How accurate are beliefs about bilingualism
by people in bilingual relationships?
Graduation Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of
English Language and Literature
Notre Dame Seishin University
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement for the Degree
Bachelor of Arts
by
Airi Kawamoto
2014
2
Contents
Chapter One
1.1 Introduction
5
1.2 What is bilingualism?
6
1.2.1 Introduction
6
1.2.2 Definitions of Bilingual
7
1.2.3 Previous Research on which Language to Use in the Home 8
1.2.4 The Importance of Cross-Cultural Understanding
in a Multi-Cultural Family
12
1.2.5 Previous Research on the Ways to Bring Up Children
Bilingually
14
1.3. Research Questions
15
1.4 Conclusion
16
Chapter Two
Case Studies
2.1 Introduction
17
2.2 The Questionnaire
17
2.2.1 Overview
17
2.2.2 Method
17
A) Subjects
17
B) Questionnaire
18
2.3 Results
18
1
Case study 1
18
Case study 2
21
Case study 3
24
Case study 4
26
Case study 5
29
Case study 6
32
3. Summary
35
Chapter Three
Analysis and Discussion
3.1. Introduction
36
3.2. Discussion of the Results
36
3.2.1 Background of the subjects
36
3.2.2 Good Relationships
36
3.2.3 Effects
37
3.2.4 Advice
37
3.2.5 Answering the Research Questions
38
3.3. Conclusions
39
References
40
Appendix
41
2
Abstract
Today, it is not uncommon for people to use more than two languages in the
world.
A lot of Japanese go abroad and lots of foreigners come to Japan and they use
their own languages. People who use two languages are called “Bilinguals”. How
should people who are in an intercultural relationship and want to make their children
be bilingual bring up their children?
This thesis tries to find out the thinking of parents
about bilingualism, any effects from parents to children, and any good ways to make
children be bilingual.
Six families were interviewed. The questionnaire had eighteen questions to
reveal their background, the best way to keep good cross cultural between husband and
wife, and between parents and children, any effect from parents to children, and advice
to make children be bilingual.
The questionnaire discovered that each family has their own form of
bilingualism and they decide for themselves whether to make their children be bilingual
or not. They each had their own opinions about bilingualism and the ways to educate
children, too.
The results showed that how we can make cross cultural relationships go
smoothly, the typical cross cultural issues which people in international relationships
face, and the way they solve these issues. We could find out that some subjects enjoy
their cultural differences and learn them.
Culturally, they have many differences, but
they do not see they are “issues” so much. They think the problems are the same as
the couple who are in non-intercultural relationships.
They consider it important to see
their partner as an individual, and not to be overly-conscious of them being a foreigner.
3
Chapter One
Bilingualism – An Introduction
1.1 Introduction
When Japanese people hear the word “a bilingual”, they seem to have an image
like a bilingual is brought up in some special environment.
However, judging from the
language circumstances all over the world and judging from history, actually there are
many countries which have several languages, for example, in Israel, Hebrew and
Arabic are used, in Singapore, people use Malay, English, Pekingese and Tamil, and
English and French are used in Canada, so using two languages or three languages is
not so special and rare.
How can we bring up children bilingually?
Father Grootaers, a Belgian
dialect scholar (1996), who was able to speak five languages said, “If you want to be
bilingual, you should choose your parents!” Of course this is a joke, but until now, to
become bilingual, he spent his childhood with a parent who was a diplomat, or spent
most of his school life abroad, he was born into the family of international marriage, or
he had a parent who was a missionary and traversed everywhere from his home country
and Japan.
In fact, there were many such people in that special environment.
However, by adjusting and controlling the home, school, and society, knowledge of the
basic development of bilingual has been gradually clarified recently.
Bilingual
research and bilingual education experiments in the United States and Europe (e.g.
Nakajima, 1998), and the experiences of Japanese children who were born and raised
abroad as children of migrants or long-term foreign workers, also returnees, and who
spent abroad much time in the school-age have helped this.
4
The most important thing when bringing up children bilingually is creating the
situations that children must use two languages properly.
If children need to use some
languages properly at the time they are forming words from about two years old to 12,
13 years old, they learn two or three languages naturally under the pressure of necessity.
For example, a child has to speak English at home because his father can speak only
English and his mother speak to his father in English at home, but he lives in Japan and
his friends speak Japanese at school, so he has to learn Japanese.
1.2 What is bilingualism?
1.2.1 Introduction
What is bilingualism?
Most people who are not linguists will answer,
“Having the ability to converse fluently in two languages”. However, there is a
problem.
How do you measure “fluency” in any language?
For example, no one
speaks the whole of the English language, only parts that are relevant to their lives.
Bilinguals must be the same as they don’t speak the whole of one language,
only parts that are relevant to their lives. That is why defining bilingualism is so
difficult with two different bilinguals you are never measuring the same thing.
Moreover, does knowing a few words in a foreign language make you bilingual, or if
not, how many words and how much grammar does one need?
5
1.2.2 Definitions of a Bilingual
There are many definitions of bilingualism.
Although it may be effective to
explain one type of bilingualism, it also appears that these definitions don’t cover every
aspect of bilingualism.
Here are some of the definitions suggested by researchers and linguists in the
past:
・“The mastery of two or more languages” – bilingualism or multilingualism – a special
skill.
Bilingualism and multilingualism are relative term since individuals vary greatly
in types and degrees of language proficiency. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1965)
・“Bilingualism is understood… to begin at the point where the speaker of one language
