Any Multilingual Learning for CIB in Japanese school? : Reality of Educational Policy and What Happens in Classroom

This article reviews the history of educational policy in Japan with respect to children with immigration background (CIB), in particular to consider its relevance and effectiveness in terms of opportunities for a multilingual education. This article concludes that CIB are provided opportunities to learn Japanese as a Second language (JSL), they receive little multilingual learning in public schools. As possible policy suggestions for multilingual learning, central government should take actions i) to expand financial support for local governments and others, ii) to establish research to develop a new curriculum for multilingual learning, and iii) to promote establishment of consortiums among organizational stakeholders.