2019 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 4-16
Japanese language education for foreigners living in Japan has been accorded much importance recently. The number of Japanese language learners, including young children accompanied by their parents, has increased dramatically since the revision of immigration law in 1990. This paper presents an overview of past and present policies and practices undertaken in the last quarter century in regard to Japanese language education. This study identifies several thorny issues in Japanese language teaching that deserve serious attention from educators and policymakers, and examines the major progress that has been made. It discusses how Japanese language policy in Japan relates to social change and the growing needs of foreigners as citizens. It also addresses education from the viewpoint of language policy and language planning, and how to create a vision for its realization.
