THE LEARNER DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
学習者ディベロップメント研究部会誌

ISSN: 2433-5401
https://ldjournal.ld-sig.org

The Learner Development Journal Issue 5: Engaging with the Multilingual Turnfor Learner Development: Practices, Issues, Discourses, and Theorisations
Authors: Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri Imamura
Title: Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space:
A Duoethnographic Account
Date of publication online: 2021
Author contact: <isravw@gmail.com> & <imamura.b152rq@gmail.com>

Published by the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Learner Development Special Interest Group, Tokyo
http://ld-sig.org/
Copyright 2021 each respective author

The APA citation reference for this paper is:
Wongsarnpigoon, I., & Imamura, Y. (2021). Exploring understandings of multilingualism
in a social learning space: A duoethnographic account. In A. Barfield, O. Cusen, Y.
Imamura, & R. Kelly (Eds.), The Learner Development Journal Issue 5: Engaging with theMultilingual Turn for Learner Development: Practices, Issues, Discourses, and Theorisations(pp. 74-91). Tokyo: The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Learner
Development Special Interest Group.

Articles are published in the Learner Development Journal under a Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY), of which CC BY 4.0 is the most recent version. Under this agreement, authors grant users
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is given to the work.

NARRATIVE ACCOUNT

Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism
in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic
Account
Isra Wongsarnpigoon, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan<isravw@gmail.com>
Yuri Imamura, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan<imamura.b152rq@gmail.com>
As learning environments, self-access centers can provide opportunities for multilingual learning practices beyond
the classroom. However, factors such as language policy or affective barriers can hinder efforts to foster suchdevelopment. In this narrative account, two learning advisors in a self-access center at a Japanese university reflect on
their endeavors to develop a space for multilingual learning. They employ duoethnography in order to juxtapose theirexperiences and their reflections on student interview data. Through this process, the authors reconsider the effects thatdefinitions of multilingualism have on perceptions of such environments, while also reflecting on what kind of culture isnecessary in multilingualism-supportive social learning spaces. The duoethnographic methodology facilitates the authors’
realizations of how their beliefs and perceptions of the multilingual space evolved. This inquiry has implications forpromoting multilingual learning, particularly in self-access settings, and illustrates the potential for duoethnography as ameans for collaborative reflective practice in promoting multilingual learner development.
学習環境としてセルフアクセスセンターは教室外の多言語での学習実践の機会を提供している。しかしながら，言語ポリシーや情意的な障壁等が学習の発展を妨げる要因になり得る。本稿では，日本の大学のセルフアクセスセンターに勤務する2人のラーニングアドバイ
ザーが，多言語学習空間の発展への自身らの奮励を省みる。学生からのインタビューのデータを取り入れながら，経験と内省を並列するためにデュオエスノグラフィーを用いる。この過程を通して，著者は多言語主義の定義が学習環境への認識に与える影響を再考するとともに，多言語を支援する社会的学習空間に必要な文化とは何か考察する。デュオエスノグラフィー手法によって，著者は自身らの多言語空間に関する信念や理解がどのように形作られてきたか，認識を深める。本稿では，とりわけセルフアクセスにおける多言語学習推進の実践的影響と，多言語学習者ディベロップメントを促す協同リフレクティブ・プラクティスの手段としてのデュオエスノグラフィーの可能性を論じる。
Como ambientes de aprendizagem, os centros de autoacesso podem fornecer oportunidades para prticas deaprendizagem multilngue para alm da sala de aula. No entanto, fatores como polticas lingusticas ou barreiras afetivas
podem prejudicar os esforos para promover tais prticas. Neste relato narrativo, dois conselheiros linguageiros em um
centro de autoacesso em uma universidade japonesa refletem sobre seus esforos para promover um espao deaprendizagem multilngue. Eles empregam a duoetnografia para justapor suas experincias e reflexões sobre os dados
gerados por meio de entrevistas com alunos. Por meio deste processo, os autores reconsideram os efeitos que as
definições de multilinguismo tm nas percepes de tais ambientes, enquanto tambm refletem sobre que tipo de cultura
necessria em espaos sociais de aprendizagem que apoiem o multilinguismo. A metodologia duoetnográfica facilita aspercepes dos autores de como suas crenas e percepes do espao multilngue evoluram. Esta investigao tem implicaes para a
promoo da aprendizagem multilngue, particularmente em ambientes de auto-acesso, e ilustra o potencial da duoetnografia
como um meio para a prática reflexiva colaborativa na promoção do desenvolvimento do aluno multilíngue.

Keywords
duoethnography, self-access, translanguaging space, social learning, reflective practice
デュオエスノグラフィー，セルフアクセス，
トランスランゲージング・スペース，社会的学習，リフレクティブ・プラクティス
duoetnografia, autoacesso, espaço de translinguagem, aprendizagem social, prática reflexiva

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Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri ImamuraWe, the authors, are interested in multilingualism in language learning due to ourbackgrounds: Isra as a lifelong multilingual, with parents who thrived speaking asecond language, and Yuri as someone born in Japan, exposed to Japanese English
education, and whose thoughts on multilingualism have been transforming since she started
to work as an educator. While we have maintained hope that education in Japan can follow
the global trend towards accepting multilingual education of languages besides English,
research has revealed some disheartening truths. These include Kubota’s (2018) noting of
the dominance of American or British English in textbooks used in Japan to the exclusion ofother varieties, and Yamazaki’s (2013) findings that only 14% of Japanese secondary schools
teach foreign languages other than English. As learning advisors in a self-access center at
a Japanese university, we have felt that the self-access context might offer opportunities tosupport learners’ multilingual understandings and practices, but we have wondered how wemight provide such support while facing potential unseen barriers such as language policy
or membership in either formal or informal communities. This narrative account documents
our attempts to resolve these queries. Employing duoethnography as reflective practice, we
juxtapose our reflections on interview data and our experiences, with the aim of gaining newunderstandings. These discoveries can inform our subsequent practices and have implications
for multilingual support in language learning spaces.
We first introduce ourselves, as our backgrounds strongly affect our narrative, and thendescribe our context and specific key concepts that influenced our research. A description of
our inquiry process follows. We next present our major themes and the reflective dialogues
that comprise the core of our duoethnography, exploring different conceptualizations ofmultilingualism (and their effects) in our center, and questioning how we can establish amultilingual environment and culture. Finally, we conclude by summarizing our personal
discoveries from the dialogues and suggesting how our account might benefit othermultilingual learning environments or practitioners interested in duoethnography.

