ABSTRACT
The present chapter addresses, first, Japanese female students’ high enrollment in overseas ESL classes, and second, male students’ low motivation to study English in at-home and study-abroad contexts. The first section succinctly describes several types of Japanese women with positive attitudes toward English study: non-elite young women who, discussed in Kobayashi (2007), are formerly employed and finance their study abroad experience for nonprofessional reasons; many college women who are (socialized to be) fond of English study; the chosen few elite women with entrepreneurship who obtain degrees at overseas institutions; current and former office ladies (i.e. housewives) who re-study English to rejuvenate their mundane life; the internationally well-known type of Japanese women who study English for pursuit of romantic relationship with western men.
The second section explores factors behind Japanese male students’ unwillingness to study English both in at-home and study-abroad contexts, including those from top-ranked universities. This section evolves from my study that addresses this overlooked research theme (Kobayashi, 2012).
The chapter ends with calls for more scholarly attention to East Asian learners of English with untraditional (un)motives for English study in overseas ESL contexts (e.g. time-limited investment in English study, courage to divert from inward-looking peers, unwillingness to study).
