Japanese school children in Melbourne and their language maintenance efforts

This paper presents a case study of language maintenance efforts made by bilingual Japanese children in Melbourne whose parents are of Japanese background. The children were selected from two sub-groups in the Japanese community: the children of business sojourners (temporary residents), the largest sub-group in the community, and the children of permanent residents, the second largest sub-group. Focusing on the micro-level language planning for maintenance, this study examines the speakers’ degree and direction of maintenance in terms of Japanese language proficiency, and it analyses the correlation between the maintenance achieved, the factors, and the strategies adopted. Two instruments have been developed for the assessment of speakers’ naturally occurring spoken discourse data. It is argued that the children’s differing residential status, being either a sojourner or permanent resident, is a key factor affecting the maintenance process and its outcomes, and that maintenance at the micro-level, specifically individual and family levels, is the result of the combined efforts of the parents and the children.