MUNICIPAL PRACTICES OF THE JAPANESE AND SWEDISH LANGUAGE POLICY AND PLANNING - A Comparison of Learning Support for Schoolchildren in Chiba and Gothenburg

Abstract

The aim of this research is to compare the implementation of language policy and planning related to learning support in Chiba City, Japan and Gothenburg City, Sweden, for schoolchildren who need learning support due to factors such as their home language or upbringing, and to explore what Japan should learn from the Swedish cases. This study covers the practices of Japanese language instruction, the subject of Swedish as a second language, mother tongue education, study guidance in mother tongues, and linguistic accommodations including the use of Easy Japanese, Easy Swedish and multilingual information. In order to investigate the municipal practices, document analysis and interviews with a municipal organization, teachers, students and their parents are conducted. The results reveal that both cities have differences in the content and quality of instruction provided, depending on several factors such as the municipal financial conditions, the instructors and interpretation of Language Policy and Planning by schools. As for support for regular subject studies, there were clear differences in the extent to which students have access to well-resourced teaching staff. With regard to multilingual communication and easy language, it was observed that Chiba City makes more effort than Gothenburg City.