Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 34:1 (2024) ► pp.55–80

Language practices and policies of Singaporean-Japanese families in Singapore

ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University
| Nanyang Technological University
ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University
ORCID logo | Nanyang Technological University
The few studies on Family Language Policy in Singapore (FLP) have generally focused on FLP in local and immigrant Chinese families. This article explores language policies that seem to undergird Singaporean-Japanese families’ language practices. In-depth interviews and observations with five such families showed that Japanese only functions as the language of communication between the Japanese parents and their children if parents have invoked particular language policies to support its transmission and use at home. For most families, English was the main medium of communication among family members. Language policies and practices in these families were heavily influenced by the value emplaced on each language within the parents’ linguistic repertoire and their beliefs regarding language learning.
Keywords: binational marriages, transnational marriages, Family Language Policy, Japanese, Singapore, language ideologies, One Parent One Language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Family Language Policy
  • 3.Binational families
  • 4.Factors affecting FLP in binational families
    • 4.1Intra-family factors
    • 4.2External factors
  • 5.Factors affecting the success or failure of families to attain their desired language outcomes
  • 6.Singapore’s linguistic situation and FLP in Singapore
  • 7.Methodology
    • 7.1Participants
    • 7.2Instruments and procedure
    • 7.3Participant observation
  • 8.Findings
    • 8.1Language practices
      • 8.1.1Category 1 – The family speaks predominantly in Japanese to the children
      • 8.1.2Category 2 – The family speaks in an English-dominant mixed code
      • 8.1.3Category 3 – The family speaks mainly English
    • 8.2Family Language Policies
      • 8.2.1Families that discussed and implemented an explicit FLP
      • 8.2.2Families that discussed but had not implemented an explicit FLP
      • 8.2.3Families that had not explicitly discussed the implementation of an FLP
    • 8.3Reinforcing practices
      • 8.3.1Enrolment in community or language schools or classes
      • 8.3.2Exposure to Japanese outside of parental interaction
  • 9.Discussion
    • 9.1Competing language ideologies
    • 9.2Beliefs about language learning
    • 9.3Institutional Policies and Pressures
    • 9.4Children’s agency
    • 9.5Successful policies
  • 10.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 27 March 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21021.cav
References (52)
References
Byers-Heinlein, Krista, and Casey Lew-Williams. 2013. “Bilingualism in the Early Years: What the Science Says.” LEARNing landscapes 7 (1): 95–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carol, Sarah, Evelyn Ersanilli, and Mareike Wagner. 2014. “Spousal Choice among the Children of Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants in Six European Countries: Transnational Spouse or Co-Ethnic Migrant?” International Migration Review 48 (2): 387–414. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cavallaro, Francesco, and Bee Chin Ng. 2020. “Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Singapore.” In Multilingual Global Cities: Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, edited by Peter Siemund, and Jakob R. E. Leimgruber, 133–159. New York, USA: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cavallaro, Francesco, Bee Chin Ng, and Ying Ying Tan. 2020. “Singapore English.” In Handbook of Asian Englishes, edited by Kingsley Bolton, Werner Botha, and Andy Kirkpatrick, 419–447. New Jersey, USA: Blackwell-Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheng, Chen-Chen. 2020. “Eye on the Future: Diverse Family Language Policy in Three Singaporean Malay Homes with Preschool Children.” Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education 14 (1):125–147.Google Scholar
