The Influence of Identity on Language Use by Bicultural Youth in Okinawa

1

INFLUENCE OF IDENTITY ON BICULTURAL LANGUAGE USE

The Influence of Identity on Language Use

by Bicultural Youth in Okinawa

A Thesis Presented to

Linguistic Information Science

International Language and Cultures

The Department of Law and Letters

University of the Ryukyus

In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements

The Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Student Number : 061890A

Name : Melissa Tomlinson

Thesis Adviser : Miki Shibata

March 2011

2


Contents

Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Background

Identity of bicultural 5

Identity and Language 8

Research questions 10

Method

Participants 11

Materials and Procedure

Questionnaire 12

Follow-up interview 13

Dara Analysis 13

Results

Questionnaire Data

The Identity of Bicultural Youth in Okinawa 14

Language Proficiency 14

Language Use 15

Follow-up interview data 16

Discussion and Conclusions 19

Reference 26

Appendix 28

3


Abstract

Although bicultural or bilingual people in Japan have attracted many researchers, none of the

studies have focused on the variety of terms and their language use. There are several

personal terms that refer to bicultural persons by these; half, double, mixed, and Amerasian in

Japan. This study attempts to reveal bicultural youths’ sense of identity and find differences

between each identity that classified which they choose group’s language use in Okinawa. A

total of 30 bicultural youths responded to a questionnaire, and 15 of them were interviewed in

depth. The questionnaire responses showed that these people had complex experiences

regarding their Japanese and English language use, proficiencies, and surroundings. Results

from the interviews indicated that each participant has put much thought into what defines

who they are. The findings suggest that bicultural youths have deep conflicts between identity

and language use. As bicultural youths, they commonly find themselves confused trying to

make sense of who they are. These youth have selected the best way to identity from a variety

of terms and establish their own language styles by themselves.

Key words: bicultural youth, Okinawa, identity conflict, language use

4


Influence of Identity on Language Use by Bicultural Youth in Okinawa

The first language a person acquires in life, known as the mother language, is used

as a tool to have converse with others. Conversation allows people to share their thoughts,

beliefs, and values. Therefore, if people can speak more than one language, they have more

opportunities to relate with others. Compared to the past, the number of people crossing

borders is increasing, which has driven the traveler’s population to reach almost 200 million

people (Tousu, 2002). For a long time, Japan was known as a homogeneous nation, but it no

longer seems to be so since the number of foreign residents has been increasing year by year.

Okinawa, a prefecture in Japan, is not an exception. There are many military

personnel, civilians, and their families living on the island of Okinawa. About 75% of the U.S.

military bases in Japan are located on this island. From these circumstances, many

international marriages occur and children with dual-citizenship are born. The most common

union consists of a Japanese female and an American male (The Ministry of Health, Labor

and Welfare, 2009). Their children often grow up in a Japanese American bicultural

environment. However, it’s not easy to become multilingual, and there are considerable

problems.

Many studies have targeted people who have grown up or lived in a multilingual

society (Kondo-Brown, 2001; Norton, 2000; Onohara, 2004; Wong, 1991). Each study

showed that improving and maintaining two languages is not simple. Although aspects of

5


bicultural youth behavior in Okinawa have attracted much research, none of the studies has

examined the sense of identity and language use of people who have grown up on the island

in a bicultural environment. This study will examine their identity difference influence their

language use. How bicultural of Japanese and American built their identity and use Japanese

and English which are their parents’ language in daily life.

Background

Identity of bicultural

The person who first started exploring the idea of identity was Freudian social

psychologist Erickson (1902-1994). In many societies, there is a social transition from child

to adult. In traditional societies, the rite of passage, called initiation, is decisively known as

the social transition. The transition from child to adult occurs during adolescence. In this era,

people have more opportunities and options to become who they want, but this also means

that much consideration needs to be put forth to find the correct path for an individual. This

brings a period of conflict; adolescents are neither an adult nor a child. During adolescence,

there is a possibility of a mental problems as well as a high rate of suicide. He called this a

crisis of identity because people go through this crisis as they create their identities, known as

the ego. Erickson also explained that identity is always changing. Ueno (2005), later

cautioned that people act like they are not able to live without identity, and other’s differences

of cultural, ethnic, and religion catch their attention. Thus, individuals try to gather with

6


people who share the same thoughts, beliefs, and values. Sometimes they gather within the

same language, ethnic, on religious group. Being admitted as a member brings steadiness and

comfort. However, these gatherings can cause prejudice and discrimination towards other

groups.

