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

这项研究的目的是澄清居住在日本的外国居民的语言支持的实际状况，并探索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，帮助他们在不受语言和社会排斥的情况下融入日本社会。为了实现本研究的目标，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，地方政府为外国居民提供语言援助的尝试可能没有达到应有的效果，大多数受访者面临(1)理解技术术语、(2)与主流社区隔绝、(3)福利提供和(4)教育不平等的问题。这项研究建议：(1)提供更有用的语言支持；(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一种手段。

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.