Shaping Global Minds: An Investigation into Students’ English Language Learning Goals at Top Global University Project (TGUP) and Non-TGUP Universities in Japan

Abstract

This thesis examines the English language learning (ELL) goals of Japanese university
students and explores the extent to which these goals align with the state-led discourse of gurōbaru jinzai (global human resources), particularly within institutions participating in the Top Global University Project (TGUP). As English has become a central component of Japan’s neoliberal higher education reforms, universities are positioned as key sites for fostering these globally competitive, employable graduates. However, limited research has been conducted on how students themselves understand and respond to these policy expectations. Adopting an interpretivist qualitative approach informed by Foucault’s concept of governmentality, this study employs a multiple embedded case study design involving four universities—two TGUP and two non-TGUP institutions. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with twenty-one undergraduate students and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings indicate that students across all institutions
primarily frame their ELL goals in communicative and relational terms, emphasising personal connection, confidence, and self-development. While TGUP students demonstrated greater familiarity with gurōbaru jinzai discourse and described richer communicative environments, students across both TGUP and non-TGUP institutions articulated fundamentally similar underlying goals. Alignment with state-defined goals was generally partial, discursive, and context-dependent rather than deeply internalised, with TGUP appearing to influence institutional practices and the discursive resources available to students more than their underlying motivations for learning English. Overall, the study demonstrates that students’ communicative and relational goals are partially consistent with the government’s vision of gurōbaru jinzai, but that this relationship is best understood as negotiated rather than straightforward, raising important implications for ELL policy,
institutional practice, and internationalisation in Japanese higher education.

Date of Award	9 Sept 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Trevor Grimshaw (Supervisor) & Samantha Curle (Supervisor)