

speaker instructors as the final assessors of his English is implicative that native speaker norms

are prevalent even in the Philippines. Similarly, in Kobayashi’s (2020) large-scale survey, one of

her respondents rationalized her decision to go to the U.S. after studying in the Philippines in

order to get used to “natural English” (生きた英語; p. 6).

If these Japanese EL learners want to learn from and speak like native speakers, why do

they choose to study in the Philippines? One hypothesis is that SA in the Philippines is

understood as a springboard toward native speakers and/or WEDCs (Jang, 2018). It was

previously drawn to conceptualize the phenomenon of Korean EL learners who first studied in

Singapore or the Philippines, then went on their full-fledged SA in WEDCs (Jang, 2018; Park,

2014). Some Japanese EL learners positioned SA in the Philippines in a similar way, as observed

in participants from Haisa’s (2016) and Kobayashi’s (2020) studies. In Kobayashi’s (2020)

18

survey, some of her participants elaborated that they went to the Philippines “to study English

from the basics” or “as a trial” before their ultimate SA in WEDCs (p. 8).

One factor that might contribute to the conceptualization of the Philippines as a

springboard is its affordability. For example, although they initially had no intention to go to the

Philippines, Korean EL learners added the SA in the Philippines before going to a WEDC due to

the low cost and the promotion from agencies (Jang, 2018). This aspect, however, is not much

studied in the context of Japanese EL learners: the cost has been assumed as what motivates

them to study in the Philippines (e.g., Haisa, 2016). In sum, these studies illuminate possible

factors that drive EL learners to study English in the Philippines, although given the number of

studies, especially in the case of Japanese EL learners, it remains not thoroughly investigated.

2.4.4 Implications

In sum, the current findings seem to suggest that Japanese EL learners in the Philippines

had what Kobayashi (2020) and Haisa (2016) call “tolerance” toward the non-native variety of

English, rather than appreciating it intrinsically or as an equally legitimate form. Nonetheless,

given the limited number of empirical studies, this speculation requires more empirical findings

to be conceptualized.

In addition, while the previous studies have explored the schools’ facilities and SA

environments offered by schools (e.g., Haisa & Watanabe, 2015), what is not clear is how these

schools and agencies produce and market SA in the Philippines toward Japanese EL learners.

Although any SA entails social imaginaries of the place and people, some SA imaginaries are

more purposefully constructed by the stakeholders. Given the fact that a large number of the

English schools in the Philippines are privately owned, their marketing pitch and discursive

production could play a large role in how the SA is imagined and experienced by the learners.

19

The idea of SA imaginary is a concept that is increasingly attracting scholarly attention

(Kubota, 2016; Moreno, 2021; Pipestone, 2018). Pipitone (2018) particularly problematizes how

SA has been marketed and constructed in the way that it “reproduce[s] hierarchies of power and

colonialism” (p. 55). The Philippines is not an exception for its postcolonial present particularly

shaped under American influence, especially in terms of their language education (Kachru,

1990). In SA contexts, some English schools in the Philippines trained the local Filipino teachers

to speak with American accents in order to lure Korean EL learners to their schools (Choe,

2016). This construction of Filipino instructors reflects the dominant language ideology

(American accent > Filipino accents) and SA’s potential function to reproduce it. In this regard,

SA in the Philippines might be a nexus of postcolonial power dynamics and legitimacy of non-

dominant English varieties.

Despite the contextual peculiarities, there is hardly any exploration of the discursive

production of SA in the Philippines. The investigation into the discursive production of SA in the

Philippines might address the enigma behind its surging popularity in the Japanese market. To

follow, I discuss the sociohistorical relationships between Japan and the Philippines, which adds

another complexity to unpack this SA phenomenon.

2.5 Sociohistorical relationships between the Philippines and Japan

In this section, I discuss the sociohistorical relationships between the Philippines and

Japan, focusing on the occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese armed forces from 1942 to

1945 and the flux of Filipino migrants to Japan from late 1980 to today. The aim of this section

is to illustrate geoeconomic, sociohistorical power relationships between the two countries

20

reflected in the colonization and migration patterns, for which the Japanese people’s pursuit of

SA in the Philippines is different from their SA in WEDCs.

The exploitation of Filipinos and the Philippines by the Japanese traces back to the

Japanese’s colonization of the Philippines during the Pacific War. The inception of the

occupation was marked by “the ‘death march’ of about 78,000 Filipino and American prisoners

of war” (Fresnoza-Flot, 2008, p. 78), and this march was followed by various forms of exactions

from forced labor and sexual slavery imposed on comfort women. Filipinas, like many other

women from the rest of Asia, were abducted and raped by the Japanese armed forces.

Throughout the archipelago, there were more than 20 comfort stations in the Philippines, where

not only Filipinas but also Korean and Chinese women were believed to be stationed (Asian

Women’s Fund, n.d.).

While the exploitation of the Philippines (both place and people) during the war was

characterized by militaristic force, the postcolonial period underwent the economically driven

exploitation of Filipinas. As of 2016, there are 243, 662 Filipino residents in Japan (Takahata,

2018), the majority of whom migrated to Japan roughly between 1980 to 2000 triggered by the

Philippine economic collapse in 1985. A large number of Filipinos migrated to different

countries, among which Japan was the second most popular destination due to its proximity and

a booming economy (Anderson, 2005). The migration from its neighboring countries was a

welcoming movement for Japan as well since these migrants took over the unpopular jobs in the

domestic market: manufacturing, agriculture, and service industries (Piquero-Ballescas, 2000).

These occupations were called “3K” standing for kitanai (汚い/dirty); kiken (危険/dangerous);

and kitsui (きつい/difficult), reflecting their undesirability among Japanese citizens (Docot,

2009). This meant for these migrants that their racioethnically distinguishable appearance

21

intersected with their low-class occupations in homogenous Japan, and they in fact often fell

under the victims of discrimination.

While there were also migrants from different parts of Asia, Anderson (2005) argues that

Filipinos particularly fell under “a principal target of Japanese discrimination” (p. 817). The

majority of Filipino migrants were women, and they predominantly worked as entertainers in so-

called Philippine pubs (フィリピンパブ; Anderson, 2005; Docot, 2009; Takahata, 2018,

Uchida, 2016). These Filipina entertainers worked “[to] provide companionship services that

ranged from chatting and drinking with the customers to dancing in nude shows and offering

sexual services” (Uchida, 2016, p. 88).

These pubs were obtrusive for the unethical treatments of these Filipina entertainers. For

example, these entertainers were forced to work for extremely low wages and under harsh work

environments and even threatened in terms of their illegal status in Japan (Abe, 2005; Suzuki,

2000). Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of State, these jobs were a part of human

trafficking that occurred in Japan (Gridley, 2019). The 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report

stated “Japan issued 55,000 entertainer visas to women from the Philippines in 2003, many of

whom are suspected of having become trafficking victims” (U.S. Department of State, 2004, p.

14).

The savage living condition produced two dominant discourses of Filipinas in Japan. One

is that they are “victims” who were exploited under low wages under tough labor conditions

(Suzuki, 2000, p. 142). On the other hand, they were also imagined as “cunning scavengers” who

tried to get out of their economic despair by marrying a rich Japanese man (Suzuki, 2000, p.

142). Both of the discourses are built upon the assumption that Filipinas are poor and powerless

members of the Third World whereas Japanese people are of power and wealth as the First

22

World citizens, functioning to reproduce dominant ideologically driven discourses and the

unequal power dynamics (Abe, 2004; Anderson, 2005; Suzuki, 2000).

Today, the occupations of Filipinos in Japan have been relatively diversified. Due to the

Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), Filipino nurses and caregivers

have started to enter and work in Japan as care workers since 2008. In addition, due to the

booming online eikaiwa businesses (英会話: English conversation), the presence of Filipinos as

eikaiwa instructors in Japan has also become prominent in the recent decade (Tajima, 2018).

However, diversification of Filipinos’ occupations does not simply lead to the social

acceptance or embracement of them in Japanese society. Lopez (2012) contends that othering of

Filipino is still pervasive in Japan, claiming the addition of these new vocational categories is

merely “a shift in form but not in substance” (p. 265). Likewise, Tajima (2018) argues that the

eikaiwa online businesses only serve to replicate “pre-existent unequal relationships between

Japan and the Philippines, and between Japanese men and Filipinas” (p. 150). Thus, as scholars

such as Suzuki (2017) problematize, the Filipinas’ current living conditions in the Japanese

society and social treatment by the Japanese continue to embody structural and discursive

oppressions.

In this section, I explored the sociohistorical relationships between Japan and the

Philippines, focusing on the power dynamics among Japanese and Filipinos. The review from the

colonial history to the recent migration of Filipinos consistently illuminates the militaristic,

socioeconomic power dynamics that the Japanese leverage to exploit Filipinos. Japanese people

imagined and constructed Filipinas and the Philippines in a specific way, which are reflected in

the dominant discourses (e.g., construction of Filipinas as victims, scavengers, members of the

Third World).

23

In her analysis of the role of English in Japan, Kubota (1998) contended that while the

West was deemed being advanced and superior, the rest of Asia was imagined as what Japan

wished to identify apart from, something less developed and inferior. This present section

demonstrates the Japanese people’s historical mistreatment of Filipinos and the Philippines,

which is reminiscent of how Kubota (1998) described Japan’s attitude toward the rest of Asia

two decades ago. However, what is different in the SA context is that Japanese people are going

to the Philippines to learn English, a symbol of the Western World in the Japanese context,

which renders SA in the Philippines pursued by Japanese EL learners unique and peculiar.

2.6 Summary

In the first half of this literature review, I have illuminated desires encapsulated in

Japanese EL learners’ SA, which are both language-related and -unrelated. I have also addressed

the concept of akogare, Occidental desire found among Japanese sojourners to WEDCs. In the

latter half of the literature review, I have illustrated the unique context of SA in the Philippines

especially for Japanese EL learners; empirical studies on SA in the Philippines among Korean

and Japanese EL learners; and sociohistorical relationships between Japan and the Philippines.

This literature review section as a whole aim to illustrate unique research contexts of SA in the

Philippines pursued by Japanese EL learners from sociocultural, socioeconomic, and historical

perspectives. To follow, I will address the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the present

research.

24

2.7 Theoretical framework

2.7.1 Introduction

In this section, I first introduce the construct of desire in the field of TESOL (Cameron &

Kulick, 2003; Motha & Lin, 2014; Sharma, 2020; Takahashi, 2013). This will be followed by the

concept of desire from the Deleuzian perspective, which underpins my analysis of desire as a

productive force (Colebrook, 2020; Collins, 2018; Deleuze & Guattari, 1983, 1987; Jackson &

Mazzei, 2012; Kozinet et al., 2017). Then, I present poststructuralist discourse analysis (Harissi

et. al., 2012; Kramsch, 2013, 2014; McNamara, 2019; Norton & Morgan, 2013; Søndergaard,

2002) as this is the perspective that underpins my analysis of how the SA in the Philippines is

discursively produced. The chapter concludes with a summary of theoretical perspectives that

guide the present study.

2.7.2 Desire in TESOL

Language desire is a construct that has been actively theorized recently in the field of

TESOL (e.g., Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Fleming et al., 2018; Motha & Lin, 2014; Kubota, 2020;

Piller & Takahashi, 2006; Sharma, 2020; Takahashi, 2013). Traditionally, under the influence of

Freudian psychology and psychoanalysis, desire had been considered as an unconscious internal

process in relation to libido (i.e., sexual desire; Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Motha & Lin, 2014;

Parr, 2005; Piller & Takahashi, 2006). In contrast, desire in language learning has developed as a

social construct that covers a wider range of wants. One way to characterize its current

conceptualization is by its (1) multiplicity; (2) intersubjectivity; (3) interactive relationship with

language learning; and (4) analytical potential to scrutinize global hierarchies of power

25

(Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Motha & Lin, 2014; Piller & Takahashi, 2006; Sharma, 2020;

Takahashi, 2013). In what follows, I will elaborate on each area.

First, Takahashi (2013) highlights multiplicity to define language desire as “a bundle of

desires—desire for identity transformation, for a mastery of a desired language, and/or for

friendship/ romance with a speaker of the desired language—all of which intersect with one

another” (p. 7). As her definition illustrates, a learner’s desires are multiple, informed by how

their target language, the language speakers, and the world mediated by the language are

imagined by the learner. These desires are personal and localized because they are shaped by

their social, historical, political, and economic contexts (Motha & Lin, 2014).

Second, Motha and Lin (2014) theorize desire to reflect its intersubjective nature. Their

framework focuses on the co-construction of desire, and how a learner’s desire overlaps and is

shaped through the desires of other stakeholders (e.g., teacher, school, parents, government).

These multiple stakeholders’ desires might not be explicitly transmitted, but are encapsulated in

and conveyed through various mediums ranging from education policy, curriculum, teaching

methods, to career requirements, media coverage, and daily conversations. In addition, one’s

desires could overlap one another, and be enforced from multiple settings across time. In a way,

a learner’s desire is shaped and mediated by other stakeholders’ desires “in powerful but

invisible ways” (Motha & Lin, 2014, p. 336).

Third, language desires and language learning are interactive in terms of their

relationship: not only does desire shape language learning, the learning experience, and

positive/negative outcomes also (re)shape their desires. Takahashi (2013) illuminates this aspect

by exploring how Japanese EL learners’ desire mediated their approaches to English learning

during their SA, and the unsuccessful learning experience reshaped their desires. In addition, her

26

findings then illuminated that language desire also intrudes into their broader life trajectory (e.g.,

migration and romantic relationship; Takahashi, 2013). Language desire in this regard should be

understood for its dynamics in shaping one’s real-life beyond language learning.

Fourth, desire distinguishes itself from similar, interrelated concepts (e.g., investment and

motivation) for its analytical power to unveil the influence of global-scale inequalities over

language learning. Through his investigation of Nepali trekking male guides’ English learning,

Sharma (2020) illuminated that the participants’ language desires—particularly their desires to

learn English and be in a relationship with White female tourists—reflect the global inequality

between “developed” and “developing” worlds (pp. 19-20). With his finding, Sharma (2020)

argues that desire enables the scrutinization of “global hierarchies in terms of political

economies, ethnicity, and gender” (p. 2).

To summarize, language desire in TESOL is theorized in terms of its multiple and

intersubjective nature, interactive relationship with language learning, and analytical power to

scrutinize global hierarchies of power. These facets shed light on how language desires are

shaped through and reflect the orchestration of global and local discourses, and societal and

individual contextual realities.

2.7.2.1 Summary and relevance to this study

The previous development of desire (e.g., Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Fleming et al., 2018;

Motha & Lin, 2014; Sharma, 2020; Takahashi, 2013) demonstrated that desire is a crucial factor

that impacts one’s language learning and that could be further theorized. However, the concept is

much less drawn upon, especially compared to investment (Norton, 2000) and motivation

(Dörnyei, 2009). This thesis, therefore, is aimed to fill the existing gap by contributing to the

theorization of desire. I consider Japanese learners’ SA in the Philippines is a relevant topic

27

given that the research context entails global-scale economic, sociohistorical, and sociolinguistic

hierarchies, particularly among Japan, the Philippines, and the West.

While the current conceptualization of desire in TESOL demonstrates close links

between language desires and language learning, I argue that this might not be sufficient in

conceptualizing all learners’ learning trajectories. Learners do not always pursue their language

learning that purely or straightforwardly reflects their language desires. As discussed in the

literature review, the relationship of language learning and their desires appear to be more

complicated in the context of SA in the Philippines: EL learners in the Philippines seem to

choose to study in the Philippines despite their desire to speak like native speakers and/or to

learn from them (Haisa, 2016; Jang, 2018). Thus, the current conceptualization of desire in

TESOL might not be sufficient in analyzing the desire of Japanese EL learners in the Philippines.

To fully encapsulate the dynamic relationship of desires and SA, I utilized Deleuzian desire as an

additional conceptual framework, which is explained in the following section.

2.7.3 Desire from a Deleuzian perspective

One of my aims in this thesis was to understand why Japanese EL learners study English

in the Philippines, and what desires led them to the path. To do so, I wanted to explore various

desires, including both language-related and -unrelated desires, how multiple desires intersect

with one another, and how these desires assembled to become a force that drove learners to a

specific path (i.e., SA in the Philippines). For this purpose, I drew on the concept of desire from

a Deleuzian perspective, including two subconcepts: assemblage and blockage (Colebrook, 2020;

Collins, 2018; Deleuze & Guattari, 1983, 1987; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012; Kozinet et al., 2017).

28

French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (and his co-author Guattari) drew desire as the main

conceptual framework to understand the social world (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983, 1987).

Previously, desire had foregrounded its origin in the notion of lack through psychoanalysis

(Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Collins, 2018; Motha & Lin, 2014). Deleuze departed from this

tradition and viewed desire as socially generated, stating that “there is only desire and the social,

and nothing else” (Deleuze & Guattari, 1983, p. 83).

Even if an individual has a certain desire, this does not necessarily lead them to actualize

it. One’s desire would be actualized when the combination of desires and desired objects are

harmoniously interlinked with one another to become a functionable “assemblage” (i.e., desiring

machine; Colebrook, 2020; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012; Kozinet et al., 2017). For example, even if

a learner has a desire to study abroad, their desire might not pave its path unless there is a school,

an agency, and a country that welcomes them. In other words, desire requires other stakeholders

to have desires that match with the learner’s one(s) to constitute the assemblage.

Assemblage is unpredictable in its formation. Before becoming a productive force,

assemblage could be blocked (i.e., blockage), which leads to a reconfiguration of assemblage

(Collins, 2018; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012; Kozinet et al., 2017). For example, in Collins’ (2018)

study, a Southeast Asian male, Tulus, initially desired to migrate to Japan. However, he

eventually migrated to South Korea because his initial plan collapsed after not being able to

obtain work permits from the Japanese government. In other words, the desired object

(permission to work in Japan) was not part of the assemblage, leading to the reconfiguration of

the assemblage with an available, desirable alternative. The permission to work in South Korea

for him was something that might be different from his initial choice but still reflects his desires.

29

Analyzing desire from a Deleuzian perspective is to unpack the phenomenon in the real

world with the premise that actions or movements are not merely “a consciously willed personal

decision” (Massumi, 1992, p. 95) or what a subject is fully in control of. It enables researchers to

shed light on the fact that one’s action is the combination of (conscious and unconscious)

decisions made through interweaving one’s desires to desirable (and available) objects.

Deleuze and Guattari (1987) insist that “the analysis of desire is immediately practical

and political” (p. 203). Desire is associated with power as one’s desires are contingent on social

structures and ideological landscape. Deleuze particularly addresses the capitalist economy as a

key social structure, where desire is fabricated in contemporary society (Deleuze & Guattari,

1983). In the capitalist economy, the flow of capitals produces the meanings attached to the

objects, and objects are constantly de/re/coded in relation to the flow of capitals that it produces

(Colebrook, 2020; Pfeifer, 2017). As our lives are inseparable from the capitalist economy,

desires are produced and circulated in this economic system.

Meanings attached to an object (e.g., desirable)—whether the object is a material, an

action, people, or place—are not fixed. Instead, they are to be constantly de/re-coded as the

social world keeps reshaping itself across time and space (Cameron & Kulick, 2003; Colebrook,

2020; Collins, 2018; Pfeifer, 2017). Coding is a process of discursive production, and re/de-

coding occurs through discursive negotiation and contestation. Thus, discourse or texts is viewed

as a site where researchers can observe “actual desires expressed by real people” (Cameron &

Kulick, 2003, p. 104).


In sum, the Deleuzian approach to desire is useful in language studies because the

concept enables scholars to explore “whether and how different kinds of relations emit desire,

30

fabricate it and/or block it, exhaust it” (Cameron & Kulick, 2003, p. 97, emphasis added).

Drawing on Deleuzian desire as an analytical concept particularly served as an important

addition to my research because it embraces unexpectedness of the outcome and capitalistic

influence over desire. As demonstrated in the literature review, the Philippines does not seem to

be an embodiment of Japanese EL learners’ first choices, but yet something that reflects their

desires in other ways. In sum, in this research, through Deleuzian desire, I aim to illuminate how

multiple waves of forces encourage, channel, and impede Japanese EL learners’ desires and lead

them to a certain trajectory (i.e., to study English in the Philippines).

2.7.4 Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis

Poststructuralist discourse analysis (e.g., Harissi et al., 2012; Kramsch, 2013, 2014;

McNamara, 2019; Norton & Morgan, 2013; Weedon, 1997) was utilized as an analytical lens to

investigate my research questions. I believe that language plays a central role in producing

meanings that an individual attaches to their experience and the reality that they are in. This

aligns with the epistemological underpinning of poststructuralism, which posits discourse as a

site of meaning-making, and where individuals construct the world as well as envision who we

are in relation. In sum, discourse is where we develop our subjectivity (Kramsch, 2012; Norton

& Morgan, 2013; Søndergaard, 2002).

This view of language suggests two things. First, our subjectivity is constrained by

language which is enabled at a specific time and space (Kramsch, 2014; McNamara, 2019;

Norton & Morgan, 2013). How we imagine and understand the world and ourselves to be is

limited by the contextual reality we live in and the language that is available from the previous

discourses. For example, while the current globalized world and the diplomatic and migration

31

history enable us to imagine what “Korean Americans” are as a reference to U.S. citizens or

residents of Korean heritage, the current political conditions make it difficult to make sense of a

word compound, “North-Korean American” and what it could signify.

Second, words, the way we use them in discourses, and the meanings that we attach to

them are intertextually and intersubjectively produced across time and space (Harissi et. al.,

2012; Kramsch, 2014). Derrida, one of the philosophers who is often cited by poststructuralist

scholars, summarized this point as “every language that is spoken is always the language of the

other” (Derrida, 1998, p. 63). We make decisions upon which discourses to repeat, considering

in what context the repetition is meaningful (Kramsch, 2014). Thus, poststructuralist discourse

analysis is not about “the right person saying [something] at the right timing,” but rather “the

way in which language use was made effective by repetition, by citation” (Harissi et al., 2012, p.

528). Reversely, this means that new discourses could still emerge, by citing the existing

discourse and ideas in a way it was never imagined before.

Poststructuralists presume the investigation of discourse should be critical. Both

emerging and repeated discourses are inscribed with power that permeates society, and they

function to circulate it (McNamara, 2019). Power should not be understood as unidirectional,

however. In other words, the subject—whether an individual or a larger entity—is not entirely

yielded to power but could leverage it. Harissi et al. (2012) cite Butler (1997) and address the

paradoxical relationship of subjection and power as follows:

… the subject is initially constructed as an effect of subordination to power… After the

primary submission, however, the subject will shift to a position to wield power… the

subject is dependent on power in its formative process, but once the subject is formed as

32

an effect of power, it is then power which becomes the effect of the subject’s

performances. (p. 540)

Thus, in the poststructuralist discourse analysis, the focus is not only to scrutinize and possibly

problematize whether and how the subject yields to power, but also how they leverage the power

by “re-entextualizing old words in new contexts of use” (Kramsch, 2014, p. 216).


Given the analytical focus on discursive legitimizations of SA in the Philippines,

poststructuralist discourse analysis is suitable for this current study. The appearance of SA in the

Philippines (for English learning) suggests emerging discourses in relation to new envisionments

of SA and desirable English learning environments. Given how SA (留学) was imagined

predominantly in association with the West (often referred as 欧米留学), how did the

Philippines emerge as a legitimate SA destination despite its ‘unfitness’ (e.g., not Western, not

English- dominant country)? To legitimize SA in the Philippines, what dominant discourses—

whether historical, social, or linguistic—are repeated? By focusing on these aspects, I

investigated the discourse production of SA in the Philippines (for English learning) in the

following chapter.

