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Paper short abstract:

This study examines how Japanese language teachers are teaching subjects in Japanese language at two Japanese-English bilingual primary schools in Australia. It also discusses, based on the results of interviews, the current status of these programs and challenges they face.

Paper long abstract:

In Australia, a multilingual, multicultural society, the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language has been actively implemented from the primary school (Japan Foundation 2022). Some public primary schools in Australia provide bilingual education in English and Japanese ('Japanese-English bilingual schools'). In these schools, Japanese language teachers teach some parts of subjects in Japanese. However, effective teaching methods in bilingual education has not yet been established in the area of Japanese language teaching in Australia at the current point of time. In addition, there are very limited practical reports or studies on Japanese language teaching in Japanese-English bilingual programs outside Japan.

This study aims to clarify the actual situation of Japanese-English bilingual programs by interviewing Japanese language teachers individually in bilingual schools in Australia. The semi-structured interviews in Japanese for approximately 40-50 minutes per person were conducted online with a total of 19 Japanese language teachers from two bilingual schools, and the content was audio-recorded. The transcribed data of interviews were categorized and be analyzed by the qualitative analysis.

The results showed us that the characteristics of the Japanese-English bilingual program at each school, the concrete examples of bilingual teaching, what are the issues to be addressed and what kind of support is needed.

Japanese is taught as “Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL)” in Australian primary Schools, but Japanese-English bilingual

education at primary schools in Australia has a common feature with “Japanese as a Second Language (JSL)” for culturally and linguistically diverse students in Japan in terms of subjects being taught in Japanese.

The future research on English-Japanese bilingual education at primary schools can make use of the findings of prior JSL research conducted in Japan, and it is needed to support the schools. Although this research is targeted at the field of Australia, it could contribute to research on Japanese language education in primary and secondary education outside Japan, including in Europe.

Japan Foundation 2022. Survey of Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2021

Summary of Results. ( https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/about/press/2022/dl/2022-023-02_1228.pdf )