This study is a collective reflection of classroom learning through improvisational drama play for linguistically or culturally diverse children　 who are first-, second-, or higher-generation transnational immigrants. In general, these children’s success in school largely depends on their parents’ economic status when public funds do not offer any considerable measure of support. OECD (2011) mentions that public funding for education in Japan is below the average public spending of other countries within the OECD, especially in tertiary education. It has been noted that transnational children of the richer classes attend private schools that have special resources for their learning. Relatively poorer children go to Japanese public schools for their education. However, most public schools in Japan do not provide a first-language learning class for these children; nor do they have any special teaching program of subjects for them. Therefore, quite a number of children drop out from school and have low achievement levels in the future. These children are required to put in more effort in their learning than their Japanese counterparts do because public schools in Japan use only Japanese as the medium of instruction. Most parents of these children cannot support their children’s learning because they are not fluent in academic Japanese. Many non-profit organizations support their learning by conducting after-school activities. However, they often teach as school teachers do in school and therefore children tend to drop out from these activities too. Japanese public schools focus on educating children to become “Japanese nationals” and therefore non-Japanese children and children with parents who have their roots in foreign countries usually cannot adapt themselves to schooling in Japan. Therefore, language learning, socialization, and identification have become a critical issue for linguistically or culturally diverse children. Low achievers usually have low self-esteem and see no hope for their future.

This study presupposes that all transnational children are knowledgeable and smart in their own right (McDermott, 1993). They already possess a fund of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez (1992) based on their first culture and language. It is important to re-mediate (Cole & Griffin, 1983) their given resources to enhance their learning and development. I set up a drama workshop as an experimental mediating activity with drama play for these students. Play is an important activity in preschool period to foster cognitive, emotional, and personal development (Vygotsky, 1933). Play is an important activity even during adolescence. The experimental activities that I adopted involved improvisational drama play with scriptwriting because it does not need a high level of Japanese language proficiency to create a play, but collective play creation fosters their thinking and imagination and enhances their proficiency in the Japanese language. Gutierrez (2008) discusses a similar project for second-language learners who re-identify themselves through collaborative writing with University students. However, their use of the language may drop as regards an unarticulated sense, which becomes a rich resource for thinking. Language learners often have difficulty in identifying themselves in Japanese and use their first language. “Identity text project” (Cummins & Early, 2011) promotes multiliteracies for students. Literacies are extended to other media as well, going beyond words so that they become “tool kits” to act on learners’ social (interpsychological) and intrapsychological planes. The improvisational drama play gives learners a chance to develop tool kits that can enhance their cognitive, social, and emotional abilities. The drama play in this study adopted the theme “school failure in the classroom.” The aim was to make learners reconsider their notion of school success and failure. This dramatization would also help them reformulate their status in the classroom.

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