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Pragmatics: Online-First Articles

Language practices and policies of Singaporean-Japanese families in Singapore

ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University
| Nanyang Technological University
ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University
ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University

The few studies on Family Language Policy in Singapore (FLP) have generally focused on FLP in local and immigrant Chinese families. This article explores language policies that seem to undergird Singaporean-Japanese families’ language practices. In-depth interviews and observations with five such families showed that Japanese only functions as the language of communication between the Japanese parents and their children if parents have invoked particular language policies to support its transmission and use at home. For most families, English was the main medium of communication among family members. Language policies and practices in these families were heavily influenced by the value emplaced on each language within the parents’ linguistic repertoire and their beliefs regarding language learning.

Keywords: Binational marriages, transnational marriages, Family Language Policy, Japanese, Singapore, Language Ideologies, One parent One Language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Family Language Policy
  • 3.Binational families
  • 4.Factors affecting FLP in binational families
    • 4.1Intra-family factors
    • 4.2External factors
  • 5.Factors affecting the success or failure of families to attain their desired language outcomes
  • 6.Singapore’s linguistic situation and FLP in Singapore
  • 7.Methodology
    • 7.1Participants
    • 7.2Instruments and procedure
    • 7.3Participant observation
  • 8.Findings
    • 8.1Language practices
      • 8.1.1Category 1 – The family speaks predominantly in Japanese to the children
      • 8.1.2Category 2 – The family speaks in an English-dominant mixed code
      • 8.1.3Category 3 – The family speaks mainly English
    • 8.2Family Language Policies
      • 8.2.1Families that discussed and implemented an explicit FLP
      • 8.2.2Families that discussed but had not implemented an explicit FLP
      • 8.2.3Families that had not explicitly discussed the implementation of an FLP
    • 8.3Reinforcing practices
      • 8.3.1Enrolment in community or language schools or classes
      • 8.3.2Exposure to Japanese outside of parental interaction
  • 9.Discussion
    • 9.1Competing language ideologies
    • 9.2Beliefs about language learning
    • 9.3Institutional Policies and Pressures
    • 9.4Children’s agency
    • 9.5Successful policies
  • 10.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 27 March 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21021.cav
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