Japanese Language Support for Migrant Children in Japan: Needs, Policies, Activities, Problems

ABSTRACT

Japanese Language Support for Migrant Children in Japan: Needs, Policies, Activities, Problems

The present paper presents an overview of the background of migrant foreign residents of Japan, with a special emphasis on recent legal reforms and ensuing changes in the status of long-term foreign residents in Japan. It presents the problems faced by migrant children whose native language is not Japanese, especially their difficulties in learning both Japanese and their mother tongue, and related difficulties in coping with everyday life and identity oscillations. It concludes with an overview of different approaches to problem solving which are being introduced by local organisations and spreading to the society at large, and which aim at multicultural coexistence in which immigrants are not seen as temporary guests but as members of society.

KEYWORDS: Japanese migrant policies, multicultural coexistence, networking, language education, identity