Tetsushi Ohara, Kaori Shimasaki, Yuji Okawa

Lost in Research: an attempt to create a learning community for
research students at an Australian university
Tetsushi Ohara, UNSW, Australia
Kaori Shimasaki, UNSW, Australia
Yuji Okawa, UNSW, Australia

Abstract
This self-reflective report introduces a learning community for research students
whose research interests are related to Japanese applied linguistics, Japanese language
pedagogy and Japanese cultural studies at an Australian university. Research students at
Australian universities often feel that they do not have sufficient intellectual and social
support. In order to improve the research environment for postgraduate and honours
students in the Japanese program at an Australian university, a number of research
students have organised a learning community called the Benkyokai (study group).
The findings from observations and written documents indicate that the Benkyokai has
provided its members (research students) with both emotional and academic support.
Through sharing their research experiences and resources at the Benkyokai, the research
students support each other in various aspects of their research career. In other words,
the Benkyokai functions as a Community of Practice (Wenger et al. 2002; Wenger 2006).

Keywords
Research students; Australian universities; Community of Practice; Emotional andacademic support; Benkyokai (study group)

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研究者の孤独:オーストラリアの大学で大学院研究生のためのラーニ
ング・コミュニティーを構築する試み
大原哲史、ニューサウスウェールズ大学
島崎薫、ニューサウスウェールズ大学
大川裕司、ニューサウスウェールズ大学

要旨
自らをふりかえる意味合いも込めたこの発表では、
日本語の応用言語学、教授法やカルチュラ
ル・スタディーズに関心を持つ、
オーストラリアの大学の大学院研究生のために作られた学習
コミュニティーを紹介する。
オーストラリアの大学では研究生の多くが、知的にも社交的にも十分な支援を受けていないと感じている。
あるオーストラリアの大学の日本語学科では、大学院生や名誉学位を目指すオナーズの学生のための研究環境を改善すべく、研究生のグループが「勉強会」と称する学習コミュニティーを立ち上げた。
この学習コミュニティーを観察し、所見をまとめた結果明らかになったのは、勉強会が、メンバーである研究生にとって精神面でも学術面でも支えになっていることである。研究生は、勉強会で自分たちの経験や知恵を共有することによって、研究生活の様々な側面において支え合っている。
言い換えれば、
勉強会は(Wenger et al. 2002; Wenger 2006)として機能しているのである。
「実践共同体」

キーワード
研究生、
オーストラリアの大学、
実践共同体、
精神面および学術面での支え、勉強会

130Tetsushi Ohara, Kaori Shimasaki, Yuji Okawa

Introduction
As Australia has the fourth-largest number of Japanese language learners in the world(The Japan Foundation 2013), it is not difficult to find academic articles discussing how
we can improve the learning environment for Japanese language learners in Australia(e.g. Thomson 2009; Fukui 2014). However, articles discussing the learning/research
environment for students who engage in Japanese language education research are scarce.
Research students form an indispensable component of Australian Japanese language
education, as they not only engage in research on Japanese applied linguistics andJapanese language pedagogy, but may also become the teachers and researchers who makecontributions to further the development of Japanese language education in Australia.
This paper is a self-reflective report, which introduces a learning community for research
students in Japanese linguistics, pedagogy and cultural studies at the University of New
South Wales (UNSW) in Australia. The three authors are members of the learning
community and will reflect upon their own and their peers’ practices in this report. Thislearning community is called the Benkyokai, a Japanese term meaning “study group”,
and is analysed based on the concept of a “Community of Practice” (Wenger et al.
2002; Wenger 2006). The aims of this paper are to portray how the Benkyokai has beenorganised, and to report how the Benkyokai has supported the research students so far.
It articulates problems faced by these students and describes the processes in which they
overcome these problems through their participation in the Benkyokai.

Problems
Research students at Australian universities inevitably encounter many dissatisfactions
and difficulties throughout their research degree. According to Conrad (2006, 34),
the least satisfactory aspect of doctoral study is the intellectual and social climate. For
students, the lack of intellectual and social support beyond their supervisors createsa sense of isolation, which can impact on planning and conducting their research
and writing their theses. Joining a supportive research community which provides
intellectual and social support is thought to be key to the successful and satisfactorycompletion of research degrees (Conrad 2006).
At UNSW, where this study takes place, faculties provide their research students withsome support, such as seminars and workshops for research students, in an attempt
to create an intellectual and social climate that is favourable for them. However, theseseminars and workshops are held intermittently, and participants vary. Through theseexperiences, research students in the Japanese applied and educational linguistics found131

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it difficult to share their research interests and passion with other research students
in political science, media, translation and the like. In other words, these occasionalseminars and workshops, which include research students from various disciplines, areless likely to help with forming a strong, supportive and continuing community among
those who share a common research interest.
At UNSW, the number of research students in Japanese applied linguistics and Japanese
language pedagogy has constantly increased over the past few years to reach a criticalmass. Thus it was timely to create a learning community—or Community of Practice—for research students in the Japanese program to provide them with support not offeredby the faculty.

