Dr. Aaron Ward
Toyo University
Kia’ora everyone, My name is Aaron Ward. I come from Christchurch, New Zealand. Kia’ora is Māori language from New Zealand, and it means ‘greetings’, ‘be well’ and ‘thank you’. So when I say, ‘kia’ora’, I want say, ‘hello’, ‘I hope you are all in good spirits’ and ‘thank you’ for joining the JALT conference this year. I look forward to seeing everyone! Kind regards, Aaron Ward
Sessions
The Intercultural Community
This paper presents an overview of data collected as part of a long-term study of 1000 Japanese university ESL students’ engagement with the language community and how this relates to student interests. The results indicate that students most often engage in aspects of L2 culture that are less demanding, and that engagement with the broader language community is significantly mediated by variables such as language proficiency, time spent abroad, and cram-school study.