Language Planning And Language Change In Japan

This text highlights the shift in language planning and language change in Japan against a background of significant socio-cultural, political and economic change, and places them in a comparative context.

Highlights the shift in language planning and language change in Japan at the end of the 20th century against a background of significant socio-cultural, political, and economic change and places them in a comparative context.

Over the last thirty years, two social developments have occurred that have led to a need for change in language policy in Japan. One is the increase in the number of migrants needing opportunities to learn Japanese as a second language, the other is the influence of electronic technologies on the way Japanese is written. This book looks at the impact of these developments on linguistic behaviour and language management and policy, and at the role of language ideology in the way they have been addressed. Immigration-induced demographic changes confront long cherished notions of national monolingualism and technological advances in electronic text production have led to textual practices with ramifications for script use and for literacy in general. The book will be welcomed by researchers and professionals in language policy and management and by those working in Japanese Studies.

This volume covers the language situation in Japan, Nepal and Taiwan, as well as the modernisation of Chinese Characters in China, explaining the linguistic diversity, the historical and political contexts and the current language situation -- including language-in-education planning, the role of the media, the role of religion, and the roles of non-indigenous languages. Two of the authors are indigenous and the other two have been participants in the language planning context.

Analyses how linguistic diversity in Japan, and indeed recognition of this phenomenon, presents a wide range of sociolinguistic challenges and opportunities in fundamental institutions such as schools, in cultural patterns and in social behaviours and attitudes.

Presenting new approaches and results previously inaccessible in English, the Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics provides an insight into the language and society of contemporary Japan from a fresh perspective. While it was once believed that Japan was a linguistically homogenous country, research over the past two decades has shown Japan to be a multilingual and sociolinguistically diversifying country. Building on this approach, the contributors to this handbook take this further, combining Japanese and western approaches alike and producing research which is relevant to twenty-first century societies. Organised into five parts, the sections covered include: The languages and language varieties of Japan. The multilingual ecology. Variation, style and interaction. Language problems and language planning. Research overviews. With contributions from across the field of Japanese sociolinguistics, this handbook will prove very useful for students and scholars of Japanese Studies, as well as sociolinguists more generally.

Originally published in 1991, this book examines the process whereby a modern colloquial style of written Japanese was developed in the context of the overall modernization of Japan. The book examines the process whereby this strategic simplification took place in Japan, beginning with a discussion of the background to the problem and the reasons why change was indicated. The history, characteristics and spheres of the four major styles found in documents of the modern period are examined, as are initial moves towards language reform in the fields of education and printed media. Separate illustrations in Japanese script are provided to give an idea of the changing visual complexity of texts; in-text references, however, are romanized except where the use of characters is essential. Wherever possible, English sources are cited in addition to Japanese; where published translations are available, these are cited in order to enable non-speakers of Japanese to follow up references if they so desire.

In our globalizing world of today, the significance, status and demand of languages are experiencing changes which are unmatched in human history. These changes also relate to the languages of Japan as well as to the way that they are being taught and studied. In this book 14 authors from four continents present their research results on Japanese as foreign language (JFL) in the age of globalization. The participation of these authors reflects the fact that research into JFL has itself become global. Since JFL in the age of globalization is a field too extensive to be comprehensively covered by a single book, we restricted ourselves to three topics which we believe are central in discussing this issue. New kinds of language learners and new teaching paradigmsNative – non-native speaker interaction or contact situations in a more general senseNew insights into cognitive processes in language learning