This is a report I wrote for my Japanese Social Linguistics class. It supports most common linguistic hypothesis concerning bilingualism and second language acquisition.

Introduction: The purpose of this project was to determine the attitudes of Japanese-English bilingual speakers towards their own view of bilingualism and code switching. Before starting the interview process it was hypothesized the bilingually raised speakers would have a stronger sense of attachment and appreciation towards their bilingualism as well as the various benefits of being bilingual, when compared to bilingual speakers who were not raised bilingually. Additionally, it was hypothesized all subjects would view bilingualism as positive aspect of their lives. Four subjects were interviewed – all names have been changed.

Shiina is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oosaka, Japan, until the age of eight. She was then moved by her father’s business to America. Upon moving Shiina attended 3 months of ESL and then was promptly moved into an American elementary school. Shiina returns to Japan every year during winter and summer vacation and stays with her family and works part-time. She is currently a student at the University of Washington and is also a skilled Spanish speaker. Atsushi is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oita-ken, Japan. He was accepted to the University of Washington after high school and moved here immediately after graduation. He returns to Japan once a year for approximately one month during summer vacation. He is currently a junior at the University of Washington and has been living here for approximately 3 and half years. He also studies Russian. Outside of basic junior high and high school curriculum, Atsushi has had no experience studying English before coming to Seattle.

Yusuke is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oosaka until junior high. During his teenage years, his mother’s work moved him from Oosaka to Switzerland for approximately 2 years. After attending a private school in Switzerland, Yusuke developed his English significantly. His mother’s job later moved to Michigan where he lived for an additional 2 years. Finally, Yusuke became tired of moving and returned to Japan to live with his father, a professor in Oosaka. He is currently living in Tokyo and working for a major industrial engineering company.

Shinya was born to a Japanese man and America woman in Japan and raised there until the age of three. His parents’ decision to raise Shinya in America led the family back to the United States. He has been living in the Seattle area since the age of four. He speaks Japanese with his father and Japanese relatives, and English with his mother and American relatives. He taught himself over 2000 kanji and considers himself bilingual, though he acknowledges his Japanese is very weak compared to his English. He is currently a student at the University of Washington and is also studying Chinese.

All speakers are bilingual enough in both English and Japanese to be considered fluent for everyday life in both America and Japan. In particular, Shiina and Yusuke speak both languages without audible flaw. Atsushi speaks English slower than his native Japanese and has a limited English vocabulary, as well as a Japanese accent. Shinya is the opposite, speaking his native English perfectly, but speaking Japanese fairly slowly, with a slight American accent and sometimes, he says, “without confidence.”

Methodology: All 4 subjects were asked every question from the developing interview questions sheet, as well as the following two: 1 – “In your own experience, do you believe it is good to be bilingual?” and 2 – “What do you believe are the downsides to bilingualism?” Speakers were asked in a formal one on one environment without distractions. All speakers understood the nature of the interview. Japanese and English were used during the interview process, but all dialogs will be translated into English for this study. Results: Although all interviewees affirmed their belief of bilingualism as a positive part of their lives, there was an unexpectedly wide spectrum of thought on the subject, particularly in respect to the way the subjects were raised.

One particular point of interest is that of the subjects who moved during the early years of their life, especially in the case of Shiina and Yusuke. Shinya, due to lack of memory of his time in Japan, he will not be placed in this category. Shiina and Yusuke both spent many of their most important developmental years switching between countries. As a result of this, their bilingual abilities are astounding. Both Shiina and Yusuke have been assumed to be American natives in conversation and their schoolwork. In Shiina’s words, “I love my language abilities. During my youth I didn’t really appreciate it too much, but now when I see people studying and struggling so fiercely with something I used to take for granted…well it makes me realize how important language can really be. And you know, it just makes me feel so much more versed. I feel like I know a lot about Japanese culture, as well as American culture. Language to me, it’s not just like a way of communication…it’s a way to understand culture. I’m really glad I can speak the way I do.”

Yusuke shares similar views, “When I see Japanese people at work struggling with English it makes me truly appreciate my own abilities. I believe my English skills are one of the reasons I got the job I now have. To me, language is the most important thing, and being able to speak two languages fluently is very valuable. I feel like the way you speak defines who you are, and if you can speak English without an accent, it will make other’s see you as intelligent.

Although these experiences are both blatantly positive, Shiina and Yusuke both also share a somewhat hidden grudge towards their language upbringing. When asked, “What interesting experiences have you had related to code switching?” both subjects unexpectedly tangent jumped into stories of remorse and self-identity.

In Shiina’s words, “Oh, I have a really interesting story. Until college I lived in an area with very few Japanese people [from the time after I moved from Japan], so you know I never had the opportunity to speak Japanese AND English with the same person. It was Japanese at home, and English at school and with friends. Then I met this girl once I got into college who had grown up in South Africa and had a similar upbringing to me. It was the strangest thing, we both used a complete mix of English and Japanese in our speech, and it was like…the first time in my life that I really felt like I was speaking MY language. I can’t say that Japanese is my native language because my English is actually stronger…but then you know I have Japanese nationality, so it felt kind of right to speak Japanese. But we could just use both, so it was like we could really communicate, and I felt like I could really be myself, without splitting myself down the middle…yea I guess I still sort of have a self-identity crisis, I don’t know if I should consider myself Japanese or American – which is kind of hard for me, but also really fun when I meet people who speak both.”

Yusuke had a similarly melancholy response to the question. “Yea, actually when I went back to Japan for job hunting and work, everyone said I had the strangest Japanese. Not like I had an accent or anything, just more like the way I spoke and the things I said…it wasn’t nihonjin-poi (like Japanese). So whenever I met someone that could speak English it made things much easier for me, it was kind of like they wouldn’t judge me or mention anything ‘weird’ about my English, where as Japanese people were always quick to speak…Actually the best thing was when I met other people like myself in Japan, because then it was like we would speak English and Japanese, as opposed to just Japanese. You know English is like part of me
- it’s not just something I speak to show off, which many Japanese people think. So I actually get kind of excluded a lot in Japan, and am not entirely sure why I decided to go to a Japanese company.”

Shinya and Atushi, on the other hand, had much more mundane experiences in relation to code switching.

Shinya’s response to interesting experiences related to code switching: “Code switching…well you know my mom doesn’t speak Japanese very well, so occasionally I translate what my dad says to her. But in general they just speak English to each other, so it’s not really a problem.” I then asked, “what about code switching outside of home?” Shinya replied, “Like how? Friends and stuff? Well I mean I speak English to my friends, because they are all American (laughs)…and then I speak Japanese to my dad’s family. I’m never really in other situations to speak Japanese because I don’t really hang out with the FOB (slang term for Asian immigrants with strong cultural roots and beliefs). Yea, I guess I never really code switch.”

Atsushi answered in similar fashion. “Code switching? Is that like switching between English and Japanese? There’s no reason to! (Laughs) I mean, I never spoke English in Japan, because I didn’t know any. Then I came to America, and I speak English all the time, because the people, well besides exchange students, don’t speak Japanese. So, I speak Japanese to the exchange students, obviously, but that’s it. Well and you. But I never speak both at the same time…” I asked, “never?” He answered, “Actually, (laughs) there was this one time when I was drunk at my house last summer. We had a friend from UW staying at my house and I was translating for him to my parents. So, because I was drunk I kept speaking to my parents in English, and screwing up their translation back at him, only telling him the nice things they said. Does that count?”

To make things particularly interesting, when asked about the “negative aspects of being bilingual,”" the speakers responded in the following way. Shiina, “well the split personality thing is definitely a major one.” Yusuke, “you might end up like me, with no sense of home. (laughs)” Shinya, “none, well besides studying it.” Atushi, “none, right?”

Finally, while Shiina and Yusuke do almost nothing to improve their language abilities, as they use both languages as a part of everyday life, Shinya and Atsushi both work hard to improve their abilities and feel significantly stronger and more comfortable in one language rather than the other. That is, Shinya and Atsushi both said they are occasionally embarrassed by their second language abilities, while Shiina and Yusuke can both take practice for granted.

Conclusion: From the results of this survey, two points can be made. First, subjects with significant exposure to different language and cultural environments often develop native like second language abilities. With this development often comes a split sense of identity. To deal with this hardship, many bilinguals fall back to code switching, a form of communication that incorporates both paths by which the subject was raised. To code switch fluently and freely between more than one language is viewed by these subjects as an ability which they believe to hold limitless value, regardless of their own personal hardships in relation to the matter. Secondly, Japanese subjects with later exposure to a second language often develop language abilities much duller in comparison to their immersed cultural counterparts. But, subjects raised in a single culture hold a strong sense of self-identity, and view second language acquisition as a tool or means of self of improvement.

Thus, in line with the hypothesis of this project, the Japanese bilingually raised speakers have a stronger sense of attachment, appreciation, and especially awareness towards their bilingualism when compared to bilingual speakers who acquired their second language at a later age. However, the results of this survey also revealed this attachment and appreciation comes mentally at a steep price.