Paper short abstract:

In Okayama University's Japanese language education minor course, Plurilingualism　/Pluriculturalism was discussed in relation to a symbiotic society. Through a "language portrait" practice, we learned that the students became aware of their own linguistic diversity and the experiences related to it.

Paper long abstract:

Plurilingualism and Pluriculturalism in Europe aims to create a society without conflict by fostering the ability and attitude to live together with people with diverse languages and values through language education. In contemporary Japan, as the number of culturally and linguistically diverse people increases with the upsurge of immigrants, it has become an urgent issue that each and every one of us should consider how we can live together.

It is also a challenge for teachers who are involved in the training of Japanese language instructors to introduce the philosophy and values of European Plurilingualism and Pluriculturalism into Japanese educational settings where a single language acts as the official language, and to create learning opportunities that will raise the awareness and values of the students.

The authors conducted classes on the theme of Plurilingualism and Pluriculturalism in the Japanese language education minor course at Okayama University in Japan in 2021 and 2022. First, a lecturer introduced basic knowledge about Plurilingualism, Heritage language education, and CEFR on the first day, and then invited a university lecturer from Germany to practice "language portraits" online on the second day. The class review confirmed that in the process of drawing the language portraits, the participants became aware of their own Plurilingual selves, including dialects, and gained self-affirmation of themselves as valuable beings. The participants also confirmed their future language acquisition goals and experienced conflict and acceptance as they recalled episodes in their past. Furthermore, through the practice of the "language portraits", it was evident that there was a change in the students' perception of the idea of Plurilingualism from "something far away in Europe" to "something that is personal".

As a result of this study, we believe that the "language portrait" enriched sensitivity to linguistic diversity and to form open and tolerant approaches, attitudes, and values. These are accomplished through awareness of the diverse languages that form one's "self" and their experiences that support them, as well as through interacting with others in the classroom and learning about diverse ideas. We believe that the "language portrait" could be an effective tool on this topic.