i VOICES WITHIN THE CANADIAN MOSAIC: JAPANESE IMMIGRANT WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN?S HERITAGE LANGUAGE SOCIALIZATION by SHIHO MINAMI A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER of ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE and POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Modern Languages Education) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2013 ? Shiho Minami, 2013 ii Abstract This research collected and documented the voices of six Japanese immigrant mothers married to Canadian men who are trying to raise their children to speak Japanese in Metro Vancouver, B.C. Through in-depth, open-ended individual interviews of intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers, the study attempted to examine the meaning of their experiences with regard to their children?s heritage language (HL) socialization. The mothers? motivations, hopes, practices, challenges, and feelings were examined revealing the complexity and intricacies of their experiences. The results demonstrated that intermarried Japanese mothers who wish to transmit their language onto their children because they view Japanese language skills as beneficial to their children and as an important tool for communication and to foster relationships between them, their children and their family in Japan. The children?s HL socialization was found to be a part of the mother?s ?work?, and their attitudes and practices regarding their HL transmission project varied depending on how they were affected by various factors; such as public discourse, the ideology surrounding bilingualism, motherhood and the Japanese language, their personality and the role they take up within their family. The mother?s experiences in HL transmission were loaded with emotional moments as they balanced various competing demands and managed the pressure to meet the ?good mother? standard. However, some mothers also felt pleasure and empowerment through their role of HL transmitter. The data suggests that children?s HL socialization shifts mothers? social networks and language use as well as their identities towards a Japanese orientation leading to an evolution and re-affirmation of their Japanese self. iii Preface This thesis is an original intellectual product of the author, S. Minami. The interviews reported in chapters 3-4 were covered by UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board Certificate number H11-02725. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract???????????.???????????..????.????..... ii Preface..???????????.???????????..????.????..... iii Table of Contents???????????.???????????..?????.. iv List of Tables???????????.???????????..????.??? viii List of Figures???????????.???????????..?????.?... ix Acknowledgements????????????????????????.???. x Dedication???...????????????????????????.???. xii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION???.???????????????.???.?. 1 1.1 Statement of the Research Problem????????????.???.?...??? 2 1.2 Research Questions?????????????????.???.?????.... 5 1.3 Significance of the Study??????????????.?????????? 5 1.4 Why this Topic? Locating the Researcher in the Research???????????. 7 1.5 Terms and Definitions????????????????.????????? 11 1.6 Summary?????????????????????????...................... 13 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW??????????????????..?. 15 2.1 Current Trends of Female Immigrants from Japan????????.?????? 15 2.1.1 General Historical Background???????????????????. 15 Changing Demography??????????.????????...???.... 15 Changing Japanese Communities and Japanese Women?s Participation????.. 17 2.1.2 Factors in the Increasing Number of Japanese Immigrant Women?????? 18 Working Holiday Scheme???????????...???.??.?................. 18 Gender Role Expectations in Japan????????...????.?????... 18 Akogare for the West, English, and Caucasians?????..????.????. 19 v 2.2 Family Study????????????????????????.????.. 21 2.2.1 Family Work, Gender, and Motherhood???????????????? 21 2.2.2 HL Transmission Work as Gendered Work??????????????? 22 2.3 Immigrants and their Children?s Heritage Language Socialization??.???..?? 23 2.3.1 Reasons for HL Transmission????????????????????. 23 2.3.2 Factors Shaping Parental Attitudes and Practices????????................... 26 2.3.3 Children?s HL Socialization and Intermarried Japanese Mothers??????.. 30 Essentialization/Overgeneralization of Japanese Women and Childrearing??.. 32 2.4 Summary??????????????????????????????.. 33 Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY??.?????????????.???????.. 35 3.1 Qualitative Approach?????????????.????????????.. 35 3.2 Interview Participants?????????????????????????.. 35 3.3 Recruiting Interview Participants????????????????.................... 38 3.4 Data Collection Process and Setting??????????????........................ 38 3.5 Data Processing and Analysis?????????????????...................... 40 3.6 Role of the Researcher???????????????.???.??????... 41 Chapter 4 THE PARTICIPANTS??????????????????.............. 42 4.1 Aya????????????????................................................................... 42 4.2 Chika???????????????.................................................................... 43 4.3 Mana???????????????.................................................................... 44 4.4 Nami???????????????..................................................................... 46 4.5 Sakura???????????????.................................................................. 47 4.6 Tsukiko????????????............................................................................ 48 vi Chapter 5 FINDINGS??????????????.................................................. 50 5.1 Why do intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers want their children to acquire Japanese???????????.................................................................................. 50 5.1.1The Child?s Benefit??????????????????.?????? 50 5.1.2 Ties with Japanese family????????????.?..?.??????... 51 5.1.3 Mother-Child Bonding???????????????..?......................... 52 5.2 What Influences their Attitudes and Practices?.............................................................. 53 5.2.1 Social and Environmental Context????????????.?????? 54 Public Discourse and Ideology?????.??????????????? 55 Others? Advice and Experiences????????????????................ 57 Japanese HL School Curriculum??????????...?????................ 59 5.2.2 Familial and Personal Context???????????????................... 60 Competing Demands and Work Overload??????.?????.????.. 61 The Mother?s Personality??????..????????.???.????.. 63 5.3 How does their Children?s HL Socialization Affect them Emotionally, Socially, and Linguistically? ??????????......................................................................... 65 5.3.1 Emotional Effects????????????????????????? 65 Stress, Dilemmas, Shame and Guilt??????????????????... 65 Empowerment and Pleasure??????????.???????????.. 68 5.3.2 Social Effects??????..??????????????..?????. 69 Shifting Social Network???????????????.?.??????. 69 Identity Construction?????????????????.??????? 70 5.3.3 Linguistic Effects.???????????????????.?????.. 71 Linguistic Identity and Development???????????...??????. 71 Chapter 6 DISCUSSION?????????????????????????. 74 6.1 Child?s HL Socialization as a Way of Establishing Mother-Child Bonding????... 74 vii 6.2 Child?s HL Socialization as a Part of Mothers? Work?...?????.??????. 75 6.3 Child?s HL Socialization as a Way of (Re)constructing the Self????????? 78 Chapter 7 CONCLUSION..???????????????????????? 81 7.1 Summary of Research Findings?????????..???????????.? 81 7.2 Implications?????????..???????????????????? 82 7.2.1 Japanese HL School Curriculum??????????...????????. 82 7.2.2 Kokugo and Language Policy in Japan.???????...????????.. 84 7.2.3 Policy??????????.??????????...???.?????. 86 7.3 Suggestions for Further Studies???????????????.??????. 87 7.4 Limitations and Strengths of the Study??????????????.................... 87 References??????????????????????????????? 90 Appendix A: Consent Form?????..??????????????????.. 98 Appendix B: Interview Guide???????????.???????????? 104 Appendix C: Transcription Conventions?.....????.???????????? 108 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 General Profile of the Participants????????????...?.????...37 Table 5.1 Summary of Participants? Practices?????????????????.....54 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 5.1 Factors Affecting Mothers? Attitudes and Practices??????.??..??...64 x Acknowledgement Though my name alone appears as the author of this thesis, it is the product of many people?s time, and effort. First, I would like to thank the six participating Japanese mothers, who generously shared their views, their stories and their time, without which this thesis could not have been possible. My sincere appreciation goes to my committee members. I would like to thank Dr. Monique Bournot-Trites for providing continuous support and encouragement as a supervisor and as an immigrant woman who has also pursued a graduate degree while raising a child. You often said ?I am giving you advice as a friend?- It meant a lot to me. You were definitely a pillar in my graduate journey. I also would like to thank Dr. Patsy Duff not only for her participation as a committee member, but also for generously sparing her time and expertise. Thanks also go to Dr. Ryuko Kubota who always provided me with valuable and clear guidance throughout my graduate life. Her thought-provoking work and rigorous work ethic, as well as her generous, caring personality encouraged me and inspired me to a considerable extent. I would like to extend my gratitude to several people who played crucial roles in paving a path which helped me to arrive at this stage. I thank Dr. Junko Majima at Osaka University for her support in both my undergraduate and graduate pursuits. I also would like to thank Dr. Hisashi Kitanaka at the University of Wales, Bangor who helped me to discover my passion for studying, researching, and teaching. Thanks also go to other university faculty members and staff, particularly Ms. Kumi Sunada, for her words of support and her help as I pursued my graduate degree. xi My last, yet foremost feelings of gratitude go to my family. Rosemary, Brian and Maria, thanks for being always kind and supportive. Andrew, the last several years were particularly difficult years for us, but we have overcome all the obstacles together (thanks mostly to your strength and thoughtfulness). I cannot thank you enough for your continuous patience and support in my pursuing a graduate degree. This thesis is our joint accomplishment, no doubt. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? xii To Andrew and Hana - 1 - Chapter 1 Introduction Although there were times when Canada experienced migratory losses (e.g., in the 1930s, there was a negative migratory increase1 due to the Great Depression), immigration has been the major contributing factor of the population growth of the country over the last two centuries (Statistics Canada, 2011). Each year, more than 200,000 people immigrate to Canada, contributing to growing cultural and linguistic diversity. Since John Murray Gibbon wrote a book entitled Canadian Mosaic: the Making of a Northern Nation in 1938, the word ?mosaic? has been a common metaphoric term to describe multicultural Canadian society in contrast to the American ?melting pot?. Nevertheless, this term may not necessarily be an accurate illustration of Canadian society for at least two reasons. First, the notion of mosaic evokes an image of different cultures and ethnic groups that are isolated from each other but that become one picture as a whole. However, intermarriage between different cultural/ethnic groups is becoming increasingly common in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2010). Thus, the Canadian mosaic is becoming increasingly complex due to the blurred boundaries among different cultures and ethnicities. Second, the connotation of the term mosaic suggests that people are free from the pressure to assimilate and everyone can cherish and celebrate their culture in Canada. Seemingly, however, some cultures and languages are viewed as more valuable and are awarded higher levels of capital, and those of lesser value and capital often die out over a few generations as prior research has demonstrated (e.g., Kouritzin, 1997). 1 Migratory increase refers to the difference between the number of immigrants entering the country and the number of emigrants leaving the country - 2 - This study will focus on a piece of the mosaic that has been overlooked: Japanese immigrant mothers who are married to Canadian men. Specifically, I would like to examine their experiences as they attempt to raise their children to speak Japanese. I believe that by studying the HL socialization issues of this particular population, I can contribute to the limited body of knowledge in the area of study and to the better understanding of the Canadian mosaic today. 1.1 Statement of the Research Problem According to Li, Jow-Ching Tu and Ouyang (2007), one of globalization?s consequences is the rise of intermarriage. Technological advancements have made international travel and communication easier, and consequently, people with different backgrounds have more opportunities to meet and to form conjugal relationships. Indeed, one third of conjugal relationships in major cosmopolitan cities are said to be transnational and multilingual (Wei, 2012). Luke and Luke (1998) state that intermarriage ?is a socio-demographic phenomenon to be reckoned with, altering the character and texture of social institutions and cultural practices in this and other nations that historically have considered themselves monocultural, 'Western' and European? (p.729). This trend is evident in Canada: data from the 2006 Census indicate that ethnic and linguistic diversity in the country continues to grow, as does the rate of unions between people with different ethnocultural backgrounds (Statistics Canada, 2010). Despite this trend, intermarried families are almost completely overlooked by scholars (Luke, 1994) and a very limited number of studies address ?the diverse experiences and dilemmas of this growing population? (Killian, 2009, p.xvii). Research concerning HL - 3 - socialization is no exception. Prior studies of HL socialization have generally focused on homogamous families and have treated the family as a harmonious site in terms of shared languages and cultures, ignoring the fact that intermarried couples must endure much negotiation and conflict (Luke & Luke, 1998; Luke & Luke 2000; Noro, 2009). For intermarried families, the parents? positioning of, and attitude toward, their child?s HL development can differ within the family, leading to constant negotiations on whose language and culture counts in childrearing, and whether the child should adhere to paternal or maternal ethnicity (Llerena-Quinn & Bacigalupe, 2009; Noro, 2009; Rosenblatt, 2009). These issues, however, have been largely unexamined. King, Fogle and Logan-Terry (2008) state that ?[i]t is within the family unit, and particularly bi- or multilingual families, that macro- and micro-processes can be examined as dominant ideologies intersect and compete with local or individual views on language and parenting? (p.914). They go on to say that language policies at the micro- and macro-levels have a bidirectional relationship and reciprocally influence each other. It is thus important to study both levels, but while the focus in prior research has been predominantly on the macro-level (e.g., nation, school), there is a dearth of knowledge at the micro-level (e.g., family, couple). Research on language maintenance and shift in the family domain often focuses on children?s language development with parents generally discussed as a variable of their children?s language acquisition or shift. For example, a typical research question asks how parents? attitudes and practices influence their children?s language acquisition and loss. Piller (2001a) asserts that ?this focus on bilingual children and simultaneous widespread disinterest - 4 - in adults who have to learn and negotiate their lives with two languages reflects general assumption that socialization and language learning in childhood are somehow more relevant than socialization and language learning in adulthood? (p.200). Perhaps because of such an assumption, there is a lack of recognition that parents are stakeholders of their children?s HL education and therefore parents? experiences concerning their children?s HL education have been unexplored. This can pose a serious problem. As Sakamoto (2000) emphasizes, it is important for educators and researchers to recognize and appreciate immigrant parents? perspectives and experiences in bilingual childrearing because ?[w]ithout a meaningful dialogue between the parents and educators, the understanding of immigrant children will forever be partial and incomplete? (p.12). Kato (2009) suggests that mothers? experiences are particularly important as they are generally the primary caregiver and therefore play the most influential roles in HL socialization. As Cole and Knowles (2001) put it, "every in-depth exploration of an individual life in-context brings us that much closer to understanding the complexities in communities" (p. 11). An in-depth study of the bilingual childrearing experiences of intermarried Japanese women will be an important step in understanding the intricate experiences and perspectives of intermarried families in Canada. This will contribute to a broader understanding of parents? decisions and practices concerning their children?s HL education, and provide a window for educators to better understand students with various backgrounds. This is increasingly important in the midst of growing ethnic and linguistic diversity in Canada. - 5 - 1.2 Research Questions This study aims to explore bilingual childrearing experiences of Japanese immigrant women who are married to Canadians. More specifically, it examines the meaning of their children?s HL socialization to these women through an exploration of their attitudes, hopes, practices, challenges, and feelings with regard to their children?s HL socialization. The overarching research question for this study is: what does their children?s HL socialization mean to intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers? Subsequent research questions are as follows: 1. Why do intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers want their children to acquire Japanese? 2. What influences their attitudes and practices? 3. How does their children?s HL socialization affect them emotionally, socially and linguistically? 1.3 Significance of the Study He (2008, 2010) emphasizes the importance of expanding the focus of HL socialization research from individual learners to other co-participants (i.e., parents, siblings, peers, teachers) given that language socialization activities are co-constructed, interactive, and reciprocal. Research has shown that parents play a pivotal role in a child?s HL development (e.g., Guardado, 2002; Yan, 2003). How parents view and use the ethnic language directly affects their child?s HL acquisition and maintenance as well as their cognitive development and formal school success (King, Fogle & Logan-Terry, 2008). Spolsky (2012) argues that "schools should recognise home language and culture patterns and adapt their teaching - 6 - methods and goals to the home rather than insisting that children and the home give up on heritage language and culture" (p.6). Thus, it is crucial for educators, researchers, and policy makers to recognize and appreciate immigrant parents? perspectives and experiences in bilingual childrearing in order to better support children?s holistic development (Sakamoto, 2000) and mothers? experiences are particularly important as they often play the most influential roles in child?s HL socialization (Kato, 2009). Nonetheless, mothers? voices are largely missing from academic discourse. This is particularly true for intermarried families. The present study attempts to fill these gaps. As discussed in the next chapter, the increasing number of intermarried Japanese immigrant women has become a noticeable phenomenon in Canada and other English-speaking countries, as is the resultant decrease in the Japanese female population in Japan. According to Okita (2002), however, the image of Japanese female overseas residents tends to be that of the wives of Japanese corporate sojourners while the existence of intermarried immigrant Japanese women has been largely ignored. Concomitantly, the study of Japanese HL education tends to focus on the language development of children in corporate sojourner families and has been ignoring issues of child?s HL education in the families of intermarried Japanese women. The present study will fill the gap of academic knowledge as it focuses specifically on what Okita calls a ?neglected minority group? (Okita, 2002, p.2). Finally, Okita (2002) claims that the image of Japanese ethnicity and culture is often essentialized in literature. Accordingly, she argues, studies on Japanese mothers and childrearing tend to ignore the context and subjective accounts of Japanese mothers and instead create a stereotyped image of them. Therefore, she emphasizes that ?it is important ? - 7 - to fully take account of subjective meanings of experience, especially in studying those who have strong stereotypes directed towards them"(p.25). The present study places importance on giving Japanese women a voice and avoiding such essentialization by examining their experiences through their subjective accounts. In sum, the significance of this study is that it focuses on voices that have been largely ignored. This will contribute not only to the limited body of academic knowledge and to an improved understanding of a particular group (i.e., intermarried Japanese immigrant women in B.C.), but it will also contribute to a broader understanding of HL socialization at the micro-level as well as immigrant parents? experiences and perspectives regarding childrearing; which is important knowledge for educators, childcare workers, therapists, counselors, speech/language specialists and researchers who work within a dynamic, multicultural society. 