A Case Study on Language and School Education in Japanese-Taiwanese International Marriage Families Residing in Taiwan
Japanese Studies Association Southeast Asia
- The 8th JSA-ASEAN Conference 2023 / The Japan-ASEAN Scholar Summit 2023 / 50th Anniversary of Japan-ASEAN Relations
- Date: December 21th 2023
Miki Hattori
Abstract
This study is aimed to clarify the actual situation of Japanese fathers' participation in their children's education through a survey of 10 Japanese fathers (7 in Taiwanese local schools and 3 in Japanese schools) from Japanese-Taiwanese international marriage families living in northern Taiwan, focusing on school choice and another parent's language education.
The survey results showed that the subjects' living and financial bases are in Taiwan, and they have no concrete plans to return to Japan in the near future. In this context, the children's school was chosen with the method in mind that make them possible to acquire both Chinese and Japanese. The couple's language ability and lifestyle, including worktime, were taken into consideration in the selection process, and the language of the parent whose language is not the school language is studied by their children, including reading and writing, at home or at a Japanese language supplementary school. If the children go to Taiwanese local school, Japanese language education is the role of the father, but it also provides valuable communication time with the children for the subjects.
The fact that all of the target Japanese fathers had mastered Chinese and other foreign languages at a high level and had experience in higher education and work outside of Japan also be one of a factor leading to these results.
In the future, I would like to conduct surveys on a wider range of subjects to explore the diverse realities of Japanese-Taiwanese international marriage families in Taiwan.
