Cover not available

Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 34:1 (2024) ► pp.55–80

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Language practices and policies of Singaporean-Japanese families in Singapore

ORCiD logo with link | Nanyang Technological University
 | Nanyang Technological University
ORCiD logo with link | Nanyang Technological University
ORCiD logo with link | Nanyang Technological University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 27 March 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21021.cav
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.
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
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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. “Conflicting Language Ideologies and Contradictory Language Practices in Singaporean Multilingual Families.” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37 (7): 694–709. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Houwer, Annick. 2007. “Parental Language Input Patterns and Children’s Bilingual Use.” Applied Psycholinguistics 28 (3): 411–424. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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]
Fishman, Joshua A. 1991. Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual matters.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fresnoza-Flot, A., and G. Ricordeau. 2019. International Marriages and Marital Citizenship: Southeast Asian Women on the Move. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasuya, Hiroko. 1998. “Determinants of Language Choice in Bilingual Children: The Role of Input.” International Journal of Bilingualism 2 (3): 327–346. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
King, Kendall A., Lyn Fogle, and Aubrey Logan-Terry. 2008. “Family Language Policy.” Language and Linguistics Compass 2 (5): 907–922. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lanza, Elizabeth. 1998. “Raising Children Bilingually in Norway.” International Journal of Sociology of Language 133 (1998): 73–88. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Language Mixing in Infant Bilingualism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Medrano, J. D. 2020. Europe in Love. London, UK: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakamura, Janice. 2019. “Parents’ Impact Belief in Raising Bilingual and Biliterate Children in Japan.” Psychology of Language and Communication 23 (1): 137–161. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, Bernard. 2004. Language Policy, Key Topics in Sociolinguistics. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takada, Akira. 2019. “Socialization Practices Regarding Shame in Japanese Caregiver-Child Interactions.” Frontiers in Psychology 101: 1545. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tan, Ying Ying. 2014. “English as a ‘Mother Tongue’ in Contemporary Singapore.” World Englishes 33 (3): 319–339. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tse, Lucy. 1995. “Language Brokering among Latino Adolescents: Prevalence, Attitudes, and School Performance.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 17 (2): 180–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to Google Scholar
Wright, Lyn. 2020. Critical Perspectives on Language and Kinship in Multilingual Families. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yamamoto, Masayo. 2001. Language Use in Interlingual Familes: A Japanese-English Sociolinguistic Study. Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google 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 logo with link to 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 25:5 ► pp. 509 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue