“Rules … I Want Someone to Make Them Clear”: Japanese Mothers in Montreal Talk about Multilingual Parenting

ABSTRACT

This article examines the development of Japanese as a heritage language (HL) in linguistically mixed families. While families where parents share a mother tongue have been investigated extensively in recent decades, this particular demographic has received minimal attention in Canada. The article, part of a larger study, is based on semi-structured interviews with Japanese-descent mothers living in Montreal, Canada, which sought to investigate their efforts to raise their children through the Japanese language while navigating a linguistically diverse social context. The study found that the families engaged in highly valued metalinguistic discourse for devising and implementing family language policies. This was seen as essential for successful HL development. It was found that their contextual environment had several positive and negative impacts on the mothers’ parenting experiences and generated significant stress, but also provided inspiration for pursuing their HL goals. The article concludes with implications for research and knowledge mobilization.

KEYWORDS:

• Family language policy
• heritage language
• interlingual family
• intermarriage
• Japan
• mixed marriage

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Faculty of Extension Grant, University of Alberta.