Transmission of Japanese as a heritage language in the bilingual polity of Catalonia: A case study

This study explores the transmission of Japanese in Japanese-Catalan/Spanish
speaking families in Catalonia from the perspective of Family Language
Policy. Based on the data obtained through in-depth interviews with nine
Japanese-speaking parents whose spouses are Catalan native speakers, we
describe these families’ language policies in terms of how they shed light on
how parents cope with transmitting Japanese in such contexts. One of the
most striking findings of this study is that socially weaker languages –
namely Japanese and Catalan – have an important presence in most of the
participants’ families despite the use of Spanish between the parents in their
home. The result of our analysis also suggests that parental beliefs and attitudes
have a significant influence on their language practice and the maintenance
of the heritage language (HL) at home.