Introducing OurselvesIsra
In my career, my beliefs regarding language use have gradually evolved. Before joining the
Self-Access Learning Center (SALC), I had primarily taught in Japanese public schools as an
Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). There, I often encountered the presumably unassailable
principles that the L1 should be avoided in L2 learning and that native speakers were the ideal
model for learners. For instance, I was advised by Japanese colleagues to avoid using Japanesein front of students. These notions were easy to internalize; they sounded reasonable andprotected my position. Similarly, when I first learned about the SALC, the English-only
policy at that time seemed sensible and corresponded with some of the SLA theory I learned
about in graduate school; in contrast, the SALC’s later multilingual policy felt as though
it was potentially exempting students from having to use English. All along, however, I
frequently noted, in schools and in the SALC, the learning that occurred through multilingual
negotiation.
Additionally, as a Thai American (and learner of Japanese), I have instinctively usedtranslanguaging practices (García & Wei, 2014) my entire life: At home, I naturally replied
in English to my parents’ Thai, to my friends’ frequent amusement. Conversation withmy siblings or other Thai Americans commonly included Thai words scattered among theEnglish, when there was no equivalent word or out of convenience (e.g., “This shop is phaaeng[expensive]!”) Indeed, when I started reading about multilingualism and translanguaging,
Canagarajah’s (2011a, 2011b) description of multilingual users drawing from all available
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Accountlinguistic resources and jumping between languages was immediately familiar. These practices,along with growing up in a bilingual, multicultural environment, shaped my perspective on
the usage of multiple languages. Perceiving these languages as all contributing to my identity,rather than keeping them separate, is instinctive. Now, I question why we would limit learners’
access to those resources and opportunities to define their identities. Contemplating these
aspects of my background sparked my enthusiasm for how this inquiry could help our students,
especially in using SALC facilities multilingually to serve their learning.

Yuri
As an undergraduate learner of English, I benefited from the English-only policy in the SALC.
The learning environment immersed me in English, which helped me develop my skills whileliving in Japan. Additionally, one of my English teachers in the first year introduced me toKachru’s three circles model of World Englishes (1985). It was an eye-opening experience
for me, because I had thought English was only for people who speak it as their native or
first language (the so-called inner circle). Understanding the diversity of Englishes had apositive impact on learning English together with my peers in the SALC. When I looked backon my experiences, the English-only policy in the center was a friendly reminder for me tocommunicate with anyone in the SALC without bias or prejudice.
In my career as an educator, I have encountered the dominance of native-speakerism inEnglish education in Japan. I had to compare myself to native English-speaking teachers
constantly while working in the same field. I had never had such feelings as a college student;
learning English had been an exploration of myself to discover a new self. In contrast, I
often feel pressure to use English professionally to prove my worth at work. In the SALC,
my current workplace, I have seen many students with strong native-speakerist beliefs,
such as “My goal is to be able to communicate with native speakers of English.” They tend
to think communicating with native speakers is the only way to improve their speaking. I
often ask them in English, “English is not my first language, but do you still want to talkto me in English?” In many cases, they seem confused and cannot respond to my question.
Conversations such as this have made me consider how I can support students’ language
learning, including challenging their beliefs, not only as a learning advisor, but also as a learnerwith a similar background as theirs. Moreover, in line with the recent multilingual turn forlearner development, I believe it is important for the SALC to provide scaffolding for learners’
multilingual learning. I hope this duoethnographic account, with our different backgrounds,
can lead us in a new direction in order to design a multilingual space in the SALC.

Context
The SALC at Kanda University of International Studies serves a student population of about
4,000, all studying a foreign language (students major in Chinese, English, Indonesian,
Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, or Vietnamese) or international communication. The SALC
opened in 2001 and currently occupies a purpose-built two-story facility.
Within the SALC there are several forms of support for learners’ English use. The morestructured forms of support are located on the all-English second floor and include theconversation desk, where students can book one-to-one sessions to practice speaking with an
English lecturer, and the Yellow Sofas, where students can practice conversation with lecturers
on duty and fellow students. These lecturers are usually, but not exclusively, native English
speakers from countries in Kachru’s (1985) inner circle. The first floor of the SALC has lessstructured support and is largely devoted to areas for students to work in groups. The SALC
also has a team of learning advisors, including the authors, whose work mainly focuses on

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Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri Imamura

nurturing students’ autonomous learning, rather than language support.
Upon moving to the current facility in 2017, the SALC shifted from an English-only stanceto a hybrid policy (see Figure 1). The first floor of the building is multilingual, in that all
languages, including Japanese, may be used, while the second floor remains English-only. SALC
advisors and staff mainly use English on both floors. Some reasons behind the change included
emphasizing our support of learners of all languages, and making the facility more welcoming
for students of all majors. Another benefit was the freedom to use other languages in support oftarget-language learning. In practice, however, many users appear to interpret the multilingual
policy merely as permission to use Japanese while socializing. This tendency has made themultilingual area as much of a de facto student commons as it is a self-access center.

