For a research and language education that takes into account the different ways in which different languages compete with each other.
Competition among languages
In many societies there exist different languages and cultures, which are often in competition with each other.
For example, Spanish has historically competed in large areas with English and French. Now, even if it is the most widely-spoken language there, in Spain it also competes with regional languages such as Basque, Catalan, and Galician. In areas of Spanish-speaking Latin America such as Bolivia, Spanish has a privileged position as the language of the colonizers; yet, indigenous languages such as Quechua, Aymara, or Guarani, far from disappearing, are gaining strenght in recent years.
The case of Japanese is also complex. At a global level, in the last years it has competed for hegemony as an Asian language with Chinese. Inside Japan, the “standard” variety or hyōjungo occupies a central position, while it is also under the pressure of English as an international language or lingua franca in language policies within the trend of globalization. At the same time, it has also historically competed with minority languages such as Aynu, Ryukyuan, and the regional Japanese “dialects,” whose use and vitality have been seriously compromised by its extension; it also coexists with Korean and Chinese, as a consequence of pre-WW2 colonialism, as well as with languages spoken by relatively new communities arrived into Japan as part of new migration movements, such as Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, or Vietnamese.
In this project, we will research the different languages that coexist and compete with each other inside societies and individuals; furthemore, our multilingualism will be one that does not restrict itself to widely-spoken international languages alone.
Towards a new language education
It is quite common to identify a “language” as essentially linked to a “ethnical/national community” and a “country.” We think, though, that language education provides us with interesting tools to question think kind of equations – in this project, we will reflect on how language education can contribute in order to develop more complex and complete views that let us do justice to the diversity of relations that exist between languages, cultures, and societies.
Japanese language offers a good example: once we go beyond the too simple conception of Japanese as the language of a particulargroup (the so-called “Japanese people”), we can understand and appreciate that Japanese is also the language of speakers of other languages, such as those who struggle to maintain minority languages such as Aynu or Ryukyuan, migrant communities such as zainichi Koreans or Latin-American nikkei, as well as learners of Japanese as a foreign or heritage language all over the world.
Thus, we aspire to open new ways for language education, in a way attentive to current social, economical, and political developments, from issues of language contact and language ecology in the rich and variegated Latin American scenario, to matters related to the Korean diaspora or to the international migrants and refugees, to name but a few.
Our approach
Qualitative research
In this project, we emphasize the importance of qualitative research, inquiring into language-related research questions through fieldwork.
Even if qualitative research encompasses a variety of different approaches, it can be understood as a method that takes the observation of social facts and phenomena as its starting point and then seeks to comprehend such facts and phenomena in an empathetic, critical, and interpretative way – in opposition to the positivistic stance of “quantitative research” and its assumption that the object of research can be grasped in a so-to-say objective manner. Qualitative research includes methodologies as diverse as ethnography, life story, conversation analysis, oral literature research, discourse analysis, grounded research, etc. – methodologies which we will deal with in our graduate classes.
Field examples:
Primary schools in Fujisawa city, NPOs and NGOs in the Tokyo and Kanagawa areas; organizations for international exchange in the Kanto area; institutions and organizations related to the Korean communities in the three provinces in north-east China (administration, universities, schools, publishing companies, etc.); institutions and organizations in Cusco (Peru) La Paz (Bolivia), Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf (Germany), etc.
* Even if the focus of the project is put on qualitative research, when relevant we encourage research that combine both qualitative and quantitative research.
Critical point of view: questioning common assumptions
In order to construct a truly multilingual and multicultural society, it is necessary to deal from a critical point of view with many assumptions that are simply taken for granted in our societies. Elaborating upon ideas of Critical Pedagogy on education, as well as on insights drawn from critical research about political issues related to language (language and power, language ideology, language identity, etc.), we will seek to critically examine problems regarding social justice that are often overlooked in our everyday lives, in order to understand them and work towards their solution.
Our work on multilingualism and multiculturalism
Our objectives for a society where people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds can live and flourish together are
• to understand how facts related to language work in a multilingual and multicultural society,
• to identify and propose policies and educational ideas related to language for a multilingual and multicultural society,
• to spread in our society knowledge on how people use language in their lives and what kind of problems they encounter.
We, graduate students and teachers, are working in this common project for these goals.
Language Policy in this Academic Project
Students of different and diverse linguistic backgrounds are welcome to this project, and therefore we combine both Japanese and English which are the commonly used languages in SFC. Those who wish to enroll in this Academic Project must be able to use one of these two languages with a level sufficient to conduct research. Additionally, students are asked to also use the other language, to communicate and let everyone know what is going on during class.
It is advised that Japanese speakers repeat and/or summarise the essence of their presentation and comments in English. English speakers are advised to do the same in Japanese.
Apart from Japanese and English, if there is another language multiple members of this AP share, you are encouraged to use that language to improve mutual understanding and get your message across more effectively. When you do that, use also the two common languages (English and Japanese) to transmit the content to other members who do not share that language.
Keywords
The following keywords are only orientative – other research topics and methodologies are also possible.
Research topics
Endangered languages, linguistic rights, language revitalization
Language ideology
Language and nationalism
Foreign-language education policies in secondary education
Multilingual information and disaster prevention
Third culture kids
Migrant children
Racism
Minority-majority relations
Minority-language and majority-language relations
Ethnocentrism
Participation and social change
Multiculturalism and cultural relativism
Plurinational states
Multilingualism and plurilingualism
Indigenous movements and social movements
Minority languages and media
Language varieties
Pidgins and creoles
Oral language and writing
Standard varieties and dialects, linguistic norms
Refugees, domestic refugees, forced international displacements of people, stateless people
Social inclusion, social integration
Research fields
The languages of migrant communities
Minority languages and indigenous languages
Ethnic minority policies
Indigenous literatures, literature of ethnic minorities
Subalternity
Postcolonialism
Language contact
Identity politics
Media studies
Migration studies
Refugee studies
Academic fields
Critical pedagogy
Critical applied linguistics
Linguistic ecology
Economic linguistics
Oral literature studies
Oral history
Methodologies
Qualitative research
Fieldwork
Action research
Ethnography
Archive research