Onohara (2004) defined identity as a word that explained “Who am I?” This includes

the image, belief, feeling, and evaluation of oneself. People choose the appropriate identity

accordingly, then try to show who they are. Therefore, the important thing is that people

should have the freedom to choose their own identity by themselves. However, it is hard to

have this freedom for many reasons. In Japan, people have a fixed image of people raised in

particular environments, such as those born in international marriage families as a bilingual

child (Nakazima, 1998). Japanese people commonly distinguish them from the general

Japanese family. Especially in the case of the international marriage involving Japanese and

foreign parents, it is possible to predict that there is more English use in these homes than

those of general Japanese families. However, it was found that not all bicultural children

become bilingual. In fact, there are many ways to describe the people who have Japanese and

foreign parents: half, double, mixed,and Amerasian. Especially Amerasian is used for a

Japanese (Okinawan) parent and an American military parent in Japan. Yashima (2009)

thoroughly explained the background of these terms. The word, half, came about in the early

1970s. It refers to a person who is ethnically has half Japanese and half foreigner. There are

7


some popular entertainers who were called half, such as Golden Half a pop idol group and

singer Rinda Yamamoto, who sang on TV at the time. As time went on, the word double came

about as a type of resistance to the word half in the 1990s. The word double came about

because of the idea that bicultural people have two ethnicities, a more positive image than

notion of just a half. Meanwhile, until 1985 the people with a Japanese and foreigner parent

were in the center of attention in newspapers in Japan because of their stateless problem.

Especially the Amerasian school in Okinawa was picked up by the newspapers, and then the

term Amerasian started to appear in the media.

Considering this background, it is natural that the terms came about by differences of

ideas. As mentioned above, many types of identities represent the people who have Japanese

and American parents in Japan. These people are not able to easily join into predominantly

Japanese or American groups. Murphy-Shigematsu (1994) pointed out this particular

stereotype of people who have Japanese parent and American parent; this type of person is

referred to as half’ in this article. After the Second World War, half regarded themselves as a

minority and became a target of anti-American sentiment; discrimination, and prejudice in

Okinawa. Therefore, many half had a difficult youth interacting with their relatives, teachers,

and friends. People treated them as Americans or refused to admit they are Japanese. It is not

only about appearances but also about languages. Murphy-Shigematsu (2004) reported that

Okinawa has a stereotype for people called Shima-half, who speak Japanese only and not

8


English. According to this stereotype, all bicultural people must speak at least English

correctly; therefore, a person not skilled in English would be regarded as a dropout from the

bright bilingual life. Most half recognizes themselves as neither Japanese nor American, but

simply people born of a Japanese and American parent. Even if they choose to be completely

Japanese or American, few people think they are completely Japanese or American. It seems

the half don’t aren’t permitted rights to be a Japanese or American, even if they have both

parts.

Identity and Language

Onohara (2004) mentioned that language is used to communicate with others as well

as to show on other’s identity. Purportedly, there are about 4,000 to 5,000 languages in the

world (Tousu, 2002). Using language enables us not only to express but to share our own

ideas, feelings, and values with others. Many previous studies show that identity and

languages are strongly correlated. Spolosky (2004) emphasized that “importance of language

by noting, the language of public sign may seem a trivial local matter, but languge issues can

lead to major conflicts” (p.1). Especially, in a multilingual society, the choice of language use

with others can be complicated (e.g., use of official languages). Using languages can serve to

make people superior or inferior. For example, those who use the acknowledged official

language become a majority in the country. People who can’t speak it become a linguistic

minority and are put into a sense of linguistic inferiority. Kawahara (2004) reported that using

9


language can distinguish one group from others. For example, Filipino women who were

married to Japanese showed that even if a Japanese group and a Filipino group are having

conversation in Japanese, the Filipino group would start speaking Tagalong when they did not

want Japanese people to hear their conversation. As a result, Filipino people feel a high sense

of solidarity in a Filipino group. Japanese people will be blocked out. In this case, Filipino

people draw a boundary between our Filipino people and your Japanese people. Even if

people speak their own language in a conversation, their choices could hurt feelings or

exclude others in certain occasions.

On the other hand, Kondo-Brown (2000) reported an interesting result of bilingual

heritage student’s consciousness toward Japanese. This study investigated 145 bilingual

heritage students, with at least one parent who was a native speaker of Japanese, who had

enrolled in Japanese classes. Participants were classified into three groups by the Japanese

courses that they were taking. Findings revealed that their identity as a Nisei gave them high

motivation for improving and maintaining Japanese with positive attitude. Certainly, most

students studied Japanese for work and communication with Japanese people, although a

basic realization was that they had an identity that could not be changed biologically and

awaken to Japaneseness. Also the bilingual heritage students answered that learning Japanese

was challenging, interesting, and important. From these results, it is possible to speculate that

identity directly influences the amount of motivation in the learning of Japanese.