can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language.” (Haugen, 1953)
・“The phenomenon of bilingualism is something entirely relative…we shall therefore
consider bilingualism as the alternative use of two or more languages by one person.”
(Mackey, 1962)
・“Bilingualism is native like control of two languages…of course, one cannot define a
degree of perfection at which a good foreign speaker becomes a bilingual; the definition
is relative.” (Bloomfield, 1933)
It is difficult to decide the definition of bilinguals because there are many kinds
6
of bilinguals in the world.
1.2.3 Previous Research on which Language to Use in the Home
Does the mother tongue help children’s language development in bilingual
education?
Nakajima (1998) points out the following factors to show that learning the
first language is the first step to becoming bilingual.
a. The Mother tongue is the first language people interact with when
gaining social development.
b. The Mother tongue is the first language in which you tell your feelings,
and it is thus an important one to stabilize children’s emotions.
c. The Mother tongue is the first language we think with during
intellectual development.
d. The Mother tongue is their parents’ language.
It is the language which
parents use to interact with their children and it is also the base of the
parent-child bond.
e. The Mother tongue is the language which is supported by parents’
mother-culture (model of action, sense of values, and how to feel) and it
is also the first culture that children are exposed to.
7
f. The Mother tongue includes learning to be accepted as a member of
family their home which parents create and it is a language with an
identity as “our child (opposite to child elsewhere)”.
In this way, Nakajima (1998) thinks, for the children’s’ social development,
emotional development, and intellectual development, mother tongue is essential.
In
other words, the mother tongue is a way to help children’s social, cultural, and
intellectual existence and it is a basement of personality. Especially, the development
of the native language and intelligence are inseparable.
According to Howard Gardner (1991), he identified eight distinct intelligences.
He names those eight intelligences “Multiple Intelligences”.
What are “Multiple Intelligences” then?
Gardner insists that "a contrasting set
of assumptions is more likely to be educationally effective. Students learn in ways that
are identifiably distinctive. The broad spectrum of students - and perhaps the society
as a whole - would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a numbers of
ways and learning could be accessed through a variety of means." The learning styles
are as follows:
a. Visual-Spatial
This means thinking in terms of physical space, as do architects and sailors.
means being very aware of their environments.
It
They like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles,
read maps, and daydream. They can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical
8
imagery. Tools include models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling,
video, videoconferencing, television, multimedia, texts with pictures/charts/graphs.
b. Bodily-kinesthetic
This means using the body effectively, like a dancer or a surgeon.
sense of body awareness.
They like movement, making things, touching.
It is a keen
They
communicate well through body language and are taught through physical activity,
hands-on learning, acting out, and role playing.
Tools include equipment and real
objects.
c. Musical-rhythmical
This means showing sensitivity to rhythm and sound.
they are also sensitive to sounds in their environments.
music in the background.
They love music, but
They may study better with
They can be taught by turning lessons into lyrics, speaking
rhythmically, and tapping out time.
Tools include musical instruments, music, radio,
stereo, CD-ROM, multimedia.
d. Interpersonal
This means understanding, interacting with others.
through interaction.
These students learn
They have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts.
They can be taught through group activities, seminars, and dialogues.
Tools include
the telephone, audio conferencing, time and attention from the instructor, video
conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, E-mail.
9
e. Intrapersonal
This means understanding one's own interests, goals.
shy away from others.
These learners tend to
They're in tune with their inner feelings; they have wisdom,
intuition and motivation, as well as a strong will, confidence and opinions.
be taught through independent study and introspection.
materials, diaries, privacy and time.
They can
Tools include books, creative
They are the most independent of the learners.
f. Linguistic
This means using words effectively.
auditory skills and often think in words.
making up poetry or stories.
These learners have highly developed
They like reading, playing word games,
They can be taught by encouraging them to say and see
words, read books together. Tools include computers, games, multimedia, books, tape
recorders, and lecture.
g. Logical -Mathematical
This one is reasoning, calculating.
Think conceptually, abstractly and are able
to see and explore patterns and relationships.
and ask cosmic questions.
and mysteries.
They like to experiment, solve puzzles,
They can be taught through logic games, investigations,
They need to learn and form concepts before they can deal with details.
h. Natural
This ability is clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and
farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.
The website
visualturn.com presents it is also speculated that much of our consumer society exploits
10
the naturalist intelligences, which can be mobilized in the discrimination among cars,
sneakers, and kinds of makeup.
Gardner was interested in what motivates people to learn a second language.
He thought that being a member of group speaking the target language is important and
he called having motivation to try to learn a second language “integrative motivation”.
This integrative motivation leads to the learners’ positive attitude toward the target
language and culture.
Learners also try to learn the target language to be a member of
group they belong to.
1.2.4 The Importance of Cross-Cultural Understanding in a Multi-Cultural Family
When people bring up a bilingual child they may be worried that their child
would have double personalities, their child’s identity might be confused, or there are
some sacrifices.
The website nethelp.com presents ten myths about bilingualism as follows.

