An Indonesian family’s strategies and practices for maintaining a child’s Japanese in their home country

Lisda Nurjaleka, Sonda Sanjaya, Tommi Yuniawan, Rina Supriatnaningsih, Shafa Raihana Suseno

Abstract


Previous studies on bilingual education have primarily focused on maintaining the heritage language. However, second language maintenance for children in a family setting remains relatively underexplored. Placing her daughter’s experiences in dialogue with her own experiences, the first author (auto)ethnographically examined how she and her daughter navigate their mother-daughter relationship and create multilingual strategies in maintaining a second language (Japanese) upon returning to her home country, Indonesia. The first author, who is also the main researcher, collected the ethnographic data for about 26 months, focusing on strategies and efforts to maintain her daughter’s second language proficiency at home. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and analysis from a narrative life story perspective, the findings show that these digital and home-based strategies effectively motivated her daughter and supported her Japanese language maintenance. Furthermore, the occasional use of Japanese as the home language strengthened emotional mother-daughter bonding while reinforcing language maintenance. This study proved empirical evidence that intentional home language strategies and practices can successfully support second language maintenance within a family environment. It highlights the importance of family language policy in creating a language-rich environment at home and a digital environment to retain a second language.

Keywords


autoethnography; family language policy; heritage language; Japanese language maintenance

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adams, T., Jones, S. L. H., & Ellis, C. (2015). Autoethnography: Understanding Qualitative Research. Oxford University Press.

Altman, C., Burstein Feldman, Z., Yitzhaki, D., Armon Lotem, S., & Walters, J. (2014). Family language policies, reported language use and proficiency in Russian–Hebrew bilingual children in Israel. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 35(3), 216-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2013.852561

Ariyani, F., Putrawan, G. E., Riyanda, A. R., Idris, A. R., Misliani, L., & Perdana, R. (2022). Technology and minority language: an Android-based dictionary development for the Lampung language maintenance in Indonesia, Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society, 5:1, DOI: 10.1080/25729861.2021.2015088

Barakos, E., & Selleck, C. (2019). Elite multilingualism: Discourses, practices, and debates. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(5), 361-374.

Barron-Hauwaert, S. (2004). Language strategies for bilingual families: The one-parent-one-language approach (No. 7). Multilingual Matters.

Bollig, S., & Kelle, H. (2016). Children as participants in practices: the challenges of practice theories to an actor-centred sociology of childhood. In Reconceptualising agency and childhood (pp. 50-104). Routledge.

Bradbury-Jones, C., & Taylor, J. (2015). Engaging with children as co-researchers: challenges, counter-challenges and solutions. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(2), 161-173. DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2013.864589

Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: how is it done?. Qualitative Research, 6(1), 97-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106058877

Cohn, A. C., & Ravindranath, M. (2014). Local languages in Indonesia: Language maintenance or language shift. Linguistik Indonesia, 32(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v32i2.22

Danjo, C. (2018). Why it's okay for bilingual children to mix languages. The Conversation. https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/3700/1/why-its-okay-for-bilingual-children-to-mix-languages-97448

de Mejía, A. (2002). Power, Prestige and Bilingualism: International Perspectives on Elite Bilingual Education. Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853595929

Ethnographic Fieldwork Canvas. (2019). Downloads https://designethno.id/downloads

C. Ewing, M. (2014). Language Endangerment in Indonesia. International Journal of Education, 8(1), 12-22. UPI Press. Retrieved November 13, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/208949/.

Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages (Vol. 76). Multilingual matters.

