Interviews with Female Japanese Study Abroad Students in England

概要

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This paper is a summary of some of the research findings of a three-year qualitative oral history project, examining the lives of Japanese women who have lived in England long-term (defined as two or more years). It is based on in-depth interviews with 16 Japanese women ranging in age from 26 to 51 and categorised into four groups : students, career women, women married to or divorced from British men, and company wives (women who accompany their Japanese husbands on corporate postings), as well as on participant observation. An examination of the methodology exploring the cultural and linguistic issues involved in cross-cultural interviewing can be found in the March 2003 edition of the British Oral History Journal, whilst a summary of the entire project can be found at : website.lineone.net/〜skburton. This paper will focus on the narratives of eight of the women who originally went to England as students, and will consider some of the issues raised by the interviewees such as : their motivations for studying abroad, the importance of English language proficiency for women, dissatisfaction with the Japanese university system, and their views on British education. Biographical details of the eight interviewees can be found in the footnotes. All but two of the interviews were conducted in English and all names are pseudonyms.