Language Policy in Japan: The Challenge of Change

by Nanette Gottlieb

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139179768
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/10/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	222
File size:	380 KB

About the Author

Nanette Gottlieb is Professor of Japanese Studies in the Japan Program of the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland. She has published widely in international journals in the areas of language modernisation, script reform, script policy and the impact of word processing technology in Japan. Her recent publications include Language and Society in Japan (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and Linguistic Stereotyping and Minority Groups in Japan (2006).

Table of Contents

1. Language ideology, planning and policy; 2. The language needs of immigrants; 3. Foreign languages other than English in education and the community; 4. Technology and language policy change; 5. National language policy and an internationalising community.

Editorial Reviews

"Still, Gottlieb has collected and presented much worthwhile information about current language policy in Japan and its immediate language planning needs."
—J. Marshall Unger, Journal of Japanese Studies

From the Publisher