Genki Labo. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/c/GENKILABO

Harley, B. (1994). Maintaining French as a second language in adulthood. Canadian Modern Language Review, 50(4), 688-713. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.50.4.688

Hatasa, Y., & Watanabe, T. (2017). Japanese as a second language assessment in Japan: Current issues and future directions. Language Assessment Quarterly, 14(3), 192-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2017.1351565

Henry, M., Carroll, F., Cunliffe, D., & Kop, R. (2018). Learning a minority language through authentic conversation using an online social learning method. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 31(4), 321-345. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2017.1395348

Ho, W. K., Wong, R.Y.L. (2012). Bilingual Education in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in Bilingual Education. “In Bilingual Education, encyclopedia of Langauge and Education 5, edited by James Cummins & David Corson, 177-185. Springer Netherlands. DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-4531-2_18

Huang, H., & Liao, W. (2023) Maintaining a minor language or a heritage language? A case study of maintaining Chinese with preteenagers in Australian interlingual families, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2023.2173519

Hyltenstam, K. & Stroud, C. (1996). Language maintenance. In H. Goebl, P. Nelde, Z. Starý & W. Wölck (Ed.), 1. Halbband: Ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung (pp. 567-578). Berlin • New York: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110132649.1.6.567

Jackson, J. (2019). Introducing Language and Intercultural Communication (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351059275

Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (n.d.) Objectives and History. https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/purpose.html

Jerolmack, C., & Khan, S. R. (Eds.). (2018). Approaches to ethnography: analysis and representation in participant observation. Oxford University Press.

Jungmin Kwon (2017) Immigrant mothers’ beliefs and transnational strategies for their children's heritage language maintenance, Language and Education, 31:6, 495-508, DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2017.1349137

Kabuto, B. (2011). Becoming biliterate: Identity, ideology, and learning to read and write in two languages. Routledge.

Kang, H. S. (2015). Korean families in America: Their family language policies and home-language maintenance. Bilingual Research Journal, 38(3), 275-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2015.1092002

Kaufman, D., & Perlin, R. (2018). Language documentation in diaspora communities. Oxford handbook of endangered languages, 398-418.

King, K., & Fogle, L. (2006). Bilingual parenting as good parenting: Parents' perspectives on family language policy for additive bilingualism. International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 9(6), 695-712. DOI: 10.2167/beb362.0

King, K., Fogle, L., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008). Family language policy. Linguistics and Language Compass, 2 (5), 907-922. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00076.x

King, K. A., & Mackey, A. (2007). The bilingual edge: Why, when, and how to teach your child a second language. New York: Collins.

Kurniasih, Y. (2006). Gender, class and language preference: A case study in Yogyakarta. In Selected papers from the 2005 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www. als. asn. au.

Kwon, J. (2017). Immigrant mothers' beliefs and transnational strategies for their children's heritage language maintenance. Language and Education, 31(6), 495-508. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2017.1349137

Lambda Tech. (n.d.) https://www.youtube.com/c/ラムダ

Lanza, E. (1997). Language Mixing in Infant Bilingualism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lee, J. S. (2006). Exploring the relationship between electronic literacy and heritage language maintenance. Language Learning & Technology, 10(2), 93-113.

Little, S. (2019). 'Is there an app for that? 'Exploring games and apps among heritage language families. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(3), 218-229. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1502776

Little, S., & Little, T. (2022). An un/familiar space: children and parents as collaborators in autoethnographic family research. Qualitative Research, 22(4), 632-648. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794121999018

Luo, S. H., & Wiseman, R. L. (2000). Ethnic language maintenance among Chinese immigrant children in the United States. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24(3), 307-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(00)00003-1

Luykx, A. (2003). Weaving languages together: Family language policy and gender socialisation in bilingual Aymara households. In Language socialization in bilingual and multilingual societies (pp. 25-43). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596377-005

Mattheoudakis, M., Chatzidaki, A., & Maligkoudi, C. (2017). Heritage language classes and bilingual competence: the case of Albanian immigrant children in Greece. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1384447

Mori, Y. (2012). Five myths about" kanji" and" kanji" learning. Japanese Language and Literature, Vol. 46, No. 1, 143-169.

Noguchi, H., Kumagai, R., & Osumi, A. (2007). Nihongo Noryoku Shiken ni okeru kyukan kyotsu shakudo Kosei no kokoromi [Establishing a common scale across levels on Japanese Language Proficiency Test]. Nihongo Kyoiku [Journal of Japanese Language Teaching], 135, 54–63.

