Invisible Work
Bilingualism, language choice and childrearing in intermarried families
There is growing recognition that context is important for bilingual language development, but understanding of that context remains underdeveloped. This innovative study, spanning the fields of bilingualism, ethnicity and family studies, shows how language use in intermarried families is deeply intertwined with the experience of everyday childrearing, in specific socio-historical contexts. This is why, despite good intentions, expert advice and effort, bilingual-child rearing often encounters difficulties. Conversely, drawing on in-depth interviews of twenty eight Japanese mother — British father families in the UK, the study uses a focus on language issues to portray actual childrearing dynamics and situated ethnicity in intermarried families. Presenting a vivid picture of the invisible work of mothers in these families, and how they attempt to resolve conflicting pressures and demands over childrearing, language and education, the author shows the importance of recognition and shared responsibility. This book will interest researchers, practitioners and parents interested in bilingualism, ethnically diverse families and multicultural education.
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society, 12] 2002. x, 275 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 21 October 2008
Published online on 21 October 2008
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
-
List of figures and tables | p. vii
-
Acknowledgements | p. ix
-
1. Introduction | pp. 1–5
-
2. Developing a conceptual framework | pp. 7–37
-
3. Research methods | pp. 39–63
-
4. Japanese-British families in the UK: A survey | pp. 65–86
-
5. Initial language decision | pp. 87–107
-
6. Getting on: Adaptations in language use | pp. 109–135
-
7. Childrearing | pp. 137–160
-
8. Going to school | pp. 161–191
-
9. Family relationships, identity and ethnicity | pp. 193–218
-
10. Concluding discussion | pp. 219–233
-
-
Appendices | pp. 251–261
-
Index | pp. 263–274
“In this highly original study, Okita combines insights from studies of families, ethnicity, and bilingualism to examine the factors that promote or inhibit Japanese maintenance by the children of British fathers and Japanese mothers living in Britain. The result is a finely nuanced study that illustrates the difficulties of maintaining a minority language in a setting that provides few sources of institutional support. This volume is a valuable interdisciplinary examination of an understudied community and an important contribution to the study of childhood bilingualism and minority language maintenance and shift. This fine work of scholarship will be useful reading not only for researchers in first and second language acquisition and bilingualism but also for scholars in family studies, ethnic studies, and child development.”
Robert Bayley, University of Texas at San Antonio, in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27:1, 2005
“This book testifies to the merits of interdisciplinary work. With its bases in family studies and ethnic studies, along with the sociolinguistic literature on childhood bilingualism, it is able to elucidate the context in which language choices are made in a depth that has, to the best of my knowledge, never before been achieved in the literature on childhood bilingualism. It is a must-read for anyone involved in childhood bilingualism as a researcher or practitioner. It is also an important contribution to the emergent field of gender and bilingualism research.”
Ingrid Piller, University of Sydney in International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Vol.6(2), 2003
“Okita's study is significant in several respects. First, the rich qualitative data including the participants' vivid life story accounts, occasional observations, reflections on mistakes and failures, bring important insight into the inner world of parents involved into bilingual child-rearing practices. Second, the study is an important step towards the creation of a cohesive cross-disciplinary theoretical framework for sociolinguistic analysis of parents' efforts to manage complicated bilingual practices and to transmit a minority language to the next generation. Finally, Okita's Invisible Work makes the time-consuming and emotionally demanding work of bilingual child-rearing more visible by illuminating pressures and dilemmas that often escape researchers' attention.”
Shulamith Kopeliovich, Bar-Ilan University, in Tydskrift vir Letterkunde, Jan. 2005
Cited by (152)
Cited by 152 other publications
Aksinovits, Larissa & Anna Verschik
Altman, Carmit, Zhanna Burstein-Feldman, Sveta Fichman, Sharon Armon-Lotem, Susan Joffe & Joel Walters
Blacher, Olia & Bernhard Brehmer
Bose, Priyanka, Xuesong Gao, Sue Starfield & Nirukshi Perera
Gabriel, Helena & Rafiki Y. Sebonde
Grasso, Suzanne
Hollebeke, Ily
Little, Sabine & Jamal Lahmar
Little, Sabine & Yue Zhou
Pittman, Iulia & Laurene Glimois
Quirk, Erin, Melanie Brouillard, Alexa Ahooja, Susan Ballinger, Linda Polka, Krista Byers-Heinlein & Ruth Kircher
Ramonienė, Meilutė & Jogilė Teresa Ramonaitė
Remennick, Larissa & Anna Prashizky
Said, Fatma F. S. & Kristin Vold Lexander
Song, Juyoung & Amber E. Wu
Tine, Janine
Tziampiri, Theologia, Anne-Mieke M. M. Thieme & Josje Verhagen
Verschik, Anna & Reili Argus
Brzozowska, Anita
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan & Janina Iwaniec
Dağdeviren-Kırmızı, Gülin
Formosa, Jennifer & Sabine Little
Huang, Hui & Wanyu Liao
Lew, Shim & Jayoung Choi
Macias, Heather
Park, Jisu & Yoonsun Han
Park, Mi Yung
2023. Korean mothers’ attitudes towards their dual heritage children’s maintenance of heritage languages in New Zealand. Korean Linguistics 19:2 ► pp. 140 ff.
