Conversations between peers are among the resources learners use to make sense of cultural practices and values. Through an analysis of two pairs discussing Japanese manga on intercultural encounters we look at the ways in which peer mediation affects Japanese learners' understandings and the potential for nuanced or stereotypical interpretations.
Upon encountering unfamiliar words or observing local practices in study abroad contexts, students may discuss aspects of the target language and culture with their peers, be that co-nationals or local natives. Such negotiations are instrumental to new interpretations and understandings, but occasionally may also lead to essentialism and stereotypification (Kubota 2003). This study examines how two Japanese learners, H and R, 4-5 months into their year of study in Japan, negotiate the interpretation of two Japanese manga (short graphic stories) with their friends. The manga depict two episodes involving the foreigner Michael in encounters with Japanese people, and misunderstandings that ensue; they illustrate behaviours considered to be typical in Japan: modesty in talking about self and ingroups, and restraint in expressing one's opinions. Students were asked to discuss with friends whether they had observed similar practices themselves, whether they thought the representation of Japan and other cultures valid, and their views of the cultural practices depicted in the manga.
H discussed the manga with a co-national British friend, and R with a Japanese native friend. We analyse both conversations in terms of the resources available to the pairs (Van Lier 2000) to interpret and evaluate the manga. H and her co-national friend use their knowledge of individual differences among members of their native culture to hypothesise similar differences in the host culture. In contrast, R and her Japanese native friend need to negotiate a common ground and some working definitions; the emic perspective provided by her Japanese friend underscores differences from 'Western' cultures, and the potential for nuanced understandings is reduced. The study shows different ways in which mediation with peers affects Japanese learners' understandings, as well as the banal (i.e. not deliberate) ways in which stereotpyes can be reinforced in the course of casual instances of joint reasoning.
