Janice Nakamura

This study examines the speech of a Thai mother who chose to use Japanese to her child from birth. Video data from ages 1;2 to 2;6 revealed that, despite the mother’s avowal to speak Japanese, her native Thai and her L2, English, were occasionally used. She reverted to Thai most often and made use of Thai baby words and discourse particles which led to some limited production by the child. The mother’s Japanese input was mostly accurate with a low percentage of errors. The rate of child errors was even lower than the rate of maternal errors. Particle use errors were proportionately higher than most other errors types for both mother and child. Analysis of this error type showed that both mother and child errors were characteristically different, indicating that maternal errors did not influence child errors. These findings suggest that nonnative maternal input did not adversely affect the accuracy of the child’s early production of Japanese. ノンネイティブ母親の言語入力:子供に対する在日タイ人母親の日本語使用と

This study examines the challenges of minority language transmission in exogamous families in a society where linguistic and cultural homogeneity still prevails. Specifically, it investigates the macro and micro ideological influences that lead multilingual migrant mothers in Japan to speak Japanese to their children. Interview data with six Thai mothers revealed that political influences made them emphasize the learning of Japanese. Economic factors led to the mothers’ valorization of Japanese, and even English, and lackadaisical efforts toward developing their children’s Thai. Sociocultural influences contributed to their practice of speaking Japanese to their children in front of Japanese speakers. The mothers’ childrearing experiences also affected their language practices. Their perception that Thai exposure delayed their older children’s Japanese development led them to use more Japanese to their younger children. The mothers’ limited use of Thai led to a lack of comprehension...

The popularity of English in early foreign language teaching is a global phenomenon. Parents and policymakers in Europe are eager to expose young children to a foreign language, which is usually English (De Houwer, 2015). Likewise, in Japan, English is the de facto foreign language subject in schools (Sakamoto, 2012). The introduction of English education in lower elementary grades and the use of English examination scores to enter schools or universities or gain employment has made English more important than ever. These educational policies motivate many Japanese parents to send their children for English lessons or enroll them in English preschools or after-school programs. Attending an international school is a definite way to acquire high English proficiency, but not every family can afford the high tuition.

Impact belief is the conviction that parents have that they can affect their children’s language development (De Houwer, 1999). This paper investigates how parents’ impact belief is shaped and how it transpires into language management which supports the bilingual and biliterate development of children in exogamous families. Interviews with eight English-speaking parents raising English-Japanese bilingual children in Tokyo, Japan were analyzed using the constructive grounded approach (Charmaz, 2014). The results revealed that the parents’ impact belief was influenced by their individual experiences, the support of their Japanese spouses, and peer influence. Specifically, it was positively affected by other parents with older bilingual children. The parents’ impact belief was also strengthened by their involvement in ‘communities of practice,’ i.e., English playgroup and weekend school. Their strong impact belief led to language management efforts which included their insistence on t...

This study examines the relationship between caregivers' conversational styles in One-Person-One-Language (OPOL) settings and early bilingual development. In particular, it attempts to demonstrate that interrogative styles may have an impact on bilingual children's responsiveness in two language contexts. It is based on longitudinal data of a bilingual child from ages 1;3 to 2;3 interacting with his English-speaking mother and Japanese-speaking

Mixed-ethnic children in Japan do not usually acquire the language of their non-Japanese parent. This study looks at their lost opportunity to acquire their minority parent’s language through a retrospective investigation of their language experiences from childhood to young adulthood. Transcripts of interviews with ten mixed-ethnic children (ages 18 to 23) were analyzed based on the constructive grounded theory approach (Charmaz 2014 Constructing grounded theory, 2nd edn. London: Sage). Analysis of codes which emerged from the interviews revealed that family relations, parents’ reluctance to speak the minority language and the prioritization of English were some of the factors perceived by the mixed-ethnic children to have contributed to the non-transmission of the minority language. Many of the children described their lost opportunity to acquire the minority language as regretful. Questions posed by Japanese people about their identity and language reminded some participants of their mixed-ethnicity and inability to speak the minority language. These findings suggest that the non-transmission of the minority language has long-term implications on the social and emotional well-being of mixed-ethnic children in Japan.