Re-conceptualising the "ideal Self" Among Japanese High School Students

Recently, an increasing inclination towards bilingualism and multilingualism has sparked considerable debate in language education about the prevailing English-only policy in many English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching contexts. In contrast, The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT) has emphasised that English class must be taught using English only, with the aim of exposing students to as much English as possible (MEXT, 2018).

However, it is evident from Aoyama (2020) that all high school students partially use their first language (L1) during communicative activities in the second language (L2) classroom, indicating that Japanese high school students use translanguaging (i.e., when people mix and use different languages naturally, blending them together to communicate) frequently and naturally in their English classroom. Furthermore, Yamagami (2023) indicates that Japanese high school students may conceptualise an ideal self characterised by fluid and seamless use of both L1 and L2, as opposed to aspiring to the proficiency levels of native English speakers.

Currently, the ideal self concept in language motivation research is theorised as an ideal L2 self. This concept is core to Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), which has three significant components: ideal L2 Self, ought-to L2 Self and L2 learning experience. Notably, the ideal L2 self, which is based on the premise that learners aspire to emulate a native English speaker as their ideal self, acts as a motivational catalyst.

This helps bridge the gap between their current self and the envisioned ideal. It is recognised as a robust predictor of various criterion measures related to language learning, exerting a profound influence on the determination of motivated behaviour (Dörnyei & Chan, 2013). However, existing ideal L2 self scales (e.g., Taguchi et al, 2009) cannot distinguish whether students imagine themselves speaking in English with no L1 in their mind, or whether they imagine themselves speaking in English with recourse also to their L1.

Given the fact, Henry and Thorsen (2018) have criticised L2 motivation research for its monolingual bias and have proposed instead the concept of an ideal multilingual self. However, when scholars refer to multilingual / plurilingual, I believe the prefix "trans" is very important for scholars because it signifies something beyond and between languages.

In other words, we are not just looking at the addition of one language on top of another; hybridity itself is important. For this reason, while considering existing concepts such as the ideal L2 self and the multilingual / plurilingual self, Ushioda (2017) also states that the focus should be on the translingual and transcultural competences and communication practices of multilingual speakers, rather than speakers defined with monolingualism in mind.

This PhD research will assume the concept of the ideal "translingual" self, which transcends individual languages. The ability to go across borders is crucial, which is why I prefer the aspects of the translingual self.

The purpose of the PhD research is to undertake a comprehensive re-evaluation of the "ideal L2 self," a theory widely acknowledged as authoritative in the realm of second language learning motivation. The study will explore the effects of ideal translingual selves on motivation and translanguaging practices with a view to suggesting variable intermediate steps to fill the gap between MEXT's policy and the reality of EFL classrooms today.