1.4 Why This Topic? Locating the Researcher in the Research The selection of this topic is intertwined with my life trajectory as a new immigrant to Canada. In 2007, I decided to end the several years of long distance relations with my Canadian boyfriend and immigrated to Canada to start a new life with him. There were not many job opportunities in the small city we settled in, but I found a once-a-week teaching job at a Japanese HL school along with a full time office job at a local software company. There were about a hundred students at the school and approximately about 90% of them were children of a Japanese mother and a Canadian father. The Japanese mothers generally wished to transmit their mother tongue to their children, but their practices varied greatly. To take - 8 - students and their mothers in my classes as examples, Naomi?s2 mother spoke only Japanese to her and regularly taught her Japanese at home. On the other hand, Jeremy?s mother spoke English to him and rarely checked his HL homework. However, she often displayed frustration towards Jeremy?s limited Japanese. It seemed rather contradictory to me at the time because of my ignorance of how intricate and challenging these women?s bilingual childrearing experiences could be. In retrospect, it was my own experience after pregnancy that led me to gain greater awareness and to arrive at the topic of this study. Around the end of the first trimester, my belly was getting big enough that people could recognize that I was pregnant. In a store, on the street, everywhere? people would give me a smile and tell me how glorious and exciting it is to be a mother. I think I did pretty well on playing a happy mother-to-be. Or at least I did well enough to disguise my true feelings- it was not joy or happiness, but it was a strong sense of loss. My usual pastime became lying around the couch or bed in our apartment, feeling sad and isolated. I could not figure out what was going on with me. I always considered myself a strong, independent person. I used to feel like I was a big, lively tree firmly rooted in the ground, but I had become a rootless dried-out twig on asphalt. Desperate for help, I consulted with my doctor, and she immediately referred me to a psychiatrist. The sessions with the psychiatrist did not solve any problems, but made me feel worse. I felt there was no one who could understand me and felt further removed from the society. After this negative experience with doctors, I began to feel a strong need to make a radical change in my life. Starting something new and moving somewhere I could feel 2 All names appearing in this paper are pseudonyms - 9 - connected were two things I thought of. I applied for a master?s program in Vancouver hoping that it would provide an opportunity to make the changes I needed. I remember, on the day we moved to Vancouver, I was lying on our couch in the living room of our new apartment in the West End. Our apartment was on the 3rd floor, but I could hear two women chatting outside in Japanese below us. They were probably the wives of two other Japanese-Canadian intermarried couples living in the same building. I closed my eyes to listen to their voices. I do not remember what exactly they were talking about. Perhaps about the weather or about their children, it was something small, something mundane. But their voices were like warm healing water. It went through my body, and to the roots I had lost. I had a strong feeling that I cannot put into words. It was like a mixture of strong nostalgia and relief? relief that I had found my place. As I strived to establish my new life, I tried to erase the memories of my negative experience before moving to Vancouver. I wanted to start fresh, and I wanted to believe that I had always been strong and intact. However, things changed when I saw the following posts in an online discussion thread about children?s HL education written by Japanese mothers on jpcanada3: ????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ?????? ????????????? ?????????? 3 Jpcanada (www.jpcanada.com)... a Japanese website used mainly by the Japanese community in Canada - 10 - Sometimes I think ?I can?t do this anymore? and feel like I should just give up. I am trying hard to teach my child Japanese and struggling all by myself. My husband and in-laws don?t even notice what I am going through. It?s like fighting a war all alone. I often feel sad and cry? I am sorry. I think I am feeling weak. Please give me some encouragement. ?????????????????????????????????? [????]????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? [Raising children to speak Japanese] is really hard. Especially when the mother is the only Japanese environment for the child. [My child] speaks only in English outside our home. My husband doesn?t seem to care. When my husband and child are talking in English, I feel hesitant to join the conversation. Once I overheard my child saying to my husband ?I don?t want to learn Japanese just for mom.? It?s tough. I had flashbacks while reading these posts. An image of a woman sitting by herself in a room feeling isolated and sad came to my mind. I saw myself in these women. I could not just turn my back on this and felt the urge to do something. I decided to start a small support group and began hosting some events in my apartment and in public spaces so that Japanese mothers could gather and so that their children could have some exposure to Japanese. ?Thank you so much for providing opportunities to use Japanese and learn about Japan,? many mothers would often say. ?Why do these women want their children to speak Japanese? What does it mean to them? What is their experience like?? I started to wonder. At the same time, I was going through my own bilingual childrearing experience and began to be reflexive about it. For example, I noticed that, consciously and unconsciously, I was carefully monitoring my language use. Even in monologue, I would restate the words in Japanese if English words - 11 - came out from my mouth. It was as though I was trying to be more ?Japanese? and denying my English self. It was through these experiences that I developed an interest in studying intermarried Japanese women?s bilingual childrearing experiences and wished to shine light on what Okita (2002) calls the ?invisible work? that is taken up by intermarried minority women. 1.5 Terms and Definitions In this paper, there are a few terms which may not be used in a conventional way or have not become household words. Therefore, I will provide definitions of these terms and the rationale for my choice. Heritage language socialization and ?transmission?. In this thesis, HL socialization and HL transmission are often used interchangeably to describe the process of socially and interactionally mediated process by which interlocutors help develop communicative competence in a novice member of society, such as a child language learner. This process thus contributes to HL maintenance within the family. However, it should be noted that there is a fundamental theoretical difference in these terms despite my use of both to refer to the same process. Language socialization is a co-constructed and reciprocal process within a particular sociocultural context in which some members have less experience than others but where there is often considerable negotiation among interlocutors about preferred linguistic forms (and languages to be used), verbal routines, and other aspects of both behaviour and cultural values and dispositions (He, 2008). The term language socialization generally refers to ?the acquisition of linguistic, pragmatic and other cultural knowledge through social experience and is often equated with the development of cultural and communicative competence? (Duff, - 12 - 2010, p.427). On the other hand, transmission suggests the uni-directional movement of information and knowledge from those who are more proficient, such as parents, to those who are less proficient, such as children. The rationale for using these terms (and particularly for using transmission in addition to socialization) is based on my attempt to avoid using the term maintenance, which is perhaps the most commonly used when discussing a child?s HL acquisition and development. As Guardado (2008) asserts, the term has limitations because it implies that there is an already-developed level of language ability. For this reason, I was hesitant to use ?maintenance? in this thesis because: 1) according to Nakajima (1997), Japanese parents tend to believe that their children will naturally pick up the Japanese language and the use of maintenance may reinforce such a misconception; 2) Okita (2002) claims that intermarried mothers? efforts in bilingual childrearing are unrecognized and under-valued just like other domestic work they often have to take up. The word maintenance might perpetuate this as it reinforces the notion that HL skills are something innate. In this paper, HL maintenance will only be used when it can be inferred that there is already a developed level of language ability or when the term is used by the author of a study in discussion. Furthermore, maintenance is actually the outcome of linguistic and cultural socialization/transmission rather than the process and my focus here is attitudes toward and experiences concerning the process primarily, although much language socialization research examines through discourse analysis the actual interactional processes involved in such ?transmission? and socialization. Therefore, HL socialization and transmission will both be used to refer to the children?s development of cultural and communicative competence in HL as mediated, - 13 - scaffolded, or facilitated by family members and other Japanese language speakers in their communities. Intermarriage. Terms such as interracial marriage, intercultural (or cross-cultural) marriage, and exogamy are all terms used to refer to marriage between individuals from different backgrounds. Each term highlights a particular difference between the couple: race for interracial marriage, culture for intercultural marriage, and country of origin for exogamy. Intermarriage, on the other hand, is malleable in a sense that it can be defined according to what is perceived to be different in the given context (Penny & Khoo, 1996, as cited in Denman, 2009). In the present study, I will use intermarriage to refer to conjugal relationships between individuals of opposite sex and have different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 1.6 Summary This chapter discussed the purpose and significance of the study, and provided definitions of key terms. It also provided a personal context to illustrate why I arrived at this topic and my positionality as a researcher. The benefits of bilingualism and the importance of HL transmission have been highlighted by many studies (e.g., Cho & Krashen, 1998; Cummins, 2007). The significant role of parents has also been recognized. However, contextualized research into how HL socialization is managed within the family sphere is limited, and so is the attention on parents? experiences and perspectives. In particular, the complex realities of intermarried families are overlooked despite the fact that intermarriage is becoming increasingly common. Intermarried families are key sites for understanding language policies at both macro- and micro-levels. - 14 - Although the selection of Japanese wife-Canadian husband families is a very personal one, I believe that focusing on this emerging population in Canada and in the world will not only reveal the HL socialization processes and parental experiences of this particular group, but it will also provide a multilayered view of the hows and whys of HL socialization within the family domain and parents? experiences at large. In the next chapter, I will review the literature that informs the present study. - 15 - Chapter 2 Literature Review The purpose of this chapter is to provide a literature review of related research areas and to reveal gaps in the research that the present study aims to fill. The first section will attempt to contextualize the research through a discussion of the social and historical background of Japanese immigrant women in Canada. The second section looks at family study with a focus of issues regarding family work and gender. This is an important area to cover given that this study focuses on the HL socialization process within the family domain, and that language transmission is a part of family work (Okita, 2002). The third section will review prior studies related to immigrant parents and their children?s HL socialization. 2.1 Current Trend of Female Immigrants from Japan 2.1.1 General historical background Changing demography. From the late 19th to the early 20th century, many Japanese people immigrated to the Western hemisphere for economic reasons. According to Kobayashi (1994), approximately 20,000-30,000 Japanese people settled in Canada (mostly in B.C.) during this period. The majority of them were men, and they were often poor peasants or impoverished urban dwellers who wanted to achieve economic success. Japanese immigrant women at this time were usually the spouses of these men and often came to Canada as picture-brides4. Once they arrived in Canada, Japanese women worked hard to fulfill the role of mother and wife at home, and of low-wage worker outside the home. Following the Second World War, the general profile of Japanese immigrants changed remarkably. 4 Picture brides refer to women whose marriages were arranged by their families using pictures as a way of introducing bride and groom candidates. About 5,000 women immigrated to Canada from the 1890s to the 1920s, and most of them were picture brides (Kobayashi, 1994). - 16 - The biggest change was in the purpose and form of immigration. As stated above, pre-war Japanese immigrants came to Canada for economic reasons. As a result of globalization and economic development, economic immigration has become rather unusual, and new types of immigration, namely ?lifestyle immigration?5 has become increasingly common (Chubachi, 2009; Nagatomo, 2011). Moreover, Chubachi (2009) and Nagatomo (2011) state that the boundary between visitors and migrants has become blurred due to the increased popularity of international tourism and of living or studying overseas. For example, many Japanese people come to Canada as tourists or students at first and then become permanent residents later on. Another significant change is the gender makeup of Japanese immigrants. According to Kobayashi (2002), approximately two-thirds of Japanese migrants to Canada are now female. Such an acute gender imbalance in the Japanese migrant population is common across Inner Circle English-speaking countries (i.e. the U.K., the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand ? see Kachru, 1989), but it is more pronounced in Canada than elsewhere. Kobayashi also claims that Japanese female migrants tend to be single women in their 20s or 30s who eventually marry non-Japanese men, and that these women have become the fastest growing group among Japanese immigrants in Canada. Canadian Census data is consistent with what Kobayashi contends: the 2001 Census showed that Japanese were the fastest growing ethnic group in Canada6 (Colin, 2007), while the 2006 Census indicated that Japanese had the highest mixed-union rate among all visible minority groups and that the majority of Japanese women were in conjugal relationships with a partner from a different ethnocultural background (Statistics Canada, 2010). Moreover, statistics compiled by the 5 Lifestyle immigrants are those whose reason to leave their homeland is not economic or political, but for a better quality of life 6 The population of the Japanese community increased by 11 % between 1996 and 2001 when the growth of the overall population was only 4% over the same period (Colin, 2007) - 17 - Japanese Ministry of International Affairs and Communications (MIC) in 2008 indicated that the population of Japanese women had decreased significantly from the previous year due to the outflow overseas of Japanese women.7 Based on MIC?s statistics between 2007 and 2009, Komagata (2010) showed that more women are leaving Japan compare to their male counterparts and that the largest group was women in their 30s. Komagata describes this phenomenon as ?nihon josei no kokusaika (internationalization of Japanese women)?. An increase in the number of women residing in foreign countries for an extended period and their high intermarriage rate were considered to be contributing factors (Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 2009; Watanabe, 2010) Changing Japanese communities and Japanese women?s participation. Because of their marginalized position in Canadian society, pre-war Japanese immigrants tended to be concentrated in particular areas and formed their own neighbourhoods (Kobayashi, 1994; Chubachi, 2009). However, when the Japanese were forcibly removed from the Pacific Coast and interned during World War II, these neighbourhoods were dismantled and never recovered. Although B.C. continues to have the highest concentration of Japanese8, the post-war period is marked by the non-existence of discernible neighbourhoods. In her study of Japanese immigrant women in Canada, Chubachi (2009) found that Japanese women in Canada like to participate in private communities, including some that exist only in cyberspace. This may not be simply because of the absence of a discernible 7 Japanese female Population Growth by Social Factor (= number of people entering the country ? number of people leaving the country) decreased by 61,000 although Population Growth by Natural Factor (= number of birth ? number of death) increased by 2,000 (Ministry of International Affairs and Communications, 2009). 8 In 2001, the Japanese community in Canada was mostly concentrated in B.C., Ontario and Alberta which together accounted for 92% of the Japanese population. The largest share (44%) of the Japanese population in Canada was living in B.C. (Colin, 2007) - 18 - Japanese community: Chubachi found that Japanese women often avoid Japanese communities due to their negative feelings about Japanese social rules such as hierarchical relationships and/or because they want to improve their English. Interestingly, however, many of the women in her study returned to Japanese communities when they have a child in order to create Japanese environment for their children. 2.1.2 Factors in the increasing number of Japanese immigrant women Working holiday scheme. According to Kano Podolsky (2007), the establishment of the Working Holiday Scheme (WHS) played a significant role in the increase of Japanese immigrant women in Canada. She showed that before the WHS was established between Canada and Japan in 1986, the total number of male and female Japanese citizens with Permanent Resident9 status or Long Term Resident10 status was roughly even at 9,000 for men and 8,000 for women. Over the next several years, however, women outnumbered men as the gender imbalance and the overall Japanese population continued to grow. As of 2006, there were approximately 14,000 Japanese men and 28,000 women living in Canada. It is now very common for Japanese women who enter Canada as working holiday makers to become permanent residents as a result of marriage to a Canadian partner (Chubachi, 2009; Kobayashi, 2002). Thus, it seems that the WHS has facilitated both migration from Japan to Canada and intermarriage between Japanese women and Canadian men. Gender role expectations in Japan. Another possible factor suggested by some scholars is different gender role expectations. In Japan, there is much more pressure for men to stick to their jobs and to build their careers whereas women have less pressure but also less 9 Permanent resident refers to those who obtain a permanent resident visa in the host country. 10 Long Term Resident refers to those who reside in a foreign country for more than three months. - 19 - opportunity for advancement. (Chubachi, 2009; Kano Podolsky, 2007). Chubachi (2009) argues that such limitations within Japanese society create a sense of stagnation in women, and that this motivates Japanese women to leave their country. Likewise, other scholars believe that Japanese women are migrating to other countries and marrying non-Japanese men to escape from Japanese society. For example, Kelsky (2001) states that ?[t]he turn to the foreign has become perhaps the most important means currently at women?s disposal to resist gendered expectations of the female life course in Japan? (p.2), and that Japanese women use internationalism ?to justify their shift of loyalty from what they call a backward and ?oppressive? Japan and to what they see as an exhilarating and ?liberating? foreign realm? (p.3). Kobayashi?s (2002) study on intermarried Japanese immigrant women in Canada supports Kelsky?s assertion. Many of the participants in her study came to Canada because they felt Japan was too restrictive for women and because they felt much more liberated in Canada although they recognized that gender inequality also exists in Canada. However, Kamoto (2006, 2007) points out, intermarried Japanese women in Western societies often take on the same gendered roles as Japanese women in Japan. Akogare for the West, English, and Caucasians. Moreover, it is often said that the reason why Japanese women are more likely to choose Canada or other English-speaking countries is because of their Akogare (longing, desire) for the West, English and Caucasians (Chubachi, 2009; Kelsky, 2001), which originates from America?s opening of Japan in the mid-19th century11(Erikawa, 2008; Oishi, 1990; Tsuda, 1990, 1996). This incident made Japan recognize the strong power and advancement of the West. As is obvious in the popular 11 From the mid-17th to mid-19th centuries, Japan strictly restricted foreign commerce and relations. During this period, only a few countries (e.g., Holland, China) were permitted to trade with Japan. In 1854, the American Navy visited Japan and forced it to open to trade with the West. Japan could do nothing but bow to the superior military power and advanced technology displayed by the American fleet. - 20 - slogan ?Datsu-a nyu-o? (Escape from Asia, enter Europe) of the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japanese modernization was in essence Westernization. Through this process, Japanese people developed feelings of inferiority vis-?-vis the English language, Caucasians and the West, and such feelings were further reinforced by Japan?s defeat in World War II and its subsequent occupation by the United States (Tsuda, 1990). Learning English is one of the ways the Japanese can identify themselves with Westerners (Kubota, 1998), and this is an underlying reason for the everlasting popularity of eikaiwa (English conversation) in Japan (Tsuda, 1990, 1996). The perceived superiority of English is evident in how most Japanese public schools choose to teach English in their ?foreign language? classes or in how some Japanese companies have decided to adopt English as an official language. In her study on Japanese immigrant women, Chubachi (2009) found that, for many women, the underlying reason to come to Canada was their longing toward the West, English and Caucasians (see also Pillar & Takahashi, 2006). In this section, I have reviewed the literature on the current trend of female immigrants from Japan and tried to provide context and background. In English-speaking countries and in Canada in particular, the number of immigrating Japanese women is on the increase. These women are generally so-called ?lifestyle migrants? who often arrive as working holiday makers and who later marry Canadians. Statistics indicate that the direct trigger for this trend was the establishment of WHS, but underlying causes are related to akogare for the West, English and Caucasians. Perhaps because of akogare, Japanese women often divert from Japaneseness, but once they enter motherhood, they often seek participation in the local Japanese community and are eager to transmit their L1 to their children. It will be interesting to explore in the present study whether Japanese women experience internal conflict between - 21 - wanting to identify themselves with mainstream society and wanting to maintain and transmit their heritage. 