Making of Monolingual Japan

Patrick Heinrich is an associate professor at Dokkyo University, Japan. His research interests focus on language ideology, language endangerment, history of linguistics, and social aspects of foreign language learning. Recent publications include Higashi ajia ni okeru gengo fukko [Language Revitalization in East Asia] (co-edited with Shin Matsuo, Sangensha 2010), Language Life in Japan (co-edited with Christian Galan, Routledge, 2011), and Mezase! Ryukyu shogo no iji [In Pursuit of Ryukyuan Language Maintenance] (co-edited with Michinori Shimoji, CoCo Shuppan 2011). He is currently co-editing the Handbook of Ryukyuan Languages.

Ellen: It’s an extraordinary achievement in terms of making a coherent argument out of material, mostly sources in Japanese, spanning the arc of over a century and a variety of disciplines. I think The Making of Monolingual Japan will stimulate future scholars, and I hope someone translates it into Japanese. It deserves to be widely read.Chie: Let’s hope it is influential! It’s not only relevant to the Japanese language but to other contexts as well. His investigation of language ideologies can help us think about language education and policy at a global level.

• 1. Language Ideology as a Field of Inquiry 2. The Call of Mori Arinori to Replace Japanese 3. The Creation of a Modern Voice 4. The Unification of Japanese 5. The Linguistic Assimilation of Ryukyuans and Ainu 6. The Most Beautiful Language in the World 7. Language Ideology as Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 8. Current Challenges to Modernist Language Ideology 9. Language Ideology in Twenty-First Century Japan