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SEMINAR: Asian Studies Seminar

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Today's date is Friday, March 29, 2024
Asian Studies Seminar : Family language policies: A case study of Japanese immigrant families in Perth Other events...
From interviews of Japanese speakers in Perth, this study explores language use in the day-to-day domestic environment. The project employs the concept of the family language policy and examines the families’ language policies, what factors contribute to their policies, and how and why they adhere to or change the policies. Families do not usually state their language policies explicitly, but whether intentionally or unintentionally, people make decisions on their language use in each speech community and those decisions become the community’s language policies.

The study identifies key factors that influence the family language policy. The strongest internal factor within the family is the belief on ‘elite bilingualism’ that one should speak two languages perfectly as a native speaker to be a bilingual (Heller, 2007). This belief can both encourage and discourage the bilingualism (or multilingualism) within the family. The strongest external influence on the family language policy is the status of English, that is, its dominance in the society and its social and economic mobility. Yet, the family language policy also shows fluidity and variations, and is related to individuals’ migrant identities. This study discusses how their migrant identities shape their beliefs, practices and management of the family language policy, and how language use influences their identities at the same time.
Speaker(s) Dr Kyoko Kawasaki
Location Social Sciences G25
Contact Laura Dales <[email protected]>
Start Fri, 01 Jun 2018 11:00
End Fri, 01 Jun 2018 12:00
Submitted by Karen Eichorn <[email protected]>
Last Updated Tue, 29 May 2018 14:02
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