Figure 1. Language Policy in the SALC Brochure
It bears mentioning that the university has another self-access facility, the Multilingual
Communication Center (MULC), with separate areas for each of the university’s seven
non-English language majors. Each area’s design resembles traditional architecture in thelanguage’s country of origin. Although the MULC does support multiple languages, theexplicit specialization and demarcation of the areas within mean it attracts a more specificuser population than the SALC and users tend to stay in their own departments’ respective
areas. We had also anecdotally heard that in certain areas, while Japanese was allowed,
English was discouraged. Even though the MULC was a multilingual center, we perceived the
SALC’s potential for encouraging actual multilingual practices on campus between students
from all departments.
The situation in the SALC made us consider how SALC practitioners (i.e., learning advisors
and administrative staff) could create a multilingual learning environment and support
users in becoming multilingual learners. We ourselves, as advisors, often use both Japaneseand English during advising sessions with individual learners. However, we hoped that we
could encourage such practices on a larger scale. In order to create a supportive, comfortableenvironment, we established a space within the multilingual area, the English Speaking
Practice Area (ESPA). In conceiving the space, we were inspired by Wei’s (2011) concept oftranslanguaging spaces: social spaces where multilingual users may combine their histories,
beliefs, and abilities “into one coordinated and meaningful performance, and [make] it intoa lived experience” (p. 1223). Due to the multilingual policy, students can use Japanese or
any other language in the ESPA; we hoped, however, that any other language use would bein support of their English speaking (and not, for instance, chatting completely in anotherlanguage; for details, see Wongsarnpigoon & Imamura, 2020a).
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic AccountAfter creating the ESPA, we soon realized that learners needed additional scaffolding to use
the space for L2 speaking practice. As such, we started holding weekly drop-in conversation
sessions, during which we, the authors, were present in the ESPA. Students could come andtalk about any topic, using any linguistic resources in their repertoire. Although we havenot explicitly discussed translanguaging during these sessions, we ourselves use and thus
implicitly endorse translanguaging practices (mainly in English and Japanese). We also
supported a small group of SALC Peer Advisors (PAs), student staff that advise fellow students,
in holding a regular collaborative learning event known as TACO (short for “Talking Activity
and Collaborate with Others”) Tuesday in the ESPA, where interested students could discuss
relevant issues with their peers, such as time management or job hunting. Other events orstudent displays in the space were encouraged as well.

Defining Terminology in Our Context
Translanguaging
Yuri first encountered and developed an interest in translanguaging when she read Cenoz and
Gorter (2015). They indicated the importance of how speakers use their linguistic repertoires
in multilingual practices, including translanguaging, in research on multilingualism. García(2009) defined translanguaging as “multiple discursive practices in which bilinguals engage
in order to make sense of their bilingual worlds” (p. 45), referring to how multilingual
individuals can use any available linguistic resources, including their first or otherknown languages, in communication. Cenoz and Gorter’s (2015) work and the idea oftranslanguaging inspired Yuri to start researching multilingual use in the SALC.
These ideas helped us realize that translanguaging is part of our daily practices within
the SALC; we use English, Japanese, and other languages to communicate with colleagues
and students. We also translanguage in advising sessions, mainly when learners struggle toexpress themselves in English. As learning advisors focus on supporting learners throughreflective dialogue, translanguaging often helps us build rapport and create a safe space forreflection. This mirrors the positive aspects of translanguaging practices noted by Adamsonand Fujimoto-Adamson (2012) in their SALC.
Translanguaging also occurs between learners, for example in learner-led communities in
the SALC, where learners naturally use translanguaging for communication (Thornton, 2020).
Yuri wanted to know more about this peer-to-peer translanguaging; she and a community
leader conducted observations in order to investigate translanguaging in the community(Kanai & Imamura, 2019). They found that the participants effectively used translanguaging
to ensure smooth communication. Additionally, although Adamson and Fujimoto-Adamson(2012) described learners feeling guilty about not using their L2 exclusively, Kanai and
Imamura’s participants did not express similar feelings towards translanguaging (Imamura,2019). Expanding the research on multilingual spaces and learning in the SALC, we haverecently investigated learners’ attitudes towards the use of multiple languages in language
learning in the SALC’s multilingual areas (Wongsarnpigoon & Imamura, 2020a, 2020b).

Multilingual Turn in Self-AccessBeyond the practices within our SALC, the broader multilingual turn (May, 2014) has also
had effects on self-access contexts. We felt that language policy was one way to promote
multilingual practices in such environments. Thornton (2020), however, in a study ofuser perceptions of language policy at two SALCs, found that while policy can provide
an environment for target-language use, it could also affect students’ perceptions of78

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multilingual use. Learners at a center with an explicit “no Japanese” policy were more
opposed to L1 use there, and Thornton suggested that users of a center with a more flexible
stance were more open to discussion of translanguaging. While Thornton (2018) examined
SALC practitioners’ preferences regarding language policy, there is little research on theapplication of SALC practitioners’ insights towards a multilingual policy and/or self-accessspace. We hope our ongoing research, including this account, will contribute to the continuing
exploration of the multilingual turn in SALCs.

