Instrumentality of language considered through PAR connecting preschools and foreign parents

Capturing the transformations of language views

Abstract

The number of foreign residents has increased in Japan in recent years, leading to a growth in the number of foreign nationals settling with their families. For many of these foreign families, Japanese nurseries, kindergartens, and child gardens (hereafter ‘preschools’) are a gateway for joining the local community, as preschools are one of the public spheres where various actors come and interact with each other. While Japanese language support is provided to some extent at the level of elementary schools and junior high schools for foreign families, there is limited support in preschools, which leads to various challenges and miscommunication between the preschool staff members and the parents. This paper reports the processes and results of a Participatory Action Research, implemented in Tsukuba City of Ibaraki Prefecture, focusing on the development of communication tools that encouraged dialogue and mutual involvement between foreign families and the preschool staffs. From the research activities, the paper describes the changes on the “language views” held by various actors involved in this study. We finally discuss the possibility that the “instrumentality” of language is the key to opening up convivial public spaces in our social lives.