University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Parental influence on children's education: Japanese-speaking families

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Parental influence on children's education: Japanese-speaking families

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PARENTAL INFLUENCE ON CHILDREN’S EDUCATION: JAPANESE-
SPEAKING FAMILIES

by

Mikiya Mori

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2008

Copyright 2008 Mikiya Mori

ii

DEDICATION
For my wife, Kaori Mori, who has managed our lives in the United States;
my daughters, Sayaka and Hanako, who patiently but courageously challenged new
lives as foreign students.
Without all of your support this would have not been possible.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my dissertation committee members Dr. Eugenia Mora-Flores, Dr.
Jack Lewis, and to my chairperson, Dr. Gisele Ragusa; and to my thematic
group, I give my deepest appreciation and unending gratitude for your
inspiration, support, guidance, and time from the start until the finish of this
study.

iv

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to better understand
the ways in which Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s learning in
the United States.
In this study, the researcher identified two groups of the parents: company-
sponsored and non company-sponsored. Many Japanese leading companies transfer
some of their employees and their families to their offices in the United States to
conduct business. Since large portion of their living expenses are paid by their
employers, the researcher of this study calls them ‘company-sponsored’ families.
They usually return to Japan when their job assignments complete.
The population included 216 parents of Japanese English learners (K-8) in
XYZ Unified School District in Southern California. Specifically, this study
compared and analyzed nine variables: 1) ratio of interaction with Japanese and non-
Japanese people, 2) self-reported English speaking and listening ability in Japan, 3)
Japanese reading behavior, 4) English reading behavior, 5) parental educational
attainment, 6) access to teachers, 7) parental monitoring of children’s learning, 8)
parental grade expectation of their children, and 9) parents’ aspired future level of
education for their children.
The present study revealed that parental English speaking and
communication skills prior to their arrival in the United States and parental
awareness of their children’s learning at school were the predictors of parental grade

v

expectation of their children. Parental educational attainment was the only predictor
for parental aspiration for their children’s final level of education.
Longitudinal study can be conducted to investigate how parental attitude changes
over time. Future studies will provide useful information for American teachers to
better understand families from non English-speaking countries.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION …………………………………………………………………….. ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………………………............ iii
LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………………...viii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………. iv
Chapter
1. CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY.....................................................1
Japanese-Speaking Families ........................................................................2
Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................4
Background of the Problem .........................................................................4
Statement of the Problem.............................................................................9
The Research Questions.............................................................................10
Significance of the Study ...........................................................................11
Limitations of the Study.............................................................................11
Theoretical Perspective ..............................................................................12
Definition of Terms....................................................................................14
2. CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .............................................16
Second Language Development.................................................................18
Cultural Capital..........................................................................................20
Parental Influence on Student Learning.....................................................27
Parent-Child Interaction.............................................................................32
Summary of Findings in the Literature Review.........................................36
Gaps in Research........................................................................................37
3. CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................39
Research Questions....................................................................................40
Hypotheses.................................................................................................41
Study Participants ......................................................................................42
Recruitment Procedure...............................................................................42
Instrumentation ..........................................................................................45
Data Analysis .............................................................................................50
Ethical Considerations ...............................................................................54

vii
4. CHAPTER 4: RESULT ......................................................................................55

Parental Cultural Capital............................................................................64
Parental Acculturation................................................................................69
Parental Aspiration for their Children’s Education....................................72
Correlation Analyses..................................................................................78
Regression Analyses ..................................................................................90
Parental Support at Home ..........................................................................93
Conclusion .................................................................................................96
5. CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION..............................................................................99
Limitations ...............................................................................................100
Recommendation for Future Studies........................................................101
Recommendation for Practitioners...........................................................102
Recommendation for Parents of Japanese ELs ........................................103
Recommendation for Policy of Japanese Companies..............................104
Conclusion ...............................................................................................105
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................106
APPENDICES .........................................................................................................111
A. Parent Survey ...................................................................................112
B. Parent Interview Questions ..............................................................126
C. Enrollement Letter ...........................................................................127
D. Information Sheet.............................................................................128
E. Contact Information Sheet ...............................................................131
F. Parent Survey (Japanese version) ....................................................132
G. Enrollment Letter (Japanese version)...............................................144
H. Information Sheet (Japanese version) ..............................................146
I. Contact Information Sheet (Japanese version).................................149

