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Characteristics of Korean as a heritage language in Japan: Focusing on the activities of the Kawasaki City Fureaikan in the southern Kawasaki area

  • The Japanese Language Association of Korea
  • Abbr : JLAK
  • 2023, (75), pp.89-116
  • DOI : 10.14817/jlak.2023.75.89
  • Publisher : The Japanese Language Association Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > Japanese Language and Literature
  • Received : December 31, 2022
  • Accepted : February 17, 2023
  • Published : March 20, 2023

Yun, Choja 1

1韓国外国語大学

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In today's international community, the importance of providing heritage language education has been pointed out from the perspective of children's rights and minority language rights, but in Japan, efforts to provide heritage language education are insufficient. In particular, efforts to address the unique characteristics of the Korean language as a heritage language of Korean residents in Japan, who have "lost their mother tongue" due to assimilation policies under Japanese imperial rule, have lagged behind. This study attempts to clarify the characteristics of the Korean language in Japan, which has an unfortunate history of being despised and suppressed in the postwar period, as a heritage language with significance in identity formation, from the following three approaches. First, a questionnaire survey was conducted mainly among those who have been involved in activities around the Kawasaki Fureaikan in the southern Kawasaki area, and Korean residents in Japan were interviewed about their own efforts toward heritage language to investigate their perceptions of the language. Second, the author examined the effects of social discrimination that may have hindered the development of heritage language education, based on the history of Zainichi Koreans and the author's own experiences, and clarified the process of Zainichi Koreans' "loss of mother tongue" and what efforts have been made to pass on the Korean language. Third, we analyzed two Zainichi Koreans' narratives to see how the success or failure of acquiring a heritage language affects their concept of ethnicity and how it is connected to their way of life. From the above three approaches, we conclude that Zainichi Koreans and supporters of community activities and schools are fully aware of the importance of language education. In addition, ethnic schools and supporters of community activities have made efforts to guarantee places to learn the heritage language up to the present, but the education of Korean as the heritage language has been declining for various reasons. Furthermore, there is the reality that whether or not one can speak Korean may become a criterion of ethnicity for Koreans living in Japan.

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