10


Research Question

The previous literature suggests it is not simple for the people who have a Japanese

and American parent to put themselves into a single category, nor to accept a specific

descriptive term such as; half, double, mixed, and Hapa. These terms do not dictate whether

matter the parent is American or not. In Okinawa, though, most of the unions do consist of

Japanese and an American parent, and thus the term Amerasian often, represents them in

Okinawa. The research question to be investigated which terms do bicultural youth in

Okinawa choose to reflect their identities? Accordingly, this research will also investigate

their languages use then see whether identity differences affect the use of language. If so, it

can be assumed that the difference can be seen in the youths’ use identity and language of

their choice. This paper, by focusing on diversities in present identity, aims to investigate the

extent of differences in language use and features of their identity groups in Japanese and

English. Respondents choosing different terms are thus varying their language use, which

may reveal differences about their identities. Their language use will be different by each

identity group. This study has two fundamental aims: the first is to attempt to reveal the

bicultural youths’ sense of identity. The second is to examine the bicultural youths’ language

use while investigating the extent, frequency, and attitude of Japanese and English compared

with each identity group to find differences.

11


Materials and Procedure

Participants

Bicultural youth with a Japanese and American parent in Okinawa participated in

this study. A total of 30 participants (15 women, 15 men, Mage=22.1 years, age range: 18-37

years) were questioned. They all had a Japanese mother and American father and are still

living with their parents. All participants graduated from high school, some go to college, and

some have jobs. Participants’ birth place, citizenship, and marital status vary (see Table 1, for

participants’ background). Some participants were delivered at the military hospital in

Okinawa (on base); some other participants were delivered at Japanese hospital in Okinawa

(off-base). Others were delivered in the United States.

Table 1

Participant's Background

Birth Place

Okinawa (on base) 23.3% (7)

Okinawa (off-base) 53.3% (16)

The United States 23.3% (7)

Total 99.9% (30)

Citizenship

Japanese only 26.6% (8)

U.S. only 10.0% (3)

Dual citizenship 63.3% (19)

Total 99.9% (30)

Parents’

marital Status

Married 70.0% (21)

Divorced 20.0% (6)

Separated 6.6% (2)

Unmarried 3.3% (1)

Total 99.9% (30)

12


Questionnaire

In this study, a questionnaire written in Japanese was used (see Appendix B). A

simple explanation of the questionnaire was given, and then participants were asked to return

it in September to November of 2010. A total 23 questions, 86.9% is select from options and

13% is open-closed, were requested for participants to answer. The questionnaire was

composed of three sections, and question items on it were as follows: SectionⅠ consisted of

four questions of a participant’s background; sex, age, citizenship, and birth place. Section

Ⅱ consisted of 12 questions of mainly participants’ language use. To determine the

participants’ language use, participants were asked to rate their percentage of Japanese and

English use. Participants were asked to choose their language use style from five different

styles with a 5-point Likert scale (1=Japanese 100%; 2=Japanese70-80%, English 20-30%;

3=Japanese 50%, English 50%; 4=Japanese 20-30%, English 70-80%; English 100%). Other

questions asked where they lived and what language was used between the times they were

born to the age of 18 years old. SectionⅢ consisted of seven questions of participants’

Japanese and English proficiency and identity. Participants were asked to do a self-evaluation

of their four Japanese and English skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading that are

rated 5-point Likert scales (1=not at all; 2=little; 3=well; 4=very well; 5=native speaker).

Also participants were asked to choose one identity term from seven choices of identity

terms: Japanese, American, half, double, Amerasian, don’t know, and others.

13


Follow-up Interview

The interviews with the 15 selected participants (8 males and 7 females) were

intended to explore the above issues in depth and took approximately 60 minutes each. The

interviews were recorded by IC recorder and transcribed by the researcher. During interviews,

Japanese or English (sometimes Japanese and English mixed) were used to converse,

depending on the participants. The interviews were semi-structured: a set of questions were

prepared by the researcher beforehand, although some flexibility was allowed. Some of the

questions were as follows: Why do you think the identity you selected is appropriate? Also

why you didn’t choose others? How do you feel about the language that is not your dominant

language? How do you maintain your Japanese/English?

Data Analysis

After collection, participants were first divided into each identity groups then

calculated averages for comparing with different identity groups. For calculating averages of

language use, a five-point Likert scale was used; add all of the points to find the sum, and

divide by the number of group’s people; this gives the averages. The data of interviews, on

the other hand, was used as a supplement of the questionnaire’s results.

14


Results

Questionnaire Data

The Identity of Bicultural Youth in Okinawa

Table 2 shows the results that participant’s identity they chose. It is interesting that

no one choose ‘American’ as their identity, also no one chose ‘don’t know’. This means all

participants had some ideas of their identity. Therefore, there only five identity groups:

Japanese, half, double, Amerasian, and others. The half identity group is the largest number,

67% of the participants chose it. The Japanese, double, and others identity groups are the

second number, each 10% of the participants chose it. Only 3% chose Amerasian identity

group and also it was the only a person whose father is still in commission in the military.