2.2 Family Study 2.2.1 Family work, gender and motherhood According to Delphy and Leonard (1992), there are three types of family work: economically productive or paid work; cultural work; and emotional work (as cited in Okita, 2002). The first one essentially describes paid employment outside of the home. Cultural work is a type of work that increases cultural and social capital such as nurturing and educating children. Emotional work involves a wide range of work to do with maintaining family relations. For example, creating a comfortable home, feeding the family, and caring about family members? feelings belong to this category. There used to be a clear division in family work by gender. Economically productive work was considered to be men?s work and the other two were considered as women?s. Bernardes (1997) contends that though the divisions of labour have become blurred, it is only in one direction: women have started to take up paid work, but the burden of parenting and other domestic work still falls predominantly on women?s shoulders even when they have paid work. Bourdieu (1996) also states that, in order for a family to be established, constant unpaid emotional work is required, and that this work ?falls more particularly to the women, who are responsible for maintaining relationships (not only with their own family but very often also with the spouse?s)? (p.22). The reason why women continue to be expected to take up such unpaid work is the assumed naturalness of women engaging in the caring work of motherhood and housework (Bernardes, 1997). In particular, nurturing children is strictly considered a women?s job due to - 22 - the prevalent discourse of motherhood which emphasizes that mothering is natural to women and that mothers are the best caregivers of their children (Green, 2010 a, 2010b; Hays, 1996). The discourse produces an ideal image of a good mother who is a full time home maker; who is self-sacrificing and selfless; who always lovingly and willingly spends time and energy for her child?s emotional and cognitive well-being; and who seeks advice from experts to best respond to their children?s needs (Goodwin & Huppatz, 2010; Green, 2010 a, 2010b; Hartrick, 1997; Hays, 1996; Wall, 2004). Regardless of their social, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds and employment statuses, all mothers are affected by this good mother ideology: they feel a sense of shame and guilt when they cannot meet the criteria of the ideal mother image and they are constantly judged by others and labelled as a bad mothers when they do not meet the good mother criteria (Blythe, Halcomb, Wilkes & Jackson, 2013; Green, 2010b; Sutherland, 2010; Wall, 2004). 2.2.2 HL transmission work as gendered work Okita (2002) asserts that the HL transmitter role is a part of the unpaid work (i.e., childrearing and other domestic work) women often have to take up. Her contention is echoed by other scholars. For example, Pavlenko (2001) suggests that language transmission is often perceived as women?s work. Pavlenko and Piller (2001) also assert that ?the images of ideal femininity place women firmly inside the community, making them the transmitters of the home language, and of cultural, ethnic, and religious traditions? (p.26). Indeed, gender has been found to play a role in parenting and HL transmission in some studies. For example, both Kamada?s (1995) study of bilingual families in Japan and Lyon?s (1996) study of Welsh-English family in Wales found that children tend to have better HL proficiency when the HL speaker was the mother. This is because, as Kamada explains, - 23 - fathers are generally focused on their breadwinner role and work related to the children?s language and education is left to the mothers. Kouritzin?s (2000b) case particularly illustrates how the HL transmitter role is a part of mothers? work and how mothers sacrifice themselves for the sake of their children?s HL socialization. Although she is an English-speaking Canadian who lives in Canada, Kouritzin, decided to raise her children in her husband?s L1, Japanese, because she strongly believes in the importance and benefit of HL in her children?s lives. She felt the stress and dilemma of not being able to communicate well with her children and for not being able to establish mother-child bonding. She even felt ?as if [her] identity [had] been erased? (p.314) when her children spoke to her in Japanese. Against all odds, however, she still took up the role of HL transmitter for the best of her children. Though her strong determination came from the knowledge she gained as a researcher and her personal experience of L1 loss, the same level of self-sacrifice and emotionality might not have occurred had she been a father. This section provided a brief summary of different types of family work and the relationship between gender and the division of work. It also tried to address the gendered nature of the HL transmitter role and how it forms part of a mother?s unpaid work. 2.3 Immigrants and Their Children?s Heritage Language Socialization 2.3.1 Reasons for HL transmission Socioeconomic benefits (better job opportunities), ethnic identity development, family ties, and communication with extended family are probably the most common reasons for HL transmission found in prior studies on immigrant parents? attitudes and beliefs regarding their children?s HL education. For example, Yan (2003), Lao (2004), and Zhang and Slaughter-- 24 - Defore (2009) reported similar positive attitudes concerning HL maintenance and language practices among Chinese families in the United States. In these studies, parents placed a high value on their HL and viewed it as an important tool for maintaining family ties, for communicating within the local Chinese community, for staying connected with their home country, and for achieving academic and career success in American society. Guardado?s (2008) study on Hispanic parents in Vancouver revealed that the parents believed the Spanish language was important for socioeconomic mobility, communicating with relatives overseas, as well as for nurturing a global mindset, a healthy identity, and close parent-child relationships. Korean parents in Park and Sarkar?s (2007) study also viewed their HL as an important and useful tool for their children?s socioeconomic mobility, communicating with relatives back home, and fostering ethnic identity (see also Exposito, 2004; Farrugio, 2010; Guardado, 2002). These studies generally focused on homogamous couples. The reasons may not be the same for intermarried mothers. Okita (2002) interviewed Japanese mother-British father families and explored their attitudes and beliefs about their children?s HL education. The father?s reasons resembled those of homogamous immigrant parents in prior studies who believed that having Japanese proficiency would provide their children with better job opportunities and help them communicate effectively with their Japanese relatives. On the other hand, the mothers? reasons were generally based on their own needs. Japanese was the language they identified with and felt most comfortable speaking. Therefore, they wanted to speak Japanese with their children to satisfy their needs for effective and meaningful communication with their children. To some mothers in particular, HL transmission was a way of avoiding isolation. They felt very isolated both within the larger society and within their own family. As illustrated in one - 25 - of the mothers? interview excerpts below, their children were their only allies in these difficult periods. In order to build close relationships with their children they believed a shared language (Japanese in this case) was a must. Because I [live] in a foreign country, my world was comprised of just two of us? me and my only daughter. If it were in Japan, it would have been totally different. I would have done it like my mother- not spending much time and energy on children? There would have been relatives and friends, but in a foreign country, it?s like my child became the pillar (emotionally) in this isolated environment (p.144). Varro?s (1988) study cited in Okita (2002) studied English speaking American women who were married to French men in France and found that the HL transmitter role became a requirement for minority mothers in intermarriage. One reason for this is because minority immigrant mothers tend to have limited job opportunities and limited ways of asserting their identity. Thus, successful childrearing (i.e., raising bilingual children) became central to these women?s identities and became path to self-actualization. Another reason is because of the public discourse regarding bilingualism. Nowadays, bilingualism is viewed positively and valued highly. As such, intermarried mothers feel pressure to raise their children bilingually, and as one of the participants in Varro?s study said, they are ?made to feel ashamed if her children are ?not even bilingual? (p.6). Transmitting a minority language is not an easy task, yet most immigrant parents choose to do it. Their reasons generally have to do with the benefit to the child and to the family as a unit, but some parents also have reasons that are based on their own needs. In the case of intermarried women, their child?s HL education can become central to their lives because of the limited options to assert their identities and the gendered nature of the HL - 26 - transmitter role. Because the number of studies is so limited, further studies are needed to verify the results. 2.3.2 Factors shaping parental attitudes and practices Research shows that immigrant parents generally have positive attitudes toward their children?s HL education. However, their goals and practices often vary greatly. In Guardado?s (2002) study of four Hispanic families in Vancouver, for instance, the families with a balanced Spanish-English bilingual child used encouraging strategies whereas the families with an English dominant child were found to be using authoritative strategies. There also seemed to have been more HL resources (e.g., books, music) at home in the former group?s household. Bourdieu (1986) states that the amount of economic capital one has influences one?s level of cultural capital. Likewise, Stavans (2012) suggests that socioeconomic status (SES) and parents? education levels can significantly affect parents? attitudes and practices. He argues that wealthy and well-educated parents have the economic and intellectual resources to plan and enforce effective strategies for their children?s HL education, but parents with low SES and education may not have these resources and therefore easily give up on HL transmission. In Guardado?s study, the parents in the former group were wealthy, well educated, and had only one child whereas the parents in the latter group were poor, less educated, and had three children. The English dominant children?s parents had not given up on raising bilingual children. However, perhaps their lack of intellectual and economic resources as well as having multiple children in the household made it difficult for them to employ effective strategies. Parents? attitudes and practices are also affected by external social factors to a large extent (Stavans, 2012). In Okita?s (2002) study, younger mothers tended to be more proactive - 27 - about their children?s HL education whereas older mothers were generally more relaxed. Okita attributes this to the shift in the general public?s attitudes toward bilingualism and the increase in available resources on bilingual childrearing. Moreover, Piller (2001b) analyzed multiple data sources including self-recorded interviews of German speaking-English speaking couples and found that parents? language practice and ideology were largely influenced by public discourse shaped by popular guidebooks on childhood bilingualism. Similarly, in King and Fogle?s (2006) study of couples who were trying to raise their children bilingually (Spanish-English) in the United States, parents drew upon expert advice and popular literature to make decisions regarding bilingual childrearing. However, in the case of that study, parents primarily relied on their own language learning experience and public discourse was only used as an additional source to confirm their beliefs. In other words, when there was a discrepancy between their experience and public discourse, they disregarded the latter. Many parents also used the experiences of their extended families and friends as secondary sources to support their decision making. Yamamoto?s (2002, 2005, 2008) studies examined the language use between two types of intermarried families in Japan: Japanese spouse-native English speaking spouse and Japanese spouse - non-English speaking spouse (from Germany, China, Mexico, Philippines, etc). Results from these studies suggested that language use in intermarried families may be affected by the perceived prestige and possible merits of proficiency in the language. For example, non-Japanese spouses? L1 was rarely used in Japanese - non-English families while most Japanese-English families used English either exclusively or complementarily. Moreover, many Japanese - non-English families employed a language which was not native to the parents (English in most cases) as a communication tool, but none of Japanese-English - 28 - families used a language other than their first language (L1). Many parents expressed their view that English was more useful and prestigious than other languages. Some also reported the low status of their L1 in Japan or in the world as a reason not to use their L1 and pursue their children?s HL education. Furthermore, Piller (2001a) suggests that language choice within intermarried couples may be an act of identity and that some prefer to speak in their second language to perform their identity within their new community of practice. This is well illustrated in Jackson?s (2008) study of a Japanese mother-American father family in Japan. Both parents felt positively about raising bilingual children. The father foresaw and feared communication difficulties that might arise in the father-child interaction in the future by his not speaking English only at home. Nonetheless, he continued to use Japanese with his children. Feeling frustrated with her partner?s practice, the mother pressured him to provide a small English lesson to their children every day. He acquiesced to this, but sometimes he refused by saying he is not an English teacher. In interviews, he repeatedly demonstrated his bias towards Western English teachers in Japan and revulsion to be viewed as one of them. He viewed those who teach English in Japan as people who lacked sophistication and competence to speak Japanese. Thus, he took great pride in his occupation as a Japanese corporate worker and constructed himself as a bilingual speaker who could live a fully functioning adult life in Japanese society. The father was ascribed an identity of a ?native English speaker? and was expected to take up the language transmitter role, but this did not comply with his self-identification. Thus, he rejected the ascribed identity and related expectations by speaking Japanese. As Ortega (2009) says, second language learning is never just about language, but it is ?about succeeding in attaining material, symbolic, and affective returns that they desire for - 29 - themselves. It is also about being considered by others as worthy social beings? (p.250). This case shows that parents? practices are intertwined with the investments they make in their communities of practice (either real or imagined). Paulston (1994) argues that language use in intermarried families is affected by the gender power balance: women are more likely to employ their spouse?s language rather than vice versa. Moreover, Rosenblatt (2009) purports that what language a couple speaks is closely linked to the power dynamic within the intermarried family. What language the couple chooses is not accidental, but is likely the language of the partner who has more power which is often determined by gender and economic resources. Crago, Chen, Genesee, and Allen (1998) interviewed intermarried families in Inuit communities in Quebec and found that non-Inuk speaking fathers tended to view nurturing their child?s Inuktitut language proficiency as their wives? and schools? job and dissociated themselves from the role. The authors also found that English speaking fathers tended to have a rigid stance about language use at home: They spoke only in English and did not attempt to learn Inuktitut. Moreover, they discouraged their wives? use of Inuktitut at home because they did not understand it. This case shows that HL parents? attitudes and practices are affected not only by the social status difference between the parents? language and culture, but also by the power relationship between the couple. In summary, prior studies indicate that immigrants? attitudes and practices regarding their children?s HL education are affected by the social, historical, and personal contexts that they find themselves embedded in. But as Jackson (2009) contends, a child?s HL education seems to become more complex and politicized practice in intermarried families. This is because all couples need to negotiate the developmental and relational processes within their family, but in addition, intermarried couples ?must respond to the challenges colored by the - 30 - idiosyncrasies of each partner's cultural context and identity as well as that of the dominant context in which they live? (Llerena-Quinn & Bacigalupe, 2009, p.184). 2.3.3 Children?s HL socialization and intermarried Japanese mothers There are only a handful of studies which speak to the circumstances of intermarried Japanese mothers vis-?-vis HL education. Sakamoto (2000) interviewed six homogamous Japanese immigrant parents (5 mothers and 1 father) in Toronto. Findings from this study parallel those from prior studies on HL education among other ethnic groups. Many studies have indicated that immigrants experience ambivalent feelings about their children?s HL education. On one hand, they want to transmit their language to their children, but on the other, they want their children to integrate into the host society (e.g., Lao, 2004; Shin, 2005). Such ambivalence often results in feelings of guilt and dilemma. In Sakamoto?s study, some parents viewed HL education as a burden for their children and felt guilty about making their children learn the language. The author attributed this to the minority status of the Japanese language and parents? lack of knowledge of second language acquisition theory. Nevertheless, within the inner sphere (i.e., at home), the language was valued as a crucial tool for maintaining family unity, and therefore few challenges and conflicts arose. Kato's (2009) ethnographic study attempted to reveal how Japanese mothers in New York City construct their identities through their experience of bilingual motherhood. All the participants had a desire to maintain their children's Japanese, but their views and practices changed as their children grew up. In general, the Japanese mothers' experiences of bilingual motherhood became much more complicated when their children started formal schooling: they had to participate in various social networks; and they were compelled to accommodate - 31 - and negotiate with their children's linguistic and cultural development as well as with the values imposed on them by schools and society. Some women found the role of language transmitter fulfilling as it provided them with a meaning to their existence in the US. It would seem that all the women were constructing new identities through a constant negotiation of the traditional role of Japanese wife and mother, and the new roles of language transmitter and immigrant mother. Kato?s study has some implications for my study, but she did not focus on intermarried Japanese immigrant women: her participants were mainly homogamous Japanese couples (mostly temporary residents in the United States). A Japanese male immigrant who had an American spouse was also included. Okita?s (2002) study found that raising children bilingually in an intermarried family is emotionally demanding for mothers because it requires dealing with a variety of conflicts and balancing different needs (e.g., their HL project can conflict with their children?s needs to adapt to mainstream society, with their spouses? desires for attention, or with their family?s linguistic unity). However, she adds that mothers? struggles and efforts in bilingual childrearing are often invisible to others including their husbands due to their lack of knowledge in language acquisition and the acute gender division of labor. This non-recognition from their husbands brought more stress and a sense of isolation in Japanese mothers and further magnified the parental divide. Okita?s study stands as an exception in that it focuses specifically on the childrearing experiences of intermarried Japanese immigrant women and reveals the complexity of those experiences. Unfortunately, the study does not explore how bilingual childrearing can affect Japanese women personally and it was conducted in the U.K. a decade ago where circumstances for immigrants may have differed from those in Canada, and specifically B.C., today. - 32 - Essentialization/overgeneralization of Japanese women and childrearing. Okita (2002) asserts that studies on Japanese mothers and childrearing tend to ignore the context and subjective accounts of the women and instead create a stereotyped image of them. Such an approach tends to analyze Japanese people?s behavior based on predetermined frameworks such as amae12. Theories based on these predetermined frameworks are not generally developed through rigorous study; rather they assume that the Japanese are a homogenous group. Okita states: As long ago as 1975 Voysey emphasized the danger of using preframed approaches for investigating groups which are not well researched, yet this is precisely what has happened ? and still happens ? in the case of Japanese women, ethnicity, and childrearing. A predetermined framework of what should be studied and what is to be valued is constructed without asking the subjects sensitively to explain what they do and think, and without taking account of the social context (p.22) There is no doubt that Kato?s (2009) study made significant contributions to the field. Regrettably, Kato?s analysis of her participants? behaviors and language practices seemed to be based on what Okita calls ?predetermined frameworks?. For example, she talks about how one Japanese mother was fostering an amae relationship by apologizing to her crying baby. Based on this one instance in her data, Kato concluded that her participants used the same communication strategies as the Japanese mothers in Japan that foster amae relationships. The mothers? perspectives or subjective accounts and contextual factors were never explored. 