International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
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Volume: 3 Number: 1 Page: 1–18
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Bilingualism and Identity: The Stories of Japanese Returnees
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Yasuko Kanno
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This study examines the relationship between bilingualism and identity by drawing upon the examples of kikokushijo, the children of Japanese expatriates. Kikokushijo's lives provide a fertile ground
in which to explore the interplay between bilingualism and identity. In North America their L2 (English) is the majority language, L1 (Japanese) the minority; after their return to Japan this situation
is reversed. I collected four kikokushijo's stories of cross-cultural experience over a period of three years as they moved from Canada back to Japan.The results show thatthestudentsattributed different
symbolic meanings to their two languages: the majority language in each context was seen as the key to participation in society; the minority language, on the other hand, represented their difference from
the majority, an emblem of their uniqueness. The different roles that each language plays in various contexts represent the two conflicting desires of many bilinguals: a desire to be included in society's
'mainstream' and a need to assert their uniqueness. Implications for the education of bilingual students are discussed.
© Multilingual Matters 2000
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