Community of Practice
A Community of Practice (CoP) is defined as “groups of people who share a concern,a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge andexpertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger et al. 2002, 4). In
order to be classified as a CoP, the community contains three particular characteristics:
domain, community, and practice as described in Table 1 (Wenger 2006).
Table 1: Domain, Community, and Practice
DomainThe area of particular interest shared and pursued by all members of thecommunity.

Community

A particular group in which all members are expected to participate inorder to pursue a shared interest, while building a mutually supportive
relationship through engagement in various activities.

Practice

Activities developed by members in the community to develop andmaintain their own knowledge and skills related to the domain, and to learn
from other members through participation.

A CoP requires continuous interaction between members. Conversation with a stranger
with different domain of interest does not lead to the establishment of a CoP. Members
in a CoP will be able to recognise, given the proper structure, that they are in thebest position to pursue their own objectives through interaction with other members(Wenger 2006, 4).

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Benkyokai
A group of research students in the Japanese program at UNSW has been operating theBenkyokai since 2011. The Benkyokai aims to improve its members’ research by sharing
experiences and relevant information regarding their research amongst members, andby supporting each other in various aspects of their research career. This section will
introduce how the Benkyokai is organised.

DomainBenkyokai members belong to the Japanese Studies program at UNSW and shareresearch areas—that is, Japanese applied linguistics, Japanese language pedagogy andJapanese cultural studies. Each member has a research topic related to these areas. All
members are very keen to improve their own research to successfully complete theirdegrees, secure scholarships and gain future employment. Their shared interests andgoals help create a common ground and a sense of common identity amongst themembers, fostering a sense of belonging.

Community
Table 2 describes 16 past and present Benkyokai members, including an academic
supervisor. Currently, 11 members are active (two have successfully completed theirdegrees and started or plan to start more advanced degrees [marked by *]), whilefour members have successfully completed their degrees but continue to contributeas peripheral members (marked by **). One member withdrew from the Benkyokai
in 2012 because he decided to discontinue his research project (marked by ***). The
members are diverse in terms of their research experience (Honours, Masters, PhD),
language background (Japanese native speaker, English native speaker, Chinese native
speaker), enrolment status (off-campus or on-campus, full-time or part-time), andother factors such as teaching/learning experience. The Benkyokai also allocates roles tomembers, such as leader and event coordinator. This diversity creates multidimensional
interactions among the Benkyokai members.

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Table 2: Benkyokai members
Name1

Degrees

First Languages

Periods in Benkyokai

Tsukasa

PhD

Japanese2011 S2–current

Kumi

PhD

Japanese2011 S2–current

Sara*

PhD/ Honours

English/Cantonese

2011 S2–current

Yoshinobu

MA by research

Japanese2011 S2–current

Takako*MA by coursework2/PhD

Japanese2012 S1–current

KanakoMA by coursework

Japanese2012 S2–current

Toshiko

MA by coursework

Japanese2013 S1–current

Yukie

MA by coursework

Japanese2013 S1–current

MegumiPracticum student

Japanese2013 S1–current

Takeshi

Graduate Diploma

Japanese2013 S2–current

Supervisor

Japanese2011 S2–current

Anne**PhD

English2011 S2–current

Momoko**

PhD

Japanese2011 S2–current

Linda**

MA by coursework

Mandarin2012 S1–current

Emily**

Honours

English/Cantonese2012 S2–current

Robert***

MA by coursework

Mandarin2012 S1

Professor Robson

1
2

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All names are pseudonymous.
Coursework students in the Benkyokai are enrolled in a special project course where they are required to conduct a research project for one year.

Tetsushi Ohara, Kaori Shimasaki, Yuji Okawa

Practice
The Benkyokai operates via two main practices: weekly meetings and informationexchanges on members’ own Wikispaces3 and emails. Weekly meetings are organised
as follows:
Table 3: Weekly Meetings
Time

Thursday 4-6pm

Place

A booked classroom/the main library’s meeting room/the supervisor’s
officeLanguages usedin the meetings

Japanese (occasionally English)

Basic flow ofeach meeting

1. Members report their weekly research progress and receive feedbackon their own work from other members.
2. Members discuss a specific topic relevant to their research (e.g. readacademic papers on learner identity and have discussions; discuss
how to structure a literature review; rehearse their presentations forconferences and receive feedback from each other).
3. Members decide the discussion topic for the following week.
4. Members set goals for the coming week.

