ABSTRACT
Autoethnography was selected for this study particularly because it provides the opportunity to deepen cultural understandings of self and others and has the “potential to transform self and others toward cross-cultural coalition building”. In autoethnographies, fieldwork is conceptualized differently in that the “field” is not a physical, external field, but instead the researchers’ own introspective recollection and reflection. Teachers at the American international school in Japan, where the author was enrolled from age 5 to age 18, spoke a variety of Englishes, including American English, British English, Irish English, Russian English, Korean English, Chinese English, Japanese English, Filipino English, and Indian English. In the Japanese community, every time the author spoke Japanese, the Japanese people in their well-meaning ways would often praise her for how well she spoke Japanese.