"Learning two languages confuses children and lowers their intelligence."

"Children should learn one language properly first.
After mastering the first
language, and then they can learn the other."

"Children who learn two languages won't feel at home in either of them.
They will
always feel caught between two cultures."

"Bilinguals have to translate from their weaker to their stronger language."

"Children who grow up bilingual will make great translators when they grow up."

"Real bilinguals never mix their languages.
'semi-linguals'."
11
Those who do are confused

"Bilinguals have split personalities."

"Bilingualism is a charming exception, but monolingualism is of course the rule."

"Be very careful; if you don't follow the rules exactly, your children will never
manage to learn both languages."

You'll never manage to make you children bilingual now.
People really can't learn
a language after age X."
These myths show that there is still a lot of confusion about bilingualism and there
are both some bad effects and good effects on children when they learn two languages at
the same time.
Some studies with negative impressions of bilingualism conducted with old and
poorly designed studies done primarily in the United States claimed to show that
bilinguals had lower intelligence than monolinguals. However, newer research has
revealed several flaws in the studies. The most obvious flaw is that the bilingual
children were recent immigrants, with poorer knowledge of English and more stressful
life situations than their monolingual counterparts. Newer studies with more careful
controls have shown that bilinguals are better at some specific tasks like language
games, but that otherwise the differences between bilinguals and monolinguals are
negligible.
By no means are all bilinguals good at translating.
Many bilingual children
will use both languages at once during the early stages of their language development.
Semi-lingualism is a far more serious, and relatively rare, situation that occurs when a
child in a stressful environment is trying to learn two or more languages with very little
input in any of them.
12
1.2.5 Previous Research on the Ways to Bring Up Children Bilingually
So how do we start teaching our children two languages?
Antonella Sorace
and Bob Ladd (1999) state, “The main thing to keep in mind is that parents don’t really
“teach” children to speak, any more than they teach them to walk or smile. The most
important things in language development are exposure and need.”
If children are
exposed to a language in a variety of circumstances with many different people from the
time they are born, and if they feel they need the language to interact with the world
around them, they will learn it.
If they are exposed to two languages in varied
circumstances with different people from the moment they are born, and if they need
both languages to communicate with the people around them, they will learn both.
What would be an ideal environment in order to encourage bilingualism in a
child?
The most appropriate ways that are suggested by previous research should be
useful for educators and parents.
Baker (1996) states that even if parents neglect their
children by leaving them in front of English TV program in the hope they will pick up
some English, the child will not come to speak English and will not even understand it
either. He thinks this passive contact with a foreign language may be able to stimulate
the child and increase his or her language acquisition ability later when he or she learns
the language or another language formally.
However, he also insists that a child needs to use the language in an interactive
way and the language could be used not only one-way but to help the child
communicate with people interactively. The more the child uses the language in an
interactive way, the more the child will acquire the language.
Therefore, parents and educators should find as many creative ways to learn to
have the child use the language in an interactive way.
13
For example, when a mother
reads the book, which is written in a foreign language to her child, she can ask the
content of the story in that language. Also, she can ask some questions in the language
to urge him or her to express his or her feelings, opinions, and interests.
Although we cannot define the best way to bring up children bilingually, we
will be able to do well by considering it and then making efforts to bring it about.
There is no evidence that bilinguals are bad for our society.
can be a social benefit.
In fact bilinguals
Imagine how wonderful it will be to communicate with people
who are from all over the world without being worried about language barriers.
Bringing up children bilingually should be the first step to the future.
1.3 Research Questions
In Chapter Two we looked at the data we collected from six intercultural
couples.
In this section we will look at the answers for each question.
Research Question 1: How can we make good cross cultural relationships?
Research Question 2: What are some of the typical cross cultural issues people in
intercultural relationships face?
Research Question 3: Are there any effects from parents who are in intercultural
relationship to children?
1.4 Conclusion
From the above we can see that there are several definitions of bilingualism.
“Bilingualism” is a very interesting topic, so in the rest of this thesis I would like to
14
study bilingual families to see if there are any “golden rules” to help establish