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan. 2009. “Invisible and Visible Language Planning: Ideological Factors in the Family Language Policy of Chinese Immigrant Families in Quebec.” Language Policy 8 (4): 351–375. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. “Negotiating Family Language Policy: Doing Homework.” In Successful Family Language Policy, edited by Mila Schwartz, and Anna Verschik, 277–295. New York, USA & London, UK: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016. “Conflicting Language Ideologies and Contradictory Language Practices in Singaporean Multilingual Families.” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37 (7): 694–709. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan, and Jing Huang. 2020. “Factors Influencing Family Language Policy.” In Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors, edited by Andrea C. Schalley, and Susana A. Eisenchlas, 174–193. Berlin, Germany and Boston, USA: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Houwer, Annick. 2007. “Parental Language Input Patterns and Children’s Bilingual Use.” Applied Psycholinguistics 28 (3): 411–424. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. “Minority Language Parenting in Europe and Children’s Well-Being.” In Handbook on Positive Development of Minority Children and Youth, edited by Natasha Cabrera, and Birgit Leyendecker, 231–246. Berlin, Germany: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2018. “The Role of Language Input Environments for Language Outcomes and Language Acquisition in Young Bilingual Children.” In Bilingual Cognition and Language: The State of the Science across Its Subfields, edited by David Miller, Fatih Bayram, Jason Rothman, and Ludovica Serratrice, 127–153. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2020. “Harmonious Bilingualism: Well-Being for Families in Bilingual Settings.” In Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors, edited by Andrea C. Schalley, and Susana A. Eisenchlas, 63–83. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Department of Statistics. 2021. “Proportion of Transnational and Inter-Ethnic Marriages among Citizen Marriages, Annual.” Ministry of Trade and Industry, accessed 20 August 2022. [URL]
Döpke, Susanne. 1992. One Parent – One Language: An Interactional Approach, Studies in Bilingualism. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fishman, Joshua A. 1991. Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual matters.Google Scholar
Fogle, Lyn Wright, and Kendall A. King. 2013. “Child Agency and Language Policy in Transnational Families.” Issues in Applied Linguistics 191: 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fresnoza-Flot, A., and G. Ricordeau. 2019. International Marriages and Marital Citizenship: Southeast Asian Women on the Move. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Groes, C., and N. T. Fernandez. 2018. Intimate Mobilities: Sexual Economies, Marriage and Migration in a Disparate World. New York, USA: Berghahn Books. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, Guangwei, and Li Ren. 2013. “Prolepsis, Syncretism, and Synergy in Early Language and Literacy Practices: A Case Study of Family Language Policy in Singapore.” Language Policy 12 (1): 63–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. “Language Ideologies, Social Capital, and Interaction Strategies: An Ethnographic Case Study of Family Language Policy in Singapore.” In Family Language Policies in a Multilingual World: Opportunities, Challenges, and Consequences, edited by John Macalister, and Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi, 195–216. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jones, Gavin, and Hsiu-hua Shen. 2008. “International Marriage in East and Southeast Asia: Trends and Research Emphases.” Citizenship Studies 12 (1): 9–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kasuya, Hiroko. 1998. “Determinants of Language Choice in Bilingual Children: The Role of Input.” International Journal of Bilingualism 2 (3): 327–346. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
King, Kendall A., and Lyn Fogle. 2006. “Bilingual Parenting as Good Parenting: Parents’ Perspectives on Family Language Policy for Additive Bilingualism.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 9 (6): 695–712. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
King, Kendall A., Lyn Fogle, and Aubrey Logan-Terry. 2008. “Family Language Policy.” Language and Linguistics Compass 2 (5): 907–922. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kirsch, Claudine. 2012. “Ideologies, Struggles and Contradictions: An Account of Mothers Raising Their Children Bilingually in Luxembourgish and English in Great Britain.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 15 (1): 95–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kopeliovich, Shulamit. 2010. “Family Language Policy: A Case Study of a Russian-Hebrew Bilingual Family: Toward a Theoretical Framework.” Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education 4 (3): 162–178. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kraler, Alber, Eleonore Kofman, Martin Kohli, and Camille Schmoll. 2011. “Introduction. Issues and Debates on Family-Related Migration and the Migrant Family: A European Perspective.” In Gender, Generations and the Family in International Migration, edited by Alber Kraler, Eleonore Kofman, Martin Kohli, and Camille Schmoll, 13–54. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lanza, Elizabeth. 1998. “Raising Children Bilingually in Norway.” International Journal of Sociology of Language 133 (1998): 73–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2004. Language Mixing in Infant Bilingualism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lee, Hsien Loong. 2019. “PM Lee Hsien Loong at 40th Anniversary of Speak Mandarin Campaign.” Accessed 16 Nov. [URL]
