出版物 ｜Sophia Linguistica
Mitsuyo Sakamoto Leiko Matsubara Morales
Raising Bilinguals in Brazil:
Case Studies of Japanese and Nikkei in Brazil
This study investigates ethnolinguistic vitality among a recent Japanese immigrant to
Brazil as well as a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian (Nikkei). Both families practice
Japanese child-rearing, aspiring to raise their children as Japanese-Portuguese bilinguals.
By conducting interviews with the mothers, we wished to explore how Japanese language
and culture are maintained at home. In order to address this, we examined the intergroup
model criteria (i.e., ingroup identification; inter-ethnic comparison; perceived ingroup
vitality; perceived ingroup boundaries; identifications with other social categories) (Giles
& Byrnes, 1982).
The interviews were conducted individually in Japanese. Both interviews were audiorecorded
and transcribed for analysis.
It was discovered that the participants differed in all five domains, the Nikkei mother
enjoying a hybrid (i.e., Brazilian and Nikkei) membership, while the recent immigrant
identified with and capitalized on her Japanese identity. Interestingly, it was discovered
that the Japanese- and Nikkei mothers both believed in additive bilingualism (Lambert,
1980). Six themes emerged that impacted their children’s Japanese language learning/
maintenance: 1) linguistic and cultural resources; 2) linguistic interdependence; 3)
language and identity; 4) linguistic capital; 5) BICS and CALP; 6) language and power.
Strikingly, the Nikkei mother, while acknowledging the importance and effectiveness of
bilingual childrearing, was less insistent that her daughters speak Japanese. Also notable is
the daughters’ ability to choose linguistic resources to match the interlocutors despite their
young age.
The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of documenting and
disseminating successful bilingual childrearing models in order to facilitate raising of
bilingual children.
