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28 - Japanese Heritage Language Education in Dispersed Diaspora Communities

from Part V - Heritage Language Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 December 2025

Piotr Romanowski
Affiliation:
University of Warsaw
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of Japanese language education in diasporic communities linked to Japan, concentrating on five key English-dominant regions with established Japanese communities. The key guiding principle used for comparison is the distinction between hoshuko schools, which offer components of the compulsory curriculum in Japan, and keishogo schools, which are community-operated heritage language programmes. The chapter discusses key features and affordances of the programming in these schools as well as their concomitant challenges, many of which are intrinsically connected to the diversification of the student demographic.

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