MLO 5: Cultural Internalization and Language Immersion
5.1 Students demonstrate that they have actively immersed themselves in authentic Japanese cultural and linguistic environments and have internalized the language and cultural experience, from which they have developed a personal understanding and new perspectives of the community.
Please see above links for more evidence of completion of this MLO.
MLO 5: Reflective Narrative
I was able to accomplish many things while I was studying abroad in Okayama, Japan. One of the things I enjoyed the most was participating in creating a Global Resolution for Okayama University. Okayama University was named a super global university while I was in Japan, and the following school year was going to receive extra grant money from the national government because of this. Some of the English and Japanese teaching faculty came together and created a special course for international and Japanese students. In this course we came up with ideas on how to make the University more global, from a student perspective. After the class was over, I stayed on as a editor and helped to clean up the document and present it to the president of the University. This is probably what I am most proud of about my study abroad experience.
I also worked at Okayama University's Language Cafe as an English conversation partner. As I grew more comfortable in my role, I was offered a position teaching conversational English classes to Japanese students. Though these classes were ungraded and casual, I was given full responsibility for creating curriculum and teaching my students in the way I felt was best. It was a really cool experience to be able to do this and test out a little bit of what it's like to be a teacher in a no pressure setting.
I wanted to be able to visit more places while I was in Japan, but I was restricted by my worry about spending money. As a result, I did save a lot of money, but it would have been cool to be able to explore even more of Japan than I did. I was also worried about traveling alone, but once I did it, I really liked it, so I wish I could have done more traveling by myself. Hopefully, I can return to Japan and explore more temples, shrines, and cities.
I didn't experience culture shock in any particularly harsh way. I was waiting for it to happen, but all I ever was was homesick because I missed my family and friends in the United States. I think part of why I didn't experience terrible homesickness is because the Maximizing Study Abroad class went over in detail what to expect of culture shock, so I was well prepared.
It was, however, stressful to be in a country where the main language was not my native language. I had to get used to relying on other people to make phone calls for me and deal with official business. Luckily, I had good friends who could help me when I needed it, and my dormitory had Japanese Resident Assistants that were available to help us. I was also lucky to find a very amazing host family, who became my family in Japan. It was fun to speak Japanese with them and be a part of their family. I am still in contact with them and hope to meet up with them in Japan once again.
To learn language and culture, I tried to practice with native speakers when possible, though my shyness was a challenge in this area. Having a host family I was close to helped, as I was comfortable speaking Japanese with them. I also tried my best to be accepting and open to different cultural ideas and norms. Whenever possible, I observed how Japanese people went about their lives and reacted in different situations and tried to imitate them. I also would ask my Japanese friends questions when I was confused.
You can read more about my adventures in Japan on my Blog page.
Connections to Other MLOs
MLO 1: Japanese Language and Communication As I mentioned in my reflective narrative for MLO 1, I feel that studying abroad contributed a lot to my language development, interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive. Both inside and outside the classroom I had to listen and speak in Japanese nearly every day. This constant exposure really forced me to improve, as well as gave me a strong background to compare English and Japanese.
MLO 2: Japanese Culture Living in the middle of Japanese culture really cemented my understanding of a lot of the things I learned about Japanese culture and gave me a large knowledge base to work from in the future. Concepts I learned about in class, such as wabi-sabi, I could experience first hand. I also had courses that took advantage of our location in Japan by including many field trips so we could get hands on experience.
MLO 3: Secondary Culture other than Japanese Interestingly, both of my secondary culture courses I took while studying abroad. This allowed me to really compare the cultures I learned about with the Japanese culture I was immersed in, and gain a deep understanding of the Japanese perspective on these cultures. Studying abroad also introduced me to people from around the world, not just Japanese people. Through friendships with other foreigners, I was able to gain a broader understanding of world cultures. MLO 4: Research and Technology Though my study abroad time was not focused on research, as I mentioned in my MLO 4 reflective narrative, many of my classes did include research projects. Through these projects and my classes I did develop research skills and become familiar with tools that I would later use to complete my Capstone project.
LESCANT Photo Project
Click this link to see some examples of the photos I took before and while I was in Japan, and my thoughts on them.
LESCANT Model for Organization
Language – The cultural effects of Language go beyond the simple matter of speaking different languages. This area includes issues such as being identified as an insider or outsider, who decides which language to speak, the position of power based on language use, and linguistic ethnocentrism (we all think our language is somehow the best). Photographs in this section also show the way language is used in different cultures. Sometimes cultures differ because of language differences. These include attitudes about your own language, insider relationships for those who speak a foreign language, decisions related to which language is used, and how to speak in ways that others will understand you.
Environment – This includes such things as the physical traits of a location (e.g., size of an office), the effects of climate, topography, population, and the use of space. It also includes the perception the use of technology in changing the physical surroundings. Photographs in this section show some of these physical items. This includes the physical reality such as size, surroundings, population density, climate, food, topography, etc. This includes such things as the physical traits of a location (e.g., size of an office), the effects of climate, topography, population, and the use of space. It also includes the perception the use of technology in changing the physical surroundings. Photographs in this section show some of these physical items.
Social Organization – There are many ways that society can be subdivided into groups: kinship and family, education, class, religion, occupation, and gender. Tendencies towards individualism versus collectivism also fall under this category, as does how we use our free time. This refers to how society is put together. This includes family, education, role of women, class systems, individualism, religion, etc.
Context – Context refers to how much people depend on overt communication (e.g., the actual words spoken, the items written, or rules followed) versus a communication that relies on stored information gained from personal relationship and interactions. Thus “low context” cultures depend less on the context while “high context” cultures rely on stored information for their communication. Issues related to face-saving and politeness are often tied to our understanding of Context. This refers to how directly people communicate ideas and words versus how important it is to build a “context” within that communication. Low context cultures focus on the actual words that are spoken, the rules that are written. Those words and rules determine appropriate behavior. High context cultures focus on the situation and shared knowledge, which is what will determine appropriate behavior.
Authority – Definitions and expectations of authority and power are based on culture. Issues related to decision making, use of titles, leadership style all fit in the category of Authority. This category also included Power Distance, related to how much subordinates may influence and interact with their superiors. This category deals with the role of authority figures and how power and decision making is accomplished. Authority also looks at leadership style and the relationship between bosses and their subordinates.
Non-Verbal – The category includes a wide range of cultural issues: emblems, gestures, dress, eye contact, touch, proxemics, smell, colors, and numbers. Photographs from this category can include a wide range of sights from all over the world. Here we are looking at everything from dress and adornment to colors, touch, smell, and the quality of one’s voice.
Time – Not only does this focus on how we organize our calendar and schedule, but it focuses on cultures that follow monochronic time (those that handle one task at a time) and those that follow polychronic time (those that engage in many tasks at the same time). This category refers to how people divide time, how they schedule their activities, and how they organize their day.