Studies in Japanese Bilingualism
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This collection of twelve empirical studies helps fill the gap in information on bilingualism in Japan. The introduction examines the widely-held myth of "Japanese homogeneity", demonstrating how language contact has increased dramatically in the past two decades as Japan's economy has attracted new immigrants. The results of a survey on Japanese attitudes towards bilingualism suggest that only certain languages are associated with bilingualism in Japan - a trend that has serious implications for the treatment of Japan's minorities. Developments in language use by three of Japan's oldest linguistic minorities are examined. Two ground-breaking studies analyse language use by new minorities in Japan, and the problems faced by language-minority students in Japanese schools are also surveyed. Elite bilinguals are the focus of studies on factors affecting the development of active bilingualism in bicultural children and the progress of students in Japan's first English immersion programme. Two studies on codeswitching provide a Japanese perspective on this emerging field of research. The collection closes with an overview of research on language attrition in Japanese contexts. Booknews Linguists and educators, most from or working in Japan, present a dozen empirical studies on such topics as a survey of Japanese attitudes toward bilingualism, language and identity in Okinawa today, the language environment of Brazilian immigrants in Fujisawa City, year four of a partial immersion program for the bilingual education of children, and university students' use of their native language as a learning strategy. The introduction challenges the myth of Japanese homogeneity. Distributed in the US by University of Toronto Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Preface1Introduction: The Crumbling of a Myth12Japanese Attitudes Towards Bilingualism: A Survey and Its Implications243Language and Culture Revitalisation in a Hokkaido Ainu Community454Language and Identity in Okinawa Today685Affiliation, Not Assimilation: Resident Koreans and Ethnic Education986Japan's Hidden Bilinguals: The Languages of 'War Orphans' and Their Families After Repatriation from China1337On the Language Environment of Brazilian Immigrants in Fujisawa City1648Language Minority Students in Japanese Public Schools1849Bilinguality and Bicultural Children in Japan: A Pilot Survey of Factors Linked to Active English-Japanese Bilingualism23410Bilingual Education of Children in Japan: Year Four of a Partial Immersion Programme27211English/Japanese Codeswitching Among Students in an International High School31212Codeswitching by Japan's Unrecognised Bilinguals: Japanese University Students' Use of Their Native Language as a Learning Strategy32913Language Attrition in Contexts of Japanese Bilingualism353Contributors373Index377