Table 2

Identity Groups

Japanese American half Double Amerasian don't know others

(N=3) (N=0) (N=20) (N=3) (N=1) (N=0) (N=3)

10% 0% 66.7% 10% 3.3% 0% 10%

Language Proficiency

Table 3 shows the percentage of dominant Japanese or English users within each

identity group. From the self-evaluation of Japanese and English four skills, three bilinguals

who evaluated themselves as Japanese and English native, in half and double identity group

15


(two people from half identity group and a person from double identity group). The double

and others identity groups are consisted of the people whose dominant language is Japanese.

On the other hand, the Amerasian group consisted only of people whose dominant language

is English. Dominant Japanese users are larger than English ones in Japanese identity groups.

In contrast, dominant English users are larger than the Japanese one in half identity group. 2

participants of half identity group answered that neither Japanese nor English is their

dominant language.

Table 3

Dominant Language With Different Identity Groups

Japanese half double Amerasian others

(n = 3) (n = 18) (n = 3) (n = 1) (n = 3)

Japanese (n = 13) 66.7% (2) 33.3% (6) 66.7% (2) 0% (0) 100% (3)

English (n = 12) 33.3% (1) 55.6% (10) 0% (0) 100% (1) 0% (0)

Bilingual (n = 3) 0% (0) 11.1% (2) 33.3% (1) 0% (0) 0% (0)

Total 28 (two participants of Half identity group think they don’t have dominant language)

Also from questionnaire results, Japanese, double, and others identity groups shows

they evaluated their Japanese proficiency higher than English. On the other hand, half and

Amerasian identity group evaluated their English proficiency higher than Japanese.

Especially, the language skills of reading and writing were evaluated lower than speaking and

listening (see Appendix F1).

Language Use

On the whole, all participants use more Japanese with Japanese mother and use more

16


Japanese ( N = 3 ) Half ( N = 20 ) Double ( N = 3 ) Amerasian ( N = 1 ) Others ( N = 3 )

Father 4.3 4.8 3.3 5 4.7

Mother 1 2.2 1 3 1.7

4.3

4.8

3.3

5

4.7

1

2.2

1

3

1.7

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5English 100%

Japanese 100%

English with American father (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. language Use of Parents With Different Identity Group

Language use with American father, double identity group’s average is 3.3, use more

Japanese than other identity groups. On the other hand, Amerasian identity group’s average is

5, which means only English is used with their American father. Language use with Japanese

mother, Amerasian identity group’s average is 3, use more English to Japanese parent than

other identity groups. On the other hand, Japanese and double identity group’s average is 1,

which means only Japanese is used with their Japanese mother.

Surprisingly, the average of language use to friends with different identity groups

shows similar results (see Figure 3). half and others identity group’s average is about 3,

which means Japanese 50% and English 50%, use both Japanese and English with friends.

17


Amerasian identity group’s average is 4, which means use more English than Japanese with

friends. On the other hand, Japanese and double identity group’s average are about 1, which

means only Japanese is used with friends. Interestingly, any identity group seem using only

English with friends.

Follow-up Interview Data

In follow-up interviews, 15 participants explain, in a positive and enthusiastic way,

their identity and language using even more detail. Interviews was to take about 30 to 60

minutes, it seemed all participants need more time to answer all questions. Table 4 shows

interviewees with different identity groups and were consisted of 73.3% of half identity group,

13.3% of double identity group, and 6.7% of Japanese and others identity group. Among the

five identity groups of participants, only Amerasian identity group could not take part in

interviews.

There were three main questions; why did you think the identity you selected is

appropriate to describe yourself? Why didn’t you choose American as your identity? How do

you feel about a language which is not your dominant one? In this study, only some of the

interesting parts are described and shared.

Question1 : Why did you think the identity term you selected is appropriate?

In this question, all participants are proud of being part Japanese and each of them

18


has strong idea in their identity. All of them realized that they would never be accepted as a

full-Japanese forever, even if they try hard on their language skills, appearance, and so on.

Although each identity groups have quite different thoughts, especially double

identity group has strong negative imaging towards to identity term half (see Appendix B). It

seems like between double identity group and half identity group recognize being bicultural

oppositely. There are some reasons to consider from interview results. First, people in double

identity group have never bullied at school that is why they put themselves in higher position

than Japanese. That is why they would rather use term double, because they recognize

themselves as a person is superior and desired in Japanese society. On the other hand, people

in half identity group gave up being accepted as Japanese, they felt inferior in Japanese group.

Especially people who went to Japanese school they all had experience bullied and went

through hard time. Once they had that experience, it is hard for them to think themselves

positive way.

Question2 : Why did you not choose American?

From questionnaire results, no one choose identity term American as their identity.

