East Asian English learners crossing Outer and Inner Circle boundaries

Abstract

Drawing upon world Englishes theory and research, in particular, studies that re‐examine Kachru's Three Circles model, the present study addresses Japanese English learners’ sojourn experiences in the ASEAN Outer Circle and/or the Western Inner Circle nations. It numerically and qualitatively cross‐examines two groups in terms of sojourn motives, gender differences, and interest in the other type of sojourn. The study suggests that without veering from ‘native English’ norms, Japanese youth informed about the ASEAN nations’ international visibility embrace opportunities to study in these nations and broaden their notion of English(es). Also discussed are pedagogical implications for, for example, the implementation of study‐in‐ASEAN programs for many Expanding Circle female students majoring in West‐oriented degree programs.

Trilingual and Multicultural Experiences Mitigating Students’ Linguistic Stereotypes: Investigating the Perceptions of Undergraduates of Chinese Heritage Regarding Native/Non-Native English Teachers

“…Also, NNS students exhibit changes in their attitudes towards NS and NNS teachers compared to their forerunners [1]. According to some researchers [34,41,62,63], multicultural experiences that come with globalization have been used to justify the changes, and multilingual interventions have been implemented in and out of classrooms and language labs to manipulate the NNS stereotype. It makes this particular group of participants unique in that they come with strong multicultural, multiracial and multilinguistic experiences.…”

“…Studying and travelling abroad also make a difference. Perhaps closest to the current study is an investigation on the sojourning Japanese EFL learners' perceptions of World Englishes: without veering from the NS norms, when the Japanese youth are informed about the ASEAN nation's prestige worldwide, they embrace the Outer and Expanding circles better and their notion of Englishes becomes broader [63]. Before actually "opening up" to other cultures, the sojourning Japanese EFL learners are dominated by NS preference and indifferent to the possible "attractiveness" of other varieties of English [55].…”