Members who are unable to come to the university campus participate in the meetings
via Skype. The chosen leader of the group usually leads discussions, however all members
have the opportunity to contribute to discussion in a relaxed atmosphere (some members
often bring snacks to share in the meetings). All members agree on the basic principlethat they must contribute constructive arguments to create a supportive environment.
The Benkyokai has also had its own Wikispaces website since 2012, providing memberswith yet another way to participate and communicate with each other. Since the website
contains some confidential research data, only registered members have access to thewebsite. The members mainly use Japanese to communicate.
The Benkyokai website has two main functions. The first is to share information andresources for research and seminars/conferences. Members post a variety of information
and resources on the site, such as details of upcoming seminars/conferences, referencesof useful readings, questions regarding theories and research methods. Members also

3

Wikispaces are social writing platforms for education (http://www.wikispaces.com). Users can create their own page, communicate with each other andwork on writing projects alone or as a team.

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NSJLE Proceedings 2012use email to share important information and resources, as well as to offer personal
support. Minutes are taken at each meeting and posted to the website so that all members
can keep track of what has been discussed.
The second function is the recording of individual research progress. All members
have their own page where they can write about their research, and post weekly goals,
research plans and reports of their own research progress.
The Benkyokai regularly organises gatherings and events for both academic and social
purposes. Members have also formed panels to participate in conferences, and have
prepared and discussed presentations together. At the end of semester, the Benkyokaiorganises a dinner party to provide members with an opportunity to get to know eachother better in an informal setting.

Emotional and academic support
This section outlines how the Benkyokai has supported research students by analysing
three data sources: members’ written comments,4 exchanges between members from2011 to 2013, and participatory observation (the authors also participate in the
Benkyokai). Data indicates that the Benkyokai provides two main types of support toits members—emotional support, and opportunities to develop academic knowledge
and research skills. This section also describes one of the challenges involved instrengthening the Benkyokai as a CoP.

Emotional support
As indicated above, the primary motivation for establishing this study group was tosolve one of the all-too-common issues that postgraduate research students faceat universities: namely, isolation. The data indicates that the Benkyokai has beenfunctioning well to achieve this goal. For example, Takako points out that the Benkyokai
is not only for benkyō (study), but it is also a “home” for her. She explains that “weshare our personal experiences” like a family, and this home provides the individualwith a space to grow. Takako’s perception of “the Benkyokai as a home to belong” isreflected in her active participation. She often takes the initiative in welcoming newmembers to the community (by proposing/organsing social events) so that they can
begin to “feel at home” in the Benkyokai. Takako is often called okāsan (mum) inJapanese by other members of the group because of this caring role. This indicates that
4

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In 2012, the members wrote how they felt about the Benkyokai to review its effectiveness. Each report was one page written in English.

Tetsushi Ohara, Kaori Shimasaki, Yuji Okawa

other members also see the Benkyokai as a home that gives them a sense of belonging.
The Benkyokai works as a “comfort zone” that protects members from becoming
isolated in their new academic environments and from getting emotionally lost there.
Yoshinobu’s comment below also illustrates how the Benkyokai provides emotional
support to its members. Yoshinobu, who cannot always physically be on-campus due tofull-time work, points out that the Benkyokai is “an indispensable place” for him. He says:
As a full-time high school teacher, it is a little difficult for me to keep proceedingwith my study constantly as sometimes I have to leave my study aside. But, atleast once a week, I have this Benkyokai to attend physically or on Skype. By
attending it, I can feel reassured that I am also a research student like others
as well as proceed with my study by receiving advice from other members of
the Benkyokai.

This comment reveals that, while Yoshinobu too regards the Benkyokai as “a home”
to which he belongs, he also considers it a place where he is reassured of his identity
as a research student in the Japanese program at UNSW, not just a full-time worker.
Although it might be difficult for him to keep up the pace with his research due to his
physical isolation over long periods, this comment shows that his regular participationin the Benkyokai helps him maintain his identity as a research student by constantlyinteracting with others in the group.

