This study problematizes the literacy practices of a second-year, Japanese language classroom at a small women's college. Drawing on critical perspectives on language, literacy and d/Discourse (Gee, 1990)—in particular, on sociocultural and poststructural theories—this study discusses the joint actions of a classroom teacher and her students. Using Fairclough's (1992b) model of critical discourse analysis as an analytical tool combined with the methodology of critical ethnography, this study closely examines classroom interactions through moment-by-moment analysis of numerous literacy events. Through year-long ethnographic fieldwork and two subsequent years of dialogue with the teacher, I chose to focus my study on “moments of tension.” I selected five “critical moments” when diversions from the teacher's lesson agenda were observed during the classroom literacy events. The dynamic interplay among the texts, the students' identities and the teacher's discourses inspired those critical moments. They were moments when both the teacher and the students struggled to defend what they believed as true and attempted to inhabit ideal subject positions against textual representations. My use of critical discourse analysis revealed that, in general, the students drew from the dominant discourses that the teacher had provided so that they could successfully participate and make sense of the literacy events. However, when the texts represented a reality or truth that challenged the students' beliefs about their identity and/or ontology, the students resisted such representations and “disrupted” the dominant classroom discourse by drawing on counter-discourses. Similarly, when the students' counter-discourses challenged the teacher's ontology and/or identity, she resisted taking up those discourses and tried to normalize the moments by deflecting the issues at hand and by withdrawing from the “intersection of the discourses” rather than opting to facilitate a dialogue about competing discourses. This study argues that these moments of tension displayed how students contributed significantly to the production of knowledge in the classroom. They point out how students exercise their agency and take up positions as “knowers” that align with their sense of self. My analysis also allows me to draw implications for the possibility of critical literacy practices in a FL classroom.

Japanese student in the United States have an opportunity to receive education in American public schools and in Japanese weekend supplementary schools guided by the Ministry of Education in Japan. This "bi-schooled" situation emphasizes positive aspects of educating biliterate children. However, developing literacy skills in both English and Japanese is a complicated task for students. Focusing on maintenance and development of literacy skills in Japanese as a first language, this study provides an intensive description of the Japanese writing experiences and practices of four ninth graders and of teaching experiences of three Japanese teachers in one weekend school in the United States. The students are native-born Japanese who have received more than five years of education in both American and the Japanese weekend school. All three teachers have experience teaching in Japan and have lived in the United States for over seven years. There is gap between the present situation of Japanese bi-schooling students and these teachers' standards in the weekend school. Investigating these students and teachers allows us to perceive this gap. Data collected through a phenomenological in-depth interview method is presented in the following three aspects: students' self-understanding, their positive perspectives on learning two languages, and their difficulties under current conditions of bi-schooling. Also from teachers' perspectives, the teachers' observations of problems in the students' essays, their perception of problems in the students' bi-schooled situation, their strategies for instruction in Japanese composition, and their understanding of the role of Japanese weekend schools are examined. The examinations of thirteen students writing samples by the teachers were included in the interviews. The findings identify important insights and approaches in the following areas: bilingual education, language-minority education, and teachers' roles, including their academic expectations of students, in educational settings. This study has implications for meaning of bilingual education, issues of language-minority education, the importance of teachers' awareness of issues and problems faced by language-minority students, the importance of parental involvement in education. In addition, it has ramifications for Japanese education in the United States as well as Japanese bilingual education in Japan.