Japanese father raising bilingual children in Australia: Paternal perspectives on Japanese language use at home

Japanese father raising bilingual children in Australia: Paternal perspectives on Japanese language use at home

Japanese father raising bilingual children in Australia: Paternal perspectives on Japanese language use at home (19896)

Miyako Matsui ¹ , Mitsuyo Sakamoto ²

University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

In 2021, 22.3% of people in Australia claimed they use a language other than English at home, 59,755 households specifically using Japanese (.idcommunity, 2021). While this is a welcome trend to sustain a strong multicultural/multilingual Australia, Clyne and Kipp (2006) noted that the language shift from heritage language (HL) to English is a common and rapid occurrence. In such a linguistic climate, it is vital to explore factors that are conducive to effective bilingual child-rearing. In this phenomenological case study (Henry et al., 2008), four Japanese fathers married to Australians were interviewed so as to understand the roles played and contributions made in raising their children as Japanese-English bilinguals.

While it has been largely documented that mothers play a significant role in maintaining HL at home (Kawamura & Goza, 2013), paternal agency in deciding and actualizing family language policy (FLP; Spolsky, 2012) has not been sufficiently explored (Romanowski, 2022). Interviews were conducted to investigate Japanese fathers' perspectives on Japanese language maintenance with their children and the challenges they encountered when raising children bilingually with their Australian partners. Additionally, strategies that fathers used to promote HL maintenance and how they interact with the community were also examined. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis.

Findings from the interviews reveal that Japanese fathers’ commitment to adhere to strict HL use has positively impacted their children’s HL proficiency. Support and understanding provided by their Australian partners were also the key elements in maintaining Japanese language use with their children. Social factors such as community involvement and frequent visits to Japan were also found to facilitate bilingual childrearing, motivating children to learn their HL.

Although various challenges, some unique to fathers, were observed, including the decision-making in and adhering to FLP, HL can be effectively maintained despite the gender in an English-dominant Australia.

Authors contributing to this abstract.

Matsui, M

Miyako Matsui is an experienced language teacher both in Japan and Australia. She completed her PhD at James Cook University in 2022 investigating parental involvement in Japanese heritage language and cultural maintenance in Australia and teaches Japanese at the University of Wollongong since 2012. Her experience of living in Japan and Australia since childhood inspired her interest to research heritage language and cultural maintenance. She wishes to further develop her knowledge of the community language programs and language studies at schools in Australia.

Sakamoto, M

Mitsuyo Sakamoto received her Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Jim Cummins. She is currently a professor in the Department of English Studies and the Graduate School of Languages and Linguistics at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. She was one of the working members of Salzburg Global Seminar that compiled the Salzburg Statement for a Multilingual World, led by Dr. Joseph Lo Bianco. Her research focus is bilingualism/bilingual education, particularly heritage language maintenance. Recently she has been exploring the effects of power and ideologies on identity of and language policy for bilinguals. Her latest English publications include “The missing C: Addressing criticality in CLIL” (International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2022), “(Re)imagining oneself as an English user: Identity formation of Japanese English learners” (Asian Englishes, 2022, co-authored with Gavin Furukawa), and “’Native speakers aren’t perfect’: Japanese English learners’ identity formation as English users” (System, 2022, co-authored with Gavin Furukawa). At SS25, she is co-presenting a study with Dr. Miyako Matsui of University of Wollongong titled, "Japanese father’s raising bilingual children in Australia: Paternal perspectives on Japanese language use at home".

Japanese father raising bilingual children in Australia: Paternal perspectives on Japanese language use at home (19896)

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Matsui, M

Sakamoto, M

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