2.8 Summary of the Chapter

This chapter first presented the literature on Japanese EL learners’ SA in relation to their

desire, the comparison of SA in the Philippines and WEDCs, the sociohistorical relationship of

Japan and the Philippines. The purpose of the literature review was to illuminate the peculiar,

unique context of SA in the Philippines pursued by Japanese EL learners given the

sociohistorical contexts.

33

This was followed by the section of theoretical framework, starting from desire as a

conceptual framework from TESOL. Then I introduced desire from a Deleuzian perspective,

which I will also draw upon to suffice my conceptual framework of desire. Finally, I presented

the poststructuralist discourse analysis, which generally guides my analysis of the data. To

follow, I will present my data based upon the research questions in the next chapter.

34

Chapter 3: Methodology

3.1 Introduction

This study focuses on two aspects of SA in the Philippines amongst Japanese EL

learners. One is the discursive production of SA in the Philippines by schools, agencies, and

advocates of SA in the Philippines addressed in the first research question (To what extent and in

what ways is the Philippines contextualized as a legitimate SA site?). The other is the learners’

experiences addressed in the second research question (What are the participants’ language

desires before departure, and how are these desires reflected in their SA in the Philippines?). To

address the first and second research questions, document analysis and a multiple case study are

selected as the main methodological approaches. In this section, I will first introduce the two

methodological approaches taken for the two questions (Section 3.2), followed by the data

collected (Section 3.3) and data analysis methods (Section 3.4).

3.2 Two approaches

3.2.1 Document analysis

To address the first research question (i.e., “To what extent and in what ways is the

Philippines contextualized as a legitimate SA site?”), I employed document analysis as a main

methodological approach and analyzed a wide variety of documents created by schools, SA

agencies, and advocates of SA in the Philippines. Although document analysis has been widely

used in various disciplines, the inadequacy of description has recently been pointed as

problematic (e.g., Karppinen & Moe, 2012; Prior, 2008). Document analysis is also commonly

used in the fields of applied linguistics and education (e.g., Balyasnikova, 2019; Bordoloi, 2016,

35

Lewis, 2016). However, it remains as a subordinate, supplementary method and there has been

little discussion of its epistemological underpinning.

In order to adequately situate document analysis in this study, I will draw on Karppinen

and Moe’s (2012) conceptualization of documents as “object of analysis” (pp. 3-4). Document

analysis presumes socially mediated products rather than static data that explains the phenomena

objectively (Karppinen & Moe, 2012). Put differently, documents as objects align with the idea

of discourse for conceptualizing documents as unneutral because they “produce a specific

version or understanding of the world” (Rapley, 2011, p. 5). Although documents include a wide

variety of texts, I will limit my analysis to written texts in the present study.

An advantage of document analysis is its methodological rigor to triangulate the data

(Grant, 2018). Grant (2018) defines triangulation as a method that “enables multiple perspectives

to be brought together as a means of widening or deepening understanding of a subject through

the combination of multiple readings” (pp. 102-103). To understand the popularity of SA in the

Philippines from multiple perspectives, I will draw on a wide variety of documents: eBooks,

school websites, agency websites, and personal blogs. These documents, as “naturally occurring”

data (Tajima, 2018, p. 52), can shed light on the phenomenon and thus be utilized as an effective

method of triangulation.

In sum, the use of the document analysis and my conceptualization are epistemologically

suitable to address the first research question and effective for the purpose of triangulating the

phenomenon as a whole. The rationales for the selected documents will be further discussed in

Section 3.3.1.

36

3.2.2 A multiple case study

The second research question (What are the participants’ language desires before

departure and how are these desires reflected in and shaped through their SA in the Philippines?)

was investigated through a multiple case study. In their discussion of multiple case studies, Duff

and Anderson (2015) claimed that methodological, theoretical strengths of a case study reside in

its capacity to “describe and account for the many factors and contingencies” from sociocultural,

geopolitical contexts to specific temporalities and inter-/intra-personal relationships (p. 112).

This “nested” characteristic of a case exercises its analytical power in scrutinizing a person as a

case because it illuminates the multilayered contextual reality from the perspective of that

individual (Duff, 2020, p. 145). Put differently, a researcher can present the participant’s

meaning-making of the phenomenon while paying attention to the external forces (e.g., systemic,

ideological) that impacted their experience.

Multiple case studies have illuminated the complexity and dynamics of language learning

experience in the SA literature. Particularly, given the unique environments and contextual

realities of SA, learners’ experiences are often studied along with learner’s identities and

socialization. In the case of Japanese EL learners, case studies have revealed these learners’

experience in detail, including their (un)shifting approaches to English learning, perceptions of

legitimate forms of English, and desired communities (e.g., Morita, 2004; Takahashi, 2013).

These studies as a whole demonstrated the methodological robustness of multiple case studies to

deepen the understanding of the contextual realities of each participant. With my research focus

on participants’ desires and SA experience, I considered a multiple case study (i.e., presenting

each participant as a case) an appropriate method of analysis for the present study.

37

3.3 Data sources and methods of data generation

3.3.1 Sources of documents

Previous studies on English learning in Japan have analyzed various documents, such as

women’s magazines (Kobayashi, 2015, 2018; Takahashi, 2013); ELL magazines (Igarashi &

Yasumoto, 2014; Takahashi, 2013); business magazines (Kobayashi, 2018); and a self-help

English learning book, Amazon Japan website, online forums, and blogs (Tajima, 2018). These

studies point to how the media discourses shaped individuals’ English learning motives,

processes, and expected outcomes. Discourses identified in these sources include English for

self-development; English for career advancement; and SA for new personhood. However, the

existing literature predominantly relied on traditional media (e.g., magazines), and thus little

attention has been paid to online media platforms (except Tajima, 2018). With the premise that

contemporary discourses in relation to English learning and SA would be observable online, the

documents for this study were collected through multiple digital media platforms.

In the selection of documents, Grant (2019) emphasized researchers should analyze the

nature of the documents, particularly paying attention to “how documents are created and used”

(p. 12). Accordingly, I selected the four types of documents for this study: eBooks, agency

websites, school websites, and individual blogs (see Table 2). These documents differed slightly

in terms of other factors such as authorship, accessibility, and content coverage, although the

main purpose (to introduce and/or promote SA in the Philippines) and audience (Japanese EL

learners who are interested in studying English in the Philippines) are consistent across these

documents. For example, school websites are written by their workers and thus their contents are

promotional, focusing on the distinguishable features of that particular school against their

competitors (this propensity is also pertinent to agency websites). On the other hand, eBooks

38

advocate for SA in the Philippines as a whole by writing the generalizable experience and

offering a comprehensive overview. Personal blogs are distinctive from the previous document

types as they are likely not to be reviewed by others (e.g., publishers and school owners). Thus,

while blog writings tend to be informal and might contain grammatical and content errors, they

offer the authors’ views without being contaminated by external forces. I will further explain the

screening process of each document type in the following order: eBooks, agency websites,

school websites, and individual blogs.

3.3.1.1 eBooks

I searched for eligible eBooks on Amazon Japan with a keyword search of “SA in the

Philippines” (フィリピン留学) under the eBook category. From the 71 publications that

appeared on the search, I excluded books with titles that do not directly address SA and English

learning (e.g., “Frolicking in the Philippines” (フィリピンではしゃぐ); “Cebu Island, the life,

and me” (セブ島と生活と私)). In this filtering process, I included the titles with “SA in Cebu” (

セブ留学) since Cebu was one of the most popular SA destinations in the Philippines for

Japanese EL learners. From the eleven books with relevant titles, I reviewed the contents and

chose the following six books for this study (see Table 3.1).

39

Table 3.1 Summary of eBooks selected for document analysis1

Author Translated titles Original titles

Aoki, K.

(2015)

Successful English Learners Stories in Philippine

ESL schools:

Interviews with Seven Successful Learners*

フィリピン英語留学の成功者たち: 7 人

のフィリピン留学成功者のインタビュー

を収録

Ando, M.

(2016)

English SA in Cebu for business people ビジネスパーソンのためのセブ英語留

学

Nakatani, Y.

(2016)

Study English in the Philippines: Short-term,

one-on-one, and

affordable language study abroad

英語は「フィリピン」で学べ！: 短期集

中・マンツーマン・格安の語学留学

Onozato, H.

(2016)

NEW LIFE from study abroad in Cebu: Story of

woman's dream* セブ留学から始まる、私の新しい人生:

〜キャリアアップの夢を叶えた女性の体

験談〜

Ota, E.

(2013)

“Super” inexpensive English SA in the

Philippines―The shocking SA of JPY100,000

per month!

フィリピン「超」格安英語留学―１か月

１０万円留学の衝撃！

Shibata, H.

(2015)

SA in the Philippines: You can raise TOEIC

score 300 in three months 3 ヶ月で TOEIC300 点上げるフィリピ

ン語学留学

3.3.1.2 Agency websites

The agency websites were included since the role of the agencies has been documented as

significant in producing and enabling SA in the Philippines by the previous studies (e.g., Haisa &

Watanabe, 2013; Jang 2018). A Google search of “the Philippines, SA, agency” (フィリピン留

学エージェント) resulted in about 667,000 hits. My criteria were that they specialize in SA in

the Philippines and are in business for at least five years. I chose three agency websites that

appeared at the top of the search and met the criteria: Cebu21; Cebu English; and SOUDA.

1 These publications had English titles in the eBook, therefore I followed their translation. The others had no English

version of their titles, and I created them by translating the original.

40

3.3.1.3 School websites

According to the Philippines Department of Tourism (DoT), there are more than 150

English schools in the Philippines as of 2019 (Saavedra, 2019).2 Instead of reviewing all the

school websites accessible, the websites of the four schools that my participants attended were

selected: CNS2; First English Global College; NILS; and Souspeak. These schools met my two

inclusion criteria: located in Cebu and has a Spartan-style. First, to represent SA in the

Philippines, it was imperative to include at least one school located in Cebu as EL business is

flourishing particularly in that region (Saavedra, 2019). It is important to note that what is

referred to as “Cebu” varies geographically, from Cebu-city, Cebu Island, to the province of

Cebu. Three of the four schools that my participants attended met this criterion since they are

located somewhere in “Cebu” and used it to describe their school location on their websites.

Second, I decided to include of at least one Spartan-style (スパルタ式) school, which are a

unique school system peculiar to the SA contexts of the Philippines (Jang, 2018) and their

learning system was often discussed by the participants as one of the most attractive features.

These schools, in general, are characterized by their strict rules both in and out of the classroom,

such as prohibiting students from going out on weekdays, obligating students to study after

dinner, holding exams and/or quizzes regularly, expelling students upon a consecutive number of

absences, and implementing English Only Policy (EOP). There are also some schools such as

First English Global College, which offer “semi-spartan-style” programs. As the term suggests,

they are described to be not as strict as spartan style but enforce self-learning outside the

2 The DoT refers to them as “ESL centers” instead of English schools.

41

classroom. Table 3.2 summarizes the four schools I selected to investigate diverse discourses that

construct SA in the Philippines.

Table 3.2 Summary of schools selected for document analysis

CNS2 First English Global

College

NILS Souspeak

Location (city,

province)

Baguio,

Benguet

Lapulapu-city, Cebu Cebu-city, Central

Visayas

Cebu-city, Central

Visayas

System Spartan Semi-spartan Not spartan Spartan

3.3.1.4 Blogs

Similar to the screening process I took for agency websites, I conducted an online search

for blogs with the following keywords: “the Philippines, SA, blog” (フィリピン留学ブログ).

This resulted in massive, and many irrelevant hits. Since school and agency websites were

already collected as part of the data, I selected personal blogs that were not affiliated with any

SA agency or language school in the Philippines. These blogs were specifically reviewed in

terms of their domains (i.e., whether the blog shared the same domains as school/agency

websites); and their blog contents (i.e., whether their content was primarily aimed to promote a

specific school or agency). Since keyword search on Google was limited in its capacity to

identify eligible blogs, I also reviewed online forums to identify blogs about SA in the

Philippines recommended to Japanese EL learners. Through a series of processes, the following

six blogs were selected.

42

Table 3.3 Summary of blogs selected for document analysis3

Author Translated titles Original titles

Eddie. (2015, April 28) Blogs by an IT-focused student striving in the

Philippines. フィリピンで闘う IT 系休学生

のブログ

Saka. (2013, August 1) Cebulog@ Blogs about studying English in

Cebu. セブログ@セブ島英語留学ブロ

グ

kmkm8011. (2015, July

11).

Blogs by MARCH university student who took a

year of absence to study abroad. SA in Cebu, the

Philippines→To a university in Hungry

１年休学して留学した MARCH

学生のブログフィリピンセブ留

学→ハンガリーの大学へ

The reason why I came

to the Philippines.

(2015, June 7).

Address unspecified living

in Cebu. 住所不定セブ島在住。

Yamanashi. (2012 May

30).

* “Studying English in the Philippines for half a

year! Cost

and effect of studying in the Philippines that you

want to know.” NAGOCRE.

半年間のフィリピン留学！フィ

リピン留学の気になる費用と効

果. NAGOCRE.

Yūyū. (2015, March

31).

* “An English beginner will frankly write about

their thoughts on studying English in Cebu for

three months.” Lifeclip.

英語初心者が３ヶ月セブ留学に

行ってみて感じたことを本音で

語ってみる. Lifeclip.

3.3.1.5 Summary

Given the numerous documents that I could have used, the process of selecting

documents was not straightforward: it was heuristic, and in some way, chaotic. It should be

emphasized here that my purpose of the selection was not to identify typical or generalizable

contextualization of SA in the Philippines, but rather to scrutinize its diversity, afforded

discourses, and constraints. Besides using them as part of the research data, these documents

(except the school websites) were also used in the form of short excerpts in the interviews with

3 The following blogs covered wide ranges of topics, and the titles of the blog posts that were used in this study

were included in the title section in quotation. These documents were retrieved between April 2020 and December

2020.

43

the participants. It turned out that these excerpts were not only productive in eliciting their

perspectives, but also relevant to the participants’ views and experiences. In fact, there were

many moments where my participants and I agreed that we discussed similar ideas and views

before reading the excerpts.

3.3.2 Methods of data generation for a multiple case study

To address the second research question, a multiple case study was utilized, presenting

each participant as a case. Data for the multiple case study was generated collaboratively

between participants and the investigator (myself) through the following methods: an online pre-

interview questionnaire and two online interviews. Additional documents (e.g., school

pamphlets) were also collected when offered by the participants.

3.3.2.1 Recruitment

Participants were recruited on the criteria that they were Japanese adults (age 20 or

above) who went to study abroad in the Philippines and a WEDC (e.g., Canada) for the purpose

of learning English. A WEDC was also included in the criteria to investigate how differently or

similarly the participants position or contextualize the two destinations and reflect their desires

on them. The duration and the order of the destinations were unspecified.

I relied on my personal connections to recruit my participants. Before starting recruiting,

I listed people that I knew who went to study abroad in the Philippines and a WEDC to the best

of my knowledge. Since I had many students from my former school who (I believed) met the

criteria, the list went up to approximately 50. From the list, I contacted four people who I knew

relatively more than the rest and whose experiences in the Philippines piqued my research

interests. As part of the recruiting process, I first sent an email or a message on social networking

44

services to the four initial contacts. I attached my recruitment letter (Appendix A) in the message

and asked them to reply if they were interested in participating in the study and if they met the

criteria. The four people I contacted all indicated their interest. I then sent them an email with a

consent form (Appendix B) which included my overall research objective, research procedure,

participants’ necessary commitment, ethical considerations, and non-coercive benefits. As a

result, all the four initial contacts agreed to participate in the study. To follow, I will briefly

introduce my participants (pseudo names are used) and my relationships with them.

3.3.2.2 Participants

One participant, Kaoru, was my former tutee from 2014 and the first person who

introduced me to SA in the Philippines. She was attending a well-known English for Academic

Purpose (EAP) program in Vancouver and I was tutoring her to help her with the assignments.

She was struggling to pass the EAP program to move onto the mainstream, degree-seeking one.

It was over a year since she had started the program that she decided to quit the EAP and go to

the Philippines to concentrate on studying (academic) English. I was perplexed that she was

going to the Philippines especially from Canada. To untangle my confusion, she explained that

she would attend a school that prepared students like her to obtain the required IELTS scores in

order to enter a college or university abroad. After four months or so, she returned to Canada

with her target score and started her life in college. When she returned, we met in a cafe where

she enthusiastically shared with me her “tough but memorable” time in the Philippines. During

the recruitment, I recalled Kaoru’s story and contacted her immediately. At the data generation,

she was residing in Yukon, Canada, working as a cook while pursuing her permanent residency

in Canada.

45

Another participant was Mika whom I met at my former workplace, an ESL school in

Vancouver, in 2017. After her half-year in Cebu, she came to Vancouver, where she took full-

time ESL and programming courses in the daytime. While taking these programs, she worked as

night staff at our school. When I worked overtime in the evenings, she sometimes told me about

her stories in the Philippines. At that time (in 2017), SA in the Philippines had become more

common even in Vancouver, and in our school, we started to encounter many students who came

to Canada after they completed SA in the Philippines. Mika expressed her appreciation for her

time in the Philippines and positioned herself as “an advocate” of SA in the Philippines. I

contacted her upon the inception of my recruitment because communications with her helped me

construct my early perceptions of, as well as curiosities about, SA in the Philippines. At the data

generation, she was residing in British Columbia, Canada as a permanent resident with her

Canadian husband and recently born son.

The third participant, Sam, was one of my former students at the ESL school. Like Mika

and Kaoru, Sam was a goal-oriented, hard-working individual, and full of energy. While taking a

full-time program at our school, he also worked as a marketer for a SA agency, and late at night

as a dancer in nightclubs. The vitality he demonstrated in a month in my ESL class left a lasting

impression on me. Although we did not discuss much his SA in the Philippines previously, I was

interested in Sam's story since he was the only person that I knew that returned to Southeast

Asia. Since 2019, he has been working as the company representative in Thailand, managing a

team of local workers.

46

The last participant was Yuta, a volunteer for my partner’s class in the modern language

school where I also taught. Yuta also started to volunteer for my Japanese class roughly a month

before my data generation. Although I only knew Yuta for a short time, I became strongly

interested in his story when he said that he was learning English in order to communicate better

with his Filipino instructors whom he met during his SA (he referred to them as “his friends”). I

was tantalizingly puzzled by how his SA in the Philippines had such an enormous impact on his

English learning that a (or the) purpose of his learning English was to communicate with the

teachers; however, he decided to study in Canada for that purpose. At the data generation, Yuta

was attending an ESL school in Greater Vancouver while applying for a Working Holiday Visa.

3.3.2.3 Pre-interview questionnaire survey

The aim of the pre-interview questionnaire survey was twofold: first, the survey was

intended to maximize interview productivity by familiarizing the interviewer (myself) with the

participant’s general profile and SA information. Second, the survey was to help develop follow-

up interview questions. For example, the participants were provided with a list of words or

phrases and asked to select up to three of them (either in English or Japanese) that they associate

with, which was followed up in the interviews. These words or phrases include study abroad (留

学), English speakers (英語話者), and the Philippines (フィリピン) (for details, refer to

Appendix C).

3.3.2.4 Online interviews

I conducted two semi-structured interviews with each participant online. While online

interviews have been established as legitimate research methods, there is a concern about the

difficulties in building rapport with participants, compared with in-person interviews. However,

according to Jenner and Mayers (2019), there was little difference in productivity between online

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and in-person interviews (e.g., length of interviews). Rather, conducting interviews in a private

setting was a more influential factor for “more sharing of deeply personal experiences” than

whether the interview was online or in-person (Jenner & Myers, 2019, p. 165).

Based on previous findings and the specific contexts of this study conducted during the

COVID-19 pandemic, I considered that online interviews would be more appropriate. First, I

conducted these online interviews in private settings. By recruiting through my personal

connections, the potential hindrance on rapport building on the online interviews was likely

minimalized. Second, my participants were familiar with the online video chat platforms since

they used them frequently to communicate with their friends and family, especially during the

pandemic.

I conducted two interviews per participant, and each interview lasted approximately two

hours. The interviews were conducted online through a university-hosted Zoom program. The

participants had choices of Japanese and English (or mix) to conduct interviews, and all the

participants spoke in Japanese primarily. The first interview (see Appendix D for interview

questions) was centered on participants’ overall previous English learning experience, their

desires in relation to English, and their SA experience in the Philippines. The purpose of the

second interview (see Appendix E for interview questions) was twofold. First, I used the second

interview to follow up on what participants said in the first interview. In the latter half of the

interview, I presented participants with excerpts from a range of texts from the online documents

used in the document analysis (i.e., eBooks, personal blogs, to school and agency websites). The

purpose of using these documents was to elicit more detailed descriptions of their experience and

more nuanced views and perceptions and to explore syntheses between the two approaches.

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Specifically, I asked the participants whether ideas and images expressed in the excerpted texts

align with their experiences and views.

To maximize the productivity of the second interview, a thorough understanding of the

first interviews was necessary. For this purpose, I transcribed the first interviews immediately

after it was done and a rough version was completed within a week. I purposefully arranged the

second interview a week after the first one in order to transcribe and review the content to decide

what to follow up. However, I had to interview Sam less than a week before I completed the

rough transcription because he had a busy work schedule and there was also a big time difference

between where we lived (i.e., Canada and Thailand).

3.4 Procedure of data analysis

The data analysis was conducted through the following three steps.

3.4.1 Transcription

Although transcription might be considered only as decision-making of data

representation, it was also a part of my analytical process for this project. This is reflected in the

transcription process, which started at the beginning of my data analysis and continued until the

end of it. For example, although I initially transcribed non-verbal cues (e.g., long poses,

laughter, cough) in detail, I kept only some of them in the present thesis since the others were not

directly relevant to my analysis. Another issue was stammering, which I initially transcribed in

order to be accurate, but at the stage of translation, I deleted most of them to prioritize the

smooth presentation of the translated data. As a result, the transcriptions were revised several

times before reaching the final version.

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3.4.2 Two cycles of coding

The online documents and interview transcripts were analyzed thematically through two

cycles of coding (Miles et al., 2020) using NVivo software. In the first cycle of coding, I mostly

coded striking words or phrases directly from the data (i.e., In Vivo coding; Miles et al., 2020, p.

65). For the interview data, I believe this method enabled me to extract salient events and issues

from the data while avoiding excessive interpretation. I sometimes also used descriptive codes,

which mostly referred to interview questions and certain time periods (e.g., during high school,

before SA, during SA). To address the second research question, in the second cycle, I selected

relevant codes to the participants’ desires and categorized them into larger entities (e.g. long-

term language desire; longing for WEDCs; other desires). The major themes (e.g., desires

detained, desire disparaged) were fully developed at the stage of transforming these data into

narratives.

For online documents, since most of the data were intransferrable to NVivo software, I

first went through all the documents and copy-pasted excerpts that stood out into MS Word

documents and uploaded them on NVivo. I went back and forth between these Word documents

and original sources to review the contexts and meaning, and new excerpts were added to the

NVivo at times. In the first cycle, I also used In Vivo and descriptive codes as I did with the

interview data. Descriptive codes were mostly consistent with the (sub)titles of the sections and

columns of the sources. In the second cycle, the codes were grouped into larger themes related to

my first research question. The themes were developed largely in relation to how the Philippines

is described and promoted for EL and other purposes; how people in the Philippines are

described as English speakers and in other ways.

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3.4.3 Translation

After the two cycles of coding, the coded data were translated from Japanese to English. I

hired two bilingual research assistants to work on the translation of the data using the Researcher

as a Translator Serial Approach (RTSA) (Thompson & Dooley, 2020). First, after I translated the

transcripts from Japanese into English, the first research assistant conducted a blind back

translation, which was to translate my translated English data back into Japanese without

reviewing the original Japanese text. Upon the completion of the backward translation, the

second research assistant conducted a review of the original and two translated texts (one

forward-translated by me and the other backward-translated by the other researcher). Finally, I

completed the final version by comparing my original translation, the backward-translated texts,

and feedback from the reviewer.

According to van Nes et al. (2010), the validity of qualitative research relies on “the

distance between meanings as experienced by the participants and meanings as interpreted in the

findings” (p. 314). Given how translation or the translated data reflects the researcher’s

interpretation of the data, I consider translation not only a process of data representation but also

a process that shaped my data analysis. As Tajima (2018) argued, the task of translation is

“demanding, sensitive, political, and ideological work” (p. 77). In particular, whether to leave

untranslated “specific culturally bounded words” was a challenge as the translated versions could

reduce the intended meanings (van Nes et al., 2010, p. 315). Although I tried to keep the original

wording to fairly represent the data, some wordings required more nuanced translation to make

sense in English. In this regard, the RTSA was effective in critically reflecting on the translation

to help make decisions in how data were interpreted and represented. In the end, I decided to

keep the original Japanese for some texts, whose meanings could be significantly reduced in

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English or that included particularly problematic discourses (in my opinion) and I wanted to

represent them fairly while problematizing them (e.g., 英語先進国/English developed country;

どんな手段でもとにかく、英語の基本を身に付けてしまった方が得ですからね！/No

matter what measures you take, it is better to acquire the foundation in English after all”.).

3.5 Reflexivity

According to Kubota and Miller (2017), self-reflexivity is “a required component in

qualitative research methodology” and “involves decentering the researcher self and truthfully

and ethically representing the other through reflecting on our underlying assumptions about the

self and other” (p.142). Reflexivity not only addresses the issue of the representation but is also a

methodological measure that aids in the researchers’ insights about the world we gain through

the research. Furthermore, researchers’ writing about self-reflexivity helps readers understand

the researchers’ process of knowledge production (Pillow, 2003).

While reflexivity has become a common practice in qualitative research, how self-

reflexivity is conducted differs in each text, and how it should be done has been debated. In order

to move beyond “a confessional act” (Pillow, 2003, p. 177), Pillow (2003) encouraged scholars

to engage in “uncomfortable reflexivity.” According to Pillow (2003), uncomfortable reflexivity,

when successfully engaged, “seeks to know while at the same time situates this knowing as

tenuous” (p. 188).

Before the data generation, I was confident in my credibility to conduct this research,

particularly given the mutual sociocultural, linguistic backgrounds that I share with the

participants: we were born and raised in Japan; our first language was Japanese; we learned

English as a foreign language in the same education system; we went to study abroad at a later

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age; and we were more or less in the same generation (i.e., the age between late-twenty and mid-

thirty). In addition, my previous teaching experience in working with thousands of Japanese EL

learners made me even more confident in my legitimacy.

When I was teaching English, my Japanese students used to ask me enthusiastically,

“How can I become good at English like you?” I would answer, “there is no shortcut in language

learning. You just work hard.” Reflecting on my teacher narrative, I now think I had an

assumption that given our educational, linguistic, sociocultural backgrounds, my students and I

were “the same.” What distinguished me from the students was the effort I make—if you work

hard like I did, you can speak English like I do! However, during the data generation, I noticed

something recurring through the participants: When I asked them why they wanted to learn

English, they started their answers by referring to how they developed their wish to study abroad

a long time ago. Kaoru, particularly, emphasized that she wanted to study abroad since junior

high school, and if her parents were supportive, she would have done so much earlier.

My participants’ earnest and somewhat resentful sentiments made me very aware of my

ignorance, striking me with the fact that what divided us was not something called “hard work”

or “passion” for the language. Going back to Kaoru’s story, after graduating from high school,

she worked as a healthcare worker for eight years to save enough funds to attend a college

abroad. While she was working at a senior residence, I started my SA shortly after high school

graduation and by the age of 24, I completed a bachelor’s degree at UBC. When we met in our

mid-twenties, we had completely opposite positions: one was a teacher with an overseas degree

while the other was a student in an EAP program. In other words, how we spent (and were able

to spend) the past decade has put us on the opposite side of the classroom.

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This made me realize that I had shallow contextual imaginations of the participants’ lives.

While I had thought I was “an insider” compared to researchers from different backgrounds, I

did not, and probably still do not understand what the participants have gone through to pursue

their SA. This realization made me feel troubled, and at the same time, responsible for my role as

a researcher to share their stories in a careful manner. My representation of the participants is

informed by this awareness. My hope is to treat them with my full respect. I aim to illustrate, not

to critique, how these learners sought their ways to learn their desired language and what was

discursively and/or materialistically available to them.

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Chapter 4: Construction of the Philippines as a legitimate SA site for

Japanese EL learners

4.1 Introduction

The present chapter presents findings that address the first research question: To what

extent and in what ways is the Philippines constructed as a legitimate SA site? Specifically,

through document analyses of eBooks, individual blogs, school websites, and agency websites, I

discuss the discursive production of SA in the Philippines for Japanese EL learners from three

aspects: (1) SA in the Philippines for beginner EL learners; (2) legitimizing SA in the

Philippines; and (3) construction of Filipinos, the Philippines, and Cebu. In presenting the data, I

include the original Japanese text when the original meanings might be relatively reduced or

distorted in the English versions.

4.2 SA in the Philippines for beginner EL learners

In the previous research on the SA in WEDCs sought by Japanese EL learners, the

desirability of the SA relied on the desirability of the destination, specifically how the place and

people were imagined by the learners and/or within their local communities (e.g., Durbidge,

2017; Fujita, 2009; Takahashi, 2013). Traditional SA was constructed with the emphasis on

offering more than English learning to include, for example, exotic ways of living, different

sceneries, and interactions with the unfamiliar, foreign Others. By contrast, the discourse of SA

in the Philippines emphasizes its desirability for English learning. For example, comparing SA in

the Philippines to other destinations (e.g., the U.K.), Nakatani (2016, eBook) states, “I absolutely

55

recommend the Philippines for beginner levels in terms of increasing ‘their English proficiency’”

(pp. 261-262 emphasis original). He pays excessive attention to English learning by emphasizing

“in terms of increasing ‘their English proficiency’” (「英語力」を伸ばすという意味では).

Nakatani’s comment also highlights the desirability of the Philippines particularly for beginners.

Like Nakatani (2016), SOUDA, an SA agency, also promotes SA in the Philippines

specifically for English development. The following excerpt is an example (quotations are cited

with the author’s name, year of publication, document type, and page number):

When you decide which country to go to study in, what do you think should be the

deciding factor? Do you think you should choose based on costs incurred in the study

abroad, cost of living, classroom size, or school curriculum? In fact, the point to focus on

is not any of these aspects. The point is to assess accurately in which country your

English will be improved most. If you’re a beginner EL learner, we recommend the

Philippines without hesitation. (“SA in the Philippines VS SA in the WED,” 2017,

Agency website)

By comparing multiple factors that could impact one’s selecting their destination from cost to

classroom environments, SOUDA considers one’s English proficiency the most important factor,

and in this regard, the Philippines is constructed as the best destination for beginners. Ando

(2016, eBook) elaborates on who should (not) go to the Philippines as follows:

I recommend [SA in the Philippines] to beginner-level learners and those who want to

rehabilitate their English brain which they have not used for a while. On the contrary,

you might feel SA in the Philippines as a little unsatisfactory if you are advanced English

learners, those who have studied in the West, such as a native sphere, or those who

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command English at somewhere such as at the workplace. (Ando, 2016, eBook, pp. 359-

361)

In addition to beginners, Ando (2016) promotes the Philippines to “those who want to

rehabilitate their English brain” (英語脳のリハビリをしたい人). “English brain” (英語脳) is

an expression frequently used in self-help English learning books in Japan, and to have one’s

English brain function is usually used to refer to one’s state or ability to speak English fluently

and to instantly understand the meaning without translating it into Japanese (Minamiyama, 2020;

Saito, 2014). By promoting the Philippines to someone who needs “to rehabilitate their

English”, Ando implies that SA in the Philippines is suitable for someone whose English is rusty

or has neither used nor studied English for so long. The word “rehabilitation” is further

suggestive that the Philippines is not a place to fully enact one’s English brain, but to restore it

into a functionable condition. SA in the Philippines is thus constructed desirable for EL learners

with low English proficiency whereas “a native sphere” (ネイティブ圏) is recommended to

advanced learners who command English at their work.

The construction of the Philippines for beginners is also observable when learners

comment on the flexibility of how long one should study there. The following is an excerpt from

a blog:

I will talk about what I think of the SA in Cebu in the Philippines, and whether it was a

good decision to do so. As a conclusion, I am glad I went there… But, I saw some people

stay in the Philippines for half a year, and I think that’s too long. Three months is

enough. Once you reached a certain level, your English would be more improved if you

go learn English in a native country (somewhere like the US and Canada). (kmkm8011,

2015, Blog)

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The blogger first positively acknowledges his experience in the Philippines, and then claims that

the efficacy of the SA is fully consumable in three months. If a learner can afford to study abroad

longer, he recommends going to “a native country” (ネイティブ国) for effective English

learning after their English reaches “a certain level”. Here, “a native country” seems to be used

as a synonym of a WEDC and as a counterpart to the Philippines.

The idea of the Philippines as the first but not final destination is also discussed in other

documents. For example, Onozato (2016, eBook) presents the emergence of her desire to learn

from a native speaker later during her SA in the Philippines as follows:

I remember when I became able to make a conversation to a certain extent, I naturally

started to desire to take lessons from native speakers and about their pronunciation. I

thought that SA in the West is effective finally when you reach that point. (Onozato, 2016,

eBook, pp. 215-217)

From the word, “naturally” (自然と), the desire to learn from native speakers seems to have

appeared unconsciously reasonable. This might reflect the pervasive notion that the Philippines

is the first step, and learners should ultimately learn from “native speakers” or in WEDCs. Her

comment also suggests different effects of SAs in the Philippines and WEDCs: the effect of SA

in the Philippines is limited if one’s English level is high, and the SA in WEDCs is not effective

if one’s English level is low.

In sum, these documents contextualize the SA in the Philippines as desirable for beginner

EL learners, and consequently, the SA in WEDCs is imagined as the next step after the

Philippines. This finding is reminiscent of the previous literature about SA in Southeast Asia as a

springboard to WEDCs (Jang, 2018; Kobayashi, 2020; Park & Bae, 2009).

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4.3 Legitimizing SA in the Philippines as more than a springboard

4.3.1 English schools run by Japanese people for Japanese people

A prominent approach to legitimize SA in the Philippines is to emphasize its learning

environments particularly desirable to Japanese people. In particular, many Japanese-run English

schools in the Philippines promote themselves with the presence of their Japanese owners

concerning their service and teaching system. For example, First English Global College (FEGC,

2020, school website) presents itself as: “the English school that is owned by Japanese and

targeted at Japanese students in Cebu” (セブ島の⽇本⼈経営による、⽇本⼈向け英語学校).

The desirability of the school is further explained with the offering of curriculum and services

suitable for Japanese customers in the following way:

Based on the experience of running a cram school [juku] in Japan, we conduct lessons

through an efficient, effective, most suitable curriculum. We offer support for students

from various perspectives, such as assigning Japanese staff who have the experience of

studying abroad to be always on site … Please enjoy the thorough service that a

Japanese-run school can offer. (“A school for Japanese people,” 2020 July 29, School

website)

Drawing on the owner’s experience running a cram school (juku/塾) in Japan and highlighting

their stationing of Japanese workers on site for service, the school takes pride in itself as the

school for Japanese people.

Souspeak is another school that emphasizes having a Japanese owner and teaching

materials selected by Japanese. Especially, their discussion on who should choose learners’

materials saliently presents their values in English learning:

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It is indeed Japanese people that can suggest ‘the most desirable learning materials’ for

Japanese people who study English as a foreign language. Furthermore, it is ‘a Japanese

person who themselves made tremendous efforts to achieve becoming advanced in

English as a second language.’

(Original text) 英語を外国語として学ぶ日本人に「最適な教材」を提案できるの

は、やはり日本人です。それも「自分自身も苦労して第 2 言語として英語を学

び、上級者に到達した日本人」です。

(“Characteristics of Souspeak 1,” n.d., School website, emphasis original)

The above excerpt illustrates Souspeak’s (n.d.) belief that it is advanced Japanese EL learners

that can provide the most desirable learning materials to other Japanese learners. In other words,

they seem to believe EL materials are most desirable when selected by someone who

understands the students’ learning firsthand instead of those who are deemed as ‘authentic’ or

‘fluent’ native speakers of English. This view contrasts the discourse of native speakers as the

most desirable teachers of English, a pervasive notion addressed in the previous literature on

English learning in Japan (e.g., Houghton & Rivers, 2013; Sergeant, 2005). This

contextualization of advanced Japanese EL learners as the best EL program producer also

suggests that local Filipino instructors are not drawn upon to legitimize the school programs.

4.3.2 The Philippines as a ‘better’ alternative to WEDCs

As the previous section demonstrated, SA in the Philippines is compared to and

contrasted with SA in WEDCs. The desirability of the Philippines exists between what the SA in

the Philippines can offer whereas WEDCs cannot and vice versa. In her book, Onozato (2016,

eBook) recalls the time when she was choosing her SA destination. Although she initially

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thought of going to the U.S., she did not pursue that option because SA in the U.S. does not seem

to help her acquire English effectively. She lists the following six reasons:

1. Group lessons are the main (classroom environment). (I can’t even talk during eikaiwa

classes in Japan, will I be able to speak when surrounded by foreigners?)

2. Tuition fees, cost of living, and transaction fees are expensive.

3. It is difficult to obtain a study permit (For example, the permit is possible not to be

issued if you are a single woman of marriageable age since they will think that the permit

is intended for marriage immigration).

4. Do I have enough energy for English learning if I have to do housework and commute

in an unfamiliar overseas country? (I don’t even manage well to live on my own in

Tokyo)

5. If I were in fashionable and charming environments, I would spend my energy on

things unrelated to studying, such as fashion. Furthermore, there are so many

temptations that I might end up on a vacation trip.

6. I would be anxious about living abroad since I am not used to it.

(Onozato, 2016, eBook, pp. 523-528)

While some of the issues listed are easily linkable to English learning during her SA (e.g.,

classroom environments), other issues, such as living alone and as “a single woman of

marriageable age” (独身で適齢期の女性), do not seem directly relevant to English learning.

She also considers living environments in the U.S. too “fashionable and stylish” (おしゃれで素

敵) as it would distract her from learning. This idea of WEDCs as an illegitimate SA site is

contrastive to how SAs are traditionally desired by Japanese EL learners.

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Looking for an alternative to SA in the U.S., she discovered SA in the Philippines

(Onozato, 2016, eBook). She lists the following reasons for her to pursue the Philippines instead

of the U.S.:

1. They primarily offer one-on-one lessons.

2. The tuition fees and cost of living are lower than SA in WEDCs.

3. The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country following the U.S. and

the U.K.

4. They learn English as their official language and study it as a second language from

elementary school.

5. There is no need to apply for a study permit in advance. Schools will do the paperwork

for their students, so it is easy.

6. You can concentrate on learning since three meals and laundry service are included.

7. It is safe since we live in a dorm with a guard and it does not take time for commuting.

8. Because the Philippines is a developing country, it has a future, which is exciting.

(Onozato, 2016, eBook, pp. 531-535).

Onozato’s points summarize the often-cited advantages of SA in the Philippines: classroom

environment (one-on-one lessons); fully equipped accommodation offered by schools (dorm

room, laundry, meals); and the local linguistic landscape (Filipino can speak English well).

These features support the discourse that SA in the Philippines is cost-effective. The total cost of

SA in the Philippines is arguably less than half to a third of the cost in a WEDC, although the

cost would vary depending on the school and their services (Nakatani, 2016, eBook, p. 370;

Onozato, 2016, eBook, p. 145). In addition, this packaged school system is promoted as not

62

simply an affordable alternative, but also desirable for students to concentrate on their learning

with no commuting and fewer temptations outside school.

As discussed in the literature review, the SA in WEDCs is pervasively desired not simply

for the ideal environment in terms of English learning, but also for the fantasies built upon

Western lifestyle and people (Kelsky, 2001; Takahashi, 2013). Advocates of SA in the

Philippines, as Onozato’s (2016) account suggests, juxtapose these longings [akogare] for

WEDCs in order to make SA in the Philippines more ideal for concentrating on one’s language

learning. Another example is observable on SOUDA’s website. This SA agency provocatively

promotes SA in the Philippines in the following way: “if you want to become able to speak

English, put your longing (akogare) aside” (話せるようになるなら憧れは二の次) (“SA in the

Philippines VS SA in the WED,” 2017, Agent website). This argument is followed by the claim

that SA in the Philippines is the option for someone who is serious about their progress in

English. In a way, akogare, specifically the desire for the Western place, people, and/or ways of

living in this case, is perceived as a distractive factor in choosing the best language learning

environment. It is suggestive that if you follow your longing in choosing your SA destination,

the destination would not necessarily be ideal to improve your English. Consequently, the SA in

the Philippines is positioned as the choice for learners who are serious about their English

learning and the outcome from the SA.

According to Shibata (2015, eBook), the perception of SA in the Philippines has been

shifting from a cheaper alternative to a choice for serious EL learners:

Today, there are more and more people who choose SA in the Philippines because ‘it is

more effective to study in the Philippines than in the US.’ The backdrop behind this

transition is that ‘there are more English schools run by Japanese owners’ and that

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among those Japanese-owned English schools, ‘schools that seriously pursue English

education’ appeared on the scene. For these reasons, the quality of the students who

pursue SA in the Philippines also changed. (Shibata, 2015, eBook, pp. 300-305, emphasis

original)

In this excerpt, Japanese-run schools are positioned as schools that “seriously pursue English

education” (真面目に英語学習をすることを追求する) and the increase of these schools

attributed to the improvement in “the quality of the students” (生徒の質) who study in the

Philippines. This excerpt points to the integration of the presence of aforementioned Japanese-

run schools to the discourse that the Philippines is a better alternative to WEDCs for serious EL

learners.

4.3.3 Delegitimizing SA in WEDCs

English schools in the Philippines are aggressive in their efforts to produce the

Philippines as a more desirable SA option than WEDCs. Their efforts include discrediting SA in

WEDCs by publishing columns about unsuccessful SA in these countries. NILS (2020, school

website) publishes interviews with their students. In one of the interviews, Toru (pseud) shares

his story of deciding to study in the Philippines after his unsuccessful SA in Canada. He

comments, “Although in Canada, it was like I was listening to an English class in English, but in

Cebu, it is more like I am talking in English” (“Story of a student’s experience,” 2020, school

website). Toru’s classroom experience in Canada turns out very similar to Onozato’s (2016,

eBook) concern in studying in WEDCs: one is not able to speak up in the group lessons, so their

classroom engagement is limited to “listening.” Toru thus concludes that his learning experience

in Cebu has focused more on outputting (i.e., speaking) and therefore is more productive.

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Souspeak (2020, school website) also publishes interviews with their students, and the

students’ comments tend to be skeptical of the effect of SA in WEDCs. One of the students,

Taka (pseud), is especially critical of the potential benefits of learning English in WEDCs.

Interviewer: What is the meaning of learning English from native speakers?

Taka: In the case of SA in an English-spoken sphere, I don’t think it is true that ‘your

English conversation ability will be improved if you talk with native speakers daily.’

However, it is true if it means that you can instantly come up with English (or have the

courage to speak out). This is because no one will point out your mistakes even if you are

having daily conversations with native speakers. Of course, they will enjoy conversation

with you even if your English is wrong. As a result, I think what happens is like ‘you gain

the guts to speak but your English is not fluent.’

(“Comparison of SA in the Philippines and SA in a WEDC,” 2020, School website,

emphasis original)

In the above quote, Taka first defines WEDCs as “an English-spoken sphere” (英語圏) where

learners can socialize with native speakers, and concurrently constructing the Philippines not as

such or Filipinos as not native speakers. In his mind, being able to speak up is not valuable for

their English development. Rather, to become fluent, learners need someone who would point

out their mistakes so that they can learn to correct them. Interestingly, “who” should correct a

learner’s English remains unspecified in Taka’s interview. The interview seems to focus on

presenting the idea that going to an English-spoken sphere is not the solution for EL learners to

be fluent. Through these interviews with their students, Souspeak (2020, school website)

concludes that: “Based on our interviews with students who attended both our school and an ESL

school in WEDCs, the result was that you should not have an excessive illusion of ESL schools in

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WEDCs.” Thus, Souspeak disillusions the imaginary SA in WEDCs by pointing out how

different the reality of SA in WEDCs would be from what Japanese EL learners typically

imagine. Similar to SOUDA’s (2017) argument that students should not prioritize their longing,

the schools’ websites illuminate the construction of the SA in the Philippines through

delegitimization of WEDCs as a desirable English learning site, and consequently producing the

Philippines as a desirable SA destination.

4.3.4 One-on-one lessons in the Philippines, group lessons in WEDCs, and eikaiwa

lessons in Japan

Throughout different documents, one-on-one lessons are drawn upon as one of the

promotional features of SA in the Philippines. This aspect is also previously discussed in the

existing literature (Jang, 2018; Kobayashi, 2020). In the previous section, I addressed how the

offering of one-on-one lessons in the Philippines is featured as an attractive alternative to group

lessons offered in ESL schools in WEDCs. This point is elaborated in multiple documents by

arguing that in group lessons in WEDCs, Japanese students struggle to speak up among assertive

international students (Nakatani, 2016, eBook; Onozato, 2016, eBook; Souspeak, n.d., School

website). Nakatani (2016, eBook) claims that in the Philippines, Japanese students can talk more

freely in one-on-one lessons because they would not be overwhelmed or do not need to think

about what other students would think of them and their English.

Another comparison of one-on-one lessons in the Philippines is made with one-on-one

eikaiwa lessons in Japan (Nakatani, 2016; Onozato, 2016; Ota, 2011). According to Ota (2011),

at eikaiwa schools, students usually take a 40-minutes lesson once a week, whereas most English

schools in the Philippines offer four to six hours of one-on-one lessons per day. This leads to

Ota’s argument that three months of SA in the Philippines is worth nine years of an eikaiwa

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school experience in Japan (Ota, 2011, eBook, pp. 40-41). This comparison disregards the fact

that eikaiwa lessons are predominantly promoted with the presence of Western-looking English

speakers whereas one-on-one lessons in the Philippines are conducted by local Filipino

instructors (Choe, 2016; Haisa, 2016; Jang, 2018).

Not surprisingly, the one-on-one class format in the Philippines is enabled by the cheap

labor cost in the country. Although the majority of the documents avoid explicit reference to the

mechanism, a blogger not only mentions but also endorses it as follows:

The reason why schools can offer many hours of one-on-one lessons in the Philippines is

the relatively cheap labor cost compared to other countries. No matter what measures

you take, it is better to acquire the foundation in English after all.

(“Another SA in the Philippines,” 2013, Blog)

The blogger’s value judgment is encapsulated in the second sentence, “No matter what measures

you take, it is better to acquire the foundation in English after all” (どんな手段でもとにか

く、英語の基本を身に付けてしまった方が得ですからね！). This sentence could be read at

least in two ways. One is that although the writer knows that exploiting cheap labor is ethically

wrong, they promote this option because they prioritize learning English effectively rather than

complying with their moral value. Second, this might be that the most ideal way of learning

English is from native speakers in WEDCs, but given the cost-effective learning environment

that it can offer (i.e., one-on-one lessons), SA in the Philippines could still be a better choice.

In either case, what is prominent is that SA in the Philippines is constructed as a

promising method of English learning in comparison to other available methods in Japan and

WEDCs although not ideal in some way. Furthermore, the legitimization of one-on-one lessons

in the Philippines through comparison to eikaiwa lessons suggests different prioritization in

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English learning. Generally, the values of eikaiwa reside in granting quick access to authentic

speakers of English (i.e., native speakers) within Japan (Bailey, 2006; Sergeant, 2005). It could

be arguable that Japanese EL learners have been consuming eikaiwa lessons as a costly but more

accessible domestic replacement to SA in WEDCs. Interestingly, advocates of SA in the

Philippines draw on eikaiwa to demonstrate the cost-performance of the Philippines. Thus, the

popularity of SA in the Philippines seems to suggest that more and more Japanese EL learners

prioritize the cost of English learning and the number of lessons enabled by the cost rather than

access to (who they considered as) authentic speakers of English.

4.4 Construction of Filipinos, the Philippines, and Cebu

4.4.1 Legitimizing Filipinos as English speakers

In the previous section, I have briefly discussed the promotion of SA in the Philippines in

relation to the national language policy (i.e., implementation of English education from primary

schools; and English as an official language). The association with the U.S. is often used in the

online media to suggest how well Filipinos speak English. For example, Souspeak (n.d., school

website) writes that: “Filipinos’ English is strongly influenced by American English, so they

don’t have that strong accent.” While Souspeak broadly connects the American influence over

Filipino English in association with their accents, Nakatani (2016, eBook) elaborates this point

as follows:

Among the countries that speak English as a second language, the Philippines is

definitely much more suitable as a SA destination than others. The reason is that

although in Thailand and Malaysia people in the city do not understand English much,

they can in the Philippines. This is because English is an official language (in the

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Philippines) due to the influence of the colonial policies and that there are many people

today that work at call centers for American companies. (Nakatani, 2016, eBook, pp.

429-432)

Among numerous SA destinations where English is spoken as a second language, Nakatani

(2016) pinpoints his comparison of the Philippines to Malaysia and Thailand. While these three

countries are generally grouped into one category (i.e., Southeast Asia/東南アジア), Nakatani

distinguishes the Philippines from the others for two reasons: the presence of post-colonial

relation with the U.S. for English being an official language; and many Filipinos work for call

centers of American companies. The flourishing outsourcing industry in the Philippines,

particularly the stationing of American companies, is drawn upon to promote SA in the

Philippines. For example, NILS (n.d., school website) also uses it in the following excerpt:

Q: Are Filipino instructors okay, for example, their accents?

A: There are many call centers of American companies in the Philippines, and their

English proficiency is at the point of excellence that American companies acknowledge.

(FAQ, n.d., school website)

Although the question starts as broad as “are they okay?” (大丈夫ですか？), the school assured

that Filipinos’ English is excellent by drawing on the stationing of call centers as a symbolic

acknowledgment of their English by the Americans.

Another comparison is conducted between the Filipinos and Japanese people in terms of

their English proficiency. For example, NILS (n.d., school website) uses the rhetoric of

“developed/developing countries” to compare the two countries as follows: “The Philippines is

far more ‘an English developed country’ than Japan, at least in the category of English” (フィ

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リピンは、少なくとも「英語」というカテゴリーにおいて日本よりもはるか先を行く‘

英語先進国’です) (“The features of. . .,” n.d., School website, emphasis original). This

comparison posits that Japan is generally viewed as a “developed country” (先進国) in contrast

to the Philippines as “a developing country” (発展途上国) (also refer to Onozato, 2016, eBook,

excerpt in Section 4.3.2.). NILS provocatively argues that although Japan might be categorized

generally as a developed country, it is not when it comes to English as the Japanese citizens do

not speak English as well as Filipinos. By contrast, the Philippines is constructed as “an English

developed country” (英語先進国). Similarly, Nakatani (2016, eBook) writes: “Most Japanese

people have not reached the (English) level to care about Filipinos’ pronunciation” (pp. 2615-

2616). In other words, Filipinos’ accents might become an issue in their English learning once

these learners improve their English to a certain level. In this regard, the discourse that

legitimizes Filipino as English speakers intersects with the promotion of the Philippines for

beginner EL learners.

The cross-comparison of Filipinos to other English speakers in this section implies the

global hierarchy of English speakers as follows: native speakers > Filipinos > Japanese. This

hierarchy not only suggests the degrees of legitimacy allocated to each (essentialized) speaker

group but also highlights the ongoing commodification of these countries as a method of English

learning with discrepant values associated with each destination.

4.4.2 Legitimizing Filipino instructors as English speakers

Among Filipinos, instructors are often promoted as more desirable English speakers than

general locals. Particularly, instructors are distinguished from the rest of the population for their

educational background. For example, FEGC (n.d., school website) writes: “In general, the

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Filipino instructors who graduated from university speak clear English. They do not have

accents, and they are as fluent as native speakers” (FAQ, n.d., School Website). In this FAQ, the

acquisition of tertiary education is linked to the teachers’ non-accented English, described “as

fluent as native speakers” (ネイティブ並みに流暢です). This strategy to connect the

acquisition of tertiary education to the legitimacy of Filipino instructors as English speakers is

reminiscent of how online eikaiwa provider companies promoted their Filipino instructors as

proficient English speakers (Tajima, 2018).

While graduation from a university was a predominant asset, a degree in Education was

linked with English proficiency in a more specific way. For example, there is a blog post by a

former sojourner in the Philippines, who explains his instructors’ English this way: “Many of the

teachers in my school graduated from education programs in their universities, so their accents

have been corrected/reformed and they speak clear English” (“A-half-year SA in the

Philippines,” 2012, Blog). Although the relationship of the education program and “accent

correction” (訛りの矯正) is not discussed further, their teachers’ education degree was believed

as a decisive factor for their clear English.

4.4.3 Legitimizing Filipino instructors as desirable for Japanese EL learners

While the English schools and blogs emphasize their instructors’ legitimacy through their

English abilities, specifically, in terms of their accents, Filipinos are also constructed as desirable

instructors based on their personal traits. This is frequently observed in eBooks and tends to

follow similar rationales where Filipinos are friendly and jolly and therefore perfect teachers for

shy Japanese students (Ando, 2016 eBook, p. 472; Nakatani, 2016, pp. 335-337; Onozato, 2016).

While these descriptions are not necessarily negative, they tend to essentialize Filipinos by using

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phrases such as: “the jolly nature of Filipinos” (フィリピン人たちの陽気な気質) (Ando,

2016, eBook, 471-474), and “national trait” (国民性) (Nakatani, 2016, eBook, 335-337).

Ando (2016) elaborates on the previous point by explaining how having Filipino

instructors are pedagogically effective for Japanese people: “[Filipino instructors] are very good

at making the students feel excited and creating a comfortable atmosphere for students to speak

up” (Ando, 2016, eBook, p. 473). This depiction of Filipino instructors is comparable to how

native speakers are depicted in eikaiwa schools as “entertainers” or “hosts” rather than

“educators” (Hooper, 2020, p. 45). In this regard, the construction of Filipinos as desirable

English instructors might suggest a commodification of Filipino instructors in the Japanese EL

market by essentializing their traits as being cheerful and friendly in the same way the eikaiwa

schools commodifies native speakers.

Nakatani’s (2016) previous excerpt continues as follows: “. . .it is easy to talk to

[Filipinos] in one-on-one lessons. In addition, Filipinos are pure-hearted and young, and even

adults are like junior high school students” (Nakatani, 2016, eBook, pp. 335-337). The depiction

of Filipinos in the second sentence (original: 純粋で若く、大人でも中学生のよう) should be

critically reviewed as it not only essentializes Filipinos but also hints at the writer’s sense of

superiority over Filipinos. Nakatani’s depiction is reminiscent of the male gratification exhibited

in Japanese customers’ perception of Filipina instructors in online eikaiwa (Tajima, 2018)

although the gendered construction of the instructors is not salient in this and other documents of

SA in the Philippines. In Tajima’s study, the male customer, Osamu, uses the term, 子

(girl/child) to refer to his instructors instead of 先生 (teachers/tutors) (Tajima, 2018, p. 135).

Tajima points out 子 has the connotations of being inferior or subordinate by contrast to 先生,

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which reflects a student's respect for their teacher. Similarly, in the production of SA in the

Philippines, while Filipinos are celebrated for being friendly and approachable in multiple texts,

their traits are essentialized into merely friendly English speakers but not respected educators.

4.4.4 “SA in the Philippines,” or “SA in Cebu”?

Although there are English schools throughout the Philippines, Cebu stands out as a

popular destination among Japanese EL learners. According to Aoki (2015), Cebu is “Mecca of

SA in the Philippines” (フィリピン留学のメッカ) (eBook, 115-116). In fact, among the

documents, there are many that promote SA by drawing on the phrase, “SA in Cebu” (セブ留学)

instead of “SA in the Philippines” (フィリピン留学). Many schools contextualize their schools

tied to the idea of “セブ留学.” However, their locations or what is geographically referred to as

“Cebu” are diverse: for example, NILS is located in the center of Cebu-city whereas FEGC is not

even in Cebu Island, but in neighboring Mactan Island (FEGC, n.d., School website). Put

differently, the geographical definition of Cebu could refer broadly to Cebu province and Cebu-

Island, or narrowly to Cebu City, and these schools seem to allure Japanese EL learners to the

idea of “Cebu.” Then, what constitutes the idea of Cebu and why do schools and other

stakeholders promote the SA with it?

The answer might exist in the gap between how Cebu and the Philippines are differently

imagined by Japanese EL learners or by the Japanese people in general. Ando’s (2016) following

excerpt is summative of how Cebu is promoted against the imagined Philippines:

More than a few people have the impression that Southeast Asia, particularly the

Philippines, is ‘not safe.’ They might have the image of Manila, the only capital in the

Philippines, to be especially dangerous. In fact, while I was conducting interviews for

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this book, I frequently encountered people who had their belongings ‘stolen’ in Manila.

On the other hand, Cebu is known as a beach resort, where tourists gather from all over

the world. It is known for its relatively safe environment, starting from the center of the

city, IT Park, which is security-monitored and guarded for twenty hours per day.

(Ando, 2016, eBook, pp. 82-88, emphasis original)

Ando (2016) groups the concept of the Philippines together with Southeast Asia and Manilla,

drawing on two words to describe them: “unsafe” (治安が悪い) and “dangerous” (物騒な). She

does not deny these images and instead backs up the idea with the anecdotes of Manilla. She then

leverages this imaginary Philippines to promote Cebu for being much safer than other areas.

Compared with Ando (2016), Ota (2011, eBook) elaborates the dangerous image of the

Philippines with more specific keywords as follows: “an incident where a Japanese person is

killed, an outbreak of terrorist attack, and Philippine pubs” (日本人が殺される事件, テロ勃発

, フィリピンパブ) (pp. 524-525). Nakatani (2016, eBook) also points to the image of the

Philippines as life-threatening as follows: “Many people are worried about security in the

Philippines. Especially when it comes to the capital, Manilla, there are even people who think

they might die if they go” (pp. 2418-2420).

To understand the emerging popularity of SA in the Philippines, the inclusion of

discourses on SA in Cebu explains more about this phenomenon. Specifically, Cebu is promoted

by distancing itself from the stigmatized image of the Philippines or Southeast Asia permeating

among Japanese people. In this sense, the construction of Cebu as Mecca of SA in the

Philippines seems to be unlikely a random occurrence, but rather a carefully thought-out

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outcome that is brought about by schools and advocates. Participants’ imagined Philippines and

Cebu are also discussed in Chapter 5.

4.5 Summary

This chapter presented the major findings that address the first research question, largely

from the three themes: SA in the Philippines for beginner EL learners; legitimizing the

Philippines as more than a springboard; and construction of Filipino, the Philippines, and Cebu.

The findings suggest that SA in the Philippines is constructed through constant comparisons of it

as an EL site with Japan and other SA destinations. On the one hand, SA in the Philippines is

constructed as desirable, drawing on its close association with the U.S. On the other hand, the

learning environments in the Philippines are promoted as more ideal than WEDCs and Japan for

the cost-performance. In sum, the advocates of SA in the Philippines prioritize time and

commitment to study more than ‘authentic’ or native speakers.

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Chapter 5: Japanese EL learners’ desires and their SA in the Philippines

5.1 Introduction

In this chapter, I focus on the learners’ SA experience and present findings in relation to

the second research question: what are the participants’ desires before departure (Section 5.1),

and how are these desires reflected in and reshaped through their SA in the Philippines (Section

5.2)? Selected interview data will be presented in narratives.

5.2 The participants’ language desires before their departure

5.2.1 Long-term desires to learn English and to be an English speaker

When I asked the participants why they wanted to learn English, all the participants

except Yuta started their answers with their long-term desire for English and/or their strong

determination to become an English speaker/user.

Kaoru’s narrative started from the English class she took in junior high school, as she

said: “the first English class that I took was fun, English was, that I enjoyed learning English,

and more, how can I say this, I wanted to see a different world.” Her account illuminated the joy

she found in the process of learning English. Furthermore, her desire for English sits in the

possibility that English unlocks (to see a different world), overlapping with her desire for SA.

Mika’s desire for English sparked when she was in kindergarten. At that time, her

neighbor was running an eikaiwa school, which she wanted to attend, but her parents did not

allow her to do so. The following excerpt points to the feeling she had toward English:

Since then, I wasn’t really like “I want to do English, I want to do English” every day,

but I just wanted to do English, I thought it would be nice to become able to speak

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English. Though the feeling might have been small, I kept the desire all the way and I

became an elementary school student.

Her account suggests her desire for English was not short-lived but rather continued throughout

her kindergarten or even longer. The part that “I just wanted to do English” (なんとなく英語が

やりたい) is salient to encapsulate her ambivalent but powerful desire for English. “なんとなく

” suggests that she did not have specific reasons to desire English, and what it could mean to “do

English” possibly entails any “engagement” (Tajima, 2018) in English than learning it.

Mika’s desire for English seems to have become more clearly envisioned and determined

by the time she was in high school. She said, “I don’t want to go into a coffin without being able

to speak English” (英語を話せないまま棺に入りたくない). She explained that “I used to say

[this] from time to time. I was feeling like, I want to do it, and um, I just have to work hard, I

have to change somewhere.” Although it was unnecessary for her to use English at work or in

any other aspect of her life, she kept using the phrase almost as if it was her life slogan. She tried

to learn English on her own, for example, by attending an eikaiwa school and buying self-help

English learning books, but these attempts were not as unfruitful as she had hoped. However, she

never stopped but continued to inspire herself to fully actualize her desires one day.

Further comments from the participants revealed that their desires for English were

intertwined with their desire to study abroad. In their accounts, SA was constructed as the most

desirable or even necessary for them to develop their English. However, it was only until their

late twenties that Mika, Kaori, and Sam proceeded to study abroad. To follow, I will discuss why

they did not study abroad when they were younger.

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5.2.2 Desires detained

In Sam and Mika’s accounts, their background of growing up in the countryside became

a salient theme in how they decided against pursuing their SA when they were young. When I

asked Mika why she did not study abroad even though she wanted to, she answered: “My junior

high school was a normal countryside one, so words like study abroad… it was unimaginable to

study abroad during then. It was all about something like which local high school you would

attend, and that was all.” Her account illuminates how narrow the expected path for teenagers in

the countryside of Japan was, and consequently how unapproachable SA was to these children.

Sam grew up in the countryside in a different region but at the same time as Mika. In the

interview, he remembered that he wanted to study abroad since he was in high school as he made

an inquiry for overseas universities as follows:

Come to think of it, when I was studying for university entrance exams, I requested a

pamphlet about oversea universities. But back then, it seemed unrealistic, cause, you

know, I grew up in the countryside of Osaka, and I didn’t see anyone like that. It was

something otherworldly to do something like going to a university abroad.

While studying to enter a university within Japan, he requested the pamphlet to seek the option

of attending a university abroad. However, he did not pursue the latter in the end, describing it as

something that “seemed unrealistic” (現実感全然なかった) and “something otherworldly” (浮

世離れした話). 浮世離れ literally means “away from the current world” and is an expression

used to imply that an idea is out of common sense.

Sam and Mika both shared their contradictory, ambivalent stance on SA: they knew some

people studied abroad, and in Sam’s case, he viewed study abroad as his potential future (by

making an inquiry). However, they did not see it as a realistic option that they could have

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pursued then. Other issues, such as lack of funds and parents’ opposition did not appear in these

episodes probably because they did not take further actions after presuming it was too

otherworldly.

Living in the countryside, however, is not always linked as a hindrance in one’s actions

to pursue study abroad. Kaoru also lived in the countryside, where she almost never encountered

foreigners. In contrast to Sam and Mika, this perception that she thought she would never have

any chance to use English there drove Kaoru to go to a place where she could use English (i.e.,

abroad).

5.2.3 Desires disparaged

As illustrated in the previous sections, the participants presented their desires for English

and SA by sharing multiple episodes from different time periods. At the same time, however,

these episodes often included how they disparaged their own desires. For example, Sam was

critical of his desiring to study abroad given that he was not good at English. To illustrate his

point, he shared the episode of him taking the National Center Test (NCT: センター試験),

which was a standardized exam used by both public and some private universities in Japan. He

drew on his NCT experience to explain his perception of his English ability. Following his

abysmal score (in his view) on NCT, Sam recalled his feeling, “I was thinking, you thought NCT

was difficult, what are you thinking that you can go abroad?” (センター難しいなとかって言

ってる人間が何を海外、と思ってたんですけども). He told me this probably because he

thought I would know that NCT, especially the English subject, was deemed easier than other

entrance exams. In the quote, he measured his eligibility to study abroad based on his score on

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NCT. Although, in fact, Sam went to a famous private university in Western Japan, he belittled

his desire to study abroad by not believing in his potential based on the NCT score.

Like Sam, Mika also recalled she was not good at English in high school. When I asked

why she wanted to study English anyways, she objectified her desires in the following way:

Mika (M): During high school, I was not good at English.

Aika (A): Yeah yeah

M: But still I wanted to study abroad, even though I did not like English.

A: I wonder why.

M: What do you mean by “why”?

A: I mean, did you feel like you wanted to become able to speak English?

M: Yeah, it was my longing (akogare). I probably thought that people who spoke English

were really cool. . . But well, it was probably similar to a common akogare that ordinary

Japanese people have, rather than something special about me. Like, it is nice if you can

speak English, if you could hold a daily conversation. Everyone has thought at least

once, like, you all have thought that you wanted to become able to speak English, right?

(laughter)

To the interviewer (myself), who was also born and grew up in countryside Japan around the

same time, she assertively generalized Japanese people’s desire for English, saying “you all have

thought that you wanted to become able to speak English, right?” (英語喋れるようになりたい

なんて全員思ったことあるよね). Concurrently, by explaining how common it was to have a

desire for English, she seems to belittle her own desire, conceptualizing it as merely “a common

akogare” (一般的な憧れ) but not “something special about me.”

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Mika and Sam’s long pauses to actualize their desires seem to be a reflection of their

ambivalent feelings and critical opinions toward their own desires. While Mika continued to

inspire herself to learn English by repeating the coffin phrase, her narrative suggested her

awareness that her desire to become proficient in English is merely an ordinary notion in Japan.

Sam belittled his desire by reminding himself of how unrealistic it was for him to pursue an

overseas degree given the contextual reality and his English ability.

5.2.4 Desire revitalized or developed

The participants also talked about how their desires for SA were later revitalized in

different contexts, assembling with other desires that they had and becoming a force that drove

them to actualize their desires. When their language and SA desires intersected with other

possibilities, it helped them envision what SA and English could enable them to do, much more

powerfully than they had imagined previously. For Sam, the turning point was at his workplace

when his close colleague gained the opportunity to work in Indonesia while he did not.

I was thinking that one of the future selves that I thought would be cool to be was

someone who was able to speak English and that people who spoke English were just

cool, and then I actually faced that in proximity. When I saw my colleague assigned to

work overseas, the self-image that I avoided facing until then, the ideal self that I wanted

to become, when I re-encountered something like that, I was like, oh, this is something

too hard to get rid of.

According to Sam, this colleague was assigned to the overseas work opportunity because he was

“kikokushijo” (帰国子女) or children of Japanese expatriates who had early education abroad

(Kanno, 2000). By contract, Sam was born and raised in Japan. In the interviews, he often called

himself “jun-japa” (純ジャパ) or “jun japanīzu” (純ジャパニーズ), which are literally

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translated as “pure Japanese.” Sam positioned himself and others who were born and raised

entirely in Japan this way, contrasting to kikokushijo.

Being a “pure Japanese” stopped Sam from pursuing his desire to be able to speak

English after all. His colleague’s overseas assignment reminded him of an ideal self as a

proficient English speaker that he had years ago. He became aware of the two intersecting

desires: to be able to speak English and work overseas. The ability to speak English would not

only help him reach the ideal self but also achieve his career ambition. Put differently, he

decided to act upon fulfilling his language desire when he saw how a command of English could

impact his life.

For Mika, the option to study abroad emerged as a legitimate option when she was

encountering life-changing events. Previously, she was working as a secretary for a famous

politician and was married to a University Hospital doctor, both of which she considered as what

granted her “(high) status” in the countryside. However, her graceful life started to fall apart

when the politician lost his election and had much less budget to operate his office. In addition,

during the same period, her husband and she started to feel a discrepancy between their values

and separated from each other. It was when her husband officially proposed her their divorce that

she revisited what she wanted to do but left unpursued, as she said:

You know, I was 29 at that time, and I had wanted to do something at the end of my

twenties. I was thinking like, am I really okay ending my twenties this way? If I want to

do something, this is the timing. For example, I was also thinking about moving to Tokyo

too because I never left Yamakawa Prefecture (pseud). Including these challenges, I

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thought this was probably the only timing when we were getting divorced. I was thinking

about multiple options but then I thought, yes, let’s go abroad.

The excerpt encapsulated her multiple desires: to go abroad, to do something special/meaningful

before her twenties was over, and to move out of her home prefecture. Mika repeatedly discussed

how her residing area was rural and how difficult her post-divorce life there would be. She

explained this was due to the fact that everyone knew her as “a wife of the University Hospital

doctor.” This meant that if she continued to live and work in the same place, she would have to

deal with others talking about, in her words, “the life of downfall/ fall from grace” (転落人生).

In sum, her desires for English and SA intersected with her other desires to do something

special at the end of her twenties and to move out of the countryside she resided. Furthermore, it

is implicative that by becoming single, she was able to release her desires that she was not able

to pursue during her previous marriage.

Kaoru was a high school graduate and her desire to study English abroad merged with

another desire: to graduate from a college. She envisioned her ultimate goal of her SA to

graduate from a college abroad. In her words:

I knew it would be very challenging, for example, there would be a language barrier, and

in Japan, you can earn credits even if you don’t participate in class, and I knew colleges

overseas would be very tough, but, um, since I was working immediately after high

school (without going to a postsecondary institution), and had to save money myself, I

didn’t want to waste it [the money] if I was going to pay expensive tuition fee.

Kaoru thought it would be difficult but rewarding to graduate from a college abroad. To achieve

this goal, she worked hard to save money. In fact, she had to work for eight years to save money

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for her to attend a college abroad since she had no financial support from her family or any other

organizations.

Her parents were entirely against her SA. During the eight years, she kept questioning

herself if she should study abroad despite her parents’ opposition. However, after all, she became

determined to follow her own wants by the time she had saved enough money. She explained

that the deathbed talks that she had with seniors where she worked as a caregiver were influential

in her decision to study abroad:

I was working as a care worker in Japan, and so um, I had the experience of taking care

of quite a few people on their deathbeds because I was working at senior housing. In

those moments, many people talked about, how I should put it, something that they should

have done, or their regrets. And then, um, there were quite many who said they should

have done more of what they liked. I think this is especially true in Japan, because of

their parents’ expectations and others’ opinions, quite a few people told me that they

could not do what they wanted to do. . . So then, I was, because I had this desire to study

abroad since I was in junior high, so I thought I have no option but to do it. If I don’t try,

I would regret it, and because this is my life.

Seniors regretting what they did not do in their lives helped Kaoru make up her mind to study

abroad. Specifically, she did not want to regret her life by giving up on her dream to study

abroad which she held since junior high. The last part, “because this is my life” (自分の人生だ

から), seems to signify her long-term struggle to juggle between her expected role as a daughter

and her own wants. Thus, in Kaoru’s case, her desires—to study abroad, to attend a college, and

to embrace her life—were accumulated before her departure and actualized through her SA. In

addition, the existence of her economic capital played a crucial role in enacting these desires as

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she said: “As long as I have money and a passport, I thought SA is feasible, so I just went

(laughter).”

Unlike Sam, Mika, and Kaoru who had desires for studying English since much earlier in

life, Yuta appeared to have had hardly any desire for English until his mid-twenties. His desire

for English was inspired by migrant workers who were learning Japanese as a second language

in Japan. Back then or before, Yuta’s life, in general, was driven by his ambition to become a

professional actor. After graduating from high school, he moved to Tokyo to join a talent agency.

While pursuing his career, he made his living by working as a vice manager at a sushi restaurant

where he coincidentally met these foreigners. According to Yuta, it was when he completed a

huge theatre production that his desire to learn English emerged:

When everything (about the theatre) ended, I don’t know, something changed inside of

me, like, I wanted to do something different. Of course, I wanted to do acting, but well,

my age? I was twenty-five then. When I was thinking I wanted to do something different,

there were part-timers at my workplace. . . There were Vietnamese, Filipinos, Chinese,

and Koreans. They were in Japan and studying Japanese dutifully/seriously, like they

attended Japanese schools, some of them were in universities, so I was probably

motivated by them for a long time. Um, … I thought they were amazing, they were really

impressive. When I thought I wanted to do something different, that was probably the

biggest impetus. … and one day it just occurred to me that I want to become able to use

English.

While he described the emergence of his desire for English as sudden and unexpected as he said:

“it just occurred to me” (ふと思った), to learn an additional language does not seem random as

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he also said: “I was probably motivated by them [the Asian migrants] for a long time” (ずーっと

刺激を受けてて). According to Yuta, his coworkers were learning Japanese

“dutifully/seriously” (ちゃんと), for example, by attending a university. Their diligence and

accomplishment were not only impressive but also inspiring, making him “want to do it too” (俺

もやってみたいなって). While he was not clear about exactly what he wanted to do with

English (e.g., to work overseas, to immigrate), the experiences of these coworkers were

repeatedly discussed along with his motives to learn English abroad.

5.2.5 Summary

In this section, I have examined the desires each participant had in relation to English and

SA. In the cases of Mika, Sam, and Kaoru, their desires were retained for a while and then

became imperative for their actualization of life goals. For Yuta, who had no interest in learning

English until he was twenty-five, a desire to study English overseas simultaneously embodied a

symbolic transition in his life from an actor to a challenger in foreign lands. In contrast to the

countryside discourse presented by the other participants, Yuta’s work environment at the center

of Tokyo highlights his exposure to international migrant workers. The participants’ narratives as

a whole illuminate the diversity of their orientation and contextualization of SA and English

learning. These differences lead to the question of how SA in the Philippines was conceptualized

by the participants and related to their desires, which will be discussed below.

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5.3 The participants’ desires and SA in the Philippines

5.3.1 The participants’ decisions to study in the Philippines

For all the participants except Sam, the Philippines was not an SA destination in the

beginning. Instead, it was through their consultations with others and their own searches that the

option of SA in the Philippines emerged. For example, Yuta initially thought of going to

Australia with a Working Holiday Visa. However, his friend recommended that he should go to

the Philippines first. As Yuta explained:

I wasn’t familiar with the fact that Filipinos can speak English, so I was like why the

Philippines? But you know, she told me things like Filipinos can speak English. She told

me to go to the Philippines, and that Filipino English is easy to follow and to

comprehend. . . She was like, just go to the Philippines, and if you go straight to

Australia, you will definitely not understand, it is no good, and no point in doing so. For

now, go to the Philippines just for a short term. . . it was like, just go there as a practice.

According to Yuta, his friend went to study in the Philippines for three months herself and then

went to Sydney with a Working Holiday visa. She convinced Yuta to go to the Philippines first

“as a practice” (とりあえず練習として) since they speak more comprehensible English. On

the other hand, Australia was contextualized as an unbeneficial SA destination for a novice

learner like Yuta because English there would be incomprehensible. As demonstrated in the

previous finding chapter, SA in the Philippines is promoted as a springboard to WEDCs among

EL learners. Furthermore, SA in the Philippines was enacted as such through Yuta’s SA

trajectory (i.e., go to the Philippines first and then to Canada).

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Similar to Yuta, Mika learned the option of the Philippines through word of mouth. She

then made her decision to study in the Philippines based on the information that she obtained

through online resources:

[A colleague of mine] lightheartedly told me that everyone she knew who went to the

Philippines said it was good, and that their pronunciation was surprisingly clear. I

became interested in the Philippines and searched online, then I found many websites

that compared study abroad in the Philippines to counterpart (destinations).

Fundamentally, the price, SA in the Philippines was way cheaper, and the quality was not

that different, the cost of living was low as well, and in the Philippines, many schools

offered a dorm and meals. . . While I was searching only the option of the Philippines,

comparisons with Canada and the U.S. appeared, but I did not search about Canada or

the U.S.

Mika was exposed to the comparison of SA in the Philippines to WEDCs. These websites argued

not only for the affordable cost of the Philippines but also that SA in the Philippines has little

difference in “quality” (質) compared with WEDCs, which is reminiscent of the discussion from

the previous chapter. Given the price, the quality, and schools’ offer beyond English lessons

(e.g., dorm, three meals, and laundry service), she found SA in the Philippines accessible. She

could go there without much preparation compared to going to WEDCs.

Like Mika, Sam mentioned the idea that the “quality” of SA in the Philippines was

almost equal to that of WEDC and further elaborated as follows:

I thought if I was to attend an ESL school in Canada or the Philippines, the latter is

sufficient, and that is why I went to the Philippines. . . The reason is, like I said, whether

you attend an ESL school for one, three, or six months, how much you grow depends on

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individual efforts. If so, that means, it is higher in cost-performance if you go to a spartan

school in the Philippines (than an ESL school in Canada). . . If I were to go to Canada, I

wanted to receive a very Canadian education.

Sam believed that the outcome from attending ESL schools depends not upon the duration or

location of the school, but “individuals efforts” (どんだけ頑張るか). This suggests that Sam

paid little attention to whether English is spoken as a first or second language in his SA

destination. This is contrastive to how English-learning SA has been imagined and pursued in the

existing literature, where the benefits of study abroad have been predominantly associated with

immersion and the opportunity to interact with their imagined native English speakers (i.e.,

Fujita, 2009; Takahashi, 2013). In this regard, the rationale behind Mika and Sam’s selection of

the Philippines as their SA destination is intriguing as the legitimacy of the SA destination does

not rely on whether people there speak English as their first language or embody the idea of

“native speakers.” However, it should be noted that Sam still considered Canada a desired

destination after the Philippines. Canada is valued for offering “a very Canadian education” (カ

ナダならではの教育) whereas the Philippines is deemed desirable for the “cost-performance.”

Unlike the other participants, Kaoru decided to ‘return’ to the Philippines after studying

in Canada where she was attending an English for Academic Purpose (EAP) Program in

Vancouver. Spending more than a year in Canada struggling to pass a language requirement to

move onto the mainstream college program, she sought different ways in which she could fulfill

the language requirement. For Kaoru, the Philippines stood out as a legitimate option since there

was a school that specializes in preparing students to ace the IELTS exam. Besides the much

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lower cost and preparation for the IELTS, she mentioned meeting motivated others as another

reason to fly back to the Philippines:

When I studied abroad in the Philippines before, I had the luck of meeting good

friends. . . so I thought if I studied abroad in the Philippines again, I might meet similar

classmates and friends, who were motivated and kept me inspired. . . When I was in the

EAP Program, to be honest, my Chinese classmates did not really want to study abroad,

but rather their parents forced them to do so, and so, how do I put this? Their idea was

that if their kids were able to immigrate, they might also be able to immigrate. So you

see, um, in the Philippines, in a spartan-style school, there were highly motivated people,

those who really wanted to study, that is why I thought the environment was good.

Her imagination of the SA in the Philippines is closely linked to the contextual reality of her past

SAs in Canada and the Philippines. Her decision to return was linked to the memory of her first

SA in the Philippines and her belief that being surrounded by motivated students would help her

focus on her learning and ultimately achieve the language requirement. In addition, within the

Philippines, she particularly commented on spartan-style schools where serious learners would

gather for their strict learning environment. Kaoru compared students in spartan-style schools

with her classmates in Canada, whose motives behind their SA were completely different and

unrelatable for Kaoru.

Kaoru’s goals of SA in the Philippines to meet motivated peers and to gain a sufficient

score on IELTS suggest that SA in the Philippines is a stepping stone for her to achieve her core

desire to attend college in Canada.

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5.3.2 Imagined Cebu vis-à-vis imagined Philippines

Among the participants, the three studied in Cebu and described their experiences as “SA

in the Philippines” (フィリピン留学) and “SA in Cebu” (セブ留学). These terms illuminate

how contrastively participants imagined Cebu vis-à-vis the Philippines. For example, Yuta talked

about his SA in Cebu, which he thought was the only SA destination in the Philippines. He

explained, “When I decided to go to the Philippines, it had to be Cebu. I heard things like, that it

is safe, and that people are nice, so um, my option was limited to Cebu.” Yuta’s opinion aligns

with the findings I presented in the previous chapter about how Cebu is constructed as a safer

place than other parts of the Philippines.

Like Yuta, Mika also chose Cebu as her SA destination. She always used SA in Cebu (セ

ブ留学) to describe her experience, and she explained that this was because the Philippines has

negative images associated with Filipino migrant workers in pubs in Japan. In her words:

You know, my father was really, um, his image of the Philippines was something like

pubs… There are probably not many who have negative images of, say, the UK, but the

one with the Philippines is negative, the Philippines is… different. So, if I was to say (I

studied in) the Philippines, my dad told me to say Cebu instead. (laughter) . . . You might

be thinking, is that different? (laughter) But if you say Cebu, there is this positive image

of it being a resort, and there are a lot of people who do not know it is in the Philippines.

. . They would just say, I heard it [Cebu] is a nice place, and the conversation ends,

people are like that. But the moment you say the Philippines, you know, there is

something. So my father was like, please don’t use the word, the Philippines.

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The above excerpt displays how Cebu and the Philippines are intersubjectively constructed

among Mika, her father, and their imaginary Japanese people. Mika compared SA in the

Philippines to one in the U.K., and hesitantly but clearly implied that the former SA is not

desired in the same way, by saying “the Philippines is… different” (フィリピンってやっぱり...

ある). Mika agreed with her father to use Cebu since Cebu, in their minds, escapes this

stigmatization.

Mika and Yuta had similar images of Cebu as a more desirable SA destination than the

rest of the Philippines. However, compared with Yuta, who was unconscious in reproducing the

social imaginaries of Cebu and the Philippines, Mika was more aware of the ideological

construct of the Philippines in Japan. Mika’s account further illuminated how the negative image

of Filipina pub workers was drawn upon in constructing the Philippines as a SA destination.

5.3.3 Learning environments in the Philippines

The participants considered one-on-one lessons the most desired learning environments

that SA in the Philippines offers. Yuta compared it to the ESL classes in Canada that he was

currently taking and said: “group lessons can’t beat one-on-one lessons.” He explained that there

was more to learn from one-on-one than group lessons because the time is efficiently used. Sam

expressed the same view, saying that such teaching was “high in cost-performance.” Similarly,

Kaoru, who went to the Philippines to achieve her target IELTS score, attributed her successful

outcome to the one-on-one lessons. Through one-on-one lessons, she was able to learn “what

[she] was not doing well, or how [she] could get a high score.”

Participants’ comments suggest that while they valued their learning experience in the

Philippines, their appreciation is underpinned by the school programs. In fact, Kaoru continued

her previous comment by saying: “If I could take private (one-on-one) lessons in a WEDC, um,

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well, that would be a different story. But I think the tuition fee would be way higher.” This

suggests that the value of SA in the Philippines is established upon the school system which is

essentially enabled by the cheap labor cost. Put differently, the cost might be an imperative

factor that makes SA in the Philippines legitimate for these Japanese EL learners.

The participants also discussed the inclusion of meal plans, accommodation, and self-

study space inside the schools as desirable features of SA in the Philippines. In particular, Kaoru

and Mika highlighted how this package was desirable to make their learning efficient. Mika

explained as follows:

You know, when I was in Cebu, like I said, the room was set, and you can spend almost

all of your entire day studying, you see, there was that environment. You don’t have such

an environment in other countries, for example in Canada. . . I guess you could study for

eight hours if you try hard. But aren't there various other things that you need to do? . . .

(In the Philippines,) you could forget everything, do nothing but think about English,

there is an environment for that . . . You don’t lose concentration, you don’t have to move

from the desk and keep studying. I never had such environments in my life, and I can’t

think I would ever again. Now that I think about it, I was content, because you know, I

can do English without thinking about meals, um, like cooking or even walking. It is

kinda scary, isn’t it!? (laughter)

She compared the learning environment in the Philippines to Canada focusing on the number of

hours a day she could spend studying. The fact that she was able to concentrate on learning

solely makes SA in the Philippines different from other destinations. Furthermore, the

desirability of the learning environments was also compared with her previous life in Japan and

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the current one in Canada. She listed a couple of daily tasks ranging from walking (!) to cooking

in order to describe how her time in the Philippines was surreally “content” (幸せだったよ).

For Kaoru, the packaged system in the Philippines was seemingly desirable also for other

reasons. Her spartan school in the Philippines was extremely strict, enforcing studying time from

7 AM to midnight. She had to study in the self-study room and could not even go back to her

dorm room beside their specified breaks. She also remembered the time when the storm hit the

region and the entire school blacked out, her friends and she gathered at a table and continued

studying with candlelight. Despite these seemingly very tough environments, her narrative from

her time in the Philippines was cheerful and something she could joke about. On the other hand,

her SA in Vancouver appeared rather depressing.

To be honest, most of the students in that ESL program were rich Chinese. . . they went to

hang out because they could afford it, but I was not able to do such things. I had to cook

all my meals, deciding how much I could actually use for living expenses. I tried not to

exceed the budget, cause you know, in Vancouver, everything is costly. So I really had to

save money, and I was really frustrated at that time.

The comparison of her narratives in the Philippines and Canada illuminates how the latter was

mentally draining for her because of her limited budget. In Vancouver, the economic gap

between her and other students hindered her from socializing with them outside the classroom.

Even though she was finally pursuing her dream that she longed for, she described herself at that

time as “really frustrated” (心に正直ゆとりがなかった). “心にゆとりがなかった” literally

means that someone did not have room in their heart, indicating frustration and a state of being

overwhelmed. In this regard, the packaged SA in the Philippines was desirable for Kaoru not

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only for the concentrated learning environment but also the affordable living cost and the system

where she did not compare her life with other students.

5.3.4 Filipinos as English speakers

While the participants frequently communicated with other Japanese fellow students and

built friendships with them inside their schools, they presented little socialization with local

Filipinos. There seem to be two contributing factors: the students in their schools were

predominantly Japanese (no other international students), and three out of the four participants

attended spartan-style (or semi spartan-style) schools that had many restrictions on students’

activities outside the classroom and enforce long hours of studying after class (refer to Kaoru and

Mika’s narratives in the previous section for more details). Some schools also had rules

regarding the times and the areas that students were allowed to go out for safety reasons. Thus,

the environments in the Philippines were generally more constrained than SA in WEDCs and the

participants had relatively fewer chances to interact with the locals outside schools. As a result,

the participants interacted mostly with their Filipino instructors besides their fellow Japanese

students. Despite the limited exposure to the locals, however, the participants’ perceptions of

Filipinos as English speakers were diverse and shifting.

Yuta shared multiple episodes through which he developed his understanding of Filipinos

as English speakers. Yuta mentioned his experiences outside the classroom, perhaps because he

went to a school with relatively loose rules (i.e., not a spartan school). For example, at the movie

theatre, he saw local kids watch an American movie in English. He also learned from his

instructor that Filipinos start learning English from kindergarten. Commenting on these

experiences, Yuta repeatedly and enthusiastically praised Filipinos’ English, saying “Filipinos’

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English is perfect” (フィリピン人の英語は完璧). In the following exchange, he talked about

how impressed he was with Albert (his Filipino instructor) when he asked Albert to listen to a

sentence spoken by a native speaker:

Y: Um, how do I say it, I did an experiment with an instructor (laughter). It was a

sentence spoken by a native speaker, it was really fast, and I was like, try this. That was

Albert (pseud). I was like, hey, try this, or something (inaudible).

A: So if Albert could comprehend it or not?

Y: Yeah, whether he can comprehend, I was like, do dictation for us. I was thinking, he

might be able to do this in one try, but probably impossible, not impossible, but I mean, it

would be difficult. But he did it. He actually did it, he caught everything.

When Albert comprehended the sentence perfectly, Yuta realized how good Albert’s English

was. In other words, Yuta had not been fully convinced of Albert’s English ability until he saw

the result of the “experiment” (実験), as he later also said, “Like, can he really do this? Like, this

is probably too much for him” (本当に出来んのかな、みたいな、さすがにこれは無理だ

ろ、みたいな). Although he thought it was okay to ask Albert to do the dictation because (he

thought) he was very close to Albert, he described the feeling afterward as “bad/sorry” (申し訳

なかったなって). Concurrently, he emphasized how this “experiment” made him believe Albert

is “amazing” to the extent that he asks Albert questions about English even after moving to

Canada.

It should be also noted that Yuta’s perception of “Filipino English” was rearticulated

once he moved to Canada. To be more specific, he explained that some of the expressions that

his Filipino instructors taught him are “old-fashioned” (古い). For example, when he used

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phrases, such as “raining cats and dogs” and “time flies so fast,” his instructor and friends in

Canada pointed out they are not commonly used. When I asked which English forms he would

use, he answered: “I guess after all I would use the one by natives?” (やっぱネイティブ選んじ

ゃいますかね？) His wording and question mark seem to hint at his resentment or hesitance to

choose native speakers’ or Canadian version of English over Filipinos’. However, he did indicate

that he would choose to use native speaker English to communicate even with his Filipino

instructors. Thus, even though he repeatedly mentioned that “Filipino’s English is perfect,” he

was aware of the difference and desired to speak like English speakers from WEDCs.

In contrast to Yuta, Mika’s understanding of English speakers appears to have been

majorly reshaped through her SA in the Philippines. The following is what she said responding

to my question of what she gained from her SA in the Philippines:

What I learned in the Philippines. . . I was doing a homestay in Canada, and I was

staying with a Filipino family. If I had not been to the Philippines, I would have felt

resistance to being sent to a Filipino family (in Canada). If you come to Canada and pay

for a homestay, you would imagine a White/Caucasian family, you know? In that sense, I

might have thought how come I was going to a Filipino’s home when I came to Canada?

But since I went to the Philippines, I had the knowledge, like Filipinos living in Canada

probably could speak English, and that pronunciation is not that big of an issue.

Drawing on her expectations for a host family in Canada, Mika conceptualized her shifting views

on ideal English-speaking interlocutors. Initially, she had expected and desired to be sent to a

White/Caucasian family in Canada. However, the SA in the Philippines made her think that

Filipino families were also good because they can speak English. She explained that the

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transition was due to her SA in the Philippines where she realized Filipinos and she, both of

whom speak English as a second language, were able to communicate with each other despite

their English being broken or accented. This led to her awareness that “intelligible” English did

not rely on accent or pronunciation and therefore Filipinos in Canada, who speak English as a

second language, are also legitimate as her host family.

Thus, Mika’s perception of legitimate forms of English and speakers was largely formed

through SA in the Philippines. That being said, I should also highlight how she assessed

Filipinos in Canada based on their ability to “communicate with foreigners [gaijin]” (外人とし

ゃべれる). 外人 (gaijin) is a word that is typically used to refer to foreigners (in Japan),

particularly those of White or Western appearance. In this regard, although she put less priority

on accents in assessing one’s English proficiency, she assessed the legitimacy of Filipinos as

English speakers against Western-looking others.

Compared with Yuta and Mika, Sam’s account was different for his emphasis that he had

no concerns about learning English in the Philippines. This point was illustrated in his university

alumni gathering in Sydney, where he worked as an expat after completing his SA.

In that gathering, of course, there were (Japanese) people who were ten or twenty years

older than me, and at that time, we somehow started talking about SA in the Philippines.

You know, if you look at our generation, among those who are overseas, there are quite a

few who experienced SA in the Philippines. When we were talking about it, the people

who were ten or twenty years older were like, what, were you learning English from

Filipinos!? It was something like that, and then they were saying things like, their

pronunciation must be very bad/unclear. But the truth is, these people (the older alumni)

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have dirty pronunciation. Yours is bad too, I was thinking. You have a really strong

Japanese accent. You know, like, they probably put their pronunciation aside. . . I was

not expecting their (Filipinos’) pronunciation to begin with. But obviously, they

[Filipinos] speak more fluently than I was, furthermore, Filipinos speak absolutely more

fluently than those [alumni] who were denying their English (laugher), those who were

saying “the Philippines, really?” So, it was just (take a breath), I don’t know, how dare

they judge so condescendingly?

In the above episode, Sam repeatedly mentioned how Filipinos spoke better English than him or

the Japanese alumni who questioned the whole idea of SA in the Philippines. His disposition of

himself apart from these alumni is visible in his pointing out the generational gap among

Japanese people in perceptions of SA in the Philippines. Despite the widespread popularity of

SA in the Philippines among “our generation” (僕らの世代; Sam and I are in our early thirties),

the older generation at the gathering resisted the whole idea of SA in the Philippines. The older

alumni specifically listed Filipinos’ accents as a reason, describing that their accent must be

“bad/unclear” (汚い). The word, “汚い” literally means “dirty,” and often used as an antonym to

“きれいな英語” (beautiful/proper English) (Tajima, 2018, p. 184). Sam critiqued these alumni

by pointing out how they spoke English with strong Japanese accents while critiquing Filipino

English “condescendingly” (上から目線).

Sam positioned himself as different from these alumni by taking a distance from the idea

of evaluating someone’s English proficiency based on their accents. He said: “I think for those

who can really speak English, it’s just that there are Filipino accents among many other accents,

such as Indian accents, French accents, and Italian accents” (インド人の訛り、フランス人の

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訛り、イタリア人の訛りみたいな形の中で、ただその訛りの中の一つで、フィリピン英

語の訛りがあるよっていうだけの話だと思うんですよ、俺、本当に話せる人から見た

ら). Sam argued that ‘truly’ proficient speakers would not judge someone based on their accent,

but rather see these differences equally. Filipinos as English speakers are legitimate, not because

he saw Filipinos as better English speakers than him or many Japanese. Instead, he believed that

accents do not define whether a person can really speak English or not. Rather, being bothered

by accents is an indication of someone who does not speak it well, as he said: “I have never met

someone who evaluates Filipino’s English and can speak in so-called native-speaker accents.”

Sam carefully used the phrase ‘native speaker’ by always adding “so-called” (いわゆる).

Although he explained this by mentioning ‘native speaker’ is a problematic term, his narrative

suggests that “native speaker” was still a pervasive categorical signifier in describing one’s

English proficiency in his repertoire.

5.3.5 The Philippines as a springboard to Canada

Despite their perceptions of Filipinos as legitimate English speakers (to a certain degree),

the participants consistently viewed the SA itself as a step toward their ultimate destination (i.e.,

Canada). For example, in Kaoru’s case, her SA in the Philippines was instrumental to her

ultimate goal of attending college in Canada. Sam echoed a similar notion that the Philippines is

a steppingstone as he said: “What I gained from the SA in the Philippines is, well, the confidence

to study abroad in Canada.”

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Like Kaoru and Sam, Mika viewed the Philippines as a springboard to her ultimate

destination (i.e., Canada). She said that she tried to focus on her study in the Philippines by

buying some cheap and comfortable clothes:

I was there [in the Philippines] for half a year, but I didn’t want to spend time on other

things, even choosing clothes, so I went to Uniqlo and a place called GU, like a cheap

version of Uniqlo, and I got like seven of the same clothes. . . You know, I got these loose

pants, something that I have never worn, I bought these weird things, and I was like why

would I care, this is the most comfortable…. I was like, the time I would spend on

choosing clothes is even troublesome, … I didn’t go there for romance or to seek

relationships, you don’t really (do so) at the age of 29, you know. I was really focusing

only on English.

This excerpt points to the fact that the desirability of the SA in the Philippines for Mika was

situated in a concentrated learning environment. Through her actions such as buying weird,

comfortable clothes that she would have never worn in Japan, her SA in the Philippines is

embodied as a “serious” one. She did not care about her appearance and was not thinking about

anything but English.

Mika’s conceptualization of studying in the Philippines was contrastive to what she

imagined and did in her SA in Canada. In the continuing excerpt from the previous one, she said:

You know, Canada was something like a place of my longing [akogare]. In my mind, it

was a country where I had to go dressed up. . . in Canada, I did put on makeup and, you

know, I was like, finally here I start. I increased my foundation in English in Cebu, and

Cebu was only a preparation period. That’s why I didn’t care about my appearance.

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Her perception of SA in Canada is fundamentally different from her experience in the

Philippines. Even though she conceptualized both experiences as “SA” (留学), Cebu is yet

merely viewed as “a preparation period” (準備期間). By contrast, Canada was imagined as the

real beginning of her SA, embodied in her action (i.e., putting makeup and dressing up) and

represented in her comments, “I was like, finally here I start” (ここからスタートするぞ、み

たいな). In sum, Canada (i.e., “a place of my longing [akogare]”/憧れの地)) remained as her

core SA desire.

Yuta was different from the other participants in how he constructed the meaning of his

SA in the Philippines along with the people he met, especially his instructors.

In my case, the biggest merit of my SA in the Philippines was that I made friends, that I

came to like English, and if I became proficient in English, I would be able to talk more

with them, it was probably the biggest thing that I learned in the Philippines.

Yuta highlighted the two biggest merits of his SA in the Philippines: he came to like English;

and that development of his English would enable him to communicate better with his “friends”

(i.e., his Filipino instructors). However, even though he contextualized his motivation for

English in relation to his desire to communicate with these Filipino instructors, he was

determined to go to a WEDC after his SA in the Philippines. When I asked why he did not stay

in the Philippines, he said:

That is, you know, my coworkers, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean, who came to Japan

and were working hard. When I thought about them, I also wanted to learn about other

places, I started to have this desire to go to other places. The Philippines was really fun,

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so that was part of it too, and of course, if you say I could have stayed there, you might

be right. . . and I knew I could go back again. . . But before that, there is something that I

want to challenge myself with, and what I want to do is to go to a different country such

as Canada or Australia. In that respect, the influence or something I received from

Vietnamese and Chinese at the beginning was extremely big.

Yuta desired to challenge himself more, by going to Canada, where English is spoken primarily

as a first language. For him, underpinning his language desire seems to be the Asian migrant

workers he met in Japan. As discussed previously, he admired how these workers thrived in

Japan even though they had arrived with almost no Japanese.

The present data suggest that both Yuta and Mika viewed the Philippines as the

beginning of their SA journey but not the ultimate destination. Compared with Mika who

projected her longing [akogare] toward Canada as a Western country, Yuta imagined SA in

WEDCs through the experience of Southeast and Asian migrants in Japan. In this sense, his

desire to develop his English seems to imply his projection of himself closer to the migrant

workers who were thriving to use Japanese in Japan, rather than his longing to interact with

Western-looking Others.

5.3.6 Summary

The above analyses suggest that participants’ desires for English and perceptions of SA

in the Philippines were based on their personal experiences or backgrounds. However, despite

the contextual differences across the cases, all the participants viewed their SA in the Philippines

as a springboard to Canada. To follow, the next final chapter addresses the discussions and

implications of these findings.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion

6.1 Introduction

In this thesis, two research questions guided my investigation into the legitimacy of SA in

the Philippines and Japanese EL learners’ desires reflected on and shaped through their SA. The

research questions are as follows:

RQ1: To what extent and in what ways is the Philippines constructed as a legitimate SA

site?

RQ2: What were the participants’ language desires before their departure, and how are

their desires reflected on and reshaped through their SA in the Philippines?

Research Question 1, which focuses on the legitimacy of SA in the Philippines, is majorly

addressed in Chapter 4, and Research Question 2, which focuses on Japanese EL learners’

desires, is majorly addressed in Chapter 5. Below, I conduct the cross-sectional analysis of the

two chapters and discuss major themes. Then, I present theoretical, methodological, and

pedagogical implications, and end the thesis with a concluding remark.

6.2 Discussion

6.2.1 Legitimacy of SA in the Philippines

6.2.1.1 Cost-performance versus authenticity

Traditionally, one of the core values of SA in TESOL is largely associated with the

authenticity of the English learning experience, specifically associated with its (supposedly)

immersive environments surrounded by their imagined native speakers (Kato & Reeder, 2015;

Nonaka, 2018a; Takahashi, 2013). In the alignment, Western AND English-dominant countries

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continue to be desired to be ideal SA locations. However, despite the pervasive SA expectations,

the Philippines has established its status as one of the most popular SA destinations for Japanese

EL learners. To untangle this phenomenon, Haisa (2016), Jang (2018), and Kobayashi (2020)

suggest that SA in the Philippines is legitimized as a financial compromise and springboard to

WEDCs.

This current study observed similar contextualization, specifically legitimizing and

promoting the Philippines as a budget-friendly option and the best SA location for beginner EL

learners. Furthermore, through the poststructuralist discourse analysis, specifically analyzing

how stakeholders “re-entextualiz[ed] old words in new contexts of use” (Kramsch, 2014, p. 216),

I identified two interrelated themes drawn to legitimize the Philippines as a SA destination and to

compromise its lack of authenticity. First, the values attached to SA in WEDCs are depreciated

in the discourse of SA in the Philippines. Chapter 4 illuminates that the discourse of SA in the

Philippines reckons upon questioning the effect of SA in WEDCs, particularly practicing English

with native speakers and ESL school systems in WEDCs (e.g., large group lessons; Nakatani,

2016, eBook; NILS, 2020, school website; SOUDA, 2017, Agency website; Souspeak, 2020,

school website). The disillusion of SA in WEDCs builds the argument that WEDCs are not a

place where someone with “zero” English can effectively take advantage of as a SA destination

(Ando, 2016, eBook; Mika, Onozato, 2016, eBook; SOUDA, 2017, agency website; Yuta). This

leads to the second theme to construct the Philippines as the cost-effective alternative where even

beginner learners can learn English efficiently in a learning environment characterized with full

accommodation inside the school, numerous one-on-one lessons, and curricula specialized for

Japanese EL learners. These concentrated learning systems are offered at low cost, for which the

Philippines is constructed as a legitimate SA site with higher cost-performance than WEDCs.

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6.2.1.2 “Nothing more than English”: No akogare encapsulated in SA in the Philippines

One focus of this research is to explore whether the concept of akogare is drawn upon in

the discourse of SA in the Philippines, and if so, how. Traditionally, Japanese EL learners’

akogare—desire or yearning for the Western world, the language, and the people—has been

conceptualized interconnectedly with their motives to study abroad, especially in the context of

SA in WEDCs (Kelsky, 2001; Kitano, 2020; Kobayashi, 2007; Takahashi, 2013).

The legitimacy of the Philippines as a SA destination is constructed at the niche of the SA

market by alluring beginning EL learners who “seriously” desire to develop their English and by

provoking their desire to distinguish themselves from those EL learners wallowing in WEDCs to

mainly enjoy Western living rather than to improve their English. In this discourse, being the

embodiment of Japanese people’s akogare (Kitano, 2020), WEDCs are constructed as a place

with too much temptation for one to focus on their English learning (Kaoru; Mika; Onozato,

2016, eBook; Sam; Souspeak, n.d., school website; Shibata, 2015, eBook). Although there is not

much elaboration of how WEDCs offer temptations besides being “fashionable” and “stylish”

(Mika; Onozato, 2016, eBook), WEDCs are conceptualized as where learners want to do more

than learning English. By contrast, the Philippines is desirable for lacking entertaining aspects

and providing the perfect concentrated learning environments. Thus, in this discourse, the

concept of akogare leads to produce the identity of SA in the Philippines as the choice for serious

EL learners. This conceptualization of SA in the Philippines for serious learners is particularly

observable in the spartan school discourse: Kaoru’s narrative is particularly salient as her

imagined, motivated learner community in a spartan school led her to return to the Philippines

from Canada, rendering her believe this is the best way she can achieve her ultimate language

goal (i.e., to attend college in Canada).

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Paradoxically, the desirability of the Philippines as a SA destination reflects the fact that

the country is produced and actualized only as an effective EL option whereas WEDCs are

desired for offering more than English. In sum, the core desirability of SA in the Philippines

fundamentally differs from WEDCs. This underlying assumption of the imagined Philippines—

in Sam’s words, “there is nothing more than English”—should be given more critical attention

for how it produces the Philippines as an undesirable SA destination otherwise.

6.2.1.3 Leveraging native speakerism and the hierarchy of English varieties

Technically, native speakerism does not appear as a useful concept to legitimize Filipinos

as English speakers or endorse SA in the Philippines because Filipinos generally do not embody

the idea of native speakers (e.g., racially, sociolinguistically). In a similar alignment, alternative

values and meanings to the Philippines are produced to substitute the lack of authenticity (See

Section 6.2.1.1 and 6.2.1.2).

The legitimacies of Filipinos as English speakers and the Philippines as a SA site are

constructed in some complex and contradictory ways. On the one hand, the effect of practicing

English with native speakers is questioned, in order to produce SA in the Philippines as effective

for learning English. On the other hand, as seen in previous studies (e.g., Choe, 2016; Tajima,

2018; Tupas & Salonga, 2016), in this study, native speakerism is leveraged to construct

Filipinos as most native-like English speakers in Southeast Asia (FEGC, n.d., school website;

Nakatani, 2016, eBook; NILS, n.d., school website). Specifically, the postcolonial history with

the U.S. along with the Philippines’ national English education is repeatedly discussed to explain

Filipinos’ advanced English proficiency compared to other Asian countries (including Japan). In

addition, the Philippines’ success in the outsourcing industry is drawn to produce the discourse

that Filipinos’ English (especially accents) is comprehensible to and even acknowledged by

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Americans. Thus, interwoven with the postcolonial legacies, the ideological boundary of native

and non-native speakers (and “native-like” nonnative speakers) legitimizes Filipinos as English

speakers.

This legitimization of Filipinos as native-like nonnative English speakers appears to be

interlinked to the positioning of the Philippines as a springboard destination (Haisa, 2016; Jang,

2018; Kobayashi, 2020). In this study, the Philippines as a springboard destination is constructed

upon positioning the Philippines desirable for EL beginners and WEDCs for advanced learners

(Ando, 2016, eBook; Nakatani, 2016, eBook; Onozato, 2016, eBook; SOUDA, 2017, agency

website; Yuta). This positioning implies that even though the Philippines enables learners to

develop their English effectively, it does not allow them to achieve full mastery of English. Thus,

SA in the Philippines appears as another site that reproduces and spreads native speaker fallacies

that being able to communicate with native speakers is the ultimate goal for English learners; and

the ultimate model of English is native speakers.

6.2.2 Desires encapsulated in SA in the Philippines

6.2.2.1 Imagined Philippines and Cebu: Stakeholders’ capitalistic desires

Previously, Yeh (2019) problematized the current media discourse that produces SA in

the Philippines as “a cheap alternative” to the counterparting SA in WEDCs, contextualizing it

with the gaps in incurring SA costs and differences in locals’ sociolinguistic backgrounds (p. 93).

Findings from this study echo that of Yeh (2019). In addition, the cross-analysis of the finding

chapters along with the literature review illuminate that the imagined Philippines reflect (1) the

Japanese stakeholders’ preconceptions that the Philippines is a developing country; and (2)

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learners’ and stakeholders' interrelated desires to learn English through the cost-effective option

and capitalize the Philippines as a SA destination in the Japanese market.

According to Rogers et al. (2013), imaginative geographies “reflect the preconceptions

and desires of their creators, and are reflective of the power between these authors and the

subjects of their imaginings.” In this study, the imagined Philippines and Cebu as SA

destinations are constructed upon drawing pre-existent sociohistorical discourses about Filipino

and the Philippines in Japan (e.g., Abe, 2004; Anderson, 2005; Suzuki, 2000). For example, to

describe the Philippines as an unsafe, poor, developing country, drawn upon are the existent

images of Philippine pubs in Japan and discourse of the Philippines as a member of the Third

World vis-à-vis Japan as a First World nation (Ando, 2016, eBook; Mika; Nakatani, 2016,

eBook; Ota, 2011, eBook; Souspeak, n.d., school pamphlet). Thus, although the Philippines

might be believed as “advanced” in terms of English (e.g., NILS, n.d.), the rest of it appears to

be understood as a representative of the Third World. Furthermore, Japanese service providers’

capitalistic desire intersect with the postcolonial desire of the Japanese, who continued to

leverage the unequal power balance to exploit the Philippines for their own benefits.

Despite the negative connotations, the Philippines emerges as one of the most popular SA

destinations for Japanese EL learners. To untangle this perplexity, the imagined Cebu appears as

a useful concept. In contrast to the Philippines, Cebu is generally commended by Japanese

people, evoking the image of being a globally renowned resort. This resort image is associated

with its safe environments, an urbanized city and developed infrastructures, and welcoming

friendly locals (Ando, 2016, eBook; Mika; Yuta). All these images are contrastive to what the

Philippines is imagined as: unsafe, dangerous, and undeveloped. The different imaginations

associated with Cebu and the Philippines were particularly illustrated in Mika’s narrative, who

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deliberately used the phrase, “SA in Cebu” (セブ留学), because her father asked her not to

mention she studied in the Philippines. Similarly, English schools, which are concentrated in the

Cebu area, and other stakeholders frequently utilize the phrase “SA in Cebu” for their headings

and titles (e.g., Ando, 2016, eBook; NILS, n.d., school website; Onozato, 2016, eBook;

Souspeak, n.d., school website). It is also noteworthy that the Philippine government has

endorsed the ESL industry as “an educational tourism” and expanded air routes to make Cebu

accessible to international visitors (Saavedra, 2019). Thus, the imagined Cebu functions to

legitimize the SA while obscuring the presence of the imagined Philippines, and ultimately to

fulfill the stakeholders (e.g., schools, agencies, and the government) neoliberal desires to

capitalize on the available human and non-human resources in the region for their benefits.

6.2.2.2 Participants’ pre-SA desires

By viewing desire as multiple and intersubjective (Motha & Lin, 2014; Takahashi, 2013),

this study investigated the participating Japanese adult EL learners’ desires before their

departure. First, the participants’ narratives illustrated how their desires to learn English

encapsulate diverse, and context-bound meanings (Motha & Lin, 2014; Takahashi, 2013). Yuta’s

desire to learn English was particularly unique as it encompassed his admiration for the Asian

migrant colleagues he met in Japan, and seeing them develop Japanese rendered him envision

himself mastering English in a foreign land. Second, the participants' accounts also revealed how

the dominant ideological landscape in Japan was powerfully in play in shaping the meanings that

they attach to SA and English learning. Mika’s multiple episodes from high school illuminated

her strong desire to speak English. In the interview, she retrospectively explained that it was

natural for her to desire to speak English as “everyone in Japan” did so. Mika’s language desire

constructed through her dialogue with the imagined Japanese community illustrates how

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learners’ desires are not only constructed upon micro-level interactions but also powerfully

shaped through macro-level engagements with dominant ideologies and public discourse

(Takahashi, 2013).

The analysis from a Deleuzian perspective, which conceptualizes desire as a productive

force, sheds light onto how the participants’ desires assembled at a certain stage in their lives to

be actualized even though these desires had been detained before (Collins, 2018). Sam, for

example, disparaged his desire to study abroad during high school, thinking it was too

“otherworldly”. It was only when he saw his coworker assigned work overseas that he decided to

study abroad because he recognized the possibility of how English might unlock the door to his

lifetime goal (i.e., be an internationally successful businessman). In Mika’s case, language-

unrelated desires and factors played important roles in the actualization of her desire to study

abroad. Her divorce made her revisit what she wanted to do in her life (e.g., study English; leave

her town; accomplish something before she turned 30), all of which was accumulated and

summarized into her decision to study abroad. Sam and Mika’s actualization of desires was

contextual to the time and space, rendering them to attach more and different meanings to their

SA than they had previously done.

6.2.2.3 Participants’ desires reflected on and (re)shaped through their SAs in the

Philippines

Under the current waves of SA diversifications, learners’ selected SA destination(s)

reflect their language desires in one way or another. The cases of SA in the Philippines

illuminate that participants’ decisions to study in the Philippines encapsulated their learner belief

(i.e., their desirable English learning methods and system), views on different English varieties

(i.e., who they desire and/or accept as their English instructors), and English learner identity (i.e.,

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serious, committed learner). Out of numerous EL choices available inside Japan and abroad, they

selected SA programs in the Philippines. Their accounts and the current popularity of the

Philippines as a SA site among Japanese EL learners might suggest that more learners are aware

of the fact that SA does not grant them a natural acquisition of a target language (Kinginger,

2009; Kubota, 2016; Surtees, 2016).

Although participants’ multiple desires were reflected on SA in the Philippines, the

Philippines was not the end for any participants, but a means that scaffolds them closer to their

language and other goals. Put differently, although the Philippines is a site where learners can

pursue their language and language-unrelated desires, the country is not a place where their core,

long-term desires are fulfilled. Mika’s conceptualization that the Philippines is “a waypoint” (通

過点) to make everyone’s dream come true is on point, which also intersects with the

conceptualization of it being a springboard (Haisa, 2016; Jang, 2018; Kobayashi, 2020; Park,

2014).

Finally, this study illuminated the participants’ desires (re)shaped through SA in the

Philippines. As previous studies in WEDCs illuminated (e.g., Fukada, 2019; Kato & Reeder,

2015; Nonaka, 2018a; Takahashi, 2013), in this study, participants’ perception of desired

English-speaking interlocutors and English forms became a major theme. In particular, the

participants’ precarious, context-dependent views on legitimate and/or ideal English speakers

were prominent. For example, Yuta’s understanding of Filipinos as good English speakers

developed through his friendship with Filipino instructors in the Philippines. That being said, his

belief that native speakers speak the most legitimate form of English is consistently observable

through his episodes in both the Philippines and Canada (e.g., Albert’s dictation; his preference

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to speak like a native speaker). Thus, his SA in the Philippines does not seem to reshape his

desire to be like native speakers of English (Haisa, 2016, Jang, 2018).

By contrast, Mika’s view of desired English-speaking interlocutors has shifted from the

dominant native speaker norm to the embracement of different English varieties through her dual

SA in the Philippines and Canada. Unlike Yuta, her SA in the Philippines appears to have

fundamentally reshaped her understanding of legitimate English speakers. Upon meeting her host

family in Canada, she revisited who she had desired as ideal English speakers and the meaning

of legitimate English speakers, as she said: “their [Filipinos’] English is communicable, that’s

why this is not a problem, I didn’t have such an idea before.” Mika’s narrative brings up the

possibility of SA in the Philippines as a site where learners can rethink what it means to be

proficient in English and consequently revisit who they desire as their English-speaking

interlocutors. However, as Yuta’s narrative suggests, not all learners might reach that realization

through the current SA system and discourses.

6.3 Implications

6.3.1 Theoretical implications

In this study, I drew desire as my conceptual frameworks from TESOL (Motha & Lin,

2014; Sharma, 2020; Takahashi, 2013) and Deleuzian (e.g., Collins, 2018; Deleuze & Guattari,

1983, 1987; Jackson & Mazzei, 2012) perspectives, and poststructuralist discourse analysis (e.g.,

(e.g., Harissi et al., 2012; Kramsch, 2013, 2014; McNamara, 2019). First, as Sharma (2020)

argued, the conceptual framework of desire demonstrated the analytical power to scrutinize

global geoeconomic, ethnoracial, and sociolinguistic hierarchies reflected and reproduced

through language learning. Second, I demonstrated through this study how a Deleuzian desire

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can effectively scrutinize capitalistic aspects of language learning. Particularly, the Deleuzian

perspective enabled the illumination of the capitalistic forces that interconnect multiple players’

language-related and -unrelated desires to produce and maintain the SA enterprise in the

Philippines.

Findings from this study also responded to the call from Motha and Lin (2014), who

argued “TESOL professionals would benefit from research into how language learners subvert

ideologies that do not respond to their own desires” (p. 353). In this study, Sam’s distinctive

view of Filipinos as English speakers and his view of accents became salient. His comment, “for

those who can really speak English, it’s just that there are Filipino accents among many other

accents”, appears to reflect not only his view of English but also his desire to be a globally

successful businessman and to be evaluated not upon accents. This finding illuminates an

analysis of how a learner’s subversion of oppressive ideology could be connected to their long-

term desire and identity construction, and these accounts might shed light on the potential of

desire and its explanatory power as a concept.

