Invisible Work
Bilingualism, language choice and childrearing in intermarried families
| University of Cambridge
There is growing recognition that context is important for bilingual language development, but understanding of that context remains underdeveloped. This innovative study, spanning the fields of bilingualism, ethnicity and family studies, shows how language use in intermarried families is deeply intertwined with the experience of everyday childrearing, in specific socio-historical contexts. This is why, despite good intentions, expert advice and effort, bilingual-child rearing often encounters difficulties. Conversely, drawing on in-depth interviews of twenty eight Japanese mother — British father families in the UK, the study uses a focus on language issues to portray actual childrearing dynamics and situated ethnicity in intermarried families. Presenting a vivid picture of the invisible work of mothers in these families, and how they attempt to resolve conflicting pressures and demands over childrearing, language and education, the author shows the importance of recognition and shared responsibility. This book will interest researchers, practitioners and parents interested in bilingualism, ethnically diverse families and multicultural education.
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society, 12] 2002. x, 275 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
List of figures and tables
|
vii
|
Acknowledgements
|
ix
|
1. Introduction
|
1–5
|
2. Developing a conceptual framework
|
7–37
|
3. Research methods
|
39–63
|
4. Japanese-British families in the UK: A survey
|
65–86
|
5. Initial language decision
|
87–107
|
6. Getting on: Adaptations in language use
|
109–135
|
7. Childrearing
|
137–160
|
8. Going to school
|
161–191
|
9. Family relationships, identity and ethnicity
|
193–218
|
10. Concluding discussion
|
219–233
|
Bibliography
|
235–250
|
Appendices
|
251–261
|
Index
|
263–274
|
“In this highly original study, Okita combines insights from studies of families, ethnicity, and bilingualism to examine the factors that promote or inhibit Japanese maintenance by the children of British fathers and Japanese mothers living in Britain. The result is a finely nuanced study that illustrates the difficulties of maintaining a minority language in a setting that provides few sources of institutional support. This volume is a valuable interdisciplinary examination of an understudied community and an important contribution to the study of childhood bilingualism and minority language maintenance and shift. This fine work of scholarship will be useful reading not only for researchers in first and second language acquisition and bilingualism but also for scholars in family studies, ethnic studies, and child development.”
Robert Bayley, University of Texas at San Antonio, in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27:1, 2005
“This book testifies to the merits of interdisciplinary work. With its bases in family studies and ethnic studies, along with the sociolinguistic literature on childhood bilingualism, it is able to elucidate the context in which language choices are made in a depth that has, to the best of my knowledge, never before been achieved in the literature on childhood bilingualism. It is a must-read for anyone involved in childhood bilingualism as a researcher or practitioner. It is also an important contribution to the emergent field of gender and bilingualism research.”
Ingrid Piller, University of Sydney in International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism Vol.6(2), 2003
“Okita's study is significant in several respects. First, the rich qualitative data including the participants' vivid life story accounts, occasional observations, reflections on mistakes and failures, bring important insight into the inner world of parents involved into bilingual child-rearing practices. Second, the study is an important step towards the creation of a cohesive cross-disciplinary theoretical framework for sociolinguistic analysis of parents' efforts to manage complicated bilingual practices and to transmit a minority language to the next generation. Finally, Okita's Invisible Work makes the time-consuming and emotionally demanding work of bilingual child-rearing more visible by illuminating pressures and dilemmas that often escape researchers' attention.”
Shulamith Kopeliovich, Bar-Ilan University, in Tydskrift vir Letterkunde, Jan. 2005
Cited by
Cited by other publications
Altman, Carmit, Zhanna Burstein Feldman, Dafna Yitzhaki, Sharon Armon Lotem & Joel Walters
Ansó Ros, Judith
Bayley, Robert & Vera Regan
Bezcioglu-Goktolga, Irem & Kutlay Yagmur
Brown, Ivan & Itesh Sachdev
Crowe, Kathryn, David H McKinnon, Sharynne McLeod & Teresa YC Ching
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan
DE HOUWER, ANNICK
De Houwer, Annick
Farr, Joanna, Laura Blenkiron, Richard Harris & Jonathan A. Smith
Fogle, Lyn Wright
Fukuda, Makiko
Fukuda, Makiko
Gogonas, Nikos & Christina Maligkoudi
Guardado, Martin
Guardado, Martin
Guardado, Martin
Gyogi, Eiko
Hilbig, Inga
Jackson, Lachlan
Kaveh, Yalda M.
Kirsch, Claudine
Koide, Teresa, Tomoko Yoshida, Erina Ogawa, Makiko Kuramoto, Jimena Emily Homma & Miho Naruse
Kopeliovich, Shulamit
Kopeliovich, Shulamit
Kostoulas, Achilleas & Eleni Motsiou
Lam, Agnes S. L.
Leung, Genevieve & Yuuko Uchikoshi
Little, Sabine
Little, Sabine
Lundén, Maija & Maarit Silvén
Medvedeva, Maria
Medvedeva, Maria
Moin, Viktor, Ludmila Scwartz & Mark Leikin
Nesteruk, Olena
Obojska, Maria Antonina
Oriyama, Kaya
Oriyama, Kaya
Oriyama, Kaya
Pacini-Ketchabaw, Veronica & Ana-Elisa Armstrong de Almeida
Palviainen, Åsa & Mari Bergroth
Palviainen, Åsa & Sally Boyd
Piller, Ingrid
Piller, Ingrid
Piller, Ingrid
Piller, Ingrid & Livia Gerber
Pułaczewska, Hanna
Quay, Suzanne
Ramonienė, Meilutė
Rodríguez-García, Dan, Miguel Solana-Solana, Anna Ortiz-Guitart & Joanna L. Freedman
Samata, Susan
Schwartz, Mila
Schwartz, Mila
Schwartz, Mila & Victor Moin
Schwartz, Mila, Victor Moin, Mark Leikin & Anna Breitkopf
Schwartz, Mila, Victor Moin & Mark Leikin
Schwartz, Mila & Yehudit Shaul
Schwartz, Mila & Anna Verschik
Shin, Sarah J.
Silvén, Maarit, Marinus Voeten, Anna Kouvo & Maija Lundén
Soler, Josep & Tim Roberts
Soler, Josep & Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Surrain, Sarah
Takeuchi, Miwa
Templin, Torsten
Tsushima, Rika & Martin Guardado
Van Mol, Christof & Helga A. G. de Valk
Velázquez, Isabel
Velázquez, Isabel
Velázquez, Isabel, Marisol Garrido & Mónica Millán
Verschik, Anna & Colm James Doyle
Wilson, Sonia
Wilson, Sonia
Yates, Lynda & Agnes Terraschke
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 07 january 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Linguistics
BIC Subject: CF – Linguistics
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General