12 Amae??a concept originally discussed by Doi (1973). He defined its verb form, amaeru, as ?to depend and presume upon another?s benevolence.? Doi suggests that amaeru is generally used to describe a child?s attitude or behaviors toward his parents, particularly his mother. That is, amae is originally fostered in the mother and child relationship in which the mother indulges the child, in turn producing in the child an amaeru attitude toward the mother, characterized as a sense of oneness. Considering amae as a basis of social relationships in Japan, Doi further argues that it is a vital element for all interpersonal communication in Japanese society which is built through the mutual efforts of speaker and listener. He opposes this to the practices of English-speakers where the speaker is responsible to explicitly express his/her idea to the listener and the listener gets it solely from his/her words? (Kato, 2009, p.128) - 33 - There is no discussion about what people from other cultural backgrounds do in the same situation or what Japanese mothers in Japan actually do. At the onset of the study, Kato criticizes cultural essentialization and states that the goal of her study is ?to contribute to a body of work which challenges essentializing and generalizing conventions in work on Japanese women? (p.9). Ironically, her study supports Okita?s contention that ?[w]hen it comes to Japanese ethnicity and culture, macro-sociological accounts remain dominant, resulting in persistent and misleading stereotypes which influence even researchers sensitive to the importance of micro-perspective and situated identity?(p.21). This section was a brief overview of the few past studies on the bilingual childrearing experiences of Japanese immigrant mothers. All studies introduced here provide meaningful insight for the present study, but they each have their own limitations in reflecting the experiences of intermarried Japanese mothers in B.C. A family?s language policy ?co-exists with geographic, historical, political and socio-economic environments" (Curdt-Christiansen, 2009, p.354). Contextualized research into the bilingual childrearing experiences of Japanese mothers in B.C. is needed in order to get a full picture of their experiences without essentializing them. This is a primary goal of the present study. 2.4 Summary This chapter reviewed three areas of literature that will inform this study. The first section provided a general background of Japanese immigrant women through discussions on current trends in female immigration from Japan. The second section emphasized how gender and the division of labor are related, and the gendered nature of the HL transmitter role. The final section reviewed literatures which touched on immigrant parents? experiences regarding - 34 - their children?s HL socialization and intermarried Japanese mothers? bilingual childrearing experiences. In the next chapter, I will describe the method and research procedures employed in this study. - 35 - Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Qualitative Approach The goal of qualitative research is normally not to determine the objective truth, but to gain understanding of a social phenomenon from the perspectives of the people being studied (Bryman, Teevan, & Bell, 2009). According to Creswell (2007), qualitative research is ?the study of research problems inquiring into the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem? (p.37). Creswell further states that qualitative research is often deeply involved ?in issues of gender, culture, and marginalized groups? (p.43), and it is often conducted to ?empower individuals to share their stories, hear their voices, and minimize the power relationships that often exist between a researcher and the participants in a study? (p.40). These characteristics of qualitative research are in accordance with the aims of this study which are to understand and shed light on Japanese immigrant women?s bilingual childrearing experiences, and to give a voice to this ?neglected minority group? (Okita, 2002). To collect voices of Japanese immigrant women who are trying to raise bilingual children, I conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews. Details of the data collection and analysis process will be illustrated below. 3.2 Interview participants The participants in this study were Japanese immigrant women in Metro Vancouver who fulfilled the following criteria: 1. were born and raised in Japan 2. spoke Japanese as a mother tongue/first language - 36 - 3. moved to Canada as adults (after the age of 20) 4. were living in Canada as a permanent resident or Canadian citizen 5. had no current plan to move back to Japan 6. were married to or in a common-law relationship with Canadian men of non- Japanese descent 7. had at least one child aged between 4 and 7 who was in school (including preschools) and had been primarily raised in Canada 8. had no child older than 7 These criteria were meant to ensure that participants had comparable linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and that they were in similar situations in terms of their children?s HL education. The rationale for limiting the child?s age range to between 4 and 7 was that this is the period when the strong mother-child bond still remains from the previous period, but when radical changes occur to mothers? and children?s environments and social networks, and various competing demands begin to emerge in their lives (Kato, 2009; Okita, 2002). It is this transitional period that I wanted to explore. - 37 - Table 3.1: General Profile of the Participants * I told participants that they did not have to reveal anything they did not wish to reveal, and that they could tell me approximate age range if they preferred not to reveal their exact age **Participants? self-reported English level: A: Native level B: Advanced (You can understand complex topics without too much problem and can communicate what you want to say fluently) C: Upper-intermediate (You can communicate fluently in most situations but sometimes make errors and have difficulties conveying exactly what you want to say) D: Intermediate (You can communicate effectively in general daily life situations) E: Lower-intermediate (You have limited grammatical knowledge and vocabulary and can have some interaction as long as the topics are familiar.) F: Beginner (You can use some basic words and expressions) ***M-F: Mother-Father, M-C: Mother-Child, F-C: Father- Child, C-C: Child-Child Name Age* Place of origin Length of residence in Canada (years) Children?s age and gender Self-reported English level** Self-reported family language use*** (father?s Japanese level reported by participants) Aya 45 Tohoku 8 6 (M) B/C M-F: 100% ENG M-C: 100% JP F-C: 100% ENG (Beginner) Chika 32 Kansai 6 6 (M) 1 (F) D M-F: 100% ENG M-C: 100% JP F-C: 100% ENG (Complete beginner) Mana 38 Kansai 15 4 (F) C M-F: 100% ENG M-C: 60% ENG, 40% JP F-C: 100% ENG (Complete beginner) Nami Late 30s -early 40s Kanto 10 7 (F) 4 (M) C M-F: mostly ENG. Some basic Japanese expressions are sometimes used. M-C: 100% JP F-C: 100% ENG C-C 100% JP (Beginner) Sakura Late 30s Kanto 6 7 (F) C M-F: 100% ENG M-C: 30% JP, 70% ENG F-C: 100% ENG (Beginner) Tsukiko 39 Kansai 8 5 (F) C M-F: 100% ENG M-C: mostly JP when alone. ENG becomes the main language when the father is involved in conversation F-C: 100% ENG (Beginner) - 38 - 3.3 Recruiting interview participants After getting approval from the university ethical review board, I first tried to recruit participants through advertisements on a Japanese community website called 'Jpcanada' and in the local Japanese newspaper 'Vancouver shinpo'. The advertisement included the purpose of the research, a brief description of what participants were expected to do, and the contact information of the researcher. However, only a few people contacted me and only one of them satisfied the inclusion criteria. As I was unable to recruit sufficient numbers of participants, I tried snowball sampling through my acquaintances and through the support group that I was running. In the end, I had six participants in total. Selected participants were provided with a letter of initial contact and consent forms either via email, mail or in person and were asked to bring the signed consent form on the day of the interview. All participants were informed that they could opt out of the study at any time even if they had consented to participate in this study. At the end of the interview, participants received a small gratuity as a token of appreciation for their time. 3.4 Data collection process and setting The study took place in B.C., Canada between March and April of 2013. Data were collected through one-on-one in-depth interviews. All interviews were conducted in Japanese. The length of each interview was about one hour and forty-five minutes on average. Two of the interviews were conducted in my home and others were conducted in public spaces such as a mall and a caf?. Silverman (1993) states that ?[t]he aim [of qualitative study] is usually to gather an ?authentic? understanding of people?s experiences and it is believed that ?open-ended? - 39 - questions are the most effective route towards this end? (p.20). In the present study, interviews were semi-structured with open-ended questions and sought to explore participants? attitudes, hopes, beliefs, practices, challenges, and feelings regarding their children?s HL socialization (see the list of interview questions and possible probe questions in Appendix B). Some demographic information including participants? and their spouse?s ages and linguistic/ethnic background were asked. Interviews were audio recorded with the consent of the participants. Participants were informed that recording could be paused and resumed at any point during the interview. Moreover, they were assured that they did not need to reveal anything they did not feel comfortable revealing. I needed to transcribe all the interview data in a verbatim manner for analysis, but it became difficult as my tendinitis and back problem were getting more and more severe. I ordered voice recognition software from Japan, and thanks to this, I was able to complete transcription without much time loss and pain. One disadvantage of the use of the software was that I had to repeat the women?s colloquial or ?non-standard? speech in formal and ?standard? language in order for the software to understand me. Thus, I sometimes felt like the transcription was not truly authentic and accurate. However, it did not affect the data analysis since the differences were subtle and syntactic, and for the parts that I found significant, I repeatedly listened to them and made the necessary corrections. After the interview was completed, participants were encouraged to contact me (either by email or phone) should they wish to add anything to their interview responses and they were reminded that they might be asked some follow-up questions to confirm or elaborate on - 40 - their interview responses. None of the participants contacted me for further information but I contacted them for some follow-up questions which everyone happily answered. 3.5 Data processing and analysis There were several data analysis steps which were drawn mainly from Creswell (2003, 2007) and Miles and Huberman (1994). First, I read through each transcript several times to immerse myself in the data. This is an important step for researchers to grasp the general sense of the interview as a whole (Agar, 1996). I then looked for salient themes that recurred in the data as well as the cases that seemed outstanding and relevant to the research questions. After locating the main themes, I developed a list of coding categories. Here, I followed Creswell?s (2007) ?lean coding? strategy which is to develop only five or six categories at first and then expand them as I repeatedly review the data. The next step involved summarizing the findings based on the emergent themes. Although qualitative research claims to see things through participants? lenses, it is not uncommon that the researcher?s interpretation is completely different from that of the people being studied (Bryman et al, 2009; Sandelowski, 1998). Thus, I asked participants after the interview whether they wished to check the data analysis to see whether it fully represented their experience. They were informed that this was not a requirement. Four of them said they wished to participate in this member check stage. At first I emailed them the draft of my analysis in English, but since I felt the participants were having difficulties comprehending the text, I sent them a rough summary in Japanese and told them that I would be willing to meet up and discuss the analysis in person if they wished. Two of them had a meeting with me and one of them communicated with me via email. One person was unable to reply as she was - 41 - spending time with her family in Japan. Overall, the participants agreed with my analysis. They seemed fascinated to see their experiences represented in academic writing, because, as they said, their child?s HL socialization was something they had been doing without much thought and they had never had a chance to reflect on their own experiences. 3.6 Role of the researcher Because an interview is a social act through which the interviewer and interviewee cooperatively co-construct a story (Fontana & Frey, 2005; Mathison, 2011), it is important for researchers to create a comfortable and trusting atmosphere so that interviewees feel relaxed and will respond honestly (Moustakas, 1994). In so doing, researchers need to consider how to present themselves to the participants (Fontana & Frey, 1994, 2005). Although some believe it is better to keep a distance from interviewees (e.g., Measor & Sikes, 1992), I prefer Kouritzin?s (1997, 2000a) approach or what Fontana and Frey (2005) call the empathetic approach. In the empathetic approach, the interviewer does not treat the respondent as a mere object from which they squeeze out data but as a human being, and they interact as persons with the interviewees. During the interview I talked about how and why I became interested in the research topic, and what my goal was in conducting the research. Moreover, although caution needed to be paid not to color interviewees? opinions and responses, I did not unnecessarily withhold information about my experiences or feelings when it was appropriate and natural to talk about them in a flow of interaction. The interviews were generally very relaxed. - 42 - Chapter 4 The Participants This chapter aims to provide a brief summary of the life trajectory of the six participants in this study. My connection with each participant will also be described to illustrate the interview contexts. 4.1 Aya Within a day or two after I posted an online advertisement for recruitment, I received an email from Aya. We decided to meet up at a mall caf? while her son was at school. Aya was already there when I got to the caf?. Since the caf? was too crowded and noisy, we decided to move to the mall food court. Aya seemed like a quiet and introverted kind of person. ?????????????????? (Have you been in Canada for a long time?)?, she asked me as we walked. I told her that I had been in Canada for 6 years and asked her back the same question. ?8???? (about eight years),? she replied. Just like talking about the weather with strangers at a bus stop, asking about length of stay in Canada is a clich? question for Japanese mothers when they meet each other for the first time. Because it was before lunch time, the food court was not very crowded yet. We found a nice corner spot and sat down. Despite my first impression, Aya, a 45 year old woman from Tohoku, was more of an adventurous type. Since she was a child, she had dreamt about travelling the world. She studied English in Oklahoma for a year when she was a college student. After working as an office worker for five years in Japan, she went on a trip as a backpacker and visited approximately sixty countries in three years. When she was travelling in the United States, she - 43 - met her Canadian husband who was also travelling. Because the Internet was not popular at that time, the couple maintained their relationship by writing and visiting each other in Japan and Canada. After more than ten years, they got married. She immigrated to Canada about eight years ago and now lives with her 6-year-old son and husband in an area where there is a high Chinese population. 4.2 Chika I first met Chika at an event in a local community centre where I was taking my child in 2011. She was pregnant with her second child and was with her son who was five at the time. He spoke very fluent Japanese so I was surprised to find out that he had mostly been raised in Canada. Coincidentally, around this time, a university professor was asking me to help her recruit a Japanese child who spoke native-like Japanese for her study. I talked to Chika as her child seemed like an ideal participant. She was happy to participate, but the professor?s study took several months to obtain an ethical review approval and Chika was no longer available since she was almost due. After that, I only saw her a few times in a local park and a community centre and we only greeted each other briefly when we met. I emailed her when I was recruiting my own research participants, and she was very willing to participate. I invited her to my place as she was with her second child who was one year and seven months old. The interview was often interrupted because of the child, but thanks to Chika?s openness and frankness, the interview was very relaxing and successful overall. At times we even forgot about the interview and chatted about something unrelated. Chika, a 32 year old woman from Kansai, told me that she loved learning English in secondary school. Her love of English continued in her post-secondary studies. As she - 44 - described, she devoted herself to English while she was a university student. She majored in English literature and tried to immerse herself in as much English as possible by reading and listening to English news every day. Moreover, she went on a few short term visits to England and the United States while she was in university. Upon the completion of her undergraduate degree, she applied for a WH visa in Canada because the United States did not have a WHS. While she was a WH maker, she tried to speak only in English and avoided Japanese speakers. She met her husband when she was still on her WH and got pregnant with her first child. She went back to Japan by herself to give birth. The stay was originally going to be only for a few months, but for some reason she and her child stayed in Japan for 1.5 years. Five years ago, she came back to Canada and now lives with her husband and two children. 