Investigation of Minority Languages in Japan and Development of Language Support for Non-Japanese Residents

本研究的目的是为了了解在日本居住的外国居民的语言支持现状，并探讨地方政府和教育工作者可以做些什么来提供更好的语言支持，帮助他们在不受到语言和社会排斥的情况下融入日本社会。为了达到本研究的目的，在2011年至2013年期间，在福山和京都等城市进行了访谈和问卷调查。调查结果显示，当地政府对外籍居民的语言帮助可能没有达到应有的效果，大多数受访者面临着(1)理解专业术语的问题，(2)与主流社区隔离，(3)福利提供，(4)教育不平等。本研究提出；(1)一种更有帮助的提供语言支持的方式；(2)简化表达，作为帮助那些在语言和社会上处于不利地位的人的手段。

The purpose of this study is to clarify the actual state of language support for foreign residents living in Japan and to explore what local governments and educators can do to provide better language support to help them integrate into Japanese society without being subject to linguistic and social exclusion. In order to achieve the goal of this study, interviews and questionnaires were conducted in cities such as Fukuyama and Kyoto between 2011 and 2013. The findings show that local governments' attempts to give foreign residents language assistance may not be as effective as it should be, and the majority of the respondents are faced with problems of (1) understanding technical terms, (2) isolation from the mainstream community, (3) welfare provision, and (4) educational inequality. This study then proposes; (1) a more helpful way of providing language support and (2) simplified expressions as a means to help those who are at linguistically and socially disadvantaged.