Finally, the investigation of discourse surrounding akogare (Kelsky, 2001; Kitano, 2020;

Kobayashi, 2007; Kubota, 2011; Nonaka, 2018b; Takahashi, 2013) in a non-Western, non-

English-dominant country setting should provide unique implications. In particular, how WEDCs

are conceptualized as the embodiment of akogare (Kitano, 2020) and therefore undesirable for

English learning is a perspective that connects akogare and English learning in a new way from

the previous discourse.

6.3.2 Implications for SA research

This study is aimed to contribute to the existing SA literature by providing the

participants’ post-SA narratives, which is relatively unexplored despite its potential in revealing

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the (in)significance of their SA experience (Isabelli-Garcia et al., 2018). In addition, by

recruiting the participants who studied abroad in two locations (i.e., the Philippines and Canada),

the findings provide the learners’ dual-SA experience, which has not been given much research

attention to (except Jang, 2018; Kobayashi, 2020). Particularly, the fact that all the participants in

this study went first to the Philippines and then to Canada enabled me to explore whether and

how their former experience in the Philippines has shaped their latter SA. As Mika and Yuta’s

contrastive accounts on their perception of English speakers suggest, the implication from this

study includes the possibility of multiple SA experiences and their rippling or independent

effects on the entire SA experience as a research topic.

Second, this study has addressed issues in relation to SA-related inequalities. As

discussed, SA systems in the Philippines today function to profit Japanese stakeholders while

reinscribing the power dynamics between Japan and the Philippines, and Japanese and Filipinos.

In addition, this study responds to the recent call by Kommers and Bista (2021) to examine the

unequal allocation of SA opportunities by including the adult participants, who previously had

lacked SA opportunities despite their desires to do so. In this study, the adult participants’ life

narratives were explored in detail, which illuminated how these participants desired to study

abroad for a long time, but multiple factors constrained them to actualize it. Although SA

research predominantly focuses on the actual SA experience and result, given how SA

opportunity widens the gaps in their economic, linguistic, and cultural capitals among those who

have access to SA and not (Kommers & Bista, 2021), it will become more important for scholars

to investigate what prevented some learners from pursuing their SA.

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6.3.3 Methodological implications

This study demonstrated the methodological rigor of document analysis, which often falls

under subordinate methodology with little conceptualization. By drawing on multiple online

documents as “object[s] of analysis” (Karppinen & Moe, 2012), I was able to present how these

documents alone “produce a specific version or understanding of the world” (Rapley, 2011, p. 5).

I also attempted to synthesize document analysis with the other major methodology (i.e., a

multiple case study) by incorporating these documents in the interview methods. I consider

document analysis to be effective as a major methodological approach, and documents have

multiple methodological possibilities, depending on how a researcher incorporates them into

their project.

Second, in this study, I drew upon the Researcher as a Translator Serial Approach

(RTSA) to translate the original Japanese data into English (Thompson & Dooley, 2020). While

some scholars (e.g., Kimura, 2019; Tajima, 2018) started to conceptualize translation

methodologically, the issue surrounding the subjective and interpretive nature of translation is

yet generally poorly addressed. In this study, the two cycles of the collaborative translation

process enabled me to critically analyze the original Japanese text, reflect on my assumption, and

actively interpret and choose the ways of representation. Given the successful completion of

RTSA, I also would like to highlight the possibility of collaborative work with other researchers

as a useful method for novice scholars to gain different perspectives about their data. Although

novice scholars might have opportunities to discuss their research with peers, it is rare to have

another researcher read their data thoroughly (except their supervisor). While many novice

scholars might focus on using their limited budget to gain access to the research sites, I suggest

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the allocation of budget for collaborative work with other researchers can be an effective use of

their limited resources.

6.3.4 Pedagogical implications

Recent literature actively advocate the view that in order to provide consistently

meaningful SA experiences to sojourners, holistic guidance during the entire SA process—from

pre-, during-, and post-sojourn—is crucial (Kommers & Bista, 2021; Surtees, 2016; Pipitone,

2018, Wang, 2010). Pipitone (2018) particularly points to the importance of pre-departure

guidance in terms of “unpacking preconceived notions of the host country” (p. 70). Potentially,

SA in the Philippines could become the site where Japanese EL learners develop their genuine

appreciation of the Philippines and Filipinos, who have sociohistorically been constructed as the

socioculturally, ethnically different Other. In this study, however, it became prominent that

schools, agencies, and other stakeholders of SA in the Philippines feed on the preconceived

notions and confirm these imaginaries, contributing to the reproduction of the unequal power

balance between the Japanese and Filipinos in the realm of English learning (Tajima, 2018).

Stakeholders of SA in the Philippines should advocate the country and people more ethically and

respectfully, and take a more responsible role in constructing Japanese EL learners’ imagined

Philippines.

6.4 Limitations of this study and future directions for research

There are several limitations of this study. First, the multiple case study might be

considered limited in scope as it explored only four cases of Japanese adults mainly through two

interviews. Given the limited resources, I tried to narrow down my focus and gain in-depth

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accounts of the limited cases through long interviews (1.5-2 hours x2). I also aimed to

compensate the number of participants by drawing upon online documents.

Second, the timing of the data generated with participants might be considered as a

limitation of this thesis. I recruited participants who previously studied English in the

Philippines. While some participants went there relatively recently (Yuta in 2018), other

participants like Kaoru went in 2015, five years prior to the time of the data generation. This

might lead to criticisms that the participants’ memories might not be detailed or accurate as when

these participants were studying in the Philippines or immediately after the completion of their

SA. However, by exploring the experience and memory that were powerful enough to be

remembered and recited in the interviews, I believe this study illuminated the (in)significance of

their SA experience (Isabelli-Garcia et al., 2018). In addition, by recruiting participants who

studied in the Philippines from different time periods and schools, this study provides insights on

some of the salient elements of what makes SA in the Philippines.

Finally, given the primary focus to understand the phenomenon of SA in the Philippines,

this research might be resented for the lack of instructors’ presence. While this thesis was able to

include multiple stakeholders’ accounts through a collection of multiple document types, one of

the key players, local Filipino instructors, is not included in this research. In order to understand

this SA phenomenon, their accounts would have been valuable because they are an imperative

part of how this SA enterprise is enabled.

These limitations also are attributive to the situations surrounding the COVID-19

pandemic, which majorly restricted the global mobilization of people. For SA research, this

meant a significant drop in the SA sojourners population and a restriction for researchers to go

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on site to observe the phenomenon and recruit participants. In the future, I hope to overcome

these limitations and conduct a larger scale of this present study.

6.5 Conclusion

Today, language SA is practiced in a more complicated and nuanced manner than

immersion in English by (who EL learners believe as) authentic speakers of English. The recent

diversification of SA destinations is an example of how various meanings are allocated to

different SA programs and systems. As well, learners’ context-dependent language goals,

shifting views on the English language, as well as gaps in socioeconomic conditions are also

reflected in their SA choices and decisions. From a different perspective, SA systems are

capitalized upon how much they reflect learners’ needs and desires, relying on dominant

ideologies and socioeconomic hierarchies in their legitimization. I hope this present thesis

presents concerns surrounding the present SA practice, especially enlightening issues in relation

to geoeconomic, sociohistorical, and sociolinguistic hierarchies.

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Appendices

Appendix A : Recruitment Letter (in English and Japanese)

Department of Language & Literacy Education 100 – 2034 Lower Mall

Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z2

Tel: (604) 822-5788

Fax: (604) 822-3154

Email: [email protected]

June 18 2020,

Dear ,

My name is Aika (Alice) Ishige, a graduate student in the Faculty of Education at University of

British Columbia. I am interested in the experience of Japanese students who studied English in

the Philippines. Despite the surging popularity of studying English in the Philippines among

Japanese students, there is a limited number of studies that focused on this phenomenon. This

study aims to shed light on this phenomenon especially from the learners’ perspective.

I am currently looking for Japanese adults who studied English in both the Philippines and an

English-dominant country (e.g. Canada, the U.S., & Australia). The context of “studying

English” varies, from attending a formal institution (e.g. university), to attending ESL school,

going on working holiday, or participating in internship. Data for this research will be collected

from June to Aug 2020. First, I will ask you to fill out a questionnaire, which should take

approximately 20 minutes. Next, we will conduct two online interviews through Zoom or Skype

and each interview is expected to take 90 to 120 minutes. During the interviews, you will be

asked about your past and current experiences and views regarding English learning and study

mailto:[email protected]

135

abroad (mostly in the Philippines). The questionnaire and interviews can be prepared and

conducted in either Japanese or English, depending on your preference. As a token of thanks, I

will offer a $40 gift card upon the completion of the second interview. Your identity and all of

the information you share will be kept anonymized.

Your views and memories on the past experience would be very helpful to this study. Please

contact Aika (Alice) Ishige at [removed] if you are interested in joining the study or have any

questions.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Aika (Alice)

Aika (Alice) Ishige

MA Program, The University of British Columbia

Email: [removed] | Phone: [removed]

Ling Shi (Principal Investigator)

Professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education

Email: [removed]

136

Department of Language & Literacy Education

100 – 2034 Lower Mall


Tel: (604) 822-5788

Fax: (604) 822-3154


2020年 6月 18日,

__________________様,

ブリティッシュコロンビア大学大学院の修士課程在籍中の石毛愛佳と申します。現在、

フィリピンで英語を学習した日本人学習者に焦点を当てた修士論文研究に取り組んでお

ります。日本でフィリピン留学が急増しているにも関わらず、この現象に関する研究は

限られております。本研究は英語学習者の視点からフィリピン留学の経験に関して見識

を深めることを目的としています。

フィリピンと英語が主要な言語として話されている国（例：カナダ、イギリス）で英語

を学習した日本人の方（成人）を募集しています。「英語学習」は大学環境に限らず、

語学学校（ESL）の受講、ワーキングホリデーの利用、インターンシップの参加なども

含みます。参加していただける場合、今年 2020年の 6月から８月にかけて行うデータ

収集にご協力いただきます。２０分程度のアンケートのご記入と 2回（1回につき

90~120分程度)のインタビューを行います。インタビューは全てオンラインで（Skype


137

または Zoom）行い、英語学習経験とフィリピン留学に関する経験や意見についてお伺

いします。アンケート、インタビューは英語、日本語のどちらでも行うことができま

す。2回目のインタビュー終了後に謝礼として４０カナダドル相当のギフトカードを贈

呈いたします。尚、参加者及び提供された情報には全て仮名を使わせていただきます。

ご参加いただける場合、もしくは興味を持っていただけた場合は、石毛[removed]まで

ご連絡下さい。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

石毛愛佳

ブリティッシュコロンビア大学 | 修士課程在籍

Eメール：[removed]| 電話番号：[removed]

リン・シ（研究責任者）

ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学| 教育学部教授

Eメール: [removed]


138

Appendix B : Consent Form (in English and Japanese)




Tel: (604) 822-5788

Fax: (604) 822-3154


Consent Form

Project Title: Were my desires fulfilled in the Philippines?: Legitimacy of the

Philippines as an English Learning Site from a Japanese Learner’s

Perspective

Research Team

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ling Shi, Professor

Department of Language and Literacy Education

Faculty of Education, UBC

Phone: [removed]

Email: [removed]

Investigator: Aika (Alice) Ishige, MA Student

Department of Language and Literacy Education

Faculty of Education, UBC

Phone: [removed]

Email: [removed]

Why are we conducting this study?

This study is being conducted as part of a degree requirement for a Master’s thesis. We want to

learn more about the experiences of Japanese students who studied English in the Philippines and

their desires in relation to their English language learning. We are inviting people like you, who

have experience of studying English in both the Philippines and an English-dominant country, to

participate.

What is involved if you participate?

You will be asked to fill in a questionnaire and participate in two interviews online (i.e., Zoom or

Skype) sometimes between June and August 2020. The questionnaire should take approximately

20 minutes and each interview is expected to last 90 to 120 minutes. The interviews will be

conducted in English or Japanese. The interviews will be audio-recorded.


139

Once we finish all the interviews, we will start data analysis. On this stage, I may contact you for

a follow-up online conversation (up to 30 minutes long) or email exchanges in order to obtain

clarification.

In all the procedures, you can choose not to answer the questions you do not feel comfortable

answering, and your identity and all of the information you share will be kept anonymized.

What will be done with the information that is collected?

The results of this study will be used in Aika’s master’s thesis research. The results may also be

presented at conferences and be published. If you would like to know the results of this research,

we will be happy to send you a summary of the results to you via email.

According to the Guidance Note on 8.6 Future Use of Data, the following was required to include in the

consent:

• Describe what open access means, i.e. who will have access, and where/how data will be stored.

• Describe the data that will be made available, e.g. that identifiers will be removed.

• Acknowledge (if applicable) that opening access to data has the potential for increasing participant risk.

• Explain that once the data is made available, the participant will not be able to withdraw their data.

The future publication might involve granting open access to research data. This means that the

data might be stored electronically and could become accessible to other researchers. When this

happens, you will not be able to withdraw the data but any identifiers will be removed.

What are the risks of participating?

We do not think there is anything in this study that could harm you or be bad for you. That being

said, you do not have to answer any question if you do not want to. Participation in this study is

entirely voluntary. You may withdraw from the study at any time.

What are the benefits of participating?

By participating in this study, you can help us learn more about Japanese students of English and

their experience of studying English in the Philippines. For you as a participant, this will be an

opportunity to reflect on your past and ongoing experiences regarding your English language

learning. We hope that your reflection will benefit your current English language learning.

How will your identity be protected?

Your confidentiality will be protected both during and after this study. Your name will be given

fictional names to keep your identity anonymized throughout the entire research process. Also,

any real names of the people and institutions you discuss will not be used in any presentation or

publication of this research.

Recorded audio interview data will be encrypted, and their transcription data will be password

protected. All the translation and transcription will not contain any real names or other identifiers

and will not be distributed to third parties. After the completion of the study, all data will be

stored in a locked filing cabinet at the principal investigator’s (Dr. Shi) UBC office for the

minimum of five years.

Although we will ensure your confidentiality at our best, please note that Zoom servers are

located outside of Canada, and this means that your name and information regarding your use of

140

Zoom will be stored outside of Canada. To increase the protection of your personal information,

you are advised to log into Zoom using only a nickname instead of your actual name.

Will you be paid for your time?

As a token of our appreciation, we will offer you a $40 gift card upon the completion of the

second interview.

Who can you contact if you have questions about the study?

If you have any questions or concerns about what we are asking of you, please contact Aika

(Alice) at [removed]. You can contact me in Japanese or English.

Who can you contact if you have complaints or concerns about the study?

If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your

experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Participant Complaint Line in

the UBC Office of Research Ethics at 604-822-8598 or if long distance e-mail [email protected]

or call toll free 1-877-822-8598.

Consent

Taking part in this study is entirely up to you. You have the right to refuse to participate in this

study. If you decide to take part, you may choose to pull out of the study at any time without

giving a reason.

● Your signature below indicates that you have received a copy of this consent form for

your own records.

● Your signature indicates that you consent to participate in this study and have your

interview audio-recorded.

____________________________________________________

Participant Signature Date

____________________________________________________

Printed Name of the Participant signing above

141




Tel: (604) 822-5788

Fax: (604) 822-3154


同意書

プロジェクト名: Were my desires fulfilled in the Philippines?: Legitimacy of the

Philippines as an English Learning Site from a Japanese Learner’s

Perspective

研究者

研究責任者: リン・シ博士

ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学

教育学部

言語・リテラシー教育学学科

電話: [removed]


研究者: 石毛愛佳

ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学

教育学部

言語・リテラシー教育学学科

電話: [removed]


研究目的とは?

この研究は石毛愛佳の修士号取得のためのリサーチプロジェクトです。この研究を通し

日本人英語学習者のフィリピン留学の経験と言語学習に関わる願望について理解を深め

たいと思っております。特にフィリピンと英語圏（例：カナダ、アメリカ）のどちらに

も留学した経験のある人を研究対象としています。

参加者の方にしていただくこと

参加していただける場合、今年 2020年の 6月から８月の間でアンケートの記入（２０

分程度）と 2回のオンラインインタビュー（Skypeまたは Zoom上）にご協力いただき

ます。インタビューは 1回につき 90~120分程度を予定しております。インタビューは


142

英語、日本語のどちらでも行うことができます。インタビューはデータ分析のため録音

させていただきます。

また、データ収集が終わり、データ解析中にデータ内容に関する確認のご連絡をする可

能性がございます。その際は最大３０分のオンラインでの会話（Skypeまたは Zoom上

で）あるいはメールによる確認のご協力をお願いいたします。

参加していただく場合、どのデータ収集においても答えたくない質問には答える必要は

ありません。また私たちはデータ上で仮名を使い参加者及びに登場する人物や団体の特

定ができないように努めます。

収集された情報に関して

本研究の結果は石毛の修士論文に使われる予定です。結果は学会で発表、また出版され

る可能性があります。本研究の結果について興味がございましたら、Eメールで結果の

概要をお送りします。

ガイダンスノート 8.6「将来的なデータの使用」によれば、同意書には以下の記載が義

務付けられています。

• オープンアクセスに関する説明

• 公開されるデータに関する説明

• （該当する場合のみ）オープンアクセスが参加者リスクを高める可能性への認識

• 一旦データが公開されると、データの撤回ができなくなるという説明

出版の際、研究データのオープンアクセスが伴う可能性がございます。オープンアクセ

スになるということは、研究データが他の研究者に閲覧可能な状態になることを意味し

ます。オープンアクセスになった場合、個人や団体を特定できるような情報は公開され

ることはありませんが、参加者がデータを撤回することはできなくなります。

本研究参加に見込まれる危険性、有害性

私たちは本研究に参加していただくことで参加者におよぶ危険性や有害性はないと考え

ております。答えたくない質問には答える必要はありません。本研究への参加は完全に

任意であり、同意書に署名した後でも参加辞退することができます。

本研究参加に見込まれる利益

本研究への参加することで、日本人英語学習者とフィリピン留学に関する理解につなが

ります。また、参加される方にとって、ご自身の過去や現在の英語学習を見つめ直し、

これからの英語学習に生かす機会になればと願っております。

個人情報の守秘に関して

参加していただく場合の個人情報は研究中および研究後も部外秘扱いとさせていただき

ます。全研究過程において参加者には仮名が使用され、個人が特定できないようにいた

します。また、データ収集の際に出てきた人名、学校名、団体名なども学会での発表や

143

出版で使われることはありません。録音されたインタビューデータは暗号化（エンクリ

プト）され、その書き起こしデータはパスワードロックがかけられます。書き起こしさ

れたデータ、および翻訳されたものに関しても実名や身元を特定できる情報は含まれま

せん。第三者に提供される可能性もありません。本研究の全データは研究終了後に研究

責任者（リン・シ）のオフィスにあるロックつきのキャビネットで最低五年間保管され

ます。

私たちは参加していただく方の個人情報を守るよう最善を尽くさせていただきますが、

Zoom上のインタビューの場合、Zoomのサーバーはカナダ国外にあり、Zoom使用に関わ

る参加者の情報はカナダ国外に保管されることをご了承ください。個人情報の保護を強

化するため、ログインする際、実名ではなく仮名を使うことをお勧めいたします。

報酬について

2回目のインタビュー終了後に謝礼としてギフトカード（４０カナダドル相当）を贈呈

いたします。

本研究に関する問い合わせ

本研究に関する質問があれば、Eメールにて石毛 [removed]までご連絡ください。質問

は、英語、日本語のどちらでも承ります。

苦情に関するお問い合わせ

本研究に参加中、ご自身の研究参加者としての人権およびインタビュー参加経験に関し

ての懸念、苦情がございましたら、ブリティッシュコロンビア大学研究倫理室、被験者

ホットライン（604-822-8598）までご連絡下さい。遠距離の場合は、Eメール

[email protected] もしくはフリーダイアル 1-877-822-8598までご連絡下さい。

同意書

本研究への参加は、参加者の意志によるものであり、参加を拒否することもできます。

もし本研究に参加いただける場合、どの時点でも、理由を述べることなく研究参加の意

志を取り消すことができます。

● 以下の署名は、記録としてご自身が同意書の複写をお持ちになることを示しま

す。

● 以下の署名は本研究に参加すること、またインタビューを録音することに同意

したことを示します。

____________________________________________________

署名日付

____________________________________________________

参加者氏名（アルファベット）


144

Appendix C : Pre-interview questionnaire

The answers for this questionnaire will be used for the first interview.

Section 1: Personal info

1. Preferred name used for this study 2. Age 3. Gender 4. Marital status 5. Nationality (A country of birth, if different) 6. Home prefecture 7. First language(s) 8. Language(s) that you are currently most comfortable using in:

1. Speaking 2. Listening 3. Writing 4. Reading

9. Self-assessed current English proficiency (please describe it in the way you like) 1. Speaking 2. Listening 3. Writing 4. Reading

10. Current residence 1. Residential status

11. Current occupation

Section 2: Three Keywords to Describe...

Please list three words or short phrases that you came up with the keywords below. You can write in both Japanese and English. You can use the same words or phrases for other answers. If you do not have any images on the words or do not want to fill in, leave it blank. 以下のキーワードに対し思いつく単語あるいは句を三つまで記入してください。日本語でも英

語でも、両方を使うことも可能です。同じ単語や句を他の回答で使うことも可能です。特にイ

メージがない、あるいは記入したくない場合、空欄にしてください。

Example/ 例. corona-virus/コロナウイルス: [world-wide pandemic] [不安] [racism]

12. Study abroad/留学: [ ][ ][ ]

13. English learning/英語学習: [ ][ ][ ]

14. English speakers/英語話者: [ ][ ][ ]

15. Native speaker (of English)/ネイティブスピーカー: [ ][ ]

[ ]

16. English-dominant countries/英語圏: [ ][ ]

[ ]

145

17. Asia/アジア: [ ][ ][ ]

18. Southeast Asia/東南アジア: [ ][ ][ ]

19. Canada/カナダ: [ ][ ][ ]

20. Asians (people)/アジア人: [ ][ ][ ]

21. Filipinos (people)/フィリピン人: [ ][ ][ ]

22. Canadian (people)/カナダ人: [ ][ ][ ]

23. Asian English/アジア英語: [ ][ ][ ]

24. Filipino English/フィリピン英語: [ ][ ]

[ ]

25. Canadian English/カナダ英語: [ ][ ]

[ ]

Section 3: English learning trajectory

In this section, you will be asked to provide names and links of the institutions and organizations that you belong(ed) to. Although we will not made public specific information that can identify the schools or organizations, if you feel uncomfortable, you do not need to write them.

このセクションでは、過去に所属していたあるいは現在所属されている学校や団体の名

前とリンクを提供していただきたく思っております。学校や団体が特定されるような情

報を公開することはありません。しかしご不安な点があれば空欄にしてください。

26. Please list up your English learning experiences before you studied abroad. Start from when you first started learning English and write as much as you remember. What you list does not have to be in school settings; for example, if you were self-studying, participated in an internship, or joined a club/meetup for the purpose of developing your English, please list them as well.

留学前の英語学習経験について記入してください。初めて英語を学んだ時から古い順

に、できる限り正確に書いてください。英語学習は学校や授業に限りません。例えば、

自習やインターン、部活やミートアップなども英語学習の目的で行っている活動であれ

ば書くようにしてください。

146

What

year(s)/

Your age/

Duration

(roughly)

Where?

