麻豆影院

How have ideologies about language in the US led to the suppression of Japanese heritage language education?

Student: Cole Cantor听
Course: LING 1000 - Language in U.S. Society听
Mentor: Katherine Arnold-Murray听
LURA 2021

How have ideologies about language in the US led to the suppression of Japanese heritage language education? In a 1919 letter regarding the annual Federal Survey of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Hawaii, Vaughan MacCaughey, wrote 鈥淭he bulk of Hawaii鈥檚 school population attends Japanese Language schools six days per week, throughout practically the entire year. The teachers in these schools are all aliens and are imported from Japan. They have little or no knowledge of American institutions or ideals鈥� (cited in Asato, 2003). One would assume that based on the United States鈥� underlying philosophy of freedom, those who immigrate here would have the right to teach their children about their people鈥檚 language and heritage. However, in a country that desires white, English dominance in its educational systems, the connection that many people try to form with their heritage can be threatened and compromised.听

Despite the diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds of people living in the US, American society overall has perpetuated a standard language ideology, which has established monolingual public education systems educating children in one specific 鈥渟tandard鈥� variety of English (Lippi-Green, 2012). This led to the suppression of the teaching and use of languages other than English, as the US education system鈥檚 policies demand cultural and linguistic assimilation. Heritage language schools are established with the object of teaching children of American immigrants about their culture and language so that they can form a more meaningful connection with their family and ethnic history.

Before World War II, Japanese language education in the US was spearheaded by the Issei Nikkei, 鈥渋ssei鈥� meaning first generation and 鈥渘ikkei鈥� being a term used to refer to any generation of Japanese immigrants.听

鈥淚ssei鈥�, or first-generation Japanese immigrants听
听

By 1920, 43% of Hawaii鈥檚 population identified as Japanese, most having immigrated from late Meiji-era Japan in search of work after suffering financial ruin from Japan鈥檚 governmental reconstruction (Tamura, 1993). The Nikkei of Hawaii wanted a way to teach their children about their Japanese heritage and language, and established heritage schools around the islands to do so. The American Bureau of Education soon took notice, and designed the 1919 Federal Survey of Education to investigate 163 Japanese heritage language schools in Hawaii that the government complained were teaching 鈥楢nti-American values鈥�, like Buddhism, to their Japanese-American students. Xenophobic accusations like this have been aimed at immigrants throughout America鈥檚 history, and are often linked to judgements about language. Subsequently in 1920, Hawaii鈥檚 territorial legislature passed a series of laws and regulations听aimed at abolishing Japanese language schools. In 1927, however, a group of Issei parents and community leaders challenged these malicious laws, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared them unconstitutional (Tamura, 1993).听

Kimi Kondo (1998) notes that Japanese speakers in Hawaii, US education policy encourages subtractive language assimilation, while for English monolinguals, it encourages additive foreign language learning. Problems like this are now deeply rooted in the American education system, and leave immigrant communities feeling isolated and confused. One group impacted by these problems was the 鈥淪hin-nisei鈥�, or new second generation of Japanese people living in America, as they didn鈥檛 have many options for accelerated learning programs to strengthen their existing Japanese language backgrounds. Kondo finds that US education programs teaching Japanese as a foreign language were inefficient for these speakers, while Japanese language schools also had declined in popularity and support. This trend is yet another result of the American effort to make English the national language despite the US not having an 鈥渙fficial鈥� language (Lippi-Green, 2012).听

鈥淪hin-nisei鈥�, or new second-generation Japanese immigrants
s-cultural-nuances/听

Although much of the history behind Japanese heritage education in the US revolves around repression and forced assimilation, Japanese immigrants have persisted and continued to establish heritage schools. Many of these schools are designed to supplement Japanese-American students鈥� public education and are typically only open on weekends. Educational approaches differ by school, but the overall goal of these schools is to connect children of Japanese immigrants to their language and culture, an opportunity they don鈥檛 have in their regular schooling (Doerr, 2010).听

Without a well-established heritage education system, immigrant communities in America are under more pressure to assimilate into a culture that may not align with their values. Because heritage education upholds the freedom to understand and express one鈥檚 own culture, language, and values, awareness and funding for these vital programs, such as those in Hawaii, are critical.听

Works Cited听

Asato, Noriko. "Mandating Americanization: Japanese Language Schools and the Federal Survey of Education in Hawai'i, 1916鈥�1920." History of Education Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 1, 2003;2017;, pp. 10-38.
Doerr, Neriko, and Kiri Lee. "Inheriting "Japanese-ness" Diversely: Heritage Practices at a Weekend Japanese Language School in the United States." Critical Asian Studies, vol. 42, no. 2, 2010, pp. 191-216.听
Kondo, Kimi. "The Paradox of US Language Policy and Japanese Language Education in Hawaii." International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, pp. 47-64.听
Lippi-Green, Rosina. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States. Taylor & Francis, 2012.听
Tamura, Eileen H. 鈥淭he English-Only Effort, the Anti-Japanese Campaign, and Language Acquisition in the Education of Japanese Americans in Hawaii, 1915-40.鈥� History of Education Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 1, 1993, pp. 37鈥�58.听