How Foreign Residents Obtain Important Information during a Disaster : The Significance of a "Literacy Network" in the Case of Urayasu City(<Special Issue>Practical Sociolinguistic Research toward "Welfare-Linguistics")

Abstract

This paper examines assumptions related to one type of "language service," the provision of important information for foreign residents during a disaster, and how it worked in one situation. The data was collected through interviews with nine foreigners residing in Urayasu City, Chiba prefecture, when it was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 11, 2011. In this study we found that (i) foreign residents appeared to be inert in obtaining information provided by local government; (ii) rather than personal written Japanese ability, neighborhood networks played an important role in the process of obtaining information; (iii) the aim of information provided by local government may be beyond supporting foreign resident's self-help. This paper concluded with a discussion of the concept of "literacy network," a term coined here to refer to the reception processes of information through manifold networks. It is suggested that literacy networks should be considered when planning for language services, especially during disasters.