viii

LIST OF TABLES
Tables
1. Survey Partcipants..........................................................................................56
2. Family's Length of Stay in the United States.................................................57
3. Self-report of English Speaking Skills and Listening Skills in Japan............60
4. Type of School Attendance............................................................................63
5. Parental Educational Attainment....................................................................65
6. Reading Behavior...........................................................................................67
7. Summary of Reading Behavior......................................................................68
8. Interaction with non-Japanese and Japanese Persons ....................................70
9. Parental Aspiration for Children's Education.................................................72
10. Parental Access to Teachers...........................................................................75
11. Parental Access to Outside Educational Resources .......................................77
12. Correlation for All Parents.............................................................................80
13. Correlation for Parents by School-Grade Groups ........................................82
14. Correlation: Parental Aspiration for Children's Education ............................84
15. Regression: Parental Grade Expectation of Children.....................................91
16. Regression: Parental Aspiration for Final Level of Education for Children..91

1

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Introduction
In California, there were approximately 1.6 million English learners (ELs)
in the 2006-2007 school-years (California Department of Education, 2007). The
number of ELs constituted 24.6% of the total enrollment (K-12) in California
public schools. Of the 1.6 million ELs, 67 percent were enrolled in elementary
grades (K-5). Educators have challenges to accommodate the needs of growing
ELs. Nationwide, they are projected to expand to 25 percent of K-12 students in the
United States by 2026 (Garcia, 2002).
The growing number of ELs put more pressure on American public schools
to better serve the different needs of newcomers to the United States. In order to
accommodate ELs, it might be helpful for teachers to understand in what ways the
parents of ELs influence their children’s education. Although school teachers meet
with their students on a regular basis in the classrooms, teachers have limited
opportunities to know about their parents. Much research has been conducted about
parental influence on their children’s education (Davis-Kean, 2005; De Graaf, De
Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000; Frome & Eccles, 1998; Fuligni, 1997; Halle, et al,
1997; Kaplan, Liu, & Kaplan, 2001; McGrath & Repetti, 2000; Okagaki &
Frensch, 1998; Sullivan, 2001). Findings from these studies contribute to the
knowledge about parental influence on children’s education. However, research on
Japanese-speaking

2
parents is limited. In this dissertation study, Japanese-speaking parents were
investigated with a particular focus on company-sponsored parents.
In the 2006-2007 school-years, total enrollment of Japanese ELs (K-12) was
4,861 which accounts for 0.3% of ELs (K-12) in California. The top three
residential areas for the families of Japanese ELs were in Southern California
(California State Department of Education, 2007). This can be explained because
many Japanese companies have offices in these areas, causing families to reside in
the area in order for them to be close to their workplace.
The researcher of this study identified two primary groups of Japanese-
speaking parents: non company-sponsored (permanent resident) and company-
sponsored parents. One of the subgroups among Japanese-speaking parents came to
the United States from Japan due to their job assignments. They usually stay
between three to seven years in the United States. These employees are primarily
transferred from their offices in Japan to their counterparts in the United States. In
business, these employees are called ‘expatriates’. This researcher calls them
‘company-sponsored’ employees because their relocation and large living expenses
in the United States are paid by their employers. In the next section of this
dissertation, the background of the company-sponsored Japanese families is
presented.
Japanese-Speaking Families
Company-sponsored families