bilingualism in children. This information will be very useful for parents and educators
as bilingualism is something that will be more and more useful as the world becomes
more international.
In this chapter I have tried to suggest some ideas to think about “who is
bilingual?” Chapter Two reports the information obtained on the families I studied.
Using this information I will try to show (if) any “golden rules” exist that are useful in
helping bilingualism in children; this information will be presented in Chapter Three.
15
Chapter Two
Case Studies
2.1 Introduction
In Chapter One, we discussed what bilingualism is exactly and why it is very
difficult to define. We also discussed people’s general perceptions of bilinguals and
bilingualism.
Finally, we talked about the increasing incidence of international
families and international children and the need for serious consideration amongst
parents and educators in order to encourage bilingualism within these children.
In this
chapter we will see the result of questionnaire to find out parents’ thinking about
bilingualism and find out what effects it has on children when parents who are in
intercultural relationship bring up their children bilingually.
2.2 The Questionnaire
2.2.1 Overview
The purpose of the questionnaire is to find out the personal, educational and
language backgrounds of the parents and children.
The questionnaire also was
designed to find out the communication pattern within parents.
This information is
then presented in a diagram to illustrate these relationships.
2.2.2 Method
A) Subjects
In order to collect the data needed for this work, six families who are in
intercultural relationship were interviewed.
16
In this chapter I will give a summary of
the information collected using a questionnaire from the six families. The questions
were answered by either telephone interview or via e-mail.
B) Questionnaire
The questionnaire comprised eighteen questions. The first question to the
eleventh question were about the subject’s background which helped to find out what
kind of bilingual person was the subjects were.
The twelfth question to the sixteenth
question were about how to develop a good relationship between each family member.
This leads beliefs about bilingualism for people in bilingual relationships.
The
seventeenth question was about the effects to their children when children learn two
languages. The last question was their advice about how to bring up children
bilingually. The questionnaire is in the Appendix.
2.3 Results
Case Study 1 - Julien
1. Background
Julien got married to Japanese speaker and has a nineteen-month boy. Julien’s
first language is French.
She talks to her husband in French at home.
2. Good Relationships
She feels there are many cultural differences between her and her partner, but
she thinks it is natural.
They overcome the differences by understanding that the other
17
has another background and furthermore a different point of view. However, she
doesn't feel too much that she has to overcome these differences as they do not appear
as a problem to her.
She thinks being open-minded and accepting the differences is the best way to
keep good cross-cultural relationship between parents who are in international
relationships, and playing games with her child is the best way to keep good
cross-cultural relationship between parents and their child.
However, she is worried
that people will reject the language of the country he does not live in because this
language would be different from his friends’ language.
She thinks that the solution is
to change countries to allow him to go to school in both countries. She doesn’t know
she makes children confuse between two cultures (father's and mother's cultures).
3. Effects
The following list is her opinion about the effects to their child when child
learns two languages
18
Table 1; The data of Julien’s opinion about the effects to their child when child learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
absolutely
no
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
19
4. Advice
She says, “If you can switch country every year that would be the best, as the
kid would get half of its education in each country making him really flexible and able
to adapt.” However, she thinks that because of our closed-minded society and
administrative format that people have to fit, this would be almost impossible.
Case Study 2 - Machiko Goto
1. Background
Machiko Goto is Japanese who got married to English speaker and has a
five-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy.
school.
Her first children go to a normal Japanese
She talks to her husband in Japanese at home.
2. Good Relationships
She says there are some differences between her and her husband like meals
and annual events but she thinks understanding the others’ country well is the best way
to keep good cross-cultural relationship between parents who are in international
relationship. She also thinks that watching their children carefully is the best way to
keep good cross-cultural relationship between parents and their child. However, she is
worried whether their children will be confused by two languages.
She tries to explain
the differences of two cultures trying not to confuse them.
3. Effects
The following list is her opinion about the effects to their children when
children learn two languages
.
20
Table 2; The data of Machiko Goto’s opinion about the effects to their children when children learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
