訪日後日本語研修時におけるフィリピン人介護福祉士候補者のソーシャル・サポート・ネットワーク

抄録

Care worker candidates are sent to Japan under the Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and the Philippines that was established in 2009. After Japanese language training for three months in the Philippines, they then come to Japan and complete a further six months of language training. After finishing this language training, they are sent to nursing homes for three years of practical training and finally take the Japanese national examination for care workers. In this paper, I will elaborate how candidates undertaking Japanese language training in Japan negotiate their cultural adaptation using social support networks, from the perspective of the candidates.

The results of case study involving five candidates during the 6-month period of Japanese language training showed the following findings. Most of them received emotional support from networks composed of their ex-classmates in the language training class in the Philippines who were enrolled in the same Japanese language training in Japan and their families in the Philippines with whom they connected through Skype and Facebook. This is because the institution for language training in Japan provides accommodation, meaning that candidates have less opportunities to get to know other people outside the institution.

Meanwhile, some of them built social networks voluntarily outside the institution through their acquaintances in Japan, internet websites and church. The participants make use of these networks for learning Japanese and Japanese culture. Furthermore, one of the participants undertaking practical training in a nursing home continues to get social support from the networks built while taking Japanese language training in Japan. These cases suggest that social networks established during language training can help them to complete their practical training and it is important for the Japanese language institution to consider not only language training, but also how to support candidates as they create their new social networks.