4.3 Mana I had never met the other participants privately before the interviews except for Mana. I first met her through a children?s Japanese program at a local community centre in 2012. My first impression of her was that she was frank and friendly. Because our children?s ages are close, we had play dates once in a while. Her child never spoke Japanese, at least when I was with them. I thought it was because Mana worked full time and because she used English with her child. In mid-March 2013, Mana and her child came over to my place. I was surprised because her child was speaking some Japanese. When I mentioned the great improvement of her child?s Japanese language development, Mana smiled and said ??????????????????????????????? (sometimes I wonder if my effort [to teach my child Japanese] is really meaningful)?. I told Mana about my study and asked her if she - 45 - knew anyone who could be my participant. She suggested participating herself, but I turned her down saying that I would like to avoid doing research ?in my own backyard?. But due partially to the difficulty I was experiencing in recruiting people, and also due to her words on how she feels about her child?s Japanese HL education, I decided to include her as a participant. Before going into the interview, I naively thought that the closer the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee, the easier the interview would be. I especially felt so since it was Mana who had volunteered to participate in my study. However, it was with her that I struggled the most in the interview to establish rapport. My attempt to probe deeper often failed with her seeming reluctant to answer. The interview lasted only an hour because she had to go home, but since we were having dinner together at her place that night, we decided that we could discuss more when I visited. At her place, I did not record our conversation and just took notes since Mana did not wish to be recorded and there were not many questions left. Just like many other participants, Mana, a 38-year-old woman from Kansai, had a strong interest in English as a student. She majored in English literature at college and when she was a college student, she studied in the United States for a month. She decided to quit college and went back to the United States and stayed there for 6 months. When she was around 23, she came to Vancouver as an ESL student and she has been in Vancouver since then. When I asked her why she chose Vancouver, she told me that she visited the city while she was in the United States and fell in love with it. She met her husband several years ago and had a child in 2008. When the child was still around one, Mana?s husband was - 46 - unemployed for a while. During this period, the family lived on Mana?s income and the husband was the main caregiver. Currently, Mana is still the main breadwinner of the family by taking two part time jobs which require her to do some night shifts every week. 4.4 Nami Nami was one of the regulars to my monthly support group events. Though my communication with her was never more than greetings or practical information about the events, I had a feeling that she was very nice and that she thought of me positively. I emailed her to ask whether she could participate in my study. She replied right away with a positive answer. We arranged for a meeting in a caf? close to where she lives on Sunday morning so she could leave her children with her husband. She looked somewhat different from my image of her. Whenever I saw her, she was fussing about her children and she generally wore something rather casual and plain. But on the day of the interview, she had makeup on and was wearing a navy long sleeved top and a beautiful white scarf with orange and blue flowers which looked very flattering on her. We bought ourselves a coffee and sat on a small table that seemed the most quiet in the caf?. Thanks to Nami?s cooperative attitude and also to the fact that it was my fourth interview, I was very relaxed and the interaction was very smooth and natural. Nami was born in the early 1970s13 in the Kanto area. After finishing high school, she worked as an office worker for five years. One of her friends came to Canada as a WH maker and this made Nami become interested in becoming a WH maker herself. She applied for a WH visa in Canada but could not get one due to the high volume of applicants. Eventually, 13 I told participants that they did not have to reveal anything that they did not wish to reveal, and that they could tell me an approximate age range if they preferred not to reveal their exact age. - 47 - she was able to get one for New Zealand so decided to go there first and lived there for a year. After coming back from New Zealand, she got a WH visa for Canada and came to Vancouver where she met her future husband. When the visa expired, she went back to Japan and her future husband followed her as a WH maker in Japan. In 2003, they came back to Canada together. The couple has a 7 year old and a 4 year old. 4.5 Sakura Sakura also attended my support group events regularly with her daughter who always looked shy and hid behind her mother. Just like Nami, I had a good feeling about Sakura although I had never talked with her outside of the events. She did not reply to my email about my study for a while so I did not think she could participate, but a few weeks later, she replied and told me that she would be happy to be a participant. We arranged our meeting on a Thursday in the early-evening at a caf? near her place. Sakura looked a little tired perhaps because she had just commuted on public transit for an hour in horrible weather after working all day. The caf? was quite busy with the people who were trying to get out of the heavy rain. We made ourselves comfortable in nice sofa seats with a low table. Unfortunately, it was close to the coffee grinding machine and sometimes the noise bothered me, but nevertheless the interaction was smooth and relaxing. Sakura, a woman in her late thirties from Kanto, openly discussed her life trajectory. She went to a vocational college after high school and started working as a clinical lab technician at a hospital. She was always interested in English and took English lessons at an eikaiwa (English conversation) school after work. After seven years of working as a lab - 48 - technician, she started to feel a sort of stagnation in her life and wanted to do something different. She quit her job and came to Canada on a WH visa when she was in her late 20s. She went back to Japan after the visa expired. To be with Sakura, her husband applied for a Japanese language school and got a student visa in Japan. They got married and had a child in Japan. They moved back to Vancouver when their child was two. When their child was around three, Sakura started a high school completion program in order to work as a qualified clinical lab technician in B.C., but she became unable to continue when she had to start working due to her husband?s unemployment. She works at a fast paced caf? full time, and lives with her husband and 7 year old daughter. 4.6 Tsukiko I knew Tsukiko from the Japanese school my daughter attended. Her child is a few years older than mine, but we sometimes took the same bus to and from the school and had opportunities to chat several times. I thought of her when I was recruiting participants because I remembered her telling me about her child?s language development while we were walking from the bus stop to the school. I had a feeling that she was not a very open type of person and that it was unlikely that she would want to participate in a study. Surprisingly, she agreed to participate right away but asked me to wait until spring break was over as it was just before the spring vacation. The interview took place in the lobby of UBC Robson campus while her daughter was at school. Unlike my earlier impression of her, she was very open and assertive in the interview. Tsukiko, a 39 year old woman, was born as a daughter of farmers in Kansai. Although she hated English as a school subject when she was a secondary school student, she always - 49 - had ?akogare? (longing, desire) towards English and kaigai seikatsu (living overseas). After graduating from a college, she started working at a local company. When she was in her mid-twenties, she decided to learn English at an eikaiwa (English conversation) school because she was shocked by her poor English skills when she spent a holiday in Hawaii and became motivated to improve them. Several years of taking eikaiwa lessons made her feel confident enough to get by in English-speaking countries. She applied for a WH visa in New Zealand when she turned 30 and was granted one. However, her decision to quit her job and live in a foreign land was harshly criticised and discouraged by her family and friends, and she followed their advice with deep reluctance. She could not abandon her ?dream? however, and applied for another WH visa in Canada and came to Vancouver when she was 30. She met her Vancouverite husband while on WH and they got married and had a child in 2007. The six participants have much in common. They all had akogare for English and the West, and most of them came to Canada as a WH maker and met their spouse while they were on a WH. At the same time, however, there are many differences among them particularly when it comes to their attitudes and practices concerning their children?s HL education. This will be revealed in the next chapter. - 50 - Chapter 5 Findings The interview data provided rich narratives of the mothers? bilingual childrearing experiences. The overarching research question for this study was: What does their children?s HL socialization mean to intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers? This chapter will report the findings based on the three subsequent research questions: 1) Why do intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers want their children to acquire Japanese; 2) What influences their attitudes and practices; and 3) How does their children?s HL socialization affect them emotionally, socially, and linguistically. 5.1 Why do intermarried Japanese immigrant mothers want their children to acquire Japanese? My first interview questions explored Japanese mothers? reasons for HL transmission. Prior studies indicated that immigrant parents often have multiple reasons for HL transmission. In the present study also, all participants mentioned more than one reason. Three general categories of responses emerged: the child?s benefit; ties with Japanese family; and mother-child bonding. 5.1.1 The child?s benefit The most common reason for HL transmission was for the child?s benefit. All participants generally believed that Japanese language skills would enrich their children?s lives and could broaden their children?s future options although they could come up with only a few examples of how. One example mentioned by all participants was the option to go to Japan. The mothers thought their children might decide to live or study in Japan in the future, - 51 - so they wanted to transmit their language just in case. Most participants also mentioned the benefit to their children?s future careers. They believed that additional language skills would provide their children with better job opportunities. Aya was the only person who mentioned a more specific example: she said that being bilingual would facilitate her child?s cognitive development and that this would increase his potential as a person in general and thus maximise his options in his life. Because mothers are generally expected to be responsible for nurturing their children, the view that Japanese language skills are beneficial for their children seemed to create or strengthen feelings of responsibilities for taking up the HL transmitter role in the mothers of this study. For example, Aya and Tsukiko expressed that, as parents, they feel obligated to transmit Japanese to their children because being multilingual would expand their children?s horizons. This point will be elaborated on in the next section of this chapter. 5.1.2 Ties with Japanese family Another common reason for HL transmission was maintaining ties with family in Japan. Because their parents and other family members in Japan do not speak English, it was important for these mothers to raise a Japanese-speaking child to maintain family ties. Some expressed their sense of responsibility for raising a Japanese speaking child for their parents by saying that they would feel bad for their parents if they could not communicate with their grandchildren. In Tsukiko?s case, her parents had been explicitly telling her to raise their grandchild to speak Japanese so they could communicate with her. They had even supported Tsukiko financially so that she and her child could visit them in Japan every year. Although - 52 - the mothers were physically distant from their Japanese families, they still carried the responsibility of maintaining the family ties and caring about their parents? feelings. 5.1.3 Mother-child bonding Regardless of their English levels and their actual language practices, the mothers in my study viewed the Japanese language as an important tool for them to be truly understood by and feel connected with their children. As shown in Table 3.1, Aya, Chika and Nami, employed a Japanese-only policy, Mana and Sakura spoke more English than Japanese, and Tsukiko spoke mostly Japanese with her child when she and her child were alone, but she switched to English when she felt English could express what she wanted to say to her child more effectively and when her husband was around. The mothers? self-reported English levels were the following: Aya was somewhere between advanced and upper intermediate, and Chika was intermediate, and the rest were upper-intermediate (see Table 3.1 for the definition of levels). Nami admitted that the number one reason for raising her children to speak Japanese was so that she could communicate with them in her L1. She explained that she would not be able to establish warm, meaningful relationships with her children if they spoke in English. Similarly, Aya and Chika said there would be more distance between them and their children had they not spoken in Japanese. Mana, although she used more English with her child, said that she and her child ?would not be able to understand from the heart? if they spoke in English. Tsukiko dismissed any special feelings and meaning attached to the Japanese language itself by saying that ?It?s only a language. It?s just a tool. So there are no feelings toward it.? She also said the language used between her and her child would not make a - 53 - difference to the mother-child relationship. Nonetheless, her response below clearly illustrates the significance of the Japanese language for the relationship with her child. This may sound weird, but I feel like my husband doesn?t truly know me. English does not let me express my personality. But when I am speaking in Kansai dialect14 with my friends, I am like SO funny. But my husband doesn?t know this part of me. I cannot put the essence or nuance in my Japanese words in English. NEVER. But that?s the true me, and I cannot express that in English so I think my husband doesn?t really know me ? So I feel worried that my child may not understand the true me if we speak in English ? That?s why I want her to acquire Japanese. I want her to understand my personality15. (Tsukiko) To summarize, for these mothers, the Japanese language was their roots, and an important tool which allowed them to establish meaningful relationships with their children. However, their reasons for HL transmission were not solely based around their own needs. The HL transmitter role also formed part of their responsibilities to maintain ties with their family in Japan and to nurture their children. 5.2 What influences their attitudes and practices? To explore the factors which affect Japanese mothers? attitudes and experiences, I asked what they do and do not do to facilitate their children?s Japanese language socialization (see Table 5.1 for a brief summary of participants? practices). Responses were categorized into two major themes: the social and environmental context; and the familial and personal context. Each theme has several sub-themes. 14 Kansai dialect is a group of Japanese dialects spoken in Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Mie, Shiga). It is considered as inferior and vulgar particularly by those who speak Kanto dialect. 15 All interviews were conducted in Japanese and therefore excerpts that appear in this paper were translated from the original Japanese transcripts. - 54 - Table 5.1: Summary of Participants? Practices Aya - Speaking only in Japanese - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (once/week) - Checking her son?s Japanese home work (once/week, about 10 mins) - Having her son do work on Japanese workbooks for 20 minutes or so and checking the answer (almost every day) - Subscribing to Japanese cable TV - Showing/playing Japanese DVDs and CDs - Trying to spend time with other Japanese mothers and children - Encouraging her son to read Japanese books - NOT working - NOT watching English TV in front of her son Chika - Speaking only in Japanese - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (once/week) - Helping her son with Japanese home work + subscribing to a Japanese correspondence program and doing the workbook with her son (3-4 times/week, 30 mins per time) - Reading Japanese books with her child - Borrowing Japanese books from the library and purposefully placing them where her children can see them Mana - Speaking Japanese (40% of the time) - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (twice/week) - Subscribing to a Japanese correspondence program and doing the workbook with her daughter (once/week, about an hour) - Choosing a Japanese babysitter when she needs one (once/week, 4 hours) - Trying to spend time with other Japanese mothers and children Nami - Speaking only in Japanese - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (once/week) - Helping her daughter with studying for Japanese tests and homework (almost every day, 15 ? 20 minutes per time) Sakura - Speaking Japanese (30% of the time) - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (once/week) - Helping her child with studying for Japanese tests and homework (almost every day, 15 minutes) Tsukiko - Speaking Japanese (most of the time when they are alone) - Taking her child to Japanese HL school (twice/week) - Helping her daughter with Japanese homework (twice/week, an hour each) - Showing Japanese TV programs 5.2.1 Social and environmental context Stavans (2012) argues that parents? attitudes and practices regarding their children?s HL socialization are largely affected by external social factors. Indeed, wide varieties of sub-themes were found to affect the mothers? attitudes and practices. They are: public discourse and ideology, others? advice and experiences; and the Japanese HL curriculum. - 55 - Public discourse and ideology. A variety of public discourse and ideologies were found to affect the mothers? attitudes and practices. One area of public discourse is that of bilingualism. Research shows that due to the shift in public discourse regarding bilingualism and media reporting on the benefits of bilingualism, parents? attitudes toward bilingualism have become more positive (c.f., King & Fogle, 2006; Okita, 2002). Indeed, my participants strongly believed that being bilingual is advantageous. What is intertwined with this is the ideology of a ?good mother? which projects an ideal image of a full time mother who puts her child?s needs before hers, and fully attends to her child?s emotional and cognitive well-being (Goodwin & Huppatz, 2010; Hays, 1996; Wall, 2004). The assumed benefits of bilingualism, and ?good mother? ideology together seemed to have produced an idealized image of a mother/HL transmitter as someone who devotes herself to her child?s HL socialization and who raises a child who is successful not only in attaining Japanese, but in overall socialization. This became particularly salient when I asked the participants to evaluate their own HL transmission work. None of them evaluated themselves very highly. In fact, they were generally quite harsh on themselves and tended to discuss what they were not doing right rather than how much they were trying to do. For example, Tsukiko took her daughter to a Japanese HL school twice a week and spent two hours per week helping her child with Japanese homework, but she said ?if I were to give myself a score out of 100, it would be less than 30.? Her reason for such a low score was that she had not tried anything other than homework support while some other mothers around her had started to provide Japanese tutoring sessions to their children from a very early age. Chika?s son was very fluent in Japanese, but she also did not evaluate herself very highly because her son?s English was delayed. She compared herself with the mothers whose children spoke both English and - 56 - Japanese fluently and repeatedly condemned herself for failing to raise a balanced bilingual child. Similarly, both of Nami?s children were fluent in Japanese, but she did not evaluate herself very positively. When I asked her who she would consider as ?perfect? in terms of HL socialization, she mentioned a mother of a child who was fluent in both English and Japanese and also excelled academically. In Mana?s case, her reason for low self-evaluation was that she could not commit to 100% to the HL transmitter role due to her employment. These cases indicate that, no matter how much they try or how well their children speak Japanese, Japanese mothers always compare themselves with the image of the ideal mother who is a full time mother who proactively takes up an HL transmitter role, and has children with high English and Japanese proficiency and academic achievement. As such, mothers who do not take up an HL transmitter role may be viewed as someone who is neglecting her job by failing to attend to her child?s needs. Chika?s comments below illustrate this point: [How much mothers can do for their children?s HL education] depends on their endurance. It may be rude to say this, but I think those who have given up have an easy life. (Chika) I feel bad for the children of the mothers who have given up on teaching Japanese. They are already deprived of the opportunities to learn Japanese? (Chika) Ideology surrounding the Japanese language itself was also found to affect the mothers? practices. The prevalent language ideology found in the data was the belief that so-called ?standard? Japanese is the correct, superior language. When I asked participants what kind of Japanese they want their children to acquire and speak, the majority of them answered ?beautiful/clean Japanese? or ?correct Japanese?. When I asked what they meant by that term, they said ?standard Japanese?. Mana and Aya, from the Kansai and Tohoku regions respectively, reported that they altered their language use so that their children would get - 57 - Japanese input in ?standard Japanese?. Mana explained that it was because she felt her child might get confused if she spoke in the Kansai dialect. Those from Kanto region said that they never even thought about it because they spoke what they called ?normal, standard language?. Though they were far away from their home country, the mothers? language practices and their ideal language use for their children were both affected by the common language ideology in Japan. As Stavans (2012) states, ?bodies can occupy only one place in time and space whereas selves reside in the new and the old location? (p.15), therefore people can be affected by the ideologies that permeate in any of the locations where their selves ?reside?. Others? advice and experiences. Hays (1996) and Goodwin and Huppatz (2010) say that the image of a good mother is someone who is resourceful and who seeks advice from experts. Indeed, all of my participants tried to gather information from different sources to maneuver their HL project. When I asked the participants to provide an explanation for their practice, many mentioned the media and experts as a source of information. For instance, Aya told me that her belief of bilingualism as being beneficial for the child?s cognitive development was informed by a book on bilingualism she had read. Moreover, she explained that the reason for her strict adherence to a Japanese only policy was because she had been told by a staff member of a prenatal class she attended that mothers should use their first language with their child, and she was also told by a nurse that she should not mix languages to avoid confusing the child. On the contrary, Mana told me that she mainly focused on English because she had been told by the language specialist at the postnatal class that parents - 58 - should focus on one language and establish one language first in order to avoid linguistic confusion16. Another common source of information for Japanese mothers seems to be other Japanese mothers and/or their children. Most participants reported that they had asked other Japanese mothers about their practices and experiences to plan or alter their own practices. All the mothers also referred to some Japanese HL learners? second language acquisition experience when they discussed their practices in the interview. For example, Nami did not initially believe that learning kanji (Chinese characters) was important for her children, but she changed her mind after hearing about the experience of Japanese-Canadians: I didn?t used to think kanji was very important ? I realised that being able to read kanji makes a lot of difference for my children when I heard stories about some Japanese Canadians. In Japan, they didn?t know where to go so they asked a train station attendant and s/he gave them a map and told them to look it up by themselves. They could not figure it out because they couldn?t read kanji, but they were too ashamed to say so. So they didn?t know what to do. (Nami) On the other hand, Sakura knew one Japanese HL speaking child who seemed to have a very high aptitude for language learning. According to her, his mother had not done anything to help him or encourage him to learn the language, but he had achieved very high Japanese proficiency in all four skills. Referring to this boy?s case, Sakura emphasized that the level of Japanese proficiency a child can achieve depends mainly on a child?s aptitude and not so much on what or how much mothers do. This might have led Sakura to believe that parents? efforts are not very important and this may have prevented her from actively seeking better practices. 