A Study on Interaction between Foreign Parents with Little or No Japanese Language Ability and Kindergartens and Nursery Schools

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00728
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02090:Japanese language education-related
• Research Institution: Yamagata University
• Principal Investigator: Utsumi Yumiko 山形大学, 学士課程基盤教育院, 教授 (20292708)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 澤 恩嬉 東北文教大学, その他部局等, 准教授 (50389699)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 外国出身保護者 / 幼稚園・保育園 / 日本語支援 / やりとり / 連絡帳 / エンパワーメント

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We collected research papers and survey reports targeting foreign parents in the fields of childcare and early childhood education as well as Japanese language education. The questionnaire survey targeting foreign parents and the survey targeting nursery school teachers in kindergartens and nursery schools were abandoned because the end of the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection was not in sight. Portuguese and Thai versions of the "Renrakucho wo kako！" website, which supports the use of Japanese when parents of foreign origin communicate with preschools, were created, and the entire website was reviewed. Given the rapid increase in the number of Vietnamese parents, it seemed urgent to create a Vietnamese-language version of the page, but we were unable to access Vietnamese translators who had experience raising children in Japan.

Free Research Field

日本語教育学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

外国につながる子どもに対する支援は、近年、急速に研究成果が蓄積されているが、外国出身保護者に対する支援、とりわけ、保護者に必要な日本語習得支援は非常に少ない。保護者が能動的に園とのやりとりに関与し、自分の思いを伝え、自信を持って子育てができるようになるためには、このような研究と支援は急務であり、本研究は独自性があると言える。本研究の成果によって、外国出身保護者が園とのやりとりに自信を深め、自分の手で子育てしているという実感が持てれば、保護者の精神的な安定が得られると期待される。これは外国につながる子どもの生活・学習環境を整えるという点でも大きな意味を持つものと思われる。