Data Collection and Analysis
When Yuri approached Isra about co-writing this narrative account, she had become
interested in duoethnography’s potential for building a narrative after reading research suchas Hooper and Iijima (2019) on native-speakerism. Duoethnography is a qualitative researchmethod in which “researchers of difference juxtapose their life histories to provide multiple
understandings of the world” (Norris & Sawyer, 2012, p. 9). After further exploration, we
became intrigued by how duoethnography emphasizes the emergence of new understandings
through the co-examination of how our histories influenced us and led us here. In previous
research (Wongsarnpigoon & Imamura, 2020b), we agreed that our presence might influence
students, as well as spaces in the SALC. Therefore, we felt that duoethnography was ideal
for investigating, through dialogue, how our views (as SALC practitioners) towards ourmultilingual learning space have developed over time.
As learning advisors, we support learners’ reflections through dialogue, so the
duoethnographic approach was naturally appealing. We were interested in how, as reflective
practice, it allowed us to “tell [our] own stories together, building community and collective
voice as it emphasize[d] the value of dialogue and difference through inquiry” (Sawyer,
2020, p. xv). Furthermore, we were drawn to Lawrence and Lowe’s (2020) descriptions of
duoethnography for reflection in English language teaching, particularly how the collaborative
aspect offers new perspectives unavailable in solitary reflective practice. Thus, we feltthat duoethnography could be a means for us to tackle our questions by juxtaposing our
experiences.
Sawyer and Norris (2013) have suggested that duoethnographic dialogues can be spurredby artifacts (e.g., texts or images). We had already been conducting internal research on the
ESPA space in hopes of improving it and the SALC environment. We had planned to interview
students for that investigation but realized that the interview data was also a valuable
artifact. Our dialogues would be not only about our own experiences, but also our reflections
on the students’ perceptions.
In January 2020, we held semi-structured one-to-one interviews with four students that
had participated in events in the ESPA and three SALC PAs that had co-organized the TACO
Tuesday events. The interviews contained nine questions for the participants and 15 forthe organizers, and lasted approximately 1 hour each. Interviews were mainly conducted
in English, but both interviewers and interviewees used Japanese sometimes to clarify thequestions and answers.
After transcribing the interviews, we focused on two student participants, “Ken” and“Hinako” (pseudonyms), as they were both active, regular event participants. We also
used data from the three PAs (“Hiro,” “Kumi,” and “Akina”). We reread the transcripts
separately to find relevant themes which stood out. Following Sawyer and Norris (2013), we
used the interview data as artifacts to spark reflections. In several meetings held online via
Zoom, we discussed and compared what we noticed in the interviews. The transcripts fromthese meetings served, in subsequent meetings, as texts upon which to further reflect, in a
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Accountrecursive fashion. Following the principles of duoethnography (Norris & Sawyer, 2012; Sawyer& Norris, 2013), this was done with the aim of uncovering new perspectives on our previous
reflection or discover themes hidden within. The meetings were recorded and transcribed,
and we both analyzed the transcriptions in order to discover major themes that arose in our
dialogues. This process provided a perspective that neither of us would have been able to findthrough individual analysis.
Through the reflective and analytical process, we hoped to gain insight into the following
questions. As is common in duoethnography (Sawyer & Norris, 2013), the questions emerged
during the dialogical process rather than starting out fully formed prior to our inquiry:ʶHow are multilingualism and the multilingual spaces perceived by the users?

ʶ

What would an effective multilingual learning environment be like?

ʶWhat is our role in establishing such an environment?

ParticipantsStudent Participants
Interviews with two regular participants of ESPA events provided a starting point for our
discussions.
“Ken” was majoring in Chinese and had just finished his first year of university at thetime of the interview. Ken had participated in TACO Tuesday events multiple times and had
regularly met with learning advisors (other than us) and peer advisors. His peer advisor, theco-organizer of TACO Tuesday, recommended that he attend the event.
The second participant, “Hinako,” was a third-year student in the Indonesian department
when Yuri interviewed her. She regularly joined the ESPA conversation gatherings we hosted.
She had been frequently using other SALC services, such as the conversation desk, for
improving her speaking skills.

Event Organizers
Three SALC PAs also participated in our interviews. PAs are students that are particularly
motivated, autonomous learners and that have undergone training to support peers in theirlanguage learning and college lives (Curry & Watkins, 2016). Their primary roles are conducting
one-to-one advising sessions with fellow students and offering social learning opportunities
in the SALC. They started organizing TACO Tuesday events in July 2019 in order to encourage
students to practice speaking English in the ESPA, and to promote the peer advising service.
“Hiro,” a third-year student in the English Department, often used the SALC to socialize
with friends, participate in events, and organize (along with fellow PA Akina) one of thelearning communities, which are groups led by and comprised of learners who share theirinterests while using their target language(s) in the SALC (Mynard et al., 2020).
“Kumi” had already completed her B.A. in International Communication at the university
in 2014 and was attending additional classes in order to become an English teacher. As anundergraduate, she had actively utilized the previous SALC with her friends. Because she cameto the university only for attending classes, however, she did not use the SALC other than fororganizing TACO Tuesday events or for conducting advising sessions.
“Akina” was a third-year student in the English Department. She organized a learning
community with Hiro and enjoyed communicating with fellow students in the community.
Among the three PAs we interviewed, Akina expressed the least confidence in her speaking

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Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri Imamuraskills. She also admitted being uncomfortable speaking during TACO Tuesday events, saying,“The topics are difficult for me … and I feel [a] little pressure to speak English.”

Themes and Reflection
Several themes and topics emerged from the review of our transcripts. We retroactively
adopted these themes as the questions we would ponder in this narrative account: how
multilingualism and the multilingual spaces are perceived by students, what the nature of amore supportive multilingual environment might be, and what our role might be in creating
it. The following dialogues resulted from our addressing those questions and are organized
into themes: how students perceived multilingualism within our SALC, how we might counter
potential effects of the language policies, and the creation of a multilingual environment.
For each theme, we first present a summary of relevant student interview data, followed byextracts from our dialogues, in which we reflected on both the students’ views and our own
experiences. Following Sawyer and Norris’s (2013) principles of duoethnography, rather thanreporting our dialogues completely verbatim as they happened, the narratives presented here
have been edited and constructed from parts of various conversations.

Students’ Conceptualizations of Multilingualism
There was little consensus in the students’ views on multilingual environments or the
SALC’s multilingual space. When asked what the multilingual space meant to him, Ken did
not directly emphasize language use: “We don’t care like races, or genders, or age, and ofcourse, languages.… We can just talk [with] … and respect each other.” There was some
contradiction in Ken’s beliefs. While he sought collaboration with his peers, he did notassociate with students who learned while socializing, such as users of the SALC’s first floor
or of the MULC, which he disliked because “it [was] noisy from other languages’ area[s].”Additionally, he felt that even when Japanese could be used, English should be used as muchas possible. This belief may be connected to his dissatisfaction with his classmates in English
courses: “They speak Japanese in class … that’s made me disappointed, [and] bored.”
Hinako viewed multilingual spaces as spaces where people could speak Japanese freely. Thatis, the SALC’s first floor was a multilingual space except for the ESPA, which she considered an“English space.” Interestingly, the MULC was also a multilingual space to her “because mostpeople use Japanese.” Apparently it was not the availability of different languages but rather
the freedom to use Japanese that affected her concept of “multilingual.” When Yuri implicitly
broached the topic of translanguaging by asking her about using Japanese to support her useof other languages, Hinako related having done so, but stated, “Actually, I don’t want to use
Japanese. But sometimes … I can’t come up with the vocabulary that I want to say.” Like Ken,although she felt a multilingual environment allowed her to use Japanese, she preferred not to.
The PAs also exhibited varying views on multilingual spaces and even different levels ofawareness of the space and language policies. Kumi seemed unaware of the reasons for themultilingual space and preferred to view the entire SALC as an English space: “For me, theSALC is only English. I know that the first floor is not only English but also other languages,
but … on the first floor and the second floor, I tried to use English only.” Her belief could be
because she had only ever used the previous English-only SALC facility as an undergraduate
student. Akina, when asked what “multilingual space” meant to her, hesitantly describeda place for “all languages” without specifically referring to any spaces within the SALC:“A multilingual space is for practicing languages including English, Japanese, and otherlanguages like Thai?” Hiro had a more nuanced view:
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Account

