Heritage Language Maintenance and Japanese Identity Formation: What Role Can Schooling and Ethnic Community Contact Play?

This study examines the role of schooling and ethnic community contact in ethnolinguistic and cultural identity construction and heritage language maintenance through the surveys and narratives of three groups of Japanese-English bilingual youths and their parents in Sydney, Australia, as a part of a larger longitudinal study from childhood. The bilingual youths were either born in Australia or immigrated there at a young age, and one or both of their parents are Japanese. All youths attended local Japanese community (heritage) language schools on weekends for varying periods of time while receiving Australian education (one group received some Japanese education as well) during the week. The bilinguals were grouped by types of schooling and community contact. The results show that community schools foster positive Japanese inclusive identity and heritage language development, especially with home, community, and peer support. Contrary to previous studies, positive attitudes toward hybrid identities and Japanese maintenance were found, regardless of the levels of Japanese proficiency. The development of identity and heritage language appear to be influenced not only by schooling and community, but also by wider socio-cultural contexts.