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Paper short abstract:

Although the definition of culture varies depending on field and context, students and teachers in L2 classrooms commonly perceive culture as national culture. This presentation will discuss implications for teaching a course on Japanese culture while avoiding essentialism.

Paper long abstract:

While many universities offer Japanese Culture courses as part of their language programs, some of the materials and contents may promote stereotypes and essentialism. Although the definition of “culture” varies depending on field and context, students and teachers in foreign language classrooms commonly perceive culture unconsciously as national culture. Moreover, emphasizing cultural differences, a common practice in such courses, can also result in the formation of stereotypes.

Many students taking courses on Japanese culture are initially fascinated by the surface culture and especially pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, and music as well as food, literature, and language. It is not uncommon for such students to have already formed specific stereotypes or images of Japan from the media they consume.

This presentation will first introduce various ways of understanding culture. Using the course related to Japanese culture I teach at a European university as an example, various challenges and initiatives involved in discussing Japanese culture with students will be shared. Based on previous studies of teaching culture as part of foreign language instruction, my own practice as well as course evaluations by students, I will propose an optimal design for a culture course that does not promote essentialism from the following perspectives: (1) selection of teaching materials presenting various perspectives and encouraging critical thinking; (2) appropriate ordering of topics from deep- to surface-level culture; and (3) learners’ identities. Instead of defining what culture is, teachers can provide opportunities for questioning and discussing how culture is used and what people do with it while deepening students’ understanding not only of Japanese culture but also of the diverse culture that surrounds each student's daily life.