Possibilities of narrative for rethinking my“selfishness”as a Japanese language education researcher

Reflections on mutual interactions with an international student

Abstract

Narrative research into Japanese language education, in which most narrators are nonnative speakers of Japanese, is rife with narratives of“selfishness”experienced by narrators. This research seeks to redefine Yoshii’s(2013) concept of“selfishness,”in the light of“becoming”as a movement for critically rethinking norms posited by Deleuze and Guattari in A Thousand Plateaus (2010), using this framework to review my“stance”as a researcher in an interview with an international student. This research aims to show the possibilities of narrative research as an opportunity for researchers to reconsider their position in relation to narrators. As a result of this reflection, the conflicts expressed within the narratives of the international student was avoided. However, by sticking to a particular“stance”I missed opportunities for“becoming”that I myself had noticed in others. In relation to the problem of“selfishness”which Japanese language education researchers can be prone to, it seems that there is the possibility of creating“becoming,”deriving new meanings in narrative research and practice in the process of working together towards a solution, whilst placing oneself within the conflicts or doubts of narrators.