absolutely
no
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
21
4. Advice
She advises making children use two language in a good balance is the best
way to bring up children bilingually.
Case Study 3 - David Townsend
1. Background
David Townsend is an English speaker who lives in Japan and got married to
Japanese and has an eight-year-old boy.
international school.
His child goes to mixed normal and
He talks to his wife in English at home.
2. Good Relationships
He says there are no differences in his intercultural relationship but he thinks
being respectful to each other is the best way to keep good cross-cultural relationship
between him and his wife and between parents and their children.
He tries to allow
the child exposure to both cultures as much as possible, and keeps an open mind about
any issues that arise. He says that he personally feels that a child can enjoy and
understand two cultures equally.
In his opinion, while some people might disagree
with this, a child should become comfortable with one culture (and one language) first
before being introduced to a second.
3. Effects
The following list is his opinion about the effects to their child when child
learns two languages
22
Table 3; The data of David Townsend’s opinion about the effects to their children when children learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
absolutely
no
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
23
4. Advice
He advises to start early, and give the child as much exposure to the target
languages as possible.
As well, he thinks that they (he and his wife) decided to focus
on the non-local language in their house. I.e.: when they are living in Japan, they speak
only English in their house (their child is exposed to Japanese outside of the house), and
if they move to Canada (his home country) they would speak only Japanese in our
house. He also says that while both parents are not always able to speak both
languages in intercultural relationships, both parents should make an attempt to speak
the non-local language in their home for the child. As well, all attempts should be
made to expose the child to both (or multiple) cultures. Focusing on only one
language/one culture is detrimental to the child's ability to adapt.
Case Study 4 - Larry Dante
1. Background
Larry Dante is an English speaker who lives in Japan and got married to
Japanese and has a fifteen-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl.
to normal Japanese school.
His children go
He talks to his wife in English at home.
2. Good Relationships
He says there are there are several differences between him and his partner.
The main thing is communication.
They try to sit down and explain each other’s
feelings clearly and directly.
24
He keeps good cross-cultural relationship between him and his partner by
basically empathizing and respecting each other as individuals and each other's culture.
He also says breathing, not reacting emotionally and asking questions are also very
important. And he keeps good cross-cultural relationship between him and his
children by spending time together, talking, teaching them English and visiting their
second home. However, he says that since his children go to a regular Japanese school,
they lack English input.
He thinks biliteracy is quite difficult. His children may
have pretty good listening and speaking skills, but reading and writing skills are difficult
to teach, so that they are at "native-peer" level.
3. Effects
The following list is his opinion about the effects to their children when
children learn two languages.
25
Table 4; The data of Larry Dante’s opinion about the effects to their children when children learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
absolutely
no
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
26
4. Advice
He advises that parents to read to their children in both languages and
encourage their children to read. They should also try to increase input in their second
language using the Internet, Skype, DVDs, travel, etc.
Case Study 5 - Mari Sakaguchi
1. Background
Mari Sakaguchi is Japanese who got married to an English speaker and they
have a twenty-two-year-old boy.
Her child went to normal Japanese school.
She
talks to her husband in English at home.
2. Good Relationships
She says, “Of course there are some differences between her and her partner.
That's one of the reasons we got together.” They are enjoying the differences of
culture.
She tries to discuss everything to keep good intercultural relationship
between her and her partner. When there are problems, they talk out what they think.
She believes trusting their child is the best way to keep good relationship between
parents and their child.
Her child is not bilingual anymore.
She insists her child is more Japanese.
Her point is “You have to have the same amount of exposure to the two languages to
make your child bilingual.” She did not do anything because her child did not want to
27
confuse the two languages.
3. Effects
The following list is her opinion about the effects to their child when child
learns two languages.
28
Table 5; The data of Mari Sakaguchi’s opinion about the effects to their child when child learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
absolutely
no
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
29
4. Advice
She has no advice.
Case Study 6 - Jason Douglas
1. Background
Jason Douglas is a Canadian who got married to Japanese and they have a
eight-year-old girl. His first language is English. His child went to international
