Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy: Native Speaker Bias in Japan

by Jae DiBello Takeuchi

Overview

This book examines dilemmas faced by second language (L2) Japanese speakers as a result of persistent challenges to their legitimacy as speakers of Japanese. Based on an ethnographic interview study with L2-Japanese speakers and their L1-Japanese-speaking friends, co-workers and significant others, the book examines ideologies linked to three core speech styles of Japanese – keigo or polite language, gendered language and regional dialects – to show how such ideologies impact L2-Japanese speakers. The author demonstrates that speaker legitimacy is often tenuous for L2 speakers and argues that, despite increasing numbers of Japanese-speaking foreign residents in Japan, native speaker bias remains a persistent issue for L2-Japanese speakers living and working in Japan. This book extends the discussion of native speaker bias beyond educational contexts, and in the process reveals tensions between how L2 speakers aspire to speak and how L1 speakers expect them to speak.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781800414631
Publisher:	Channel View Publications
Publication date:	09/16/2025
Series:	Multilingual Matters , #172
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.15(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jae DiBello Takeuchi is Assistant Professor of Japanese and Director of the Language and International Business Program in the Department of Languages, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. Her research interests include Japanese sociolinguistics and language variation, second language acquisition, foreign language pedagogy, native speaker bias and speaker legitimacy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. This Study: L2 Speakers in Japan         

Chapter 3. 'Foreigners Don’t Need Keigo': Excusing L2 Speakers from Keigo

Chapter 4. Trying (Not) to Sound Like a 'Girly-Girl' or a 'Manly-Man'

Chapter 5. 'You’re Speaking Dialect, That’s Funny Cuz You’re a Foreigner'            

Chapter 6. 'His Japanese Makes No Sense'

Chapter 7. Conclusion

Appendix A: Sample L2 Interview Protocol

Appendix B: Sample L1 Interview Protocol

Appendix C: Transcription Conventions

Appendix D: Sample Questionnaires

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

Takeuchi’s study on L2 Japanese speakers’ experience is timely and eye opening, particularly when foreign workers have started returning to Japan in the post-COVID-19 era. Practitioners and policymakers will benefit from her insightful analysis of the role of keigo and dialects that contribute to reinforcing divisions between Japanese and non-Japanese people.

Kayoko Hashimoto

As Japan struggles to liberalize its immigration policy to alleviate labor shortages, beliefs shaping national and linguistic identities are becoming increasingly contested. Takeuchi’s sophisticated and engaging examination of how these ideologies intertwine and ultimately occlude L2 speaker legitimacy is therefore particularly timely. 

Elizabeth Hashimura

Takeuchi’s fascinating new book provides sophisticated and nuanced analyses focused on “speaker legitimacy” and the ownership of language for L2 Japanese speakers in Japan. Her thoughtful suggestion that L2 speakers should be treated simply as speakers rather than targets of judgment rings true for education of any language. A must read.

Neriko Musha Doerr

Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy is a sophisticated and important contribution to our understanding of linguistic capital, language attitudes, and intercultural communication. At a time when language norms in Japan are being vividly discussed, this book adds empirical detail and new insight to what it means to speak Japanese as a second language.

Patrick Heinrich