Discriminatory attitudes toward intercultural communication in domestic and overseas contexts

摘要

Drawing from social identity theory and its categorization process, the present study crossexamines Japanese students’ contrastively different attitudes toward Asians and European (-looking) people in two different contexts: (1) Japanese students in the overseas English language school context who perceive a sense of solidarity with other Asian, particularly Korean, students in the presence of European students and (2) Japanese students’ yearning for ‘white English’ speakers in Japan and their disregard for Asian and African-looking students on campus. Based on primary data and literature knowledge base, the present study argues that Japanese students’ inclination to make friends with other Asian friends in English speaking countries is context-bound and once they return to their less multicultural home country, their intact yearning for the Imagined West is rekindled. Further discussions are provided for those involved in international education and foreign language education as well as English-as-a-world-language education in postsecondary education.