Abstract
This study investigates how non-native Japanese speakers in Japan cope with written language in daily life. Interviews were conducted of 42 people; 22 non-native speakers, and 20 people who have assisted non-native speakers with written language issues. Although all the non-native interviewees had difficulty reading Japanese text, they were seen to cope by employing strategies which they had developed through everyday experience such as asking people for assistance and using other visual information. When these strategies could be employed, problems with written language were subtle. However, in other situations problems were overt. In this study, the various problems were analyzed within the framework of Language Management Theory, and the situational factors related to the problems were considered.