16 The notion of bilingualism causing linguistic confusion is a rather old, yet persistent, myth and much research has challenged its veracity (King & Mackey, 2007). - 59 - [In the cases where children can speak Japanese fluently,] it?s not that the mother is doing something, it?s more about the child?s talent. There is a boy in my daughter?s class, his father is Dutch and mother is Japanese, and he speaks Dutch, Japanese and English perfectly, and he was called ?kanji hakase? (?Dr. Kanji?). It?s his talent. His mother doesn?t check his homework and never tells him to do anything ? So it?s his talent. My child does not have talent like that. (Sakura) Japanese HL school curriculum. The data also revealed that the curriculum of Japanese HL schools can influence Japanese mothers? attitudes and practices to a large extent. Most Japanese HL schools use kokugo textbooks for primary levels. Kokugo literally means a national language, as in Japanese when it is taught as a school subject in Japan. Between grade one and six, children in Japan learn from two textbook volumes per grade. However, because there is only one and a half to two hours of lessons per week at Japanese HL schools, they can only cover one volume per grade. The use of kokugo textbooks seemingly affects mothers? expectations and goal setting. For instance, Aya?s response below suggests that mothers may assume that the grade of kokugo textbook indicates the actual overall Japanese proficiency level of their children leading them to limit their expectation and practices. I would like my child to achieve the same level of Japanese proficiency as the primary school students in Japan, but of course it is impossible. At the Japanese language school he goes to now, they use the first volume of kokugo textbook [for Japanese first graders] at the grade one level, and they use the second volume in the grade two. So this means that they have only covered up to grade three or grade four level when children reach grade seven. So I think my child?s Japanese will be delayed. But it is better to be able to have some Japanese skills than nothing. Other mothers say the same thing ? It will be only up to the fourth grade level [of Japanese proficiency] but I want my child to achieve that level. (Aya) Moreover, the use of kokugo textbooks suggests that Japanese HL schools teach Japanese as a kokugo. This means that the focus of the lessons becomes reading and writing - 60 - rather than speaking and listening (Murasawa, 1997). Because HL schools often give students a lot of homework and tests which require heavy rote learning and memorization of Japanese scripts, the mothers? main practices seemed to be making sure their children do the homework and study for the tests. In Sakura?s case, the Japanese school her child attended gave reading and writing tests every week and those who scored less than 70% had to take a re-test. Because her daughter always got bad marks on the tests, Sakura felt pressure to check her child?s homework because it would prove to the teachers that she was not at fault for her daughter?s low scores on the tests.17 Moreover, the school is so strict that they may ask students to quit if they do not do well. According to Sakura, the mother of her child?s classmate was told by the teacher to quit because her child?s Japanese level was so low that they would have to hire a translator. This attitude from the school inevitably creates a lot of pressure on parents and children. At the time of the interview, Sakura was thinking of quitting the Japanese school as it was causing too much stress for her and her child. She also told me that her goals had been modified due to her child?s low scores on the Japanese tests. Her former goal was having her child achieve a high level of Japanese proficiency so she could get by in Japan, but Sakura started to feel discouraged after seeing her child?s low marks on the Japanese tests. She started to only hope for enough communication skills to speak with her parents in Japan. 5.2.2 Familial and personal context The data revealed that mothers? attitudes and practices are largely affected by how much and what type of family work they take up, as well as by their disposition. Two sub-themes in this section are: competing demands and work overload; and mother?s personality. 17 Every piece of homework the school gives has a space for parents to sign to indicate that they checked it. - 61 - Competing demands and work overload. One type of family work found to affect mothers? practices was what Delphy and Leonard (1992) call ?emotional work?, which involves caring about other family member?s feelings and maintaining family relations. As discussed earlier, their child?s HL socialization is a way for mothers to maintain ties with their families in Japan. On the other hand, women also have to care about their spouses? and spouses? family?s feelings (Bourdieu, 1996). This can conflict with their HL transmission work. Some mothers reported that they used English with their children when they felt they needed to accommodate other family members who did not speak Japanese. For example, Nami said that, when she was speaking with her children in front of her in-laws, she intentionally restated what she said in English so that her in-laws could understand. Tsukiko usually spoke in Japanese with her child when the two of them were alone, but when the husband was around, she used more English because, as she explained: ?My husband can?t understand it [if we speak in Japanese]. Maybe it?s ok that he can?t, but I feel bad for him.? Tsukiko also told me that she would speak to her child in English when they visited her aunt-in-law because she wanted to be considerate to the aunt who did not understand Japanese. Tsukiko probably felt some pressure too because the aunt once made negative comments about Tsukiko and her child speaking Japanese in front of her. For Japanese mothers, taking up ?emotional work? can automatically mean compromising their HL project. It can affect their practices and the outcome of their children?s HL socialization. A counter example is Chika?s case. She told me that her husband asked her to speak English with her child during dinner time, but she refused to do so as she did not wish to breach her Japanese-only policy. Thus, her practice was never affected by ?emotional work? because she made her HL project a priority. However, her family?s relationships seemed to - 62 - have suffered. As Chika?s said, ?[If I hadn?t made my children learn Japanese] my family might have been more united.? Because of her diligent attitude toward Japanese, her husband was isolated and he did not talk to her and their son very much. He had recently confessed to Chika that he did not want to talk to his son because it was too frustrating for him to face communication difficulties with his child. Consequently, their son, who is now a first grader, could not speak English until he entered kindergarten and has only recently become able to converse in English with some fluency. Because her HL project created a situation where it was hard for her to get her husband to be involved in childrearing, Chika?s workload increased. To help her son improve his English, she took up the role of English transmitter as well. She said that, along with reading and teaching Japanese to her son, she also read and taught him English about 3-4 times a week. This double burden affected Chika?s HL practices and the amount of time she could spend on her son?s Japanese. Another type of work that can conflict with the HL transmitter role is paid work. In Mana and Sakura?s cases, their breadwinner role was interfering with their HL transmitter role. In Sakura?s case, the time shared with her child was very limited because Sakura worked full time and the child was in after-school day care until 6 pm and went to bed by 9 pm. The few hours together passed very quickly as the child needed to eat dinner, take a bath and do homework. Mana explained that her child being English dominant was due to the fact that her husband was the main caregiver for a while and that she had been working full time since the child was about one. She said that she tried to maximize Japanese input by choosing Japanese babysitters when she had to hire one and hanging out with other Japanese mothers and their - 63 - children. However, these opportunities were limited as she worked irregular hours including night shifts. The following response shows how much her paid work was affecting her attitude and practices. I am so exhausted when I get home after work. Mentally. So I am happy if I can do half of what I want to do (Mana) The mother?s personality. Chika described herself as someone who is very diligent and a perfectionist. She said that she liked to follow set rules and do everything thoroughly, and because of this personality, she explained, she was too focused and thorough with her son?s Japanese and he became a Japanese monolingual speaker despite the fact that he had been raised in Canada since he was one and a half. On the other hand, Tsukiko described herself as someone who is lazy, self-indulgent, and neglectful. The following three excerpts show that she is generally easy-going and relaxed about things and suggest that her disposition was affecting her practices and attitude toward HL socialization as well as childrearing in general. I am a lazy kind of person. So I don?t really want to teach [Japanese] myself. I just hope somebody else like teachers will do it for me. (Tsukiko) Japanese is not everything in my child?s life. She should experience different things. It?s difficult to balance. But I am self-indulgent so I am like, ?Oh whatever. Whatever happens, happens?. (Tsukiko) I let my child do whatever she wants. I even wonder if my child should be watching so much [English] TV, it?s not just about the language, but as a way of childrearing. The recommended amount of TV viewing is like 2 hours for kindergarteners, but my child is watching more. It?s no good. It?s child neglect. To be honest. (Tsukiko) - 64 - It should be noted, however, that Tsukiko may be viewed as lazy or neglectful if we base our judgement on the ideal image of a good mother. In addition to weekly swimming and soccer lessons, Tsukiko took her daughter to Japanese school twice a week and spent two hours a week helping her with Japanese homework. Because of the image of an ideal mother/HL transmitter, Tsukiko felt her efforts were not sufficient. In short, all mothers in the study were affected by good mother ideology but how much they ascribed to the ideology might depend on their personality. Like past studies, the present study found that various factors affect mothers? attitudes and practices. As illustrated in Figure 5.1, Mothers? personalities perhaps provide the basis for their attitudes and practices regarding their children?s HL socialization. In addition to these, various factors which are borne from the social and historical contexts the women inhabit and the type of family work they take up, are intertwined with relational factors that together shape their resulting attitudes and practices. Figure 5.1 Factors Affecting Mothers? Attitudes and Practices Personal Public discourse & ideology: -Bilingualism -Motherhood -L1 Others? advice & experiences: -Experts -Other mothers -HL learners Japanese HL curriculum Mothers? personalities Roles mothers take up within family Social & Environmental Familial - 65 - 5.3 How does their children?s HL socialization affect them emotionally, socially, and linguistically? The longest period of the interviews was generally dedicated to exploring this last research question. I tried to explore the Japanese mothers? experiences and feelings in their attempt to raise Japanese speaking children to see how their bilingual childrearing experience is affecting them personally. Responses were divided into three categories: emotional effects, social effects, linguistic effects. 5.3.1 Emotional effects Stress, dilemma, shame and guilt. My data revealed that mothers often experienced some negative feelings like stress and dilemma as they attempted to raise Japanese speaking children. One common stress factor was the conflict between what they wanted to do for their children?s HL socialization and what they actually could do. In Mana and Sakura?s case, their breadwinner role was interfering with their HL transmitter role and this seemed to be a source of stress for them. This is illustrated well in their responses below. The underlined part in Sakura?s response indicates that her dilemma was also caused by the conflict between her English self and her HL transmitter role. If possible, I would love to speak Japanese 100% with my child and I would love to read Japanese books to her every day. But when I come home after speaking English all day at work, I automatically respond in English if my child speaks to me in English though I know I shouldn?t do that. (Sakura) I want to spend more time with my child and if I had more time, I could teach her Japanese more. And ? I want to take her to the libraries [which have Japanese books]. (Mana) In Chika?s case, the role of English transmitter was in conflict with her HL transmitter role. When I asked Chika what word she would choose to describe her child?s HL education, - 66 - she immediately answered ??? (endurance)?. This one word can tell us how much stress she might be going through. The following statements from Chika show that she feels stress from the double burden and not being able to do everything she wants to. It is hard to teach both Japanese and English. Every day, I read English to my children, I read Japanese to them, have my son study Japanese, and work on English vocabulary? (Chika) [If I give up on my children?s Japanese] my life will be so much less stressful. I will be free from the pressure to read books every day and stuff. I want to do it every day but I can?t so I feel stress from not being able to do it every day. (Chika) The sense of not being able to live up to what they think they are expected to do in their role can result in a sense of shame and guilt. For instance, Sakura often ended her sentences with comments like the underlined parts below. She sounded as though she was trying to tell me that she knew what she was supposed to do and that she was feeling remorseful and condemning herself. Before, I read only Japanese books to my child ? [but these days] if my child picks an English book, I just read what she picked. I should read Japanese books, shouldn?t I. (Sakura) We know which kanji will be tested so I make my child practice the kanji but she cries ? I gradually get irritated. Like ?why can?t you do this, you have done this before?. [My child] cries and says she hates kanji. That?s not good, is it. The way I do is not good. (Sakura) Similarly, Tsukiko?s response below shows that Japanese mothers tend to think of their children?s HL socialization as their job and therefore that they feel a sense of guilt and shame for their children?s lack of Japanese skills. - 67 - I feel sad when I see my child being unable to write Japanese, but it is not her fault. I did not make her learn it. I did not teach it. So of course she can?t write all the hiragana. Other children can write all the hiragana and when I see their birthday invitation card written in hiragana or something, I feel impressed and think ?my daughter can?t do this?. But it is not her fault. It?s my fault. (Tsukiko) Many mothers reported that they sometimes felt torn between their HL transmitter role and their role to care for their children?s emotions. For example, many mothers said that they felt bad for their children who were being deprived of free, relaxing time because of their HL work. Moreover, the children did not generally enjoy Japanese homework and tests and sometimes they even cried. This likely caused feelings of dilemma and guilt in the mothers because they wanted to be nice to their children but also wanted to transmit their language at the same time. In Nami?s case, her daughter went to a Japanese school which gave writing tests every week. Her daughter was Japanese dominant and generally did well on the tests, but the tests were still a great source of stress for both of them. Her daughter felt sad when she made mistakes on the weekly tests at the Japanese school so Nami knew she should try to cheer her daughter up by praising her daughter?s efforts rather than nagging her daughter about mistakes. However, she could not help making negative comments on the mistakes and this seemed to cause her guilt. I wish to praise my daughter for what she could do on the tests without saying how pitiful the mistakes were. I should teach her about the mistakes afterwards and refrain from nagging her about the mistakes she made ? but it was hard when especially she was doing fine at home and got it wrong on the tests. That happened for several weeks and I could not stop myself saying ?what a shame?. I really think I should be praising her for studying hard. That?s something I have to do now ? My daughter was shocked when she made mistakes on the tests. So next time I should just tell her that she did great for how much she could do. But it?s hard. I can?t help saying ?what a pity?. I should keep in mind that it?s not a good thing to do and be careful not to do that. (Nami) - 68 - Another common stress factor was the children?s rising resistance towards learning Japanese. Aya was concerned because she felt her son?s interest in learning Japanese was declining and he was sometimes refusing to read Japanese books when she asked him to. She feared that her son?s interest and Japanese proficiency might die in the near future. Chika was also facing strong resistance from her son. Chika?s responses below suggest that a child?s rising resistance is perhaps due to the fact that they begin to (wish to) identify themselves more with English and feel pressure to assimilate as they spend a larger amount of time outside of the home and immersed in English at school. Chika?s son?s reluctance to learn Japanese could also be due to the heavy homework and the Japanese only policy employed by the Japanese HL school he went to. Yesterday, my son told me that he wants to speak English because English is cool ? He says he doesn?t like Japanese homework because there is a lot. He says he doesn?t like to go to Japanese school because they tell him to speak only in Japanese at school. I think he is excited about being able to communicate in English now. (Chika) [My son] said to me, ?if I speak English at the Japanese school, I will be taken to the teacher?s office. At the English school, students can speak different languages and we won?t be taken to teacher?s office. Why do I have to be taken to the teacher?s office at the Japanese school?? (Chika) Empowerment and pleasure. Though the role of HL transmitter is loaded with emotional moments, it can also provide positive feelings to mothers. Aya and Mana?s responses to my question on their feelings about their children?s HL socialization suggest that the role of HL transmitter can be pleasurable and empowering for Japanese mothers. I feel pleasure. It?s a pleasure to teach. The fact that my son is learning something through me leads to great joy. I can feel confident. It?s like he is learning something from me. It?s like something I can do. It?s big. (Aya) - 69 - [A good thing about transmitting Japanese] is that I can gain confidence that my child is acquiring another language ? my child being able to speak and her acquiring [Japanese] means what I am doing is worthy. (Mana) 5.3.2 Social effects Shifting social network. The mothers in the study reported that their social network became much more Japanese oriented once they became mothers. For example, Chika used to have no Japanese network, but after her child was born she only interacted with Japanese people in her daily life except for her husband. Aya also had almost no Japanese friends before her child?s birth, but eventually half of the people in her social network were Japanese. Tsukiko?s case was a little different as she did not have very many friends prior to motherhood. Regardless, her post- motherhood social network was exclusively Japanese, except for her husband. Only Aya and Mana admitted that they had purposefully tried to create a Japanese network for their children?s Japanese. The other mothers believed that their networks naturally became Japanese oriented due to the fact that there were many Japanese mothers around them and/or as a result of their HL project. For example, Chika said that because she lived in an area with a lot of Japanese people, there were always some Japanese speaking mothers and children around. Because her son could not speak English, he only made friends with Japanese speaking children and her social network became Japanese oriented as a consequence. Furthermore, Aya told me that she gave up on getting a paid job because it would reduce the time she and her child could spend together. She thought the HL transmitter role was something that no-one could do properly on her behalf and therefore her child would not - 70 - be able to acquire Japanese if she worked. This case suggests that mothers may sacrifice their own needs for their children?s HL socialization and that the HL transmitter role can push mothers inside the home. Identity construction. When I asked Aya about the feelings she has when she teaches her son Japanese, she said: ?