JALT2025 - Tokyo

Plurilingual Pedagogy in Japanese Language Classrooms: Teacher Perspectives and Challenges

Nov 1, 2025, 5:35 PM

30m

National Olympics Memorial Youth Center / 国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター

Research-oriented Presentation (30-minutes) Japanese and Other Language Teaching & Learning Room 308

Speaker

Dr Eiko Gyogi (Okinawa University)

Description

This study explores the implementation of plurilingual pedagogy in Japanese language classrooms through a survey of 78 teachers and interviews with 10 teachers. The findings reveal that plurilingual practices are already present, though often unrecognized. In particular, interviews show that even teachers who follow a Japanese-only approach actively draw on students' linguistic and cultural resources. The key challenge is to acknowledge, support, and develop these practices to better embrace students' linguistic and cultural diversity.

Summary

This study explores the implementation of plurilingual pedagogy in Japanese language classrooms through a survey of 78 teachers and interviews with 10 teachers. The findings reveal that plurilingual practices are already present, though often unrecognized. In particular, interviews show that even teachers who follow a Japanese-only approach actively draw on students' linguistic and cultural resources. The key challenge is to acknowledge, support, and develop these practices to better embrace students' linguistic and cultural diversity.