school in Japan. He talks to his wife in English at home.
2. Good Relationships
He says they have nothing to overcome because they have already understood
each other before they got together.
He thinks just discussing about a problem is the
best way to keep good intercultural relationship between him and his partner.
He
believes trusting their child is the best way to keep good relationship between parents
and their child.
However, when their child was seven, she said, “Why do I go to a different
school from where my friends go?” He could not answer her at this time. This is his
issue when he and his partner are trying to make their child be bilingual. They were
thinking the balance of using two languages is very important and they tried to make
their child use Japanese when their child talks to her mother and friends living near the
house, and use English when she goes to school and talks to her father.
30
But their child
might have wanted to go to Japanese school as she was living in Japan.
3. Effects
The following list is his opinion about the effects to their child when child
learns two languages.
31
Table 6; The data of Jason Douglas’s opinion about the effects to their child when child learns two languages.
absolutely
yes
maybe
yes
I don’t
know
maybe
no
absolutely
no
Learning two languages will slow down a child’s language
development.
○
Learning two languages confused children about their identity.
○
Learning two languages can make a child’s acquisition of first language
and second language incomplete.
○
We need to start to teach a second language to children after they
already have learned their first language.
○
I’d like to bring up child to be bilingual.
○
Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
○
acquisition.
Education for making children be bilingual will delay their studies.
○
The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
○
Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
○
Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
○
Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's
friends.
○
There are some effects for children because of differences between
father's culture and mother's.
○
32
4. Advice
He believes using as much time with his children as possible is the most
important thing to educate children.
Summary
We looked at the result of the questionnaire in this chapter. Each family is
different and represents a unique aspect of bilingualism.
It is important that we now
look at this information and see what it can tell us about bilingualism.
In Chapter Three, we will examine the main patterns within each group and
patterns between families. We will also look at how this is affected be language use
and general beliefs about bilingualism within each family.
33
Chapter Three
Data Analysis
3.1 Introduction
In Chapter One, we investigated what a bilingual is and looked at some
research about bilingualism.
In Chapter Two, we looked at some families who are in
intercultural relationships. Now, we will discuss the result of questionnaire in more
detail.
We will look at the difference of these types of families.
3.2 Discussion of the results
We looked at the results of the questionnaire in Chapter Two.
In this section,
we will look at each question in more detail and discuss it.
3.2.1 Background of the subjects
There are four types of family; Intercultural marriage of Japanese and French,
Japanese and North Korea, Japanese and Canadian, and Japanese and the United States
of America. Their children were all born in Japan.
3.2.2 Good Relationships
The common style of most subjects is to keep good cross cultural relationships
between his or her partner or just trying to contact with partner with a respectful mind
and just discussing well in their daily lives. Most subjects also answered the style of
keeping good relationships between parents and children is the same as this. Spending
time with their children consciously and trusting them are important.
make their children trust and depend on their parents.
34
It may lead to
Some of the subjects are worried about their child’s rejection of the language
and the way of teaching second language. Common questions are “How should we
teach second language to our children?” “Which language is more important for
children to learn?” They seems to think about the answer at any time, look at their
children well in their daily life, try to several way to teach second language, (for
example, introducing their children to the traditional culture and history of each country,
or making their children understand there are several languages, races, and countries in
the world and each country has each culture or custom as showing their children movies
and animation of many countries), and try to solve these problems.
3.2.3 Effects
Each family has several conditions in their lives. “What language do they
use?”, “What types of school do their children go?”, or “What do they think about
making children be bilingual?” Most of them don’t think that there are some bad
effects for children in learning two languages. This is why they are thinking that they
want to make their children be bilingual.
Interestingly, they answered the same answer
or similar ones in most of the questionnaire, but only to this question: “There are some
effects on children because of differences between father's culture and mother's.”, some
people answered, “Absolutely yes”, or “Maybe yes”, others answered, “I don’t know.”,
or “Maybe no”. Although they answered almost the same one in other questions, their