Opportunities to develop academic knowledge and research skills
It is important for research students to develop the knowledge and skills to conduct
research and write academic papers. The Benkyokai functions as a unique space forhelping members to develop research skills and academic knowledge. Members candecide what they want to do in weekly meetings, and can therefore address areas thatthey want to improve or develop. For example, when Toshiko was writing an abstract
for her research project for the first time, she asked other members for comments andadvice. Other members were more experienced in writing academic papers, so theyshared their knowledge and experience with her. After receiving comments from othermembers and re-writing her abstract, she described her feelings as follows:

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Thank you very much for giving me comments on my first abstract … I havelearnt a variety of things through your comments on structures of abstract,appropriate academic expressions, grammar mistakes, and things I should add
to my abstract.5

As this example demonstrates, the Benkyokai provides members with academic support
that is not otherwise available, helping them to develop academic knowledge and skills
required to become a competent researcher.
Another member, Emily, who is not a native speaker of Japanese indicates that the
Benkyokai has helped improve her Japanese language proficiency as well as develop her
knowledge of Japanese language education and culture.
As a non-native Japanese speaker and a first-time research student at university,
being a part of Benkyokai has been a great learning experience. The consistent
weekly meetings in Japanese have helped me keep up with my Japanese [language]
study. The support network within Benkyokai is very strong – regardless of
research career, background, or stage of progress, everyone is willing to extend
his or her support and advice. It is also interesting for the members of Benkyokai
to be able to develop interest and offer insights into each other’s research, acrossresearch areas that span from culture to language education.

Because discussions in weekly meetings, on the website and through emails are
conducted mainly in Japanese, the Benkyokai provides non-native speakers of Japanesewith valuable opportunities to improve their Japanese language proficiency (for moredetails, please refer to Thomson and Chan 2014).
Diagram 1 illustrates the support system in the Benkyokai. The Benkyokai contains
complicated, multi-dimensional interactions which allow members to support eachother academically and emotionally.

5

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私の初めてのアブストラクトにコメントしてくださって、本当にありがとうございました。
アブストラクトの構成の仕方、的確な表現、文法の訂正、
もっと挿入するべきことなどのコメントをいただき、色々なことを勉強させていただきました。

Tetsushi Ohara, Kaori Shimasaki, Yuji Okawa

Diagram 1: The Support System in the Benkyokai

All members have different backgrounds and experiences, and different skills theywant to develop. The Benkyokai leverages these differences to help members develop
the skills necessary to become competent researchers. By creating opportunities toshare knowledge, experience and resources with each other, members not only develop
a stronger sense of community but also successfully improve various aspects, helping
them to better conduct research and write academic papers.
It is worth mentioning that the Benkyokai is not an alternative to formal academic
supervision. It provides research students with an important additional dimensionof support. As their supervisor also participates in the Benkyokai as a member, andcontinues to provide necessary supervisory support to members individually outside
the Benkyokai, research students do not lose any input from their supervisor. By having
this unique opportunity to share thoughts and opinions regarding their research andlearning/teaching experience, members receive more diverse feedback, support andinformation as it comes not only from their supervisor but also from each other. The
Benkyokai is a community where research students support each other over in thecourse of their study. This improves their research environment and productivity.

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Challenges
Generally, the Benkyokai provides members with the emotional and academic support
presented above. However, it is also true that the Benkyokai faces challenges as a CoP.
The Benkyokai accepted four new members in Semester 2, 2012 and Semester 1, 2013.
However, the new members took time to understand how to participate. One of thereasons was that new members had few chances to see how other members had been
involved. For example, Takako (who joined the Benkyokai Semester 1, 2012 and took acaring, motherly role), was absent for several months in 2013 for personal reasons. She
would have been a good mediator to bridge the gap between the founding members
and the new members. Members have attempted to organise informal dinner parties in
addition to information sessions to explain how the Benkyokai works. As membershipchanges, it is important that the Benkyokai develops structures to help new members
settle in and form stronger bonds so that all members can make the most of the Benkyokai.

Conclusion
This paper describes the Benkyokai and how it supports research students in theJapanese program at UNSW, through the concept of community of practice. Despite
the fact that universities try to support research students in a variety of ways, such as
seminars and workshops, many research students still feel that they do not have enoughintellectual and social support. Often, university-led support events are inclusive of
diverse disciplines and lack continuity. The Benkyokai is organised by research students
themselves who share similar interests. These members have developed the structuresand practices to maintain the Benkyokai as a community of practice that provides
members with important emotional and academic support.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express sincere gratitude and appreciation to Mr Takuya
Kojima at UNSW. Without his contribution, it would have been difficult for us to
produce this paper. We would also like to thank Professor Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson
at UNSW for giving us advice and support while writing this paper, and we are very
thankful to Ms Sally Chan and Dr Barbara Northwood at UNSW for proofreading thefinal draft of this paper. Finally, we would like to show our appreciation to the Benkyokai
members for giving us support to write this paper.

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