The pursuit of bilingualism can be something akin to the quest for the Holy Grail for parents living in Japan. It's also near-universal, affecting expatriates here for an extended period, multilingual families where the parents come from different cultural backgrounds, or Japanese nationals eager to start their child on learning a new language. One thing that is easy to overlook, though, is the importance of nurturing identity on this quest.
Carol Inugai is the language and learning manager for the International Baccalaureate Organization. She worked for more than 25 years as an educator in Japan before taking on her current role at the organization. She is very well informed on the subject of language acquisition, but it's her role as mother to a bilingual child that reinforces the research on a personal level.
"Language plays an intricate role in the development of a child's identity as he or she navigates the complexities of various group memberships," Inugai tells The Japan Times. "All multicultural children must eventually reconcile how to create an integrated identity by harmonizing their 'other' identities within the established group."