The first floor [of the SALC] is a multilingual space can accept all the languages, like the MULC.…
So I think the first floor is a multilingual space like Japanese, English, whatever is fine.… Maybe
the SALC officially sets the rule, but … actually the reality is a monolingual space. Almost [all]Japanese, sometimes English.

Hiro had a clearer definition, although he, like other students, only mentioned Japanese andEnglish. He also pointedly identified the discrepancy between the ideal and the reality of the
SALC.

DialogueIsra

The students, even the PAs, didn’t really have a concept of [a multilingual space].
Maybe they haven’t thought about it, or they don’t really know the reason for having it.

Yuri Especially Kumi, she didn’t know much about the new SALC. Maybe she wasn’t awareof the multilingual language policy.
Isra

Akina just said, “The multilingual space is for all languages,” but that’s just kind of
the literal meaning of multilingual, right? They don’t really have an image of what thatmeans. It’s just mojidōri / 文字通り [the literal meaning].

Yuri Tagengo ne. Ippai gengo. / 多言語ね。いっぱい言語。[Multiple languages, right? Many
languages.] [laughs] But Kumi’s answer is quite interesting: [reading aloud] “People canenjoy language study, any language, and hearing their culture.”Isra

So she did make the connection with language and culture.

The idea of this language–culture connection surfaced again later and became a key part ofour further dialogues below. We next discussed Ken’s opinions on language use in the space,which perhaps reflected a biased understanding of multilingualism. He had said, “If we areallowed to speak Japanese, of course, we are Japanese, so we tend to depend on speaking
Japanese…. So as for multilingual spaces, we have to try not to use our mother language.”Isra

We saw this idea in the students’ understanding of multilingualism: how Ken believes
we can use Japanese [on the first floor of the SALC], but we should speak English as
much as possible. He was really against using Japanese at all.

Yuri That might come from his high school experience: He said his teacher only used
English, and he thought it was pretty good, right? So, maybe he thinks when you speak
English, or in English classes, you should use English only.
Isra

Right. Ken said about his teacher, “He speaks English well, like [a] native speaker....
He’s so cool, I want to become like him.” We see that in schools and how they position
those kinds of teachers, right? When I worked in [secondary] schools, sometimes theidea was, “Daredare [so-and-so] Sensei is a good teacher because their class is all in
English, or because their English is so good.”
I used to think like that when I started teaching. If any teachers taught classes entirely
in English, it was impressive, and I’d think, “Maybe they’re really innovative English
teachers.” That’s not the reason that they were good teachers. Often they were, but it
wasn’t because of that.

Yuri Yeah. Also that’s not multilingual.
Isra

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I think Ken’s understanding of multilingualism is kind of like how the university or[the PR department] positions the first floor, and that affects what students believe
multilingualism means. In promotional materials or on-campus tours, it’s not,Learner Development Journal • Volume 1: Issue 5 • December 2021

Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri Imamura“Practice using any language here,” it’s a reassurance: “Don’t worry, Japanese is okay
here.” [To them] multilingualism means “you can use Japanese,” so when you compare
it—Ah, so that’s it! If you think of multilingualism as “you can use Japanese,” and you
believe “English only” is the best, then multilingualism becomes a step down from“English only,” right? It’s like you’re using Japanese as a crutch. It really should be like,“English only” is fine, but multilingualism is another option. It’s not that one is better
than the other. But that’s how students have been taught to look at it.
Yuri Maybe. That’s how the university attracts students. Unlike other students, open campus
events at KUIS had a big impact on me. When I set foot in the SALC for the first time, it
made me feel like it was a perfect place to acquire English.
Isra

That kind of presentation has an impact. Even we do it sometimes. When I show [firstyear] classes around the SALC, I’ll say, “Okay, ready? We’re going to the second floor,
so now it’s English only.” We’ve made that separation explicit. But it’s not that one isbetter, right?

Yuri Right. In open campus events for high school students, I normally introduce myself bysaying, “I’m Japanese, so of course I can use Japanese, but on the second floor, let’schallenge ourselves.” So all of this made me think that we need to show our students a
basic definition of multilingualism. But at the same time, maybe we need to create ourown new definition in our center: What multilingualism means in our context.
IsraThat’s a good point. Maybe that’s one reason why the first floor is just kind of
undefined, because we don’t have a clear definition. If the policy is chuutohanpa / 中途半
端 [half-baked], people will just think, “Okay, it means we can speak Japanese.”

Yuri Yeah! Suddenly, I just came up with one idea: Maybe we can show a brief definition ofmultilingualism in the ESPA. De [then], we can say “Tagengo area to wa [a multilingualarea means] the space where you can do so-and-so … so let’s experience it in the
ESPA.”
It’s kind of like fureai hiroba / ふれあい広場 at the zoo, where you can actually interact withsome small animals. So, the ESPA would be kind of a fureai hiroba, where students cantry a multilingual setting.
Isra

I understand what you mean. But we don’t want people to feel like, “I’m an animal on
display.” [laughs] But we can think about what that definition is, and why they would
want to experience that multilingual environment. Maybe we could raise awareness oftranslanguaging. Maybe they’re not aware how much they already use it in real life, orthey need to see examples of a true multilingual environment.

