Japanese Journal of Qualitative Psychology
Online ISSN : 2435-7065
A Japanese Language Learner's Organization of Networks and Construction of Identity in Japanese Society.
Manami Yagi
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2004 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 157-172

Details
Abstract
Foreigners living in Japan have risen to account for 1.4% of the population. In recent years, researchers have seen an increasingly large and diverse number of Japanese language learners. While foreign exchange students learn Japanese in a particular institution, the majority of foreigners who are spouses of Japanese citizens or inhabitants in some other capacity often learn Japanese through local government language programs or acquire Japanese naturally in everyday life. Some research has been done on how foreigners use Japanese in their personal networks, but this has typically been done solely from the point of view of language instructors. Therefore, to further explore this issue from the learner's point of view, this study focused on the experiences of a Korean woman married to a Japanese man and analyzed the relationships between her networks and her identity. The data suggest that there exists social inequality between her and her husband, and although she often feels uneasy at home, she can be herself and even make jokes with others through her use of Japanese in other personal networks outside the home. It was concluded that, for her, using a second language is a way of securing a place in the communities with which she aspires to participate, and it is a way of expressing her "self" through interaction with others.
Content from these authors
© 2004 Japanese Association of Qualitative Psychology
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top