(Institution /

Prefecture)

How did you

learn

English?

Why did you study

English then and

there?

URL of the institution*

Sample

What

year(s)/

Your age/

Duration

(roughly)

Where?

(Institution /

Prefecture)

How did you

learn

English?

Why did you study

English then and

there?

URL of the institution*

2008-2014/ 12-18/ 6 years

Junior high to high schools/ Saitama

I learned English as a subject and focused mostly on grammar and reading.

I wanted to go abroad and make friends with people from all over the world. I also studied hard to enter XX University.

http://abc highschool.co.jp

2013-2014/ 17-18/ 1.5 years

English conversation school/ Saitama

I took group lessons with Japanese students and teachers from Canada and Australia. The

I wanted to communicate with foreigners.

http://eikaiwa.co.jp

147

lessons focused on speaking.

2015/ 19/ 6 months

English conversation Club at my university/ Tokyo

Our club gathered weekly to discuss various topics. We also went out for movies and drinking once a month.

There were many international students in the club, so I wanted to become friends with them.

http://facebook/group/ AoUni. EngClub

27. List your study-abroad destinations and the times in the order from old to new.

留学先とその時期、その時の英語学習法を古い順に記入してください。

What year(s)/

Your age/ duration

(approximately)

Which

country?

What did you do to learn English? (e.g. work in a

local restaurant, attend ESL schools, participated

in internship, hired a tutor)

28. List your English learning experiences during the time in the Philippines. If you attended more than one schools, belonged to more than one institution, and/or went to study English in the Philippines more than once, please list all of them.

フィリピン留学中の英語学習の経験について記入してください。一校以上に通った場

合、所属団体が二つ以上の場合、また二回以上フィリピンに留学した場合などは、全て

記載するようにしてください。

When/ how

long

(roughly)

Where?

(Institution /

URL of the

institution

If you cannot provide the URL of the

school, please provide a summary of

148

regions in the

Philippines)

the English language learning you

practiced at the institution

29. If you have any documents that you referred to in deciding to study in the Philippines, besides the information on institutions and schools that you listed above, please fill in or attach the documents (e.g. Leaflets distributed by a study-abroad agency, a magazine on study abroad, a blog article or updates on social networks about studying in the Philippines) . You are welcome to attach photos and screen shots from your cell phone instead of scanning the documents.

フィリピン留学を決める際に参考にした資料が、上記以外にあれば、記入あるいは添付

してください（例：エージェントのパンフレット、留学に関する雑誌、ブログ記事、

SNS 上での友人の経験談など）。写メ、スクリーンショットなどで構いません。

30. List your activities you currently do related to learning or using English.

現在行っている英語学習あるいは英語を使う活動があれば記入してください。

Since when? Where?

(country)

What do you do to learn English?

149

When/ how

long?

(roughly)

Where?

(country)

What do you do to use English?

150

Appendix D : List of Questions for Interview 1

Section 1: Study abroad 留学目的

1. Why did you want to study English?

どうして英語を学習しようと思いましたか？

2. Why did you want to study English abroad?

どうして留学がしたかったんですか？

3. How did you decide your study-abroad destinations and the orders? Did you plan to go to two countries from the beginning or did you decide to go to the second destination after the first study abroad experience?

留学先とその順番はどう決めましたか？元から二カ国に行くつもりでしたか、そ

れとも最初の留学後に決めましたか？

4. What were your purposes of studying English in the Philippines?

フィリピン留学の目的はなんですか？

5. Do you think the purpose(s) were fulfilled? Did that impact your post-Philippines English learning trajectory?

その目的は達成されたと思いますか？その目的の達成の可否はフィリピン留学後

の英語学習に影響がありましたか？

6. Why did you study in [the other study abroad destination]? How different are the purposes of studying there from studying in the Philippines?

[もう一つの留学先]に留学しようと思った理由はなんですか？フィリピンに留学

しようと思った目的とどう異なりますか？

Section 2: Before studying in the Philippines/ フィリピン留学前

7. What were your initial thoughts about “studying English in the Philippines” or “studying abroad in the Philippines”?

初めて「英語をフィリピンで学ぶ」「フィリピン留学」というアイデアを知った

時にどう思いましたか？

8. How did you learn about “studying English in the Philippines”?

フィリピン留学について知ったきっかけはなんですか？

9. If your initial impression of studying English in the Philippines was negative, why did you decide to do so?

フィリピン留学の第一印象がネガティブだった場合、どうしてフィリピン留学を

決断するに至ったのでしょうか？

10. What images of the Philippines and Filipinos did you have before studying abroad?

留学前にフィリピンとフィリピン人のイメージを持っていましたか？

11. What were the realities? Were they different from what you imagined to be?

実際はどうでしたか？自分のイメージと異なりましたか？

12. Before studying abroad, did you know about the linguistic environments (e.g. most people speak English as their second language)?

留学前にフィリピンの言語環境について知っていましたか？

151

13. Would you still study English in the Philippines even if you had known about the local reality?

事前に現地の実情を知っていてもフィリピン留学をしていましたか？

14. Before studying in the Philippines, did you have any opportunities to interact with Filipinos? If so, in what situations?

フィリピン留学前にフィリピン人と関わることはありましたか？どんな状況でし

たか？

Section 3: During the time in the Philippines /フィリピン留学中

15. Tell me about the programs that you attended during your time in the Philippines.

フィリピン留学中に参加していたプログラムについて詳しく教えてください。

16. (If the participant has not addressed in Question 15) Could you tell me about the teachers you had during your time in the Philippines? What did you think of them?

（質問１５で話していない場合）O O さんの担当をしていた先生について教え

てください。先生たちをどう思いましたか？

17. How about students in your schools? What kind of populations were the majority? (e.g. nationality, gender, age, proficiency, occupation)

通っていた学校で学生はどんな人が多かったですか？（国籍、性別、年齢、英語

力、職業など）

18. Did you become friends with anyone in the Philippines? What person/people are they? (e.g. nationality, gender, age, proficiency, occupation)

フィリピンで仲良くなった人はいますか？どんな人（たち）ですか？（国籍、性

別、年齢、英語力、職業など）

19. (If the participant made friends in the Philippines,) what kind of activities did you do with them? And do you still keep in touch with them?

（仲良くなった人がいた場合）その人たちとどんな活動をしましたか？今も関係

は続いていますか？

20. Did you become friends with any Filipinos (including teachers and staff)?

（先生、スタッフ含め）フィリピン人で仲良くなった人はいますか？

21. Did you learn any local languages or Filipino cultures (e.g. local foods, customs)

地元で話されている言語やフィリピンの文化（料理や習慣など）を何か学びまし

たか？

22. If you have, could you share the episodes or experience during the time in the Philippines that left you a strong impression?

フィリピン滞在中で強く印象に残っているエピソード、体験があれば教えてくだ

さい。

23. During the time in the Philippines, did you have any moments when you feel Japanese? If you did, in what occasions?

フィリピン滞在中、自分が日本人であると感じることはありましたか？どんな時

ですか？

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Section 4: Post-Philippines /フィリピン留学後

24. If there is anything that you gained through your experience in the Philippines, what are they?

フィリピン留学で得たものがあれば、教えてください。

25. Through the experience of studying in the Philippines, have you changed your views or opinions in relation to English language learning? (e.g. English language, English speakers, native speaker, your English and your language learning goals)

フィリピン留学を通して何か英語学習に関する意識や考え方が変わりましたか？

（英語、英語話者、ネイティブなどのコンセプト、自分の英語や目標など）

26. After studying in the Philippines, did you have any opportunities to interact with Filipinos?

フィリピン留学後にフィリピン人と関わる機会はありましたか？

27. If you can restart your journey of study abroad from the very beginning, is there anything that you want to change? What would you do differently?

もし留学（フィリピンに限らず）を最初からやり直せるとしたら、何か変えます

か？変えるのであれば、どう変えますか？

28. Do you think it is reasonable that ESL schools in the Philippines are less expensive than those in English-dominant countries, such as Canada?

フィリピンの語学学校がカナダなどの英語圏より安いことは妥当だと思います

か？

29. What is your current ideal English learning environments? (e.g. Where, from whom, and in what ways would you learn?)

今考える理想的な英語学習環境があれば教えてください。（どこで学ぶ、誰から

学ぶ、どうやって学ぶなど）

30. Are there any English-speaking celebrities (e.g. artists, actors) that you like?

英語を話す好きな有名人（アーティスト、俳優など）はいますか？

31. Are there any role models or ideal figures for your English learning? Is there anyone specific that you envision yourself to be?

英語学習においてのロールモデルや理想像はありますか？具体的になりたい人と

イメージする人はいますか？

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Appendix E : List of Questions for Interview 2

Section 1: Short excerpts responses

In this interview, I will introduce approximately fifteen short excerpts from publications, blogs, and websites which were written related to studying English in the Philippines. They were originally written in Japanese, and by Japanese students and marketers who studied in the Philippines and promoting study English there respectively (presented here in both languages). After reading each excerpt, could you tell me: whether you have ever read or heard about the ideas or opinions expressed in the presented texts; and what do you think about these ideas?

これからフィリピン留学について書かれた出版物、ブログやウェブサイトなどから抜粋

された約１５文の短い文章を紹介します。原本は日本語で日本人留学生またはフィリピ

ン留学を扱うマーケターにより書かれています（ここでは英語と日本語の両言語で記

載）。文中の考えや意見を読んだり聞いたことがあるか、またご自身でどう思うかを教

えてください。

* I will select 15 to 18 excepts from the following 30 excerpts based on the participants’ views and ideas presented in the questionnaire and the first interview.

1. I consider studying English in the Philippines most suitable for a preparation stage for comprehending native-speakers’ English. Filipino English is easy to comprehend for Japanese students. (Studying in) The Philippines is something like warming-up for further English learning.

フィリピン留学は、ネイティブの英語を理解するための準備段階としては最適と考えて

います。フィリピン人の英語は日本人には聞き易いのです。その後の更なる勉強のため

のウォーミング・アップというところでしょうか。

(Aoki, n.d., p. 1015)

2. Filipino English is overly generalized/simplified. It is environments where as long as the listener got the main idea, that is all it matters. Thus, the Philippines is a best place for “practice,” but is not sufficient as a place to learn high-level business English.

フィリピン英語は、非常におおざっぱなのです。「伝われば良い」という環境です。で

すから、フィリピンは「練習の場」としては最適ですが、高いレベルのビジネス英語を

学ぶ場としては不足があります。

(Aoki. n.d., p. 636)

3. I was often asked about Filipinos’ accents in English, but I am not even at the level where I can recognize their accents.

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よくフィリピン英語の訛りについてきかれることがありますが、それ以前に私は訛りを

感じられるレベルですらないです。

(Saka, 2013)

4. Studying English in the Philippines VS Studying English in the West. Place less priority on your longed destination, if you want to become able to speak English.

フィリピン留学 VS 欧米留学。話せるようになるなら憧れは二の次

(Firipin ryūgaku SOUDA, 2017)

5. “The Philippines,” it is an English study-abroad country closest to Japan . . .It is a starting point of your advancement in status.

日本から一番近い英語留学国「フィリピン」

. . .（中略）そこは、アナタのステータスアップの原点となります。

(Firipin ryūgaku SOUDA, n.d.)

6. In fact, English is one of the official languages in the Philippines. . . . It is the most

English-fluent country in Asia!

実はフィリピン、英語が公用語。. . .（中略）アジア圏で最も英語ペラペラなすごい

国なのである。

(The reason why I came to the Philippines, 2015)

7. At first, I did not know about studying English in the Philippines, so I was considering going to the U.S. which was said to be authentic. However, once I started to research about studying in the U.S., I was not motivated much. With my almost zero proficiency in English, I could not believe I could efficiently develop my English.

当時はセブ留学のことは知らなかったので、本場といわれるアメリカへの渡航を考えて

いました。しかし、実際に調べてみると、ゼロに近い英語力の私が効率的に身に付けら

れるように思えず、気が進みませんでした。

(Onozato, 2016, p. 521)

8. When I found out about studying English in Cebu, I thought it was like a training camp for drivers’ license. In the training camp, you concentrate for a short term and you become able to drive. I thought English is something similar, and thought maybe I will be equipped with English if I study in Cebu.

セブ留学を見つけた時、運転免許の合宿のようだと思いました。免許合宿も短期間で集

中して身につけて、運転ができるようになりますよね。英語も同じようなものだと思

い、これなら身につくかもしれない！と思いました。

(Onozato, 2016, p. 532–536)

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9. For those who are debating whether to study English (in the Philippines), I assume this is the biggest concern. . . . You probably think, “Can they really speak English?” Indeed, English spoken by someone like taxi drivers and shop clerks was Filipino English: they had strong accents from rolling their tongue and it was sometimes difficult to understand. But now that I think about it, these conversations function as a listening practice of Asian English, don’t they? . . . Many of the English varieties that are spoken in the world today are not standard English . . . but the localized English varieties specific to the regions. I think it is important to get accustomed to English spoken by non-native speakers too, so in my case, I took Filipino English positively.

たぶん行こうか悩んでいる皆さんは、ここが一番気になっているところだと思いま

す. . .（中略）ほんとに英語しゃべれるのかよ、と。. . .（中略）タクシードライバ

ーとかレストランの店員さんの英語は、確かにくせのある巻き舌のフィリピン英語で聴

き取りにくい部分はありました。でも今思えば、これはこれでアジアン英語聴き取りの

練習にもなりますよね。. . .（中略）今や世界中で使われている英語の多くがスタン

ダードな英語というわけではなく . . .（中略）ローカライズされた地域特有の英語だ

と思うので、どんな英語にも対応できるようネイティブ以外の英語発音にも慣れる必要

があるなと、僕の場合はフィリピン英語に関しても前向きに捉えてました。 (Yamanashi, 2012)

10. Second problem is that there is a large gap in English among Filipinos

There are differences in fluency among local people, local workers, and even among English teachers. This is what is significantly different from a native-speaker country. There are even teachers who I thought I spoke English better than (maybe this is too much to say? lol). In terms of studying (English), I can’t stop thinking that learning English in the Philippines is not helping me much.

２つめの問題は話者のレベルの差がありすぎること

ローカルの人々でも現地のワーカーでも英語教師の間でも当然英語の流暢さが違ってく

る。これが徹底的にネイティブ圏と違う点。たまに英語教師でも俺の方がはなせんじゃ

ねーのってのもいる(これは言い過ぎ？ｗ)。勉強って面で考えたらそんなにためになっ

てないなーって思ってしまう。

(Eddie, 2015)

11. This is about XXX ESL School, but there are so many Japanese students. No matter how you try, it was unavoidable to speak Japanese, so I now think that was not so good for English learning. In fact, many Japanese people who studied abroad there were interesting, and it was really fun to talk to them. But sometimes I questioned myself… why am I speaking Japanese?

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これは僕が選んだ XXX 語学学校に関してなのですが、日本人が非常に多く、どうして

も日本語を話してしまう環境だったというのはあまり英語勉強には良くなかったかなー

という反省です。

実際留学する日本人の方は面白い方も多く、その方々と話すのは本当に楽しかったので

すが、時々何で日本語話してるんだろう…と思う時もありました。

（Summary of the results from studying English for three months in Cebu, the

Philippines, 2015)

12. Since the ratio of Japanese students is high, fifty-percent of what I spoke everyday was Japanese. . . . This was my biggest miscalculation about studying in the Philippines. If for example I had studied in a native-speaker country, where what you hear is 100 % English and 100 % of what you use is English, the language improvement would have been doubled or even tripled. That is how I felt honestly.

どうしても日本人の比率が高いので、「一日のうち 50％は日本語で会話していた」こ

とは、フィリピン留学で最大の誤算だったように思います。. . .（中略）これが、ネ

イティブへの留学のように、「聞こえてくるのが 100％英語で、一日のうち 100％英語

しか使えない状況」だったとすると、語学力の伸びは２倍も３倍も違っていたんだろう

なと感じたのが、正直なところです。

(Yūyū, 2015)

13. This is very difficult, but if you can make friends with local Filipinos, your improvement in English will be very different. . . .There was a (Japanese) acquaintance of mine who was dating a Filipina, and went out with her every week.

これは難易度が高いですが、現地の友達とかを作れると英語の伸びが違うと思いま

す。. . .（中略）僕の知り合いの人は、フィリピン人の彼女を作り、毎週デートをし

ていた人なんかもいました。

(Summary of the results from studying English for three months in Cebu, the Philippines, 2015)

14. In the Philippines, there are (Japanese) students abroad who become narcissistic of their English once they became able to speak a little English. However, we should not be satisfied with being able to speak with Korean friends. I always said to myself, “Don’t get lost.” I think students should do something like talking to native speakers, look at themselves humbly, and self-assess their English all the time.

留学生の中には、少し話せるようになると、「自分喋れてる感」というか、自己陶酔し

ている学生もいます。韓国人の友人と英語で話せて満足してはいけないのです。「見失

ったらあかんで」といつも思っていました。ネイティブと話したりして、自分を見つ

め、常に自分の英語力を謙虚に確かめるべきだと思います。

(Aoki, n.d., p. 676)

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15. English is one of the official languages in the Philippines, and although everyone can speak English, people in general speak broken English, so in the beginning it might be a little difficult to have conversation. However, sales associates in high-end malls can speak clean/unaccented English, so malls are the best place to practice English conversation outside school.

フィリピンでは英語が公用語で、みんな英語を話すことができるのですが、普通の人の

英語はブロークンのため、最初は少し会話が難しいかもしれません。しかし、高級なモ

ール（フィリピンのショッピングモールの総称）の店員さんはキレイな英語を話せるの

で、モールは「街中で英会話の練習」に最適の場所です。 (Nakatani, 2016, p. 437)

Many people do not even come up with the option of “using the city to study English.” But use it wisely since there are friendly conversation partners.

多くの人はこの「街を使って勉強する」という選択肢がそもそも頭にありません。で

も、せっかくフレンドリーな話し相手がいるのですから、うまく使ってください。

(Nakatani, 2016, pp. 485–489)

16. English is spoken on the streets in native countries too, such as the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, but (English) beginner learners can’t take advantage of that environment. When they pluck up their courage to speak English, but their English is not understood by native speakers, many people are discouraged to use English outside their schools. However, if you were in the country where people speak English as their second language, since they themselves also have been learning English, no matter how poor your English is, they will listen to it. Thus, for beginner learners, it is easier to speak English in the country where English is spoken as the second language.

アメリカやイギリス、オーストラリアなどのネイティブ国でも街中で英語が使われてい

ますが、初級者はその環境をなかなかうまく活用することができません。勇気を出して

発した自分の英語がネイティブに通じず、しかめ面をされてしまったら、多くの人は心

が折れてしまい、学校の外で英語を使うことができなくなってしまいます。しかし、英

語を第二言語としている国であれば、彼ら自身も英語を学び続けているため、どんなに

拙い英語でも聞いてくれます。英語初級者は、英語が第二言語の国のほうが街中で話し

かけやすいのです。

(Nakatani, 2016, pp.421–426)

17. Non-native English teachers know the feelings of students who are poor at English and teach them.

非ネイティブの先生は、英語ができない生徒の気持ちをわかったうえで教えてくれま

す。(Nakatani, 2016, pp.302–306)

18. Many Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese students’ duration of their study abroad in the Philippines is 2~3 months. . . . Most of them were not able to speak English at all, but in

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3 months many of these students graduated with unbelievable progress. . . . Of course there are individual differences (in their progress), English that is learned through studying in the Philippines is so dense that the growth in three months is incredible/remarkable.

多くの日本人や韓国人や台湾人の（フィリピン）留学期間は 2〜3 ヶ月です。. . .

（中略）ほとんどの人は英語が全然しゃべれなかったのに、3 ヶ月後には多くの生徒が

見違えるほどの成長を遂げて卒業していった。. . .（中略）もちろん個人差はありま

すが、フィリピン留学を通して学ぶ英語はかなり濃厚で、3 ヶ月間での伸びようは半端

ないです。

(Yamanashi, 2012)

19. Filipinos are truly bright, always singing and dancing even where there is no music. I felt the freedom from how they are, which Japan does not have. I thought that Filipinos were enjoying their lives and I hoped to have such an attitude/mentality.

フィリピン人は本当に明るくて、音楽が無いところでもいつも歌って踊っています。そ

んなところに、日本にはない自由さを感じました。人生楽しんでるな、自分も身に付け

たいな、と思ったものです。(Aoki, n.d., pp. 781–788)

20. Filipinos’ nationality matches Japanese people. Many Japanese are shy, but Filipinos are friendly and there are many Filipino teachers who enjoy anything that they do.

フィリピン人の国民性も日本人に合っています。日本人はシャイな人が多いですが、フ

ィリピン人はフレンドリーで何でも楽しむ先生が多い。

(Nakatani, 2016, pp.330–335)

21. When I was in Japan, I was too self-conscious of what others thought about me. . . . On the other hand, put it extremely, Filipinos live instinctively. There are many people who do not even care about wearing worn-out clothes. They do not even say “Thank you” or “I’m sorry.” It seems to me that they were going their ways or something like that…. Looking at them, I got over my self-consciousness, in a good way.

私、日本にいるときは、周りばかり気にしていたんです。. . .（中略）一方で、フィ

リピン人は極端な言い方をすれば、本能のままに生きてるんです。ボロボロの服を着て

ても、気にしない人がたくさんいます。「ありがとう」とか「ごめんなさい」すら、あ

まり言いません。もう、我が道を行くというか...。彼等を見ていて、良い意味で吹っ切

れました。(Aoki, n.d., pp.1190–1196)

22. The Philippines is currently undergoing development. If you ask, it did make me think the quality (of products and services) in Japan is really amazing. For example, (in Japan,) you can have warm water immediately (when you turn the faucet)!

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フィリピンは今発展が進む最中です。やはりこう言ってはなんですが、日本のクオリテ

ィってほんとに素晴らしいなと思った次第です。例えばあったかいシャワーがすぐに出

る！

(Yamanashi, 2012)

23. I think more and more Japanese will study English in Asia, centering on Cebu and the Philippines.

今後さらにフィリピン・セブ島をはじめ、日本人のアジアへの留学は増えていくのでは

ないかなぁ、と感じました。

(Saka, 2013)

24. The best part of studying in the Philippines is not just that. It is not only about learning English. Rather, it is not too much to say learning English is just “a

fragment.” . . .In other words, studying in the Philippines has the power to offer

English ability and “plus something.”

醐味はそれだけではありません。英語学習だけではないのです。むしろ、英語学習はフ

ィリピン留学の「一部」と言っても過言ではありません。. . .（中略）フィリピン留

学には、英語力と“プラス α”を提供できる力があるのです。

(Aoki, n.d., p. 2515)

25. Being able to speak English is not plus, but not being able to speak English is minus. I feel like a new age like that is approaching us.

英語ができることがプラスになるのではなく、英語ができないことがマイナスになるん

じゃないか。私自身、そんな時代が目の前にきているように感じています。 (Saka, 2013)

Section 2: Questions about the Research 26. Are there any other experiences or thoughts you would like to share with me?

他にシェアしたい体験や考えはありますか？

27. Do you have any questions for me about my research?

この研究について、なにか質問はありますか？ 28. Do you have any questions about anything else?

他になにか質問はありますか？

study abroad in the philippines - Open Collections

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