In interview, all participants have negative image of American and they hate when Japanese

connect them with U.S military base when military people made troubles off-base. They are

proud of themselves as an Okinawan more than Japanese. Therefore, it is really hard for them

to being neutral between Okinawan and U.S military bases problem. Every time they have to

19


deal with contents of WWⅡ and some accidents American caused, they were targeted by

Japanese and Okinawan.

Additionally, people whose dominant language is English are having complicated

situation. Even if they are English native speaker, people in United States do not accept them

full-American. That is because not only for linguistics differences but also their background

differences. Once they start having conversation with people from United States, they will

realize their background gaps like fashion, interesting, and knowledge. These reasons came

up because they are live in Okinawa and make them to think there are more Japanese or

Okinawan compare to American from United States.

Question3 : How do you feel about a language that is not your dominant one?

All participants thought they only need one language and do not find indeed in

becoming bilingual before they graduated high school. Some of them reacted against the

attitudes of their parents when they tried to maintain or improve their weak language.

However, after they graduated, they start rethink and realize how important for them to have

both Japanese and English in their life. Then some of them started to input both languages in

their daily like taking a classes or find job which can use both language. Additionally, when

their language gets better they make friends and practicing their skills.

Once their skills get better, it seems hard to improve it. In interview, people who

went to on base American school and off-base international school mentioned how hard to

20


improve their Japanese skills. At their school, Japanese was an optional course and students

were consisted with foreigner that is why they only studied basic in class. They are required

to master Hiragana and Katakana, but Kanji and Keigo were not a necessary. Those people

have no idea how to improve their Japanese, because they have no issue having conversation

in Japanese. So a lot of them gave up reading and writing skills of Japanese, but it is hard to

get a job for them in Japan even if they can speak English especially off-base.

Discussion and Conclusions

In this study, identity and language use of bicultural youth in Okinawa was examined.

It had demonstrated the all participants choose one identity and each identity group had

linguistic characteristics. All participants have own issue of identity and chose from a

different variety of identity groups. It has been found that it is difficult for others to judge a

bicultural people before actually talk to them.

Research Question: Is their identity influence on their language use?

As a result, each identity group shows characteristic in their language use. Especially

double identity group tended to use more Japanese than others. On the other hand, Amerasian

identity group use more English. Surprisingly, Japanese identity group use more English with

American father, even if they think themselves Japanese.

21


From follow-up interview results, double identity group feels strong pride in being

part of Japanese people therefore seems low motivation of improve their English skills. On

the other hand, other identity groups show more positive attitude toward to English.

Especially people whom dominant language is Japanese try to put themselves into English

environment as much as they can. They want to improve their English as a tool, however they

do not have desire to become an American or have high respect to American. They desire to

have place they are able to become one of the member and get a nice job with using their

English skills. For people live in Okinawa, English skills may help getting a job that is

because those huge military bases are covered all over this island. Even if outside of bases,

people have to deal with a lot of English-speaker customers.

However, there are some difficult cases that identity influences language use below

shows:

Amerasian identity group tend to use more English, it is possible to speculate from

not only their Japanese proficiency but also their length of residence in the United States

overage about over nine years, by far the longest of anyone in this study. Also the number of

moving from Japan to the United States was six times the largest number in this study.

Additionally, they answered in follow-up interview the reason why they chose Amerasian as

their identity that’s because participant’s father still in military. Therefore, it seems language

proficiency of Amerasian group is not influenced identity, also their proficiency did not

22


influence the fact choosing Amerasian as an identity.

From the results of dominant language with different identity groups, double and

others identity group were only consisted of Japanese dominant users. In contrast, Amerasian

identity group consisted of only English dominant users. However, Japanese and half identity

groups consisted of Japanese dominant users and English ones. Surprisingly, in Japanese

identity group they include the people whose dominant language is English. In this case, the

background could be the main factor that decided their identity (e.g., citizenship and place

that they have lived).

I only have Japanese citizenship, but I went to an international school (off-base)

that’s why I can speak English. It doesn’t matter which language is dominant for me,

because I didn’t chose this…it was my parents’ decision. So I don’t think language is that

important, the fact is I live in Japan and I have only Japanese citizenship. Those are

strong factors that I chose Japanese as my identity.

(G.H., Japanese identity group, 2010/9/28)

Some participants refused to choose Japanese as their identity, because they felt

their lack of proficiency in Japanese even though their dominant language is Japanese in

some cases.

Japanese has a Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Even if Japanese native speakers

23


think a Keigo is annoying and troublesome. My dominant language is Japanese, so I don’t

really have trouble to have conversation in Japanese. However, it doesn’t mean I know

Kanji and Keigo well, but people don’t expect me to have high Japanese skills…They

always say ‘You are half anyways, it’s okay’. I went to Japanese public school...but I

always feel I am anoutsider. Of course I couldn’t choose Japanese as my identity.

