This talk explores how Japanese as an Additional Language education can navigate and move beyond monolingual and monocultural ideologies deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese society. Drawing on current Japanese government policies and K–12 educational contexts, Dr. Yumi Sugihara will first outline the key challenges faced by educators and learners, including the tensions between institutional circumstances and increasingly diverse student identities.
She will then highlight three empirical studies conducted in collaboration with colleagues in Japanese university settings: 1) Valuing “My Language” (Watashi no Kotoba): Exploring how plurilingual learners can resist AI-driven linguistic homogenization and reclaim their unique voices; 2) Critical Intercultural Communication: Challenging the Japanese/foreigner binary through examining cultural homogeneity critically and self-reflectively; and 3) Creating Translanguaging Spaces: Acknowledging diverse linguistic repertoires in a bilingual graduate seminar to decenter the dominance of hegemonic languages.
The talk demonstrates how the potential of small-scale pedagogical shifts can empower learners’ agency and contribute to transforming broader societal ideologies toward a more inclusive, multilingual and multicultural society.
Speaker
Yumi Sugihara, PhD, is a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies (UBC), and an Associate Professor at Keio University, Japan. Her work explores Japanese language education and intercultural education, focusing on critical interculturality and ideologies of language, culture, and ethnicity in Japan and beyond. Her most recent co-authored article is “Learner Self-Reflexivity in a Japanese Critical Intercultural Communication Classroom.” Intercultural Education, 2025. doi:10.1080/14675986.2025.2555751