opinions are divided only this question.
3.2.4 Advice
Some subjects advise us that if you really want to make your children be
35
bilingual, you should expose them to the target language as much possible, start early,
or decide to focus on the non-local language in your house. Most of them think that
the most important thing is using two languages in good balance.
3.2.5 Answering the Research questions
Research Question 1: how can we make good cross cultural relationships?
From Chapter Two, we found out most subjects try to communicate a lot with
their partner to keep good cross cultural relationships.
They talk and teach about each
other and learn about partner’s culture and language positively.
Trying to understand
each other’s background and cultural differences, and also try to give their partner better
understanding are necessary.
In cross cultural relationships, they should see their
partner as an individual, not as a foreigner.
Therefore, people do not have to worry so
much about cultural differences.
Research Question 2: What are some of the typical cross cultural issues people in
intercultural relationships face?
Some couples reported that they often feel communication gaps and differences
in communication style.
Even if people can communicate with language, it is possible
to cause cultural communication gaps. However, most of the subjects don’t feel any
differences between them.
Before they got together, they had already understood that
it is natural that they were brought up in different environments. That’s why they are
enjoying that differences and trying to understand each other by talking a lot.
Research Question 3: Are there any effects from parents who are in intercultural
36
relationship to children?
Most of the subjects don’t think there are any bad effects from parents who are
in intercultural relationship to children. When they are trying to make their children be
bilingual, some subjects don’t think that making their children learn two languages at
the same time affect their children badly. They reported making their children learn
two languages early and in good balance is very important.
3.3 Conclusions
In this chapter, we discussed the results of questionnaire. The answer
revealed what people who are in intercultural relationship are thinking about making
children be bilingual.
Through this research, we have revealed that parents who are in intercultural
relationship have their own opinions about bilingualism and they decide for themselves
whether they make their children be bilingual or not.
37
References
JACET バイリンガリズム研究会（2003 年）『日本のバイリンガル教育』三修社
出版
宮原温子（2010）「日本語英語バイリンガル大学生の言語使用状況 Language
Usage Survey by Japanese-English Bilingual Students」目白大学人文学研究
6,181-196
山本雅代（1996 年）『バイリンガルはどのようにして言語を習得するのか』
中島和子（1998 年）『バイリンガル教育の方法』
Bosemark, C. 1998 “Raising Bilingual Children: The First Five Steps to Success”
Accessed on December 4th 2013.
http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/bilingualkids1.htm
Kandolf, C. 1998 “Myths about Bilingualism” Accessed on February 18th 1998.
http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.html
Lane, C. 2013 "The Distance Learning Technology Resource Guide." Accessed at
December 4th 2013.
http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html
38
Appendix: The Questionnaires
I am Airi Kawamoto from Notre Dame Seishin University.
my graduation thesis.
I’m collecting the data for
I will use your information privately. My thesis topic is about
bringing up children bilingually. Please tell me about your experience.
 Are you in an intercultural relationship?
○Yes
（国際結婚をしていますか？）
（はい）
○No （いいえ）
Name
 Please tell me your name.
（あなたの名前を教えてください。）
Background information
Child 1
 If you have a child, how old is your Child 1?（もしお子様がいらっしゃったら、
一番目のお子様は何歳ですか？）
 Sex
○Male （男性）
○Female （女性）
39
 What type of school does Child 1 go to? （一番目のお子様はどのような学校に
通ってらっしゃいますか？）
○Normal Japanese School（日本の学校）
○International school（インターナショナルスクール）
○Mixed Normal and International（複合学校）
○Other（その他）
Child 2
 If you have a child, how old is your Child 2? （もし二番目のお子様がいらっし
ゃったら、ニ番目のお子様は何歳ですか？）
 Sex
○Male （男性）
○Female （女性）
 What type of school does Child 2 go to? （二番目のお子様はどのような学校に
通ってらっしゃいますか？）
○Normal Japanese School（日本の学校）
○International school（インターナショナルスクール）
○Mixed Normal and International（複合学校）
○Other（その他）
40
 What is your first language? （あなたの第一言語は何ですか？）
 What language(s) do you speak to your partner?
（あなたは結婚相手にどの言
語で話しますか？）
 What language(s) does your partner speak to you? （あなたの結婚相手はあなた
にどの言語で話しますか？）
 Do you feel there are some differences between you and your partner?
do you overcome them?
If so, how
e.g. Difference of culture, life style, custom, worth or
something （あなたは、あなたと結婚相手との間になにか違いを感じること
がありますか？
もしそうであれば、どのように克服していますか？
文化、ライフスタイル、習慣、価値観の違いなど）
41
例：）
 What is the best way to keep good cross-cultural relationship between you and you
partner?
（あなたと結婚相手との国際結婚で良い関係性を築く方法は何で
すか？）
 What is the best way to keep good relationship between you and your children?
（あなたとお子様との良い関係性を築く方法は何ですか？）
42
 What issues are you facing (will you face) when trying to make your children
bilingual? （あなたが、あなたのお子様をバイリンガルに育てようとすると
き、直面する（もしくはしそうな）問題は何ですか？）
 What do you do for NOT making children confuse between two cultures (father's
and mother's)? （あなたは、あなたのお子様が二つの文化（父親と母親の文
化）で混乱しないようにするために何をしますか？）
43
 What is your opinion on these topics? （これらの項目に対するあなたの意見は
何ですか？）
Absolutely Yes
Maybe yes
I don't know
Maybe no
（かなりそう思う）
（まあまあそう思う）
（わからない）
（あまりそう思わない）
Absolutely No （全然そう思わない）