[Teaching my child Japanese makes me] feel I am Japanese. It?s like I realize that I like Japan.? This comment suggests that she re-recognized her Japanese self through HL transmission work and that, for Japanese mothers, the HL transmitter role can be a way of re-affirming their Japanese identity. The role of HL transmitter can also be a way of asserting their identity too. Aya lives in an area with a high Chinese population and almost half of the people in her social network are Chinese or other Asian immigrants. She told me that she wanted to learn Chinese and felt more comfortable with Chinese people than Caucasians although her husband is Caucasian. Perhaps because of the environment, she started to identify with Chinese to some extent. At the same time, however, she rejected the ?Chinese? identity when it was ascribed to her. She told me that because of her Asian appearance, people often assume she should be able to speak Chinese and they make comments about her inability to speak Chinese like ?Why can?t you speak Chinese?? Aya keeps being ascribed an ?Asian? or ?Chinese? identity, and as indicated in the following excerpt, the importance of her HL project has been dismissed at times. Her child?s Japanese language socialization might, therefore, be a way for her to confirm and assert her identity as Japanese. Some people have said to me ?what?s the point of teaching Japanese??? ?It?s better to teach Chinese than Japanese?. It?s because there are lots of Chinese speakers here, I think. People told me it?s no good to be able to speak Japanese - 71 - and Japanese is not useful in Canada ? I can see what they mean, that is another way of seeing things, it is true in the future, but [I told them that] I am Japanese and I can?t speak Chinese. (Aya) As Pavlenko and Blackledge (2004) state, identities are socially constructed and situated, and they are malleable and multi-dimensional. Intermarried Japanese mothers? HL projects can largely affect their social network and language use, and thus it can also affect the (re)construction of their identities. Aya?s case particularly shows that Japanese mothers develop multiple identities depending on the social and historical contexts they are embedded in, and that their children?s HL socialization can be a way of asserting and (re)affirming their identity. 5.3.3 Linguistic effects Linguistic identity and development. The shift to more Japanese oriented social networks inevitably reduced English use in the mothers? daily life, thus many of the mothers expressed concerns about losing their English. Particularly those who were employing a Japanese only policy (i.e. Aya, Chika, Nami) said that they spoke predominantly English before motherhood but started to speak mostly Japanese in their daily life because they were spending most of the day with their children and their use of English was generally limited to when they spoke with their spouse. Chika?s case is particularly revealing. Her English was declining because the level of communication with her husband had decreased, and also because of her perfectionist personality: she was bothered by her imperfect grammar and felt too embarrassed to use English. As a result, she became more and more Japanese oriented. When she was a WH maker, she avoided Japanese and tried to speak only English, but once she had a child, she began to avoid English and immerse herself in Japanese. Her leisure time - 72 - was spent only with other Japanese mothers, watched Japanese videos and read Japanese news. This situation further diminished her English skills. Chika recognized that her situation was not good but she explained that because she lived in an area with a high Japanese population it was harder for her to push herself to use English as she could get by without English. Her situation seems to have strengthened her Japanese linguistic identity. The following excerpt illustrates her strong identification with Japanese and her aversion to English. Before going back to Japan, I think ?Yay! I don?t have to speak English!? I feel ?I don?t have to deal with the nuisance [of speaking English]? and ?Everything will be in Japanese in Japan?. (Chika) Interestingly, however, Chika was hoping to re-learn and improve her English once her children grow up so she can get a job. This was echoed by Nami. She told me that she felt deeply concerned about losing her English, and that learning English is something she would have done first had she given up her child?s Japanese HL socialization. However, she continued, ?before I think about [my English], I want to let my children learn Japanese so I don?t think about myself very much at this time. I will have to think about that in the future.? Aya also mentioned losing her English as one thing that is negative about being an HL transmitter. Nonetheless, she continued to give up her English learning for the sake of her son?s HL socialization. She reported that she would even refrain from watching English TV shows in front of her child and watched Japanese kid?s shows instead to protect the Japanese environment. It seems that intermarried Japanese mothers? L2 socialization and their children?s HL socialization are not very compatible, and because of mothers? tendency to prioritize their children?s needs over their own, mothers? L2 socialization can be sacrificed to the benefit of their children?s HL socialization. - 73 - The data also revealed that intermarried Japanese mother?s own Japanese language development can be affected by their HL project. Aya told me that she felt her Japanese became ?strange? because she had to alter her language use for her son. For example, she avoided vulgar words and ?non-standard? dialects so that her son could acquire what she and other mothers call ?Tadashii nihongo (correct Japanese)?. Furthermore, Aya felt that she was (re)learning Japanese herself through teaching the language to her son. She often looked up words and kanji for her son and watched Japanese kid?s TV shows and listened to Japanese educational CDs with him. She emphasized that she often learned new things about the Japanese language and she felt she was learning more about the Japanese language than her child. This section discussed how children?s HL socialization affects intermarried Japanese mothers emotionally, socially, and linguistically. The mothers in this study generally found the HL transmitter role stressful as they were trying to fulfill competing demands. At the same time, however, some derived pleasure from the HL transmission process as it allowed them to recognize that they were worthy human beings and it legitimized their existence. Trying to transmit Japanese on to their children inevitably shifted the mothers? social network and language use towards a more Japanese orientation. As a result, their English proficiency declined while their Japanese language evolved, and they began to identify more with Japanese than with English. The data also revealed that intermarried Japanese mothers construct their identities through the social interactions they have, and their children?s HL socialization can become a way of asserting and (re)constructing their selves. - 74 - Chapter 6 Discussion 6.1 Child?s HL socialization as a way of establishing mother-child bonding In Okita?s (2002) study, the most common reason for Japanese mothers to transmit their L1 was their own communication satisfaction: the mothers wanted to speak Japanese with their children because it is the language they felt the most comfortable speaking and it was the language which allowed them to express themselves effectively and eloquently. This was particularly true for those mothers with low English skills. In my study, three mothers spoke only Japanese with their children. Their English levels varied from intermediate to advanced, and they reiterated how the Japanese language is important for them to feel connected with their children. The other mothers? English levels were upper intermediate and they used English with their children to a varying extent. Interestingly, the data indicated that those mothers still felt Japanese was an important tool for them to establish meaningful relationships with their children. It was particularly revealing when Mana, a mother who speaks more English than Japanese with her child, said that she and her child ?would not be able to understand from the heart? if they spoke English. Tsukiko?s case is also intriguing: despite believing language does not matter in a mother-child relationship and using more English in particular situations, she expressed fear that her child would not truly understand her if they could not communicate in Japanese. In short, my study found that, regardless of their English levels and their actual language practices, intermarried Japanese mothers view the Japanese language as an important tool for being truly understood by and feeling connected with their children. - 75 - Language is one?s roots and identity (Ramsdell, 2004) and as Kouritzin (2000b) illustrates through her own L2 childrearing, it is hard for mothers to establish meaningful relationships with their children without their mother tongue and a child?s inability to speak their HL can mean that their mothers? identity is denied. 6.2 Child?s HL socialization as a part of mothers? work Varro (1988) and Okita?s (2002) studies found that the gendered division of labour is more acute in intermarried families and that HL transmission work becomes the mother?s work because of it. The present study did not find that the gendered division of labour was particularly acute for intermarried families, but it did find that the children?s HL socialization was the mother?s work and that it was situated within the other work they take up. For example, one of the common reasons for HL transmission was to maintain relationships and communication with family in Japan. This is not unique to Japanese mothers. Prior studies on immigrant parents across different groups including both father and mothers have mentioned the same reasons (e.g., Guardado, 2008; Park & Sarkar, 2007). What appears to be different in the present study is that some mothers expressed that they felt a sense of pressure or obligation from their family in Japan to raise a Japanese speaking child. This suggests that mothers? HL transmission work is a part of their role in caring for their family?s feelings and maintaining family relations. Another common reason mentioned by my participants was the benefit to the child. All my participants believed that having Japanese language skills would be beneficial to their children and thus wished to transmit their language. Again, this is a common reason across different groups as many past studies indicate (e.g., Lao, 2004; Zhang & Slaughter-Defore, - 76 - 2009). Research has shown that, due to the shift in public discourse regarding bilingualism including media reports on the benefits of bilingualism, parents? attitudes toward bilingualism have become more positive (King & Fogle, 2006; Okita, 2002). This is because parents generally wish the best for their children. It is possible, however, that it was more than just a general parental wish for the mothers in my study. According to Varro (1988), raising a bilingual child has become a proper childrearing norm for intermarried minority mothers because of the positive public discourse regarding bilingualism. Indeed, mothers in my study seemed to feel it was a responsibility to raise their children bilingually. The present study suggested that the view of bilingualism as beneficial and ?good mother? ideology converged to produced an idealized image of a mother/HL transmitter who devotes herself to her child?s HL socialization and successfully raises a balanced bilingual child who succeeds academically. No matter how much time and effort they were investing in their HL transmission work or no matter how high their children?s Japanese levels were, the mothers in this study tended to feel deficient in their role as an HL transmitter. For example, those who were employed outside the home negatively evaluated their performance based on the lack of time and energy they could spend on their children?s HL socialization while those who spent much time and energy in their HL transmission work and successfully raised Japanese speaking children still underrated their performance based on their children?s lack of English proficiency. The key finding from Okita?s (2002) study was that HL transmission work is emotionally demanding work for intermarried minority mothers because they have to balance various needs such as their husband?s need for their attention and their children?s needs to - 77 - adapt to mainstream society. This was very much true in the present study. Because of the cultural and linguistic differences within the family, the mothers had to take up the HL transmitter role alone while also taking up extra work such as caring about the feelings of their spouses and in-laws. The mothers? experiences were filled with stress and dilemma as their HL project conflicted with their other work (e.g., paid employment outside the home, caring for the family?s feelings and maintaining family relations), and also because of the pressure to live up to the ideal image of a good mother/HL transmitter. When they were unable to meet these expectations, the mothers felt a sense of guilt and shame. The mothers? attitudes and practices concerning their children?s HL socialization were also affected by other factors. For example, they often altered their HL transmission work based on the advice of experts and other mothers as well as on the experience of others in bilingual childrearing and HL acquisition. Japanese Language ideology was also found to affect mothers? practices. Mothers generally viewed ?standard Japanese? as the correct and superior language and therefore some mothers who were from non-Kanto areas reported that they altered their language use so that their children would get input in ?standard Japanese?. The Japanese HL school curriculum was found to be another key factor. The data suggested that mothers? expectations and goal setting can be affected by the materials used at HL schools and by their children?s achievements on tests. The data also suggested that mothers feel pressure and stress about their children?s Japanese homework and tests. This may be because, to mothers, their children?s homework and tests are not merely an indicator of their children?s HL development, but also an indicator of good motherhood / HL transmitter. The present study revealed that the degree to which mothers devote themselves to HL transmission work can be affected by their personalities. For instance, in Chika?s case, because she is a - 78 - perfectionist and tends to be rigid about rules, her attitude and practices concerning her child?s HL socialization are very thorough to the extent that family relations were negatively affected. On the other hand, describing herself as lazy and self-indulgent, Tsukiko is not thorough, and therefore her attitude and practices regarding her child?s HL socialization as well as childrearing in general seemed more relaxed than the other mothers. In summary, their children?s HL socialization is a part of intermarried Japanese mothers? work. It is integrated into, and affected by, other work they take up. Because they have to deal with competing demands, their experiences in HL transmission work can become emotionally demanding. How mothers maneuver to perform their HL transmission work and how much they devote themselves to it are determined by various social, familial, and personal factors. 6.3 Child?s HL socialization as a way of (re)constructing the self Chubachi?s (2009) study found that Japanese women in Canada often avoid the Japanese community due to their negative feelings about Japanese social rules and/or because they want to improve their English, but they often create Japanese social networks once they start motherhood in order to create a Japanese environment for their children. The present study revealed similar results. Chika was the only person who actively avoided the Japanese community before motherhood and Mana and Aya were the only ones who said they purposefully created a Japanese network for their children?s Japanese. However, the data suggested that for most mothers their HL project gave their social network a Japanese orientation. For example, the most common practice was to take their children to Japanese HL schools. This gave them opportunities to expand their Japanese network although it was not - 79 - their conscious goal. In Aya?s case, she chose not to get a job to ensure her child?s Japanese development. This did not expand her Japanese network directly, but it indirectly reinforced a Japanese oriented network as her L2 socialization and English network were restricted. Because of this shift in their social networks, the mothers? Japanese language use in daily life increased while their English use decreased. As a result, some mothers felt they were losing their English. Both Chika and Nami saw their English loss as alarming and had a desire to relearn English. However, they were putting off their English learning in order to prioritize their children?s Japanese. These cases suggest that the mothers? L2 socialization and their children?s HL socialization can be incompatible and because they tend to prioritize their children over themselves, the mothers? L2 socialization can become impeded. The mothers? English development and their English selves are not the only things that are affected by the HL project. The data also revealed that HL transmission work can bring new developments in mothers? Japanese language skills as their knowledge of the Japanese language expands and their language use shifts based on L1 ideology. Japanese mothers in Kato?s (1988) study felt their existence in the United States was validated by the role of HL transmitter, and that they were constructing new identities through bilingual motherhood. Okita (2002) and Varro (1988) suggested that children?s HL socialization can become central to intermarried minority mothers? lives due to the limited options to assert their identities. In the case of my study, HL socialization was not necessarily found to be central to the mothers? lives, but it did find that Japanese mothers may find meaning in their role as HL transmitter, and that HL transmission work can become a part of a mother?s identity construction. For example, because she lived in an area with a very high - 80 - Chinese population, Aya seemed to be identifying with Chinese people and language to some extent. Because of her Asian looks, she was often assigned a Chinese or Asian identity and her HL project was occasionally questioned. Therefore, her role as HL transmitter helped her to re-affirm and assert her identity as Japanese. In summary, mothers (re)construct themselves through the negotiation of the various roles they take up and the identities assigned to them. Because intermarried Japanese mothers? L2 socialization and their children?s HL socialization are not compatible and because they tend to prioritize their children?s needs over their own, mothers? social networks and language use tend to shift towards a more Japanese orientation. Mothers develop multiple identities depending on the context they are embedded in, and HL transmission work can become a way of re-affirming and asserting these identities. - 81 - Chapter 7 Conclusion 7.1 Summary of research findings The present study attempted to examine what their children?s HL socialization means to intermarried Japanese mothers through an exploration of their motivations, attitudes, hopes, practices, challenges, and feelings. My participants generally believed that the Japanese language was the only language through which they could develop a meaningful relationship with their children, and that it would benefit their children to have Japanese language skills. They also viewed the Japanese language as an important tool for maintaining communication and fostering relationships with their children and their family in Japan. Their attitudes and practices regarding HL transmission work varied depending on how they were affected by a complex interplay of factors borne from the contexts they were embedded in. For example, various factors existed in the social context: public discourse and ideologies surrounding bilingualism, motherhood, and the Japanese language; the advice of experts and other mothers, and the experience of others in bilingual childrearing and HL acquisition; and the Japanese HL school curriculum. At the family and personal levels, the kind of roles mothers took up within the family and mothers? personalities were found to be factors. As in Okita?s (2002) study, HL transmission work was found to be emotionally demanding as mothers had to balance various competing demands and manage the pressure to meet the ?good mother? standard. At the same time, however, some mothers felt their existence was validated through their HL transmission work. The data suggests that their - 82 - children?s HL socialization tends to shift intermarried Japanese mothers? social networks and language use as well as their identities towards a Japanese orientation leading to an evolution and re-affirmation of their Japanese self and an assertion of their identities. 