(T.M., half identity group, 2010/10/05)

Even if they went to Japanese public school, they feel their Kanji and Keigo skills

are lower than other Japanese. On the other hand, almost all English dominant participants in

this study can use Hiragana and Katakana, but the number of people who can use Kanji was

low and none of them think they can use Keigo. At an international school (off-base) and an

American school (on base), Japanese class only cover Hiragana and Katakana mostly. That is

because their Japanese class is included students whose parents are both foreigners, so

teacher has to consider those students’ Japanese proficiency. It is enough for them to have

conversation, therefore, when they graduated high school bicultural students realized their

Japanese skill is not enough to get a job off- base or get a SOFA status job on base.

Uezato (1998) pointed out that the children who have Japanese and American

parents tended to become a linguistic intermediary between father and mother. From the

results in this study, language use to parents tended to use more English with American father

24


and use more Japanese with Japanese mother. However, double identity group use more

Japanese with American father and Amerasian identity group use more English with Japanese

mother compared with other identity groups. Therefore, it is hard to say that identity

influences their language use with parents. It seems that the experiences that they have had

are the most inflection factors on their language use with parents. Moreover, their dominant

language and proficiency could be the factor also, Amerasian identity group’s dominant

language is English and their average of Japanese proficiency is the lowest compared to the

other groups. At the same, double identity group’s dominant language is Japanese and their

average of English proficiency is 4th compared to the other groups. On the other hand, in the

Japanese identity group, all of them chose their dominant language as Japanese, this shows

different even if their average of English proficiency is lowest compared to the other groups.

From the language use with friend results, except double identity group, participants

tended to use both Japanese and English in their conversation with friends. Interaction with

friends is quite different from with parents, if participants feel uncomfortable interaction with

the person or friends group they can just refuse and stop having interaction with them.

I don’t know why but if I have to speak only Japanese or English in the

conversation (with my friends), I would feel stressed and uncomfortable. So I would like to

interact with the people who can understand enough Japanese and English. There is no

25


rule, I can’t tell why and how, I need to use English or Japanese in some topics. Pretty

mush both language are mixed when I have conversation…So I don’t have to stop talking

a moment then explain every single time I see people don’t get what I said.

(F.S., half identity group, 2010/09/10)

Yamashita (2006) pointed out this characteristic of language use by bicultural and

reported that this language use styles seems common for multi-linguals. Therefore, the act of

users choosing a language that is most appropriate for use in conversation seems meaningful.

From the people who have Japanese and American parents, it is hard to tell whether

they are Japanese or American without having conversation for other people. However, all the

present study’s participants chose one identity from the choices given and could all be

classified into five identity groups. Even if there are many terms to represent themselves, they

decide their identity by their own beliefs, values, and evaluation of self. From results of the

questionnaire and interview, the study tried to find differences between each identity group’s

language use. It shows quite similar results of language use with parents and friends.

Therefore, it could be said that all participants are choosing their identity and building their

language use style by them. On the other hand, from the interview section the language use

with parents and friends is influenced by not only their identity but also many other factors

(e.g., parents’ Japanese and English proficiencies, environment of living, school, job, and

26


friends). In the questionnaire, not enough questions address their identity and some

unmeasured questions came up from the answers, so the investigation tool had its limits. In

the present study, half of the participants did not take part in follow-up interview thus

interview should have been done with all participants in the study that related to identity.

More preparation is needed for the way to measure identity and draw out participants’

identity effectively.

27


References

Fillmore, L.W. (1991). When learning a second language means losing the first, Early Childhood

Reaserch Quarterly. 6-346.

Fukuti, K. (1980). Okinawa no konketuji to hahaoya tati [ A child of mixed race and their mothers in

Okinawa]. Okinawa: Aoi umi shuppan.

Hara, H. (1995). Ibunka Sesshoku to aidentithy [An intercultural contact and identity].

Intercultural/Transcultural Education.No.29. Bulletin of Intercultural Education Society,

Japan.

Kondo-Brown, K. (2000). Bilinguagl heritage students’ language contact and motivation. In Z,

Dornyei & R, Schmidt (eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition ( Technical report

#23, pp.433-459 ). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching and

Curriculum Center.

Lamb, M. (2004). Integrative motivation in a globalizing world, System, 32-19.

Nakazima, K. ( 1998). Bailingaru Kyouiku no Houhou: Jyunisai made ni Oya to Kyoushi ga

Dekirukoto [A method of bilingual education: the things that parents and teachers can do till

child trun 12 years olds ]. Aruku.

Norton, B. (2000). Second language acquisition theory revised. In B. Norton (ed.). Identity and

Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change (pp.109-132). Essex:

pearson Education Limited.

