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Of Eight International Families in Japan

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Of Eight International Families in Japan RAISING CHILDREN AS BILINGUALS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF EIGHT INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES IN JAPAN A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education By Tomoko Ascough May, 2010 Examining Committee Members Marshall Childs, Advisory Chair, CITE/TESOL Kenneth Schaefer, CITE/TESOL David Beglar, CITE/TESOL Suzi Zimmerman, Psychology Michael Bostwick, External Member, Katoh Gakuin © Copyright 2010 by Tomoko Ascough ii ABSTRACT RAISING CHILDREN AS BILINGUALS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF EIGHT INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES IN JAPAN by Tomoko Ascough Doctor of Education Temple University Eight families with Japanese mothers and English-speaking fathers were followed from the 1990s to 2007 as they strove to raise their children as bilinguals. The issues that were investigated were: (1) the language environments afforded; (2) factors influencing family decisions in creating those language environments; and, (3) conclusions about the efficacy of different language environments for raising bilingual children. Parental sacrifice was evident. Some mothers suppressed their native Japanese language and culture as they tried to afford their children solid backgrounds in what they considered a high-prestige language (English), while some fathers changed jobs in order to spend more time at home. Some families also moved in order to be near desirable schools. An optimal English environment at home was the key to success. Fathers spent quality time with their children every day, reading English books, doing homework together, talking about school activities, and reading bedtime stories. Families provided children with many English videos, DVDs, and other audiovisual sources. Summer travel to the father’s country for summer camps and other enjoyable activities, especially spending time with English-speaking cousins, promoted positive images of English language and culture. Mothers faced issues of identity, power relations, and gender roles. The iii mothers’ own experiences of learning English played a crucial role in the choices they made in raising their children as bilinguals. Typically, power relations between husbands and wives were determined by the wives’ self-perception of being subordinate to their husbands. The results indicated that different theories of bilingual child-raising, no matter how stringently followed, did not seem to matter; what mattered was balancing the time the child spent with each parent. Usually before parents expected it, the child’s own identity asserted itself in the pursuit of particular language environments, and progress toward fluency was sometimes erratic, as in the case of one boy whose development in both languages appeared to be delayed but who later was viewed as having native-speaker proficiency in both languages. Overall, more important than any particular method or theory, sustained sincere efforts and flexibility can produce bilingual children. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank all the participating families: mothers, fathers, children who kindly showed their interest in my study, for their generosity in sharing much of their precious time thinking and talking about their bilingual home planning, and mothers’ experiences of their own English education, and for trusting me to tell their private life stories. I would like to thank Drs. Marshall Childs and Kenneth Schaefer. I am most thankful to Dr. Kenneth Schaefer for having supported me throughout all the long years from the beginning of my master’s degree study. I would also like to thank Dr. Kathryn A. Davis, Dr. Kimi Kondo-Brown and other researchers who provided me deep insight for my study. I am grateful to my family members; my husband Richard, my mother, Yae, my sons, Hiroyuki and Christopher, who supported me throughout the years. I could have not completed the study without the help of these people. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1 2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY............................................................................... 5 Defining Bilingualism............................................................................................. 5 Problems with Early Definitions .................................................................. 6 Relevant Factors in the Definition of Bilingualism...................................... 7 Individual Bilingualism......................................................................................... 12 Social Bilingualism: Disglossia ............................................................................ 13 Theoretical Background of Bilingualism.............................................................. 15 Cognitive Perspectives ............................................................................... 16 Social-Cultural Perspectives....................................................................... 21 Language Learning and Attitude........................................................................... 27 Identity .................................................................................................................. 28 Personal Identity......................................................................................... 29 Social Identity............................................................................................. 30 Language Learning and Identity................................................................. 32 vi Summary ............................................................................................................... 38 Bilingualism in Japan............................................................................................ 41 Minorities Residing in Japan ...................................................................... 41 Summary ............................................................................................................... 46 International Marriage in Japan ............................................................................ 47 Contemporary International Marriage........................................................ 48 Studies of Bilingualism in International Families in Japan .................................. 50 Problems Facing International Families ............................................................... 56 Summary ............................................................................................................... 59 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 59 3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 62 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 63 Participant Observation .............................................................................. 63 Questionnaire.............................................................................................. 64 Interviews ................................................................................................... 64 Reflective Journal....................................................................................... 65 Chronological Description of the Data Collection................................................ 65 August 1993–September 1996.................................................................... 66 September 1996–September 1999.............................................................. 67 September 1999–March 2001..................................................................... 68 October 2007 .............................................................................................. 69 Participants............................................................................................................ 70 Credibility ............................................................................................................. 72 Prolonged Engagement and Persistent Observation................................... 72 vii Triangulation .............................................................................................. 73 Peer Debriefing........................................................................................... 73 Member Checking ...................................................................................... 74 Transferability....................................................................................................... 74 Analysis................................................................................................................. 75 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 76 4. STORIES OF BILINGUAL FAMILIES...................................................................... 77 Family 1: Akiko, Adam, Al, and Agatha .............................................................
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