Decolonizing Methodologies in Japan: Ryukyuan Perspectives for Language Education

This Special Issue aims to apply postcolonial perspectives to discussions and practices of Ryukyuan language learning and teaching. The objective is to step out of established binaries that constrain visions and practices of Ryukyuan language learning. These binaries include, for example, first language acquisition–second language learning, mother tongue–foreign language, teacher–learner, correct–incorrect, formal–informal, symbolic–instrumental, central–peripheral, homeland–diaspora, traditional–contemporary, known–unknown, monolingual–multilingual, written–spoken, but also Japanese–Ryukyuan. Taking a postcolonial point of view implies the necessity of grappling with new concepts, visions, and practices. Decolonization requires the creation of new cultural knowledge in a hybrid third space (Bhabha 1994). Shifting into a third space allows us to discuss Ryukyuan language learning as a possibility, and we believe that Ryukyuan language learning is often best situated between these binaries (or beyond them)

Pragmatic Consequences of Language Shift: A Contrastive Study of Politeness Marker Loss in Northern Ryukyuan

This paper analyses the loss of politeness markers across three generations in the Ryukyuan Islands of Japan. Honorific registers are first lost in endangered languages, and last speakers of an endangered language often state that they avoid using the lan- guage to semi-speakers because they do not use polite registers. We give an overview of language endangerment, analyse how individuals reflect on politeness markers, and how language loss and the awareness thereof manifest in language use. We find that the loss of politeness markers does not result in an affront to convention and social order. Japanese, the replacing language, is employed to construct social orders. Linguistically constructed orders in Japanese are different from those in Ryukyuan. In one of the two communities studied, politeness markers no longer function to construct social hierar- chies but serve as a ‘we-code’ among locals.The experience of language endangerment works here as a social levelling mechanism

After Language Standardization: Dialect Cosplay in Japan

Japanese is in most liklihood the most standardized language in the world, but the pendlum has started to swing back towards destandarization in the past two to three decades. Playing with dialect elements in order to evoke stereotypes about regional speakers is one aspect of language destandaridzation. It is called 'dialect cosplay' in Japanese, but we can find similar ludic uses of languages also in other countries. Language standardization processes come to an end, and we need to reflect how this can be studied in contemporary sociolinguistics

Ryukyuan Perspectives for Language Reclamation

If languages are naturally transmitted in a stable self-regulatory society, then we can say that such a society has not existed in the Ryukyu Islands for many generations. Domination from outside—by the Japanese mainland and the US—has destabilized Ryukyuan society for more than a century and, as an effect thereof, Ryukyuan languages have become endangered. Endangered languages can be reinvigorated, revitalized, and reclaimed, but this requires addressing the social, cultural, and linguistic causes of societal destabilization

Okinawans must use their languages or risk losing their identity

The link between language revitalization and the gains it brings to communities is an important one for local communities and for the scholars studying them. “Indigenous Languages — Value to the Community” is the topic of an international symposium jointly organized by the Foundation for Endangered Languages and the Ryukyuan Heritage Language Society in Okinawa from Sept. 17 to 20 in Ginowan, southern Okinawa. More than 40 participants from around the world will meet there to discuss how endangered languages can bring new benefits to the communities speaking them

Ryukyuan Language Reclamation: Individual Struggle and Social Change

This chapter explores language reclamation in the Ryukyu Islands. Language reclamation is defined as “a larger effort by a community to claim the right to speak a language and to set associated goals in response to community needs and perspectives” (Leonard, 2012), and therefore differs from language learning. Drawing on data collected from 13 semi-structured interviews with individuals who are learning or have learnt a Ryukyuan language, we zoom in on their personal experiences to highlight the unsettling effects of language reclamation on their identity (including national identity), emotions, and interpersonal relationships. We then consider the societal and political implications of reclaiming a language in a sociocultural environment which has been hostile to diversity and therefore calls for a critique of the current attitudes, practices, and policies

Transient Analysis of Analyte Desorption Due to Thermal Cycling with Varying Pulse Duration

This paper introduces heating pulse duration modulation on a chemically sensitive, polymer-coated resonant cantilever platform for analyte discrimination during the desorption phase. As in our previous work, the embedded heaters enable real-time measurements of analyte sorption into the polymer film, without the need for traditional valve systems and reference gases [1-2]. This work particularly looks at the effects of varying pulse lengths on the sensor responses, while holding the heating power constant. A model differential equation is developed for the sensor response based on both the device sensitivity and transient response. This model can then be used together with estimation theory for analyte identification and quantification, even in mixtures

European Approaches to Japanese Language and Linguistics

In this volume European specialists of Japanese language present new and original research into Japanese over a wide spectrum of topics which include descriptive, sociolinguistic, pragmatic and didactic accounts. The articles share a focus on contemporary issues and adopt new approaches to the study of Japanese that often are specific to European traditions of language study. The articles address an audience that includes both Japanese Studies and Linguistics. They are representative of the wide range of topics that are currently studied in European universities, and they address scholars and students alike