NoonE. (n.d.). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ruCdV7xnwAbpkW9tQq-6A

Otheguy, R., García, O., & Reid, W. (2019). A translanguaging view of the linguistic system of bilinguals. Applied Linguistics Review, 10(4), 625-651. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2018-0020

Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Sage publications.

Pauwels, A. (2016). Language maintenance and shift. Cambridge University Press.

Pacini-Ketchabaw, V., Bernhard, J. K., & Freire, M. (2001). Struggling to preserve home language: The experiences of Latino students and families in the Canadian school system. Bilingual Research Journal, 25(1-2), 115-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2001.10162787

Paxton, S., & Svetanant, C. (2014). Tackling the kanji hurdle: Investigation of kanji learning in non kanji background learners. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 3(3), 89-104. https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2013.519

Phinney, J. S., Romero, I., Nava, M., & Huang, D. (2001). The role of language, parents, and peers in ethnic identity among adolescents in immigrant families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(2), 135-153.

Piller, Inggrid & Gerber, Livia (2018) Family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,24:5, 622 635, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1503227

Qu, L., Low, J.J.W., Zhang, T., Li, H., & Zelazo, P.D. (2016). Bilingual advantage in executive control when task demands are considered. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(2), 277-293. doi:10.1017/S1366728914000376

Riemer, F. J. (2009). Ethnography research. In S. D. Lapan & M. T. Quartaroli (Eds.), Research essentials: An introduction to design and practices (pp. 203-222). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass: A Willey Imprint.

Sagimin, E. M. (2020). Family Language Policy and Heritage Language Maintenance among Sundanese Parents. Konferensi Linguistik Tahunan Atma Jaya, 132-138.

Sakhiyya, Z. & Martin-Anatias, N. (2023) Reviving the language at risk: a social semiotic analysis of the linguistic landscape of three cities in Indonesia, International Journal of Multilingualism, 20:2, 290-307, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2020.1850737

Schwartz, M. (2010). Family language policy: Core issues of an emerging field. Applied linguistics review, 1(1), 171-192.

Scontras, G., Fuchs, Z., & Polinsky, M. (2015). Heritage language and linguistic theory. Frontiers in psychology, 1545. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01545

Setiawan, S. (2013). Children's language in a bilingual community in East Java (Doctoral dissertation, University of Western Australia).

Smith-Christmas, C. (2016). What Is Family Language Policy?. In: Family Language Policy: Maintaining an Endangered Language in the Home. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137521811_1

Smith-Christmas, C. (2020). 11 Child agency and home language maintenance. In Handbook of home language maintenance and development (pp. 218-235). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510175

Smith‐Christmas, C. (2021). Using a 'Family Language Policy' lens to explore child agency's dynamic and relational nature. Children & Society. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12461

Sneddon, J. (2003). The Indonesian Language. Australia: University of New South Wales Press Ltd.

Spradley, J. P. (2016). Participant observation. Waveland Press.

Takeuchi, M. (2006). The Japanese language development of children through the 'one parent–one language' approach in Melbourne. Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 27(4), 319-331. https://doi.org/10.2167/jmmd441.1

Venables, E., Eisenchlas, S. A., & Schalley, A. C. (2014). One-parent-one-language (OPOL) families: is the majority language-speaking parent instrumental in the minority language development?. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(4), 429-448. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2013.816263

Wilson, S. (2020). Family language policy: Children’s perspectives. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52437-1

Wihstutz, A. (2017). Children Agency Contribution from feminist and ethic of care theories to sociology of childhood. In Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood: New perspectives in Childhood Studies (1st ed.) (pp. 61-74) . Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315722245

Yu, S. (2005). Family factors in bilingual children's code-switching and language maintenance: a New Zealand case study (Doctoral dissertation, Auckland University of Technology). http://orapp.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/351




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v14i3.74742

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Statcounter

View My Stats

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.