Translingual practice in L2 Japanese: workplace narratives

Abstract

ABSTRACTTranslingual practice is an emergent theoretical perspective which emphasizes the capacity and disposition for meaning-making across linguistic boundaries. Following on studies of globalized workplaces that have focused on lingua franca English, this article explores translingual practice as represented in interview and blog narratives recounted by multilingual, multiethnic young adults hired by Japanese schools and companies for their English proficiency. In these metapragmatic narratives of interactions with supervisors and coworkers, participants portray themselves surmounting communicative challenges through investment in L2 Japanese, and especially through pragmatic accommodation to local norms. In this way, they avoid maintaining widespread ideologies that delegitimize Japanese L2 speakers.