Resistance against being formulated as cultural other

Abstract

So-called traditional theories in second langauge acquisition (SLA) have been criticized for their neglect to examine interactional, social, and political aspects in language practices. The present study will illustrate exoticization, one of the political phenomena observed in interactions between native-speaker and non-native speaker (NS/NNS). Exoticization is known as a covert power exercise where ‘self’ creates inferior ‘other’ in order to establish and maintain its superiority (Said 1978), which involves identity construction and categorization. Adopting a conversation analysis (CA) approach and utilizing NS-NNS conversations in Japanese, this study will first demonstrate how exoticization is discursively constructed through the development of interactions. Then the study will explore how the NNS participant tries to resist such practices. By so doing, this study will shed light on interactional and ideological aspects of language practices and society as a learning environment. The study will also suggest the necessity for exploring what NNSs face in real L2 societies in order to develop emic perspectives in SLA studies.

‘Is it okay to eat a dog in Korea…like China?’ Assumptions of national food-eating practices in intercultural interaction

“…Although in some cultures eating dogs and scorpions may be equally normative practices, by moving from domesticated to dangerous animals, Sky upgrades his supposition that Koreans eat 'unusual' things. This is similar to the phenomena observed by Fukuda (2006), in which cultural 'Others', and their cultural practices, are exoticised, exaggerated and stereotyped.…”

“…For example, Fukuda (2006) suggests that the 'Otherisation' which occurs in her data is, in part, manifest in the assumptions made about aspects of Chinese national culture, such as low salaries, lack of industry and the lack of freedom to travel. She argues that such stereotyping and exoticising demonstrate how ideological positions can, intentionally or otherwise, be portrayed through social discourse, and that this can be interpreted as the exertion of power.…”

“…Building on Nishizaka's observations, Fukuda (2006) explored how a 'foreigner' identity can be discursively constructed. In her analysis of a dinner table conversation, Fukuda showed how a Chinese student is ascribed the identity of 'Japanese cultural novice' by her Japanese hosts.…”

Conversations about culture: How Korean and Japanese cultural products, practices and perspectives are discussed to co-construct cultural understanding in talk

“…She finds that the construction of interculturality is achieved collaboratively, often as teams. Fukuda (2006) following this line of inquiry examining the exoticization of the "other," or foreigner in the interaction. Her findings show that participants may show resistance to the categorization of the other.…”

“…This tradition is interested in the intersentential level of interaction and how participants' emic perspective is made known in talk. In more recent years, intercultural membership and identity construction has also been explored from a microanalysis of conversation utilizing conversation analysis techniques (Brandt & Jenks, 2011;Fukuda, 2006Fukuda, , 2008Higgins, 2007;Ikeda, 2008;Kim, 2008;Mori, 2003;Nishizaka, 1995Nishizaka, , 1999Zimmerman, 2007aZimmerman, , 2007bZimmerman, , 2009Zimmerman, , 2010aZimmerman, , 2010bZimmerman, , 2011. This line of inquiry has demonstrated that researchers can access how participants construct their perspectives and identities within conversation to perform various conversational actions within the discourse.…”