3
Japanese companies which engage in international business have offices and
factories in countries outside of Japan. The United States is one of the major
markets for those companies. For example, most of the Japanese auto
manufacturers have their American headquarters in Southern California. These
companies hire locally but also send some of their employees from Japan. The
employers usually pay for relocation from Japan to the United States, and provide a
company car, housing allowance, cost of living allowance, and families’ health
insurance for company-sponsored families. Socioeconomic background is one of
the key factors for research about children’s academic performance. Since the
company-sponsored families’ large expenses are paid by their employers, these
families can afford access to extra educational resources. In the next section, non
company-sponsored families are discussed.
Non Company-sponsored families
Non company-sponsored families come from different background. Some
of the non company-sponsored families were initially sent as company-sponsored
families. When they were asked to return to Japan by their employers, the
company-sponsored families chose to stay in the United States. As a result of their
status changes from company-sponsored to non company-sponsored, they had to
lose their benefits as company-sponsored.
Some non company-sponsored parents initially came to the United States
from Japan as students and found jobs. Later, they married to have families. Some
of

4
them are small business owners and others work for small Japanese companies in
Southern California.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to better understand in what ways Japanese-
speaking parents influence their children’s academic experiences in the United
States. Multiple theoretical frameworks were applied to analyze the problems. The
sociocultural perspective, the second language acquisition perspective, and the
cultural capital perspective help in analyzing the causes of the problems.
Background of the Problem
According to the U.S. Census in 2000, almost 90 percent of its total
population was born in the United States, followed by 4.5 percent for foreign born
naturalized citizens and 6.6 percent for foreign born non-citizens (United States
Census Bureau, 2003). More than 82 percent of the total population only speaks
English at home. Asians are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United
States About 31 percent of the Asians were born in the United States and the rest
are equally divided into foreign born naturalized citizens and non-citizens. Twenty-
one percent of Asians only speak English and 79 percent speak a language other
than English at home. More detailed census data shows differences among Asian
ethnic groups. For example, the Japanese are the only group where more than 50
percent speak only English at home. Chinese and Koreans who speak only English
at home

5
are 14.6 percent and 18.1 percent, respectively. Japanese seem to be the most
acculturated to American society.
In this study, ‘company-sponsored’ is used as an adjective to describe
person(s) who are internally transferred from their offices in Japan to their
counterparts in the United States. For example, Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan
sends many employees from Japan to their offices and factories in California and
Kentucky to conduct their business. These employees from Japan are company-
sponsored employees. One of the major concerns for the company-sponsored
Japanese parents is education for their children during their stay in the United
States. In Japan, English as a foreign language is taught from seventh grade. It
means that many children of the company-sponsored employees have not learned
English in Japan prior to their arrival in the United States. There maybe a few
exceptions, but most of the company-sponsored Japanese children are categorized
as English learners by the English assessment that occurs at school registration.
With the expansion of Japanese global activities over the last two decades,
the number of Japanese abroad has increased by 160 percent (Japanese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 2004). During the same period, the number of Japanese school-age
children abroad has increased by 42 percent to 54,148 in 2004. Of the 54,148,
20,659 Japanese children resided in North America. There are three patterns of
schooling for Japanese children in the region: Japanese school, American school,
and Japanese supplementary school. Of the 20,659 Japanese children, 2.3 percent
attended only

6
Japanese school, and 40.1 percent attended only local school. The largest group, 57
percent, attended both local schools and Japanese supplementary schools to
maintain their Japanese education. In other words, many Japanese students have a
double school workload from their American schools and Japanese supplementary
schools. Japanese parents seem to believe that continuation of Japanese education
in the United States and maintenance of their home culture help their children make
an easy transition when they return to schools in Japan.
Numerous Japanese companies in the United States form business
associations in their local communities. The associations help support the member
companies to make contacts with American companies to conduct business.
Besides the business function, the associations also support education for the
children of their member companies’ company-sponsored employees. In Southern
California, Japan Business Association of Southern California (JBA) makes
donations to local school districts, public schools, and Japanese supplementary
schools which many company-sponsored children attend. Some Japanese
companies contribute to educational foundations which support local schools that
children of the company-sponsored employees attend. In the United States, there
are 29 Japanese supplementary schools which are accredited by the Japanese
Ministry of Education. The Ministry sends some teachers from Japan to the 29
Japanese supplementary schools that are accredited by the Ministry (Japanese
Ministry of Education, 2005). Those schools adopt the curriculum in Japan. There
are also 45 Japanese supplementary Saturday