Pourbahram, Roghayeh & Javad Gholami
Quay, Suzanne & Janice Nakamura
Seo, Youngjoo
von Essen, María Clara
Özkaynak, Onur
Chantreau, Katell & Stefan Moal
Gogonas, Nikos & Christina Maligkoudi
Kostoulas, Achilleas & Eleni Motsiou
Little, Sabine & Toby Little
Süverdem, F. Büşra
Torsh, Hanna Irving & Loy Lising
Karpava, Sviatlana, Natalia Ringblom & Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Karpava, Sviatlana, Natalia Ringblom & Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Piller, Ingrid & Livia Gerber
Romanowski, Piotr
Romanowski, Piotr
Romanowski, Piotr
Said, Fatma F. S.
Said, Fatma F.S.
Surrain, Sarah
Ančlauskaitė, Jolita
Hilbig, Inga
Hirsch, Tijana & Orly Kayam
Irving Torsh, Hanna
Irving Torsh, Hanna
Irving Torsh, Hanna
Irving Torsh, Hanna
Irving Torsh, Hanna
Torsh, Hanna Irving
Wilson, Sonia
Wilson, Sonia
Wilson, Sonia
Wilson, Sonia
Wilson, Sonia
Ansó Ros, Judith
2019. Actitudes y papel de los padres en la transmisión y en el aprendizaje del español como lengua minoritaria en dos tipos
de enseñanza bilingüe en Finlandia. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 32:2 ► pp. 391 ff.
Koide, Teresa, Tomoko Yoshida, Erina Ogawa, Makiko Kuramoto, Jimena Emily Homma & Miho Naruse
Little, Sabine
Little, Sabine
Little, Sabine
Nakamura, Janice
Obojska, Maria Antonina
Pułaczewska, Hanna
Pułaczewska, Hanna
Kathryn Roulston
Soler, Josep & Tim Roberts
Templin, Torsten
Tsushima, Rika & Martin Guardado
Bezcioglu-Goktolga, Irem & Kutlay Yagmur
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan & Francesca La Morgia
Farr, Joanna, Laura Blenkiron, Richard Harris & Jonathan A. Smith
Kaveh, Yalda M.
Palviainen, Åsa & Mari Bergroth
Rodríguez-García, Dan, Miguel Solana-Solana, Anna Ortiz-Guitart & Joanna L. Freedman
Samata, Susan
Van Mol, Christof & Helga A. G. de Valk
Fukuda, Makiko
Fukuda, Makiko
2021. Transmission of Japanese as a heritage language in the bilingual polity of Catalonia. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 31:2 ► pp. 191 ff.
Nakamura Lopez, M.
Nakamura Lopez, M.
Nakamura Lopez, M.
Soler, Josep & Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Verschik, Anna & Colm James Doyle
Guardado, Martin
Guardado, Martin
Guardado, Martin
Takeshita, Shuko
Takeuchi, Miwa
Gyogi, Eiko
Velázquez, Isabel, Marisol Garrido & Mónica Millán
Altman, Carmit, Zhanna Burstein Feldman, Dafna Yitzhaki, Sharon Armon Lotem & Joel Walters
Silvén, Maarit, Marinus Voeten, Anna Kouvo & Maija Lundén
Crowe, Kathryn, David H McKinnon, Sharynne McLeod & Teresa YC Ching
Doyle, Colm
Fogle, Lyn Wright
Moin, Viktor, Ludmila Scwartz & Mark Leikin
Palviainen, Åsa & Sally Boyd
Ramonienė, Meilutė
Schwartz, Mila & Yehudit Shaul
Schwartz, Mila & Anna Verschik
Shin, Sarah J.
Velázquez, Isabel
Velázquez, Isabel
Yates, Lynda & Agnes Terraschke
Kirsch, Claudine
Leung, Genevieve & Yuuko Uchikoshi
Quay, Suzanne
Schwartz, Mila & Victor Moin
Wang, Xiao‐Lei
Lundén, Maija & Maarit Silvén
Oriyama, Kaya
Oriyama, Kaya
Oriyama, Kaya
Schwartz, Mila, Victor Moin & Mark Leikin
Kopeliovich, Shulamit
Kopeliovich, Shulamit
Medvedeva, Maria
Medvedeva, Maria
Medvedeva, Maria
Medvedeva, Maria
Nesteruk, Olena
Schwartz, Mila, Victor Moin, Mark Leikin & Anna Breitkopf
Brown, Ivan & Itesh Sachdev
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Schwartz, Mila
Schwartz, Mila
Schwartz, Mila
Heller, Monica
Lam, Agnes S. L.
De Houwer, Annick
DE HOUWER, ANNICK
De Houwer, Annick
De Houwer, Annick
Jackson, Lachlan
Pacini-Ketchabaw, Veronica & Ana-Elisa Armstrong de Almeida
Piller, Ingrid
Piller, Ingrid
Piller, Ingrid
2021. Review of Yamamoto (2001): Language use in interlingual families: a Japanese-English sociolinguistic study. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics ► pp. 105 ff.
Bayley, Robert & Vera Regan
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CF: Linguistics
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General