Learning two languages will slow down a child's language development.
（二つの言語を習得することは子供の言語発達を遅らせる）

Learning two languages confuses children about their identity.
（二つの言語を習得することは子供のアイデンティティーを混乱させ
る）

Learning two languages can make a child's acquisition of first language and
second language incomplete.
（二つの言語を習得することは子供の第一言語と第二言語の両方を不
完全にさせる）

We need to start to teach a second language to children after they already have
learned their first language.
（第二言語は第一言語を習得した後に習得させるべきだ）

I'd like to bring up my child to be bilingual.
（自分の子供をバイリンガルに育てたい）

Education for making children be bilingual will just delay first language
acquisition.
（バイリンガル教育は子供の第一言語の習得のみ遅らせる）
44

Education for making children bilingual will delay their studies.
（バイリンガル教育は子供の学習を遅らせる）

The older children get, the harder it is to learn a second language.
（年をとればとるほど、第二言語の習得は難しくなる）

Learning languages at home has the strongest effect on children.
（家での言語習得が子供にとって一番の効果がある）

Learning languages at school has the strongest effect for children.
（学校での言語習得が子供にとって一番の効果がある）

Your child learns language mostly from interacting with the child's friends.
（あなたのお子様はほとんど友達とのかかわりの中で言語を習得して
いる）

There are some effects for children because of differences between father's
culture and mother's.
（父親と母親の文化の違いによって何らかの子供への影響がある）
 Is there any advice you have for people bringing up children bilingually?
（子供
をバイリンガルに育てることについてのアドバイスはありますか？）
45
 If you have something to say, please write. （ご意見がございましたら、ご自由
にご記入ください。）
46