7
schools which do not receive teachers from Japan. In the areas where small
numbers of company-sponsored families resides, Japanese supplementary schools
are not available.
This study focuses on the company-sponsored Japanese parents and their
children in the United States. These children experience difficulty with school due
to cultural and language differences. Parents also face difficulty helping their
children with school due to similar reasons. In order to understand the cultural
environment of the company-sponsored Japanese children, it will be helpful to
describe the characteristics of Japanese and American school cultures.
In Japan, school is a place for children to learn how to be a good citizen in
addition to learning academic subjects. Teachers are highly respected by parents
because teachers traditionally symbolize authority in Japan. They do not just teach
academic subjects. Japanese teachers provide opportunities for their students to
learn responsibility by assigning tasks such as school cleaning. Japanese schools
operate on a homeroom system at the elementary and intermediate school level.
Students are assigned to a classroom where they spend most of the day except for
the science laboratory, the music room, and the gymnasium. The classroom is
called homeroom which is a basic social unit at school. This is significantly
different from the educational system in the United States. Each homeroom has a
homeroom teacher who is responsible for students’ academic achievement as well
as discipline. Homeroom teachers also play the role of counselor. The homeroom
teachers’

8
responsibility extends to the students’ life after school. Parents need to contact their
children’s’ homeroom teachers first for any questions regarding their children.
Homeroom teachers at elementary and junior high schools visit students’ homes at
the beginning of the school year in April. From the home visits, teachers are able to
gather information about the students’ home environment and the parents. The
shared responsibility of both parents and homeroom teachers in the upbringing of
children is taken for granted in Japanese society.
In the United States, a school is a place for children to learn academic skills.
There is mostly no equivalent of a ‘homeroom’ in intermediate schools. Students
move from one classroom to another for instruction in each subject at intermediate
schools. Teachers are not responsible for preparing students to become good
citizens. American teachers do not visit their students’ homes. Schools suggest
parents contact teachers for any questions or concerns.
Cultural differences between Japan and the United States create problematic
situations for Japanese children and their parents. The company-sponsored
Japanese children are thrown into American classrooms. As Jacobs et al. (1993)
describe, environmental changes for children negatively influence their learning at
school.
In the United States, children are expected to be independent and responsible for
their problems. In Japan, children are not raised to be assertive and they tend to be
quiet about their problems. Japanese ELs may want to report to teachers about the

9
problems, but they may not be able to do so due to their limited English skills. In
this
situation, teachers may not recognize the problems of company-sponsored Japanese
children unless their parents notify teachers about the problems. If the parents are
English-limited, nobody will report to the teachers about the problems that the EL
is experiencing.
Japanese-speaking parents may not know to what extent they can ask
teachers to provide extra help for their children. The Japanese culture sees seeking
solutions to problems by asking questions of teachers as “losing face” since the
parents are showing vulnerability to outsiders. Japanese-speaking parents and their
children are exposed to language and cultural differences between Japan and the
United States Over the years, Japanese children seem to persevere and make an
effort to overcome difficulty at school in the United States (Halloway, 1988; Hess
& Azuma, 1991). Japanese ELs probably feel tremendous stress from not being
able to accomplish what they were able to do academically in Japan. It is not
known how parents influence their Japanese children’s education in the United
States.
Statement of the Problem
The company-sponsored Japanese children have limited English skills and
they are not familiar with the American school system. The problem is that these
children usually are not able to demonstrate their academic potential at its optimum

