Sense of Japanese Cultural Identity Within an English Partial Immersion Programme: Should Parents Worry?

Abstract

An early English language immersion programme was implemented in the Elementary school at Katoh Gakuen, in Numazu City, Japan, in April 1992. Although its students have demonstrated academic achievement and first language proficiency comparable to students in immersion programmes in North America (Bostwick, 1999, 2000), parents who are reluctant to choose immersion have expressed concerns for their child's sense of Japanese cultural identity. The Attitude towards Japan and the West Questionnaire (AJWQ) was constructed to examine how the English immersion students subjectively perceive themselves in relation to Japan and the West. Five subscales were identified: attraction towards Western culture, positive attitude towards English, identity with Japan, awareness of Japanese culture, and attraction towards Westerners. The questionnaire was given in Japanese to 5th, 6th and 7th grade immersion students at Katoh Gakuen Elementary School (n = 109), and to comparable non-immersion public school students (n = 409). The results of the subscale comparison indicated that in addition to more flexible cross-cultural attitudes, the immersion students displayed a stronger sense of Japanese cultural identity than the comparison group.