28


MEXT (The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology) (2009) Vital

Statistics a monthly report. Retrieved on July 2010 from

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/geppo/neng ai02/index.html

Murphy-Shigematsu, S.(2006). Amerajian no Kodomotati: Sirarezaru Minorithi Mondai[An

amerasian children: the unknown minority problem ]. Shueisya.

Onohara, N. (2004). Kotoba to aidentithy: kotoba no Sentaku to Shiyou wo Tousite Miru Gendaijin

no Jibun Sagashi [A language and identity: the self-discovery trough with language choice

and using ]. .Mitumoto.

Philipsen, G. (1992). Speaking culturally. State University of New York Press, Albany. N.Y.

Ryan, S. (2009). Self and identity in motivation in L2 motivation in Japan: The ideal L2 self and

Japanese learners of English. In Z. Dornyei & Ushioda (eds.), Motivation, Language Identity

and the L2 Self (pp. 120-143). Bristol: Multilingual matters.

Tousu, k. (2002). Naze Kodomo ni Eigo Nanoka-Bailingaru no susume[Why English for chikdren? :A

suggestion of bilingual education]. Nihon Housou Shuppan Kyoukai.

Spolsky, B. (2004). Language practices, ideology and beliefs, and management and planning. In B.

Spolosky (ed.), Language Policy (pp. 1-15). Cambridge University Press.

Ueno, T. (2005). Datu aidentithy[A de-identity]. Keisou.

Uezato, K. (1998). Amerajian: Mouhitotu no Okinawa[An amerasian: the other Okinawa]. Kamogawa

shuppan.

Yanagisako, S J. (1985). Transforming the past. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/geppo/neng%20ai02/index.html

29


Yonaha, M. (2001). Amerajian Suku-ru: Kyousei no Tihei wo Okinawa kara[the Amerasian

school:the horizon of symbiosis from Okinawa]. Fukinotou.

30


Appendix

Appendix A :

Appendix F1. Japanese and English Proficiency with Different identity groups. Participants were

asked to do a self-evaluation of their four Japanese and English skills: speaking, listening, writing,

and reading that are rated 5-point Likert scales (1=not at all; 2=little; 3=well; 4=very well;

5=native speaker). For calculating average of language proficiency and language use Five-point Likert was

used; add all of the points to find the sum, and divide by the number of people; this gives the average.

Japanese ( N = 3 ) Half ( N = 20 ) Double ( N = 3 ) Amerasian ( N = 1 ) Others ( N = 3 )

Japanese 4.8 3.75 5 3.25 5

English 3.4 4.35 3.5 5 3.75

4.8

3.75

5

3.25

5

3.4

4.35

3.5

5

3.75

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5Native speaker

Not at all

31


Appendix B: survey questionnaire form

セクションⅠ 該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。（）には数字を書き込んでください。

1. 性別： □ 男性 □ 女性

2. 年齢：（歳）

3. 国籍： □ 日本国籍 □ アメリカ国籍 □ 二重国籍

□ その他（具体的にお書きください。）＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

4. 出生地： □ 沖縄県 □ 沖縄県以外の都道府県 □アメリカ

□ その他（具体的にお書きください。）＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

セクションⅡ

A. 両親についてお答えください。

1. 両親について該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 両親は同居している。

□ 両親は離婚している。

□ 両親は別居している。※ただし、仕事の都合で別居している場合は除く。

2. お父さんは何人ですか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

32


□ 日本人 □ アメリカ人 □ その他（人）

3. お父さんと話す時は、何語ですか。最も該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本語が 100%

□ 日本語が 70-80%で、英語が 20-30%

□ 日本語が 50%で、英語が 50%

□ 日本語が 20-30%で、英語が 70-80%

□ 英語が 100%

4. お母さんは何人ですか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本人 □ アメリカ人 □ その他（人）

5. お母さんと話す時は、何語ですか。最も該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本語が 100%