10
level, in their early years in the United States, due to language and cultural
differences. These Japanese children persevere and make an effort to learn English
as a second language as well as academic subjects. The amount of stress on these
children should not be underestimated. Teachers who have taught ELs previously
might be able to identify which student needs help in class. However, many other
teachers who have not taught ELs might not have capacity to provide help for ELs.
The researcher of this study believes that parents play an important role in their
children’s education, and it is necessary to study the parental factors which might
influence their children’s education in the United States.
The Research Questions
This dissertation aims to explore the relationship between the Japanese
parents’ cultural capital and their influence on their children’s education in the
United States. The following questions will guide the research:
1. What are the interrelationships amongst parental cultural capital, parental
aspiration for their children’s education, parental access to educational
resources, and parental acculturation level?
2. In what ways do Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s
academic experiences in the United States?
3. What forms of support do Japanese-speaking parents provide for their
children’s education in the United States?
4. What are the similarities and differences between the characteristics of
company-sponsored parents and non company-sponsored parents?

11
Significance of the Study
The result of this study will help American educators better understand
company-sponsored Japanese children and their parents in the United States.
Understanding of Japanese parental beliefs and values toward their children’s
education will help American educators provide better support for company-
sponsored Japanese children. When this study is completed, it will illuminate
meaningful guidance for teachers to understand Japanese-speaking parents, their
beliefs, values, and behaviors. The research also provides valuable empirical
knowledge of parental influence on children’s learning. Findings of this study will
help school districts to develop effective programs to train Japanese-speaking
parents about how they can help their children at home. Additionally, this study
will provide recommendations for Japanese-speaking parents on how they can
provide better support for their children with school in the United States. Lastly,
this study will provide insights that how Japanese companies can provide
program(s) for their employees’ spouses and their children prior to their arrival to
the United States.
Limitations of the Study
The results of this study may not be able to be applied to other ethnic
groups. Since this study focuses on a particular group of Japanese, it may not be
applicable to other groups of Japanese.

12
Theoretical Perspective
Japanese children need to learn English as a second language and other
academic subjects at schools in the United States. When Japanese-speaking
children arrive to the United States, they experience difficulty in adjusting to a new
culture and language in school. In order to understand their problematic situation,
multiple theoretical perspectives are necessary.
To begin with, sociocultural theory explains that learning occurs when a
child interacts with other persons. All human action is socioculturally situated
(Wertsch. 1998). Vygotsky (1978) states that “learning awakens a variety of
internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is
interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers
(p.90).” He also argues that language plays an important role for children in
learning. Tharp and Gallimore (1988) define activity settings as contexts in which
teaching occurs.
Second language acquisition theories provide valuable information to
understand the processes of second language learning. Krashen’s second language
acquisition theory was one of the most controversial ones for the last quarter of the
twentieth century (Brown, 2000). Among the five hypotheses which make up the
theory, the Input Hypothesis caught much attention from researchers. According to
Krashen (1981), the Input Hypothesis claims that the only necessary condition for
second language (L2) learners is to provide comprehensible input that is a little
beyond their current level of acquired competence. He adds that speaking ability

13
“emerges” after the acquirer has built up competence through comprehending unit.
Krashen and Terrell (1983) indicate that listening and reading are more important
where as speaking and writing ability in a L2 will come naturally afterwards.
However, some researchers question the Input Hypothesis and suggest the
importance of output, namely that speaking and writing was also important for L2
learning (Swain, 2005; Pica, 2005). Swain argues that learners may notice that they
do not know how to say or write something during the process of producing the
target language. This awareness of gaps motivates learners to explicitly acquire
new linguistic knowledge. Cummins (1979, 1999) differentiates basic interpersonal
communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency
(CALP). Children may acquire BICS within about two years but it takes them
longer (5-10 years) to acquire CALP. Lack of CALP prevents English learners
from performing academically particularly in middle and high schools where a
higher level of academic English is required for students than at the elementary
school level.
The concept of cultural capital was primarily developed by French
sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. He offers that cultural capital consists of the ability to
understand and use “educated” language. He views cultural capital as inculcated in
the higher class home and enables higher class students to achieve higher
educational