7.2 Implications 7.2.1 Japanese HL school curriculum Although HL schools play an important role in children?s HL socialization, they are facing numerous problems including a lack of funding, materials and well-experienced, qualified teachers (Douglas, 2008; Nakajima, 1997). Problems relating to the Japanese HL curriculum were highlighted in the present study as the children?s needs and interests seemed to be overlooked. For example, Chika?s responses indicated that some of her son?s reasons for resisting learning Japanese were due to the strict Japanese-only policy at his HL school and his need to adapt to mainstream society. Although it is probably important to have such a policy to protect a minority language environment, punishing children without giving them a rationale may indicate a lack of respect and sensitivity towards children and their developmental needs. HL schools tend to focus heavily on literacy skills and the core of the children?s learning becomes memorization and rote learning. This was found to be a source of stress for both the mothers and the children. Kokugo textbooks are made for children who speak Japanese as their L1 in Japan and therefore the contents do not correspond to the linguistic and cultural knowledge of the children in Canada. Moreover, children learn one kokugo - 83 - textbook in about 140 hours at a lower grade level in Japan18, but Japanese HL schools attempt to cover the same content in less than 60 hours. This inevitably pushes HL schools to focus even more on memorization and rote learning. According to Nakajima (1998), a curriculum focusing on specific language skills does not allow children to develop Japanese proficiency corresponding to their developmental stage. Children learn various things at school and develop cognitive, social and emotional skills, but the Japanese skills they develop through Japanese HL schools do not correspond to their increasingly expanding interests and skills. To reduce the mismatch between children?s needs and the curricula at Japanese HL schools, Douglas (2005) makes several specific suggestions. First, research shows that teaching languages through content is more effective than teaching languages per se. Thus, Douglas contends that the curriculum should be more content-based and employ hands-on, activity based approaches. Such instruction would make lessons interactive and intellectually challenging, and facilitate students? motivations. Selecting themes in a curriculum is extremely important. Douglas emphasizes that themes have to be interesting and meaningful to the children. Therefore, students? interests and developmental stages need to be taken into consideration. In particular, selecting themes according to what students learn in school will increase the relevance of the Japanese HL curriculum and school curriculum, and thus help diminish the common feeling among heritage learners that what they are learning at HL school is irrelevant to their life. 18 Two kokugo textbooks are covered every year. Yearly total hours for kokugo classes at Japanese primary schools are: 272 hours for first grade, 280 hours for second grade, 235 hours for third and fourth grade, 180 hours for fifth grade, 175 hours for sixth grade - 84 - Another suggestion made by Douglas is employing a multi-age instruction approach. Generally, classes are divided by age at Japanese HL schools. However, due to the growing diversity in the linguistic environments of students, levels of Japanese proficiency vary greatly. Thus, dividing classes based on Japanese proficiency levels would help to make instruction more effective. However, there are not enough empirical studies on HL learners? language development to effectively measure for multi-age instruction. As Curdt-Christiansen (2002) argues, if children have negative experiences at HL schools, they can become demotivated from going or from learning the language itself (as cited in Douglas, 2008). The Japanese HL school curriculum requires fundamental change in order to provide more effective instruction and make children?s learning more enjoyable and meaningful. Joint efforts from researchers, educators and parents are necessary to achieve this goal. 7.2.2 Kokugo and language policy in Japan The data from the present study showed that Japanese mothers? attitudes and practices are affected by the prevalent ideology in Japanese society that the Kanto dialect is the standard and correct form of the language. Yasuda (2006) suggests that this ideology dates back to when kokugo (lit. national language) was constructed between late 19th to early 20th century as a tool to unite and control people in Japan and its colonies. Before the Meiji era (1868-1912), spoken language varied significantly among different regions and classes, and there was a great difference between the spoken and written languages. Therefore, Japan sought to establish a common language in order to first establish a modernized nation and then to strengthen its imperial power. - 85 - As Satake (2004) explains, by around 1900, the variety spoken by the middle class in Tokyo had been selected as the standard Japanese language and was being promoted as kokugo. In 1904, the first kokugo textbook was published, and the use of dialects was discouraged or sometimes even prohibited in schools. It was through this process that the perceived superiority of the Kanto dialect vis-?-vis the other dialects/languages was fostered. As a result, many dialects/languages are in danger of dying out19. Although the status of ?non-standard? varieties seems to have increased over the last few decades, efforts need to be made to foster respect for different varieties so that parents will be proud to pass their native tongue onto their children. The diverse, rich cultures that have existed in Japanese society would then be protected and recognized. My data also revealed that the Japanese HL school curriculum tends to be kokugo oriented and requires children to focus on rote learning, and that this was a source of great stress for both the children and their mothers. As Inoue (2001) explains, the Japanese writing system is the most complicated in the world because there are multiple scripts including kanji which often have many different readings. Thus, it can often become an obstacle for Japanese learners including the children who are learning Japanese as a heritage or second language (Douglas, 2010; Miyazaki, 2009). In fact, as Tanaka (2011) explains, the complicated writing system is difficult not only for Japanese language learners but also for Japanese L1 speakers in Japan. Tanaka argues that such a complicated writing system is an impediment for wide dissemination of the Japanese language, and it creates disparities in knowledge. For example, because mastering kanji requires a lot of time, Japanese L1 speakers who have less education and resources, Japanese L2 learners, immigrants, and children are disadvantaged in accessing 19In 2009, Unesco reported that there are eight endangered languages in Japan (Tanaka, 2011) - 86 - information and therefore their access and participation in the Japanese community can be restricted (see also Abe, 2002; Mashiko, 2002). The number of Japanese overseas residents is on the increase. The number of immigrants to Japan is also increasing, and this number will likely grow considering the falling birth rate. Given this growing diversity in the Japanese speech community, the simplification of the Japanese writing system may be necessary so as to make it easier to learn the language and to welcome and accommodate people with different backgrounds and abilities. 7.2.3 Policy Canada is often known for championing multiculturalism. With its official multicultural policies, we would expect cultural and linguistic diversity to be embraced and protected. However, as the data from my study and other studies suggest, HL transmission is very challenging due to the strong pressures to assimilate and the lack of societal support for HL socialization/education. If Canada is to become a truly multicultural nation, more funding and other forms of support need to be available to facilitate minorities? HL transmission. Increased efforts are needed to foster positive attitudes towards different cultures/languages and to deepen understanding about multiculturalism amongst educators, policy makers and the general public. Providing support to bridge learning between HL schools and public schools (e.g., increasing the relevance between their curricula) and actively promoting multiculturalism in public schools (e.g., offering more HL programmes) would help both linguistic majority and minority students to understand and co-construct a multicultural society. - 87 - 7.3 Suggestions for further studies HL socialization and language policy within the family domain are relatively new areas and thus there are many unexplored issues (He, 2008; King, Fogle & Logan-Terry, 2008). The present study suggests that there is a mismatch between children?s needs and the current Japanese HL school curriculum, and that this mismatch can be a detrimental factor for HL acquisition and a source of stress for both the mother and child. A curriculum which is appropriate for children?s developmental levels and needs is called for. In order to develop such a curriculum, the HL acquisition process needs to be studied more closely, but there is currently a dearth of empirical studies on the subject (Douglas, 2008). Conducting empirical studies on children?s HL socialization process inside and outside home, as well as on their HL development is a necessary step for creating more effective curriculum and environment for both parent and child. Given that HL socialization is a co-constructed and reciprocal process among different participants, it is important to expand the scope of HL socialization research from the HL learner to other co-participants (He, 2008, 2010). The present study focused on one of the main co-participants, the mother. Contextualized research into the views and experiences of other co-participants including fathers and teachers is also necessary in order to fully understand the nature and issues concerning the HL socialization process. 7.4 Limitations and strengths of the study As in many studies, there are limitations to this study. One limitation is the demography of the sample. There were only six participants with specific backgrounds, and - 88 - most of them were my acquaintances. Although their views and experiences were diverse in many ways, they are not the true reflection of the total population of Japanese female immigrants in Metro Vancouver. For example, perspectives and experiences will likely differ among mothers who have children in different age groups. The present study also did not include the women who do not try or wish to transmit their language to their children. The voices and perspectives of these women would have deepened our understanding of this topic. Another limitation is that this study used a single data source?the interview?and each participant was interviewed only once for approximately an hour and a half. In addition, information regarding family language use, the English proficiency levels of the participants and the Japanese proficiency level of participants? spouses were based solely on participants? self-reports. Although I tried to increase the authenticity of the analysis through a member-check, triangulation of data would have strengthened the trustworthiness of the study. An analysis of naturalistic conversation data between mother and child as well as with other family members would have been particularly helpful as it would have allowed me to check whether what mothers reported in their interviews agreed with their actual practices. Finally, as I explained in the first chapter, the selection of this study topic was deeply influenced by my own past experience and as I worked on this study I was influenced by my own ongoing bilingual childrearing experiences. Although I tried to be as open and objective as possible, my interpretations were inevitably affected by my own knowledge and views I had formed through my experience as a researcher, as a Japanese language teacher, and as a Japanese immigrant mother married to a Canadian man. - 89 - Despite these limitations, the present study has achieved its goals, which were to illuminate the experiences and strengthen voices of an overlooked population -intermarried Japanese mothers- and to deepen understanding of their experiences regarding their children?s HL socialization. By inviting them to participate in my study, I hoped that Japanese mothers would have an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and would feel their voices were valued and heard. 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March, 2013 ?Voices within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and their Children?s Heritage Language Education? ???????????????????????(Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604-XXX-XXXX)????????????????(Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604-XXX-XXXX)??????????????????????? ???BC?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ? ?????????? 2?(??????????)?????????????10?????????????????? ? ?? 2?????????????????????????????????????????????? ? ????????????????????????????????????????? ? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????? ????? 15??????????????????????????????? ???????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? - 99 - ????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????5?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????(???604-XXX-XXXX /?????: @interchange.ubc.ca)??????????????(???604-XXX-XXXX /?????: @ubc.ca)?????????????????????????????????????????????????(The Research Subject Information Line)604-XXX-XXXX?????????? Shiho Minami, BA, Monique Bournot-Trites, PhD MA Student Associate Professor Director of Modern Language Education - 100 - ?????????? ??????????? ?Voices Within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and Their Children?s Heritage Language Education? ?????????????????(Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604-XXX-XXXX)??????????????????????????????????????????(Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604- XXX-XXXX)??? ????????????????????????????????????????2?????????????????????????10????????????????????????????? ??????????Voices within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and Their Children?s Heritage Language Education? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?? ?????????????????????? ???? ???? - 101 - Appendix A: Consent Form (Translation) Informed Consent Form March, 2013 Voices within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and their Children?s Heritage Language Education Investigator: The principal investigator is Dr. Monique Bournot-Trites, Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604- XXX-XXXX. This is a research project for the MA degree of Shiho Minami, Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604-XXX-XXXX. Purpose: There are many Japanese female immigrants in British Columbia and the majority of them who are in conjugal relationship seem to have Canadian spouses. Generally, there are few studies on heritage language education and even less common are studies which focus on the experiences of Japanese immigrant women with Canadian spouses and their children's heritage language education. The purpose of this study is to reveal Japanese female immigrants' experiences concerning their children?s Japanese language education within a mixed family. Study Procedures and What Participants are Expected to do: ? Prospective participants will receive two hard copies of consent forms and a stamped envelope. They will be asked to mail the signed consent form to the researcher within 10 days. ? Each participant will be interviewed which will be approximately two hours. Interviews will be audio-recorded to facilitate post-interview analysis. ? Participants will be encouraged to contact me (either by email or by phone) if they would like to add anything to their interview responses after interview (not a requirement). ? After completing the data collection, the researcher will analyze the data. If necessary, participants will be asked some follow-up questions to confirm or elaborate on their interview responses. ? When the data analysis is completed, she will send the draft of the data analysis to the participants to ensure that participants? experiences and perspectives have been represented appropriately (not a requirement). Compensation $15 dollars will be paid at the completion of the interview. Potential Benefit: As mentioned above, research on heritage language education is limited and there is a serious dearth of knowledge on issues regarding mixed unions and the experiences of minority mothers. I believe that revealing the experiences of Japanese immigrant women who have Canadian spouses will increase awareness and further the development of the heritage language education in the multicultural and multiethnic nation of Canada. It is hoped that participating in this study will provide an opportunity for Japanese immigrant women to reflect on their own experiences and feel that their experiences are meaningful and validated. Confidentiality: All data collected in this study will be kept absolutely confidential. Pseudonyms will be used so that participants? identity will not be determinable. All recorded audio data will be transcribed before analysis and will only be presented as a written transcription, and never as a raw recording. All information which might reveal a participant?s identity will be deleted or altered and will not be released or published. All data, including all audio recordings, will be stored in a locked file cabinet at UBC and destroyed after five years. The data will be used for a master's thesis as a partial requirement of an MA degree and will - 102 - only be shared with my thesis advisory committee members. Data analysis and research findings may also be presented at academic conferences and may be published as a scholarly work. Contact: You have a right to refuse participation in this study or withdraw during the project without any consequences. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you may refuse to participate or withdraw from the study at any time, even after signing this consent form. If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, please contact Shiho Minami (Phone: 604-XXX-XXXX /email: @interchange.ubc.ca) or Dr. Monique Bournot-Trites (Phone: 604- XXX-XXXX /email: @ubc.ca), or the Research Subject Information Line in the UBC Office of Research Services at 604- XXX-XXXX. Shiho Minami, BA, Monique Bournot-Trites, PhD MA Student Associate Professor Language and Literacy Education Department - 103 - Statement of Informed Consent (copy to keep) Title of the project: ?Voices within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and their Children?s Heritage Language Education? Researcher: The principal investigator is Dr. Monique Bournot-Trites, Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604- XXX-XXXX. This is a research project for the graduate degree of Shiho Minami, Department of Language and Literacy Education, 604-XXX-XXXX. If you are willing to participate in this project, please fill out the information below. Be sure to keep the first page for your own records and to return a signed copy of the second page (copy of Statement of Informed Consent for Researcher) in the enclosed envelope to me within ten days. I have read and understand the letter regarding the project entitled ?Voices within the Canadian Mosaic: Japanese Immigrant Women and Their Children?s Heritage Language Education?. I understand that, even if I consent to participate in this study, I can opt out of the study at any time. I have kept a copy of the letter describing the project and a copy of the Statement of Informed Consent. I, , consent to participate in this study. ?Date? ?Signature? - 104 - Appendix B: Interview Guide 0. Demographic Information - Participant?s age: - Length of stay in Canada - How/why she came to Canada - Spouse?s age: - Spouse?s ethnic and linguistic background: - Child?s age and sex: 1. ???????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????? - ?????????????? - ????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????? - ?????????/????????????????????? - ????????????????????? 2. ?????????????????????????? - ???????????????/????????? - ???????/????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????? - ???????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????/????? - 105 - - ?????????????????????????????(???????????)???????????????????????????? - ?????????(?:????????)???????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????(?:????????????????)???????? 3. ??????????????????? - ??????????????????(???????????????) - ?????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????? - ???????????????????????????????????????? - ??????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????? - ?????????????(???)???????????? - ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????? - ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? - ???????????????????????????? 4. ?????????????????????????????????????? - 106 - Interview Guide (Translation) 0. Demographic Information - Participant?s age: - Length of stay in Canada - How/why she came to Canada - Spouse?s age: - Spouse?s ethnic and linguistic background: - Child?s age and sex: 1. Why do you want your child to acquire Japanese? - Why do you think Japanese mothers want their children to learn Japanese? - How do you describe the general attitude of the Japanese mothers around you (with regard to children?s HL education)? - What are the characteristics of the mothers who are particularly enthusiastic about their children?s Japanese language education? - What are the characteristics of the mothers who are not very enthusiastic about their children?s Japanese language education? - What do you think determine children?s level of Japanese proficiency? - When did you first think about your child?s HL education? - Why/how did you decide to raise your children to speak Japanese? - Was it a tough call? Why/why not? - Did you consult with someone/something? - What are the advantages / disadvantages of learning Japanese for their children? - If your child cannot speak Japanese, what are the bad things for yourself? - Among the people you know, who do you consider as successful or unsuccessful in bilingual childrearing? - How do you evaluate your own bilingual childrearing? - How do you think others evaluate your own bilingual childrearing? 2. How have you been approaching your child?s HL education? - What have been your goals? - Have they changed over the course of time? - How do you want your child to develop his/her Japanese skills? - What kind of Japanese language do you not wish your child to speak? - What do you do or not do for your child?s HL development? Why? - Is there anything you want to do (for your child?s HL education), but you can?t? - What/who do you consult/have you consulted with about your child?s HL education? - What kind of advice or comments have you received from others and how did you respond to it? - Do you ever feel unsure about your practices? - When do you find it hard to stick to your plan? - 107 - - Do you ever feel reluctant to speak Japanese or want to speak English? - What do you do when your child does not do what you asked him/her to do. 3. How do you think your child?s HL education might have been affecting yourself? - Please describe your family?s language use at home - Has the communication between you and your spouse changed in any way since you had your child? - How has your language use changed after you had your child? - How do you talk to your child? Is there anything that you are paying attention to about your language use? - How much time do you dedicate to your child?s HL education every week? - Do you join any groups/activities for the sake of your child?s Japanese development? - Is there anything you would do / would not do if you were not trying to raise a Japanese speaking child? - Is there anything you have started or stopped for your child?s HL education? - Have you ever encountered conflicts with your family about your child?s HL education? - How do you think your relationship with your spouse/ in-laws/your Japanese family/friends might have been different if you had not tried to raise your child bilingually? - What feelings do you associate with Japanese language education? - When do you feel encouraged / happy? - When do you feel discouraged / sad/frustrated? - Do you think your trying to raise your child to speak Japanese is a good thing? How do you think it affects you personally? - Can you describe your child?s Japanese language education in one word? 4. Is there anything else that I should have asked? - 108 - Appendix C: Transcription Conventions (words) Relevant details pertaining to interaction [words] Used to add words/sentences to clarify the excerpts *** Asterisks indicate that the words were not clearly heard. Number of asterisks indicates approximate number of syllables in the inaudible part underlining Underlines are used to draw attention to a particular segment that is the focus of an analytic point CAPITAL, BOLD Capital, bold cases indicate speaker emphasis . Terminal falling intonation , Rising, continuing intonation ? High rising intonation, not necessarily at the end of a sentence