□ 日本語が 70-80%で、英語が 20-30%

□ 日本語が 50%で、英語が 50%

□ 日本語が 20-30%で、英語が 70-80%

□ 英語が 100%

33


B. 高等学校卒業までについて以下の項目にお答えください。

1. 生まれてから高等学校を卒業する 0歳から 18歳までの間に、住んでいた場所とその当時使用

していた言語をそれぞれ該当する箇所に○をつけ、表を完成させてください。

住んでいた場所使用していた言語

年齢

沖縄県

アメリカ合衆国

その他

英語のみ

日本語のみ

英語・日本語両方

日本語が主で

英語は時々

英語が主で

日本語は時々

基地内

基地外

0歳

1歳

2歳

3歳

4歳

5歳

34


6歳

7歳

8歳

住んでいた場所使用していた言語

年齢

沖縄県

アメリカ合衆国

その他

英語のみ

日本語のみ

英語・日本語両方

日本語が主で

英語は時々

英語が主で

日本語は時々

基地内

基地外

9歳

10歳

11歳

12歳

13歳

14歳

15歳

16歳

17歳

35


18歳

2. 各学年（小学校 1年生から高等学校 3年生までの 12年間）で、通学した学校を以下から該当

する箇所に○をつけ、表を完成させてください。

※小学校＝6年間、中学校＝3年間、高等学校＝3年間とします。

通学した学校

学校学年

日本国内の学校

アメリカの学校

日本の学校

基地内の

アメリカン・

スクール

基地外の

アメリカン・

スクール

小学校 1年生

2年生

3年生

4年生

5年生

6年生

中学校 1年生

2年生

36


3年生

高等学校 1年生

2年生

3年生

C. 友達についてお答えください。

1. 現在交流のある友達のグループとして該当する箇所に全てチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本人のグループ

□ アメリカ人のグループ

□ ハーフのグループ

□ 英語やアメリカの文化に興味がある日本人のグループ

□ 日本語や日本の文化に興味があるアメリカ人のグループ

□ 日本人とハーフのグループ

□ アメリカ人とハーフのグループ

□ 日本人、アメリカ人、ハーフの人が混ざり合ったグループ

2. 自分が一番素直になれる、一緒にいて落ち着くグループは、どのグループですか。最も該当する箇所にひと

つチェックをつけてください。


37









3. 問 2で回答したグループでは、何語で話しますか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本語が 100%

□ 日本語が 70-80%で、英語が 20-30%

□ 日本語も 50%、英語も 50%

□ 日本語が 20-30%で、英語が 70-80%

□ 英語が 100%

4. 自分が気まずいと感じる、あるいは一緒にいて疲れる友達のグループは、どのグループですか。

最も該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。


38









□ そういう人達とは交流しない。

5. 問 4で回答したグループでは、何語で話しますか。該当するものひとつにチェックをつけてく

ださい。

□ 日本語が 100%

□ 日本語が 70-80%で、英語が 20-30%

□ 日本語も 50%、英語も 50%

□ 日本語が 20-30%で、英語が 70-80%

□ 英語が 100%

□ 全くあるいは、ほとんど話をしない。

セクションⅢ ご自身の言語（日本語と英語）や文化（日本文化やアメリカ文化）に対する意識

39


についてお答えください。

1. 母語（生まれた時から周りの人が使用しており、自然な状態で習得した言語。第一言語ともい

う。）は、何語ですか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本語

□ 英語

□ 日本語も英語も両方

□ その他（具体的にお書きください。）＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

□ わからない

2. 現在、使用頻度が最も高い言語は、何語ですか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてくだ

さい。

□ 日本語

□ 英語

□ 日本語も英語も両方


3. 自分を表現するのに最も適切だと思う言語は何語ですか。該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつ

けてください。

40


□ 日本語

□ 英語


4. 自分自身のことを何人だと思いますか。最も該当する箇所にひとつチェックをつけてください。

□ 日本人

□ アメリカ人

□ ハーフ

□ ダブル

□ アメラジアン

□ わからない

□その他（具体的にお書きください。）＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

5. 自分は日本人だと強く意識する時はどんな時ですか。具体的にお書きください。

6. 自分はアメリカ人だと強く意識する時はどんな時ですか。具体的にお書きください。

41


7. 日本語と英語の 4技能（話す、聞く、書く、読む）についてお答えください。

「1＝全く出来ない」から「4＝母語話者ではないが、ほぼ同程度できる」までのうち、最も

当てはまる数字にひとつ○をつけてください。ただし、日本語あるいは英語の母語話者の方

は、「母語話者である」の欄に○をつけてください。

※日本語の母語話者＝日本語を母語として話す人、英語の母語話者＝英語を母語として話す人を指します。

番号内容

全くできない

ほとんど出来ない

ある程度出来る

母語話者ではないが、

ほぼ同程度できる

母語話者である

1 日本語で話す

2 日本語を聞く

3 日本語を書く

4 日本語を読む

5 英語で話す

6 英語を聞く

7 英語を書く

8 英語を読む

42


アンケートはこれで終了です。

お忙しい中、アンケートに回答していただき誠にありがとうございます。お手数ですが、もう一度

両面回答されているか、記入漏れが無いか等をご確認ください。ご協力いただきありがとうございま

した。

尚、アンケートに関してのご質問やアンケート結果をお知りになりたい場合は、メールアドレスに

ご遠慮なくご連絡ください。

タムリンソンマリサ（琉球大学法文学部国際言語文化学科言語情報科学専攻 4 年次）

[email protected]

The Influence of Identity on Language Use by Bicultural Youth in Okinawa

Documents

Transcript of The Influence of Identity on Language Use by Bicultural Youth in Okinawa