2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Practice and policy of Japanese as a second language education for junior high school and high school students

Research Project

Project/Area Number	19720126
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Japanese language education
Research Institution	Waseda University
Principal Investigator	OTA Yuko Waseda University, 留学センター, 助教 (50434353)
Project Period (FY)	2007 – 2010
Keywords	年少者日本語教育 / 幼少期より日本で成長したJSL生徒 / ことばの発達過程 / 言語教育政策 / 教育実践研究 / ライフストーリー
Research Abstract	This study focuses on junior high school and high school JSL (Japanese as a second language) students who have resided in Japan from early childhood. The purpose of this study is to investigate the students' characteristics focusing on linguistic and other related aspects and ways of supporting such students. A three-year-long period of action research through the teaching of one junior high school student, an interview with the student's family, and interviews with Japanese language teachers about their practice were conducted. The results indicate that despite extended stay in Japan, JSL students have difficulties with Japanese language and need linguistic and academic support, and that by supporting their learning of and in Japanese language, their linguistic and academic capability can improve. The results also indicate that educational administration needs to explicitly designate linguistic support for JSL students who have developed in Japan from early childhood, and to organize support system for such students.