Support for Developments in Communication, Interpersonal Relations, and Identity of Children Obliged to Shift to Japanese from a Foreign Language

Abstract

This research focused on foreign children in Japan in multicultural and multilingual environments. The purpose was to analyze how the ages of linguistic shift from foreign language to Japanese related to their sense of gap in communication, interpersonal relations, as well as autonomy in subject study and self-identity. Through the interview data from 24　children, the findings were as follows:（1）The content of the sense of communication gap in Japanese varied according to the age at which they made the linguistic shift．（2）The sense of gap in communication decreased confidence in　interpersonal-relationship capability, especially in children on the autism spectrum, and also affected self-identity.