‘Ignorance’ as a rhetorical strategy: how Japanese language learners living in Japan maneuver their subject positions to shift power dynamics

Traditionally, the goal of foreign language education has been to teach learners linguistic and cultural knowledge so that they could function successfully in the target language and cultural environment. But does demonstrating knowledge always help learners accomplish their interactional goals? To explore this question, this study investigate when and how the learners of Japanese-as-Foreign-Language used their ‘ignorance’ as a rhetorical strategy to negotiate their subject positions and shift power relations to their benefit while living in Japan as exchange students. Among the nine students we interviewed, we focus on the experiences of two students. The study reveals that regardless of their language ability, their racial appearance played a major role in determining whether one could use ‘ignorance’ as a strategy to accomplish their goals. Through experiencing such race politics in Japan, the students learned to maneuver their subject positions. Implications to the foreign language education are also discussed.