Abstract
To date, multiculturalism has been overlooked in the education of foreign students
living in Japan. Based on the proceedings of the“ Expert Committee on the Improvement
of Education for Foreign Students” established by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science, and Technology（ MEXT）, this study examines whether the education of
foreign students in their mother tongue should remain in the private sphere or be set in
the public sphere as a national goal.
This study referred to the proceedings of the first through ninth meetings of the
conference and conducted a step-by-step examination of the creation of co-occurrence
networks using the KH Coder including an analysis using collocation statistics, and a
qualitative examination of the materials.
A content analysis and consideration based on the keywords“ Japanese,”“ mother
tongue,”“ volunteer,” and“ efforts” in the conference revealed that Japanese language
education was the main topic of discussion. Furthermore, although the issues related to
mother tongue were shared, the practical proposals remained insufficient.
In summary, at this meeting, while recognizing the importance of supporting the
mother tongue of foreign students, it was argued that Japanese language education is
the top priority, and that while the mother tongue should be respected, the Japanese
language should be studied from the perspective of national unity in the public sphere. In
other words, the tentative conclusion is that there is a common premise of communitarian
multiculturalism that prioritizes the common good.
