Examining second-generation Japanese-Australians’ attitudes and motivations for maintaining heritage language and culture

Despite the vast research globally about multilingualism and its benefits, little is known about the beliefs and experiences of second-generation citizens. Most of the work on multilingualism has focused on the beliefs and experiences of first-generation immigrants or has focused on the American context. As a result, we know that many first-generation immigrants place a high value on their children learning their heritage language. We also know the contributions that the American context has to second-generation Americans’ language development. We still know little, however, about how heritage language learning experiences impact the second-generation immigrants’ attitudes towards the development of multilingualism and their personal identities, or how contexts outside of America affect this development. Experiences, motivations, and actions are shown to differ based on one’s geographical location and their surrounding community and so the experiences of every nationality group of second-generation citizens differs. Therefore, for understanding and working in the Australian context, second-generation Australians must be examined to produce accurate enough conclusions, and for my thesis’ aim then, second-generation Japanese-Australians must be examined.

This thesis examines the beliefs and motivations held about heritage language maintenance by 23 second-generation Japanese Australians aged 18 years and over living in Australia, with a specific interest in if/how attending community language schools impacted heritage language maintenance. My thesis uses a mixed-method survey to gather data about participants’ attitudes toward the Japanese language and culture, focusing on how their heritage language learning experiences in Australia have impacted their sense of self. The discussion explores how community, learning experience, and different motivators impact heritage language maintenance.

While it seems that attending community language schools was beneficial for positive beliefs about heritage language maintenance, Japanese Australian identity, and their attitudes towards the Japanese language, it was not the only contributing factor. Rather, it seems that having interpersonal connections with other Japanese speakers and developing hobbies with more frequent use of Japanese were also influential for my participants’ beliefs about heritage language maintenance. This project’s data can be used to further our understanding of second-generation immigrants’ attitudes toward heritage language learning and improve (Japanese) heritage language education and policy.