Yuri Do you think we can say translanguaging practice is a communicative strategy? Baker(2006) says that, right? He and others argue that the use of L1 is effective in language
learning.
Isra

Right. When we talk about “translanguaging,” it’s related to the culture and identityof multilinguals (García & Wei, 2014)—people who grew up using multiple languages
or use them in their everyday lives. That might be hard for students to internalize. But
if we introduce it as a communicative strategy, maybe they’ll identify with it more.
Maybe for some, multilingualism is so far removed that they haven’t thought about it.
Ken used Hawaii as an example of a foreign language environment [where his teacher
immersed himself]. But actually, Hawaii is really multilingual. So maybe showing
examples of real multilingual people or environments.

Yuri Right. We need to raise awareness of multilingual settings. I think we can try two
different approaches to introduce a multilingual policy: deductive and inductive. One
is deciding the definition of the multilingual policy and providing some examples or
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Accountactivities. The other might be providing some activities first, then elicit in learners anawareness of the multilingual policy. Maybe we can try the second one.
Isra

Hiro mentioned these kind of things, like awareness-raising events and advertisingwhat the ESPA is. I think it’s a good idea because it goes well with these ideas, like thequestion of how we make the environment.

Through our dialogue, we had found that some of the difficulties in promoting multilingual
use in the SALC were connected to users’ understanding of the multilingual area. We realized
our participants’ understandings, in turn, were tied to how the dual language policies were
presented, as well as by larger-scale beliefs supporting a monolingual, all-English ideal.

Countering Potential Biases
In this second theme, we moved on to other inadvertent effects of the language policies on
our participants’ perception of SALC spaces and how we might counter such biases.
The PA Hiro realized the potential pressure that a language policy could cause in the ESPA:“[Students] may feel pressure…, so we have to emphasize that ESPA is not an Englishonly space, [but an] English and Japanese bilingual space.” These risks of causing anxiety
or violating students’ autonomy are ideas we have struggled with in our SALC (e.g., indetermining our non-directive stance on enforcing the language policy).
Akina was less concerned with the languages used by other students than with the kind ofenvironment she sought for using English:
Akina Atmosphere is very important … if the area is more strict, I couldn’t get something in
English.… Friendly is important.

Yuri

How about the language use? You don’t mind if they use Japanese or their first
language?

Akina Yeah, it doesn’t matter.
This belief may clarify Akina’s unfavorable perceptions about the atmosphere in TACO
Tuesday events: “The topic was a little difficult for me because I have to think more deeply.”
Serious discussion topics may have hampered her from feeling that the atmosphere wasfriendly.

Dialogue
While discussing what environment might make students want to use English more, Yuri
mentioned Akina’s preferences for a welcoming environment, which prompted us to consider
how attempts to support all users could affect perceptions of the area. Hiro had suggested
that one possible way to attract users was to “set a Yellow Sofa at ESPA.… [English lecturers]
can be in ESPA.” We reacted to this idea by sharing our experiences of how native-speakerism
can sometimes be manifested inconspicuously:
Yuri One of Hiro’s ideas was to move one of the Yellow Sofas to the ESPA. But that’s what
we’re concerned about: Students might think, “Oh, this is a ‘beginner space,’ and if you
get some confidence, then you can go upstairs.” It might send out that kind of message.
Isra

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We don’t want there to be a hierarchy, right?
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Isra Wongsarnpigoon & Yuri Imamura

Yuri No, because that creates the idea that “only English” is better than translanguaging.
It’s not like that. They are two different things. That kind of “English-only” ideology
or belief creates, to an extent, a mindset like, “I can acquire English when I go abroad.
If I’m fully in the English environment, I’ll be able to speak perfectly.”
Isra

But that’s kind of the message that the university gives: If you’re in all-English classes
and in this environment, you’re going to learn English better.
In my first year here, I was talking with [a colleague] who was really disappointed that
the English lecturers were almost all American or British. I didn’t totally agree then,because my views were influenced by a former professor of mine. The professor didn’t
explicitly say teachers should be native speakers, but it was more like, “If the goal is forstudents to speak and communicate accurately, you want them to learn accurate
English. And if the teacher doesn’t speak comprehensibly, then …” I think you can fillin the blank. I had also just left my ALT job, where there was definitely that kind ofnative-speakerist bias, and I was still working through how I felt. But now I think [thecolleague] had the right idea.

Yuri I totally agree with you. As a learner of English, I think the all-English environment is
not a bad thing. But students, stakeholders, or even teachers, we need to accept morediversity. The all-English environment does not mean you can only communicate withnative speakers of English, and we shouldn’t make a power balance between native andnon-native speakers. When I was a student, sometimes my friends envied me because
I often hung out with American friends. For me, if I can practice talking in English,
anyone is fine, but some people have a strong preference for who they want to talk to.
So, when they learn a language, they want to learn from a native speaker of their target
language. I think many people believe in the notion of “one people, one language, one
nation” (Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997, p. 201). People also judge whether they themselves are
multilingual speakers or not based on how many languages they feel confident using.
Realizing the extent to which English-only beliefs could affect their perception of SALC
spaces, we wanted to avoid inadvertently representing the multilingual space as a location for
those who were not “good enough” for the English-only space. Thus, we again considered
how to make the ESPA a supportive space without it feeling like a remedial space. We
continue contemplating that environment in the following section.

A Multilingual Environment
The above ideas, improving the space and the features of a multilingual space or Englishencouraging environment, brought us to our next theme, the multilingual environment.
We reflected on what such an environment might actually look like, what its culture mightbe, and what our roles might be in its establishment. Some elements from the interviews,
included below, identified some features of the environment and inspired our dialogues on thetheme.
Ken appreciated the ESPA as a venue for collaboration with others and pursuing thecamaraderie that he perceived among students from other departments: “I want [to] study
with the people who are high [abilities] like English department … they are making groups
regardless of gender, so I’m so [envious]” (His allusion to gender may refer to the low
number of male students in his department). Ken saw events such as TACO Tuesday asopportunities to interact, as “trying … to participate in the group, more with fun…. Of course

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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Accountwe have to speak English, but … for me it’s more like practice for attend the group.” The
SALC was a place where Ken could not only use English, but also hone skills that he valued.
Hinako appreciated that the ESPA allowed her to interact with faculty. Although she actively
communicated with peers in our ESPA conversation sessions, she asserted that a major reason
for her attendance was to communicate with us. Compared to the 15-minute sessions at theconversation desk, she said, “In the ESPA, I can use English a lot. And it is not limited.… It’svery … kichou na jikan /貴重な時間 [a precious time].” The presence of people (us) with whom
she wanted to talk was apparently predominant in her image of the ESPA environment.

In contrast with Ken and Hinako’s desire to interact in English, in Akina’s case, theatmosphere was crucial when using English. She preferred to continue using the ESPAfor events “because [it] is a quite relaxing space,” and she had highly valued “friendly
environment[s].”The students had described various features which they appreciated in the ESPA
environment, and these ideas inspired our discussions. In particular, we considered theirimplications for the multilingual space and our role in creating and maintaining it.

Dialogue: Multilingual CultureEntering this excerpt, we had been pondering the culture of the MULC, the university’s othermultilingual center. This led Yuri to reflect on her initial concept behind the ESPA.
Yuri In the interview data, the image of ESPA came up. In Ken’s interview, he talked about
his image of multilingual cultures, including things like gender or age. I didn’t reallythink about that when I created the ESPA. All I thought of then was only the language,
but of course, languages have their own culture. That means a multilingual space also
needs to have a multilingual culture.
Isra

So when you first thought of the ESPA, you were trying to create a space just for
facilitating language production?

Yuri Yeah, because all the data I got (Imamura, 2018) was about language use, and also
anxiety. It was more about psychological factors that prevented students from using
English on the first floor. So my focus was more on language use.
But Ken mentioned gender and races. You’ve told me before about the Thai space [in the
MULC] and how the relationship between [the Thai professor] and her students is likefamily. So I thought maybe the Thai space creates that kind of environment, and it helps
the students to feel safe, relaxed, or welcomed. So maybe, for the ESPA, we can also lookat the kind of culture we create. That’s also connected to what Akina mentioned: For her,
whether or not a space is friendly is more important than the language used there. And
that’s a part of the space’s culture, right? But I don’t know how that kind of welcoming
environment relates to the multilingual space.
Isra

It does relate to anxiety, and therefore to language, right? When you say your originalidea was making the ESPA for production, it reminds me of what you’ve told me before:
When you were a student, basically it was the atmosphere of the old SALC which
motivated you to use it?

Yuri Yeah. When I was a student, the SALC was a kind of space to challenge myself as alanguage learner. For some students, the environment was not really comfortable, but

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I liked it. So thinking about the culture in the multilingual space, that made me think:
What kind of culture is there in the English-only space?
Isra

Because we can establish the ESPA’s culture by contrasting with it, right? Do we havethat kind of environment that represents a challenge for students now? The Yellow
Sofas might.

Yuri It depends. Some students appreciate that challenging environment.
IsraIs that the kind of multilingual environment we want? One that’s not challenging, butmore like a welcoming space?

Yuri Yeah. Also, as you mentioned, in contrast with the English-only environment, maybe
the multilingual space can accept more diversity?
Isra

That would be ideal.
I like that you were thinking about the original concept behind the ESPA, because I was
also wondering: Have our thoughts about it changed since we started? For me, when
ESPA started, my idea was similar to yours, not necessarily a multilingual space, but anenvironment where students can go if they want to use English but they’re not ready to
go to the second floor. But as we’ve continued talking about this, I think it can be morethan just a speaking area. Now we’re thinking about how it can affect their thinking
about language or multilingualism, or even native-speakerism, right?

This excerpt represented a significant realization for both of us. By considering the culture we
preferred, we began actively discussing the potential for the ESPA beyond providing a spacefor speaking practice.

Dialogue: Making a Multilingual Environment
Yuri So my question is, how can we make a multilingual environment in the ESPA?
Isra

It could be something visual to set it apart, like signs or posters, without being
superficial. But look at the MULC. It might seem superficial at first, but Wright(2019) wrote about this idea: The visual atmosphere of the Thai area sets the initialenvironment. It gets people in, but really what keeps them there is the community andthe person-to-person interaction.

Yuri I thought about how one of the self-access centers we’ve visited displayed lots ofstudent voices on the wall. Maybe we can get some student voices or messages about
using different languages or the space itself, and we can display their messages in the
ESPA, maybe in different languages. That might create the ESPA’s culture or identity.
Isra

Right. That’s one thing we both noticed about [other centers], is that you can see
students’ voices and personalities.
Previously, you mentioned that when you were a student, the look of the SALC
represented a challenge for you.

Yuri A challenge in a good way. Not only people, but also the space itself motivated me.
The furniture was kind of Western-style, not like a typical classroom in Japan, andalso many resources were imported from other countries. That kind of environment
motivated me to use English, as well. Also, I could meet different people, like teachers,
learning advisors, and my friends whenever I went there. I used the SALC to interact
with people in English, and that was my motivation to continue learning English andusing the SALC.
Isra

So actually, it was people, also! People were important.
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic Account

These dialogues, along with Yuri’s reflection, helped us realize that addressing physicalfeatures was not the only measure we had to consider. Our reflections on both the interview
data and Yuri’s experiences showed that people were also a necessary factor in establishing
the environment we sought.

Discussion and Conclusion
In this narrative, we have examined these issues: how our students saw multilingualism andthe multilingual spaces, what kind of multilingual learning environment was desirable, andour roles in establishing this environment. Evincing the benefits of duoethnography, thedialogic process of co-constructing this narrative revealed several themes, which provided
each of us new understandings about the issues we had pondered. We first each present
especially revelations, before moving on to general discussion of our themes and next steps.

Isra
Something particularly compelling to me was our realization that within our SALC and also
the university, there is no one clear definition of “multilingualism.” SALC practitioners,
students, administration, and stakeholders draw from different definitions or lack one atall. In turn, although our hybrid policy was intended to be more inclusive, this vaguenessmay have contributed to an inadvertent hierarchy between the spaces in the SALC andactually discouraged multilingual use among students. Also meaningful was how throughcontrasting my experiences with Yuri’s, I noticed the change in my perceptions of the ESPA.
Before this inquiry, my beliefs mirrored the way in which our language policy had reinforcedmonolingual biases: Using the all-English space was something students should strive for,and if they could not, the first floor was a preliminary step. Now, though, I see the potentialof the ESPA as its own unique space, not just as an elementary version of other ones.

Yuri
Throughout this duoethnographic account, I noticed my thoughts towards multilingualism
in the SALC have evolved greatly. My original purpose for creating the ESPA was tosupport students who lacked the confidence to use the English-only area. However, I
started questioning the unexpected and complex power balance between English-only
and multilingual spaces and believing that the multilingual space should be free fromsuch hierarchy between languages. Besides, the Japanese term 多言語主義 / tagengoshugi[multilingualism] might convey the message that the knowledge of multiple languages issuperior because of the meaning of -shugi [-ism] in Japanese. It might encourage anothertype of monolingualism in multiple languages. Perhaps we should stop using the terms“multilingualism” and “tangegoshugi” to avoid confusion and find other ways to encourage
multilingual practices in our SALC.

Realizations and Implications
In writing this account, we each came to personally meaningful realizations and noticed
individual changes in ourselves. Other shared discoveries, however, also arose. Through thisduoethnography, we discovered an identity for the ESPA, beyond being a place for students
lacking the confidence to use the English-only area. It can be a venue for actual multilingual
use and collaboration between the space’s users—among students, but also between
students and faculty. Similarly, in our discussions and attempts to improve the ESPA as amultilingual space, we initially focused on physical aspects such as furniture layout, decor, or

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conversation-starting tools. We realized, however, that what mattered more was a welcoming
culture spread through human support. Our participants valued various factors in a learning
environment: language (Hinako), collaboration (Ken), and friendliness (Akina). Such factors are
all key in creating the kind of culture we are seeking. As we each realized, our definitions (andthose used in our center) of “multilingualism” and a multilingual culture should account for
more than just named languages as sociopolitical or linguistic constructs. This evolution in our
understandings will help us as we continue improving the ESPA and the SALC environment.
The coronavirus pandemic disrupted face-to-face interactions in the SALC during the
2020–21 academic year, but the ESPA events continued online, through Zoom. While we only
address the physical SALC space in this account, we continued our reflective discussions inorder to compare our experiences and perceptions of the online environment. Although welack the space to present these later dialogues, they allowed us to contrast our perspectives
with those on the physical SALC and in doing so, provided valuable deeper insight. We hope tocontinue developing our duoethnography, covering both the virtual and physical spaces.
Our themes here are merely the understandings which we took away from our dialogues
and are not meant to be prescriptive conclusions. Norris and Sawyer (2012) stress that
duoethnographies’ readers are “future partner[s] in inquiry, not [recipients] of newfoundwisdom” (p. 22). While our reflections stem from our specific context, we hope that readers
have gained their own insights, which are just as meaningful as ours.
Still, we offer some recommendations for practice in similar contexts. First, as we
realized, any language policy and its presentation should include clear definitions andrationale, in order to ensure that all parties understand the situation. We also hope that
we have demonstrated the benefits of examining the effects of language policy on learning
environments or user perceptions. Next, those interested in supporting multilingual
development in learners can also benefit from reflection on the culture necessary for suchdevelopment in a particular context. Finally, as duoethnography is still developing as ameans of inquiry, we did not know of many other similar inquiries using the methodology inthis way. We hope that readers are inspired by duoethnography’s potential for engaging inreflective practice while incorporating qualitative data.
Although much remains uncertain as we return after the pandemic, we will continue
investigating the issues discussed here. We may have unresolved questions, but the gradualreopening of facilities can provide opportunities to open our discussions to others and consider
meaningful measures we can take. While there are lingering issues about the recognition of themultilingual turn in our context, our inquiry helped us envision the potential position of the
SALC and ESPA in affecting learners’ multilingual practice and consequently the part we canplay. We conclude with this attempt to encapsulate our roles in the multilingual space:
Yuri Do you think we can call ourselves “curators”?
Isra

Are we curators of the multilingual space? Or are we managing it?

Yuri For me, “managing” implies a power relationship.
Isra

So it’s not what you want. If you think of “curating” a museum or exhibit, then wewould be picking and choosing what goes in there, right? Is it like being a gardener?
[laughing] Like we’re cultivating a multilingual environment? Like we’re watering—

Yuri I like the word “gardener.” Niwashi-tte koto desho / 庭師ってことでしょ？
[A gardener, right?] I like it!
Isra

And the multilingual users are like our flowers. Until they bloom—

Yuri We never know what kind of flowers that we’re raising.
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Exploring Understandings of Multilingualism in a Social Learning Space: A Duoethnographic AccountAuthor Bios
Isra Wongsarnpigoon is a learning advisor and resource coordinator in the Self-Access
Learning Center at Kanda University of International Studies. He holds an M.S.Ed from
Temple University, Japan Campus. His research interests include language learning spaces,
multilingualism in language learning and learner identities, and learner autonomy.
ウォンサーンピグーン・イスラ。神田外語大学セルフアクセスラーニングセンター（SALC）
ラーニングアドバイザー兼リソースコーディネーター。米国テンプル大学大学院ジャパンキャンパスにて修士号（MSEd in TESOL）取得。主な研究分野は言語学習空間，言語学習や学習者アイデンティティにおけるマルチリンガリズム，学習者オートノミー。

Yuri Imamura is a learning advisor at the Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) at Kanda
University of International Studies, Japan. She completed her M.A. in TEFL/TESL at the
University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include learner autonomy, learnermotivation, translanguaging in the Japanese context, and language learning spaces.
今村有里。神田外語大学セルフアクセスラーニングセンター (SALC) ラーニングアドバイザー。英国バーミンガ
ム大学大学院修士課程修了（MA TEFL/TESL）。研究分野は学習者オートノミー，学習者の動機付け，日本におけるトランスランゲージング，言語学習空間。

Review ProcessThis paper was open-reviewed by Donna Fujimoto, Tanya McCarthy, and Stacey Vye.
(Contributors have the option of open or blind review.)

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