Little, Sabine. 2020. “Whose Heritage? What Inheritance?: Conceptualising Family Language Identities.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23 (2): 198–212. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Medrano, J. D. 2020. Europe in Love. London, UK: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Education Singapore. 2021. “Exemption from Taking a Mother Tongue Language.” Accessed 20 August 2022. [URL]
Mirvahedi, Seyed Hadi, and Francesco Cavallaro. 2019. “Siblings’ Play and Language Shift to English in a Malay-English Bilingual Family in Singapore.” World Englishes Online first.Google Scholar
Morales, Alejandro, Oksana F. Yakushko, and Antonio J. Castro. 2012. “Language Brokering among Mexican-Immigrant Families in the Midwest: A Multiple Case Study.” The Counseling Psychologist 40 (4): 520–553. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, Janice. 2019. “Parents’ Impact Belief in Raising Bilingual and Biliterate Children in Japan.” Psychology of Language and Communication 23 (1): 137–161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oriyama, Kaya. 2016. “Community of Practice and Family Language Policy: Maintaining Heritage Japanese in Sydney – Ten Years Later.” International Multilingual Research Journal 10 (4): 289–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Park, Mi Yung. 2019. “Challenges of Maintaining the Mother’s Language: Marriage-Migrants and Their Mixed-Heritage Children in South Korea.” Language and Education 33 (5): 431–444. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Said, Fatma, and Hua Zhu. 2019. ““No, No Maama! Say ‘Shaatir Ya Ouledee Shaatir’!” Children’s Agency in Language Use and Socialisation.” International Journal of Bilingualism 23 (3): 771–785. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schüpbach, Doris. 2009. “Language Transmission Revisited: Family Type, Linguistic Environment and Language Attitudes.” International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 12 (1): 15–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Mila. 2020. “Strategies and Practices of Home Language Maintenance.” In Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors, edited by Andrea C. Schalley, and Susanna A. Eisenchlas, 194–217. Berlin, Germany and Boston, USA: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spolsky, Bernard. 2004. Language Policy, Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Takada, Akira. 2019. “Socialization Practices Regarding Shame in Japanese Caregiver-Child Interactions.” Frontiers in Psychology 101: 1545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Takeuchi, Masae. 2006. “The Japanese Language Development of Children through the ‘One Parent–One Language’ Approach in Melbourne.” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 27 (4): 319–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tan, Ying Ying. 2014. “English as a ‘Mother Tongue’ in Contemporary Singapore.” World Englishes 33 (3): 319–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tse, Lucy. 1995. “Language Brokering among Latino Adolescents: Prevalence, Attitudes, and School Performance.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 17 (2): 180–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tuominen, Anne. 1999. “Who Decides the Home Language? A Look at Multilingual Families.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 140 (1): 59–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tye-Williams, Stacy. 2017. “Sample Versus Population.” In The Sage Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, edited by Mike Allen, 1523–1526. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Wright, Lyn. 2020. Critical Perspectives on Language and Kinship in Multilingual Families. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamamoto, Masayo. 2001. Language Use in Interlingual Familes: A Japanese-English Sociolinguistic Study. Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zaid, Ainun Rozana Mohd., and Yin Mee Mac. 2017. “The Language Choice among Chinese-Indian Mixed-Marriage Families in Malaysia.” Journal of Modern Languages 19 (1): 1–18.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Tse Crepaldi, Yvonne & Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi
2024. Language ideologies and practices in flux: the case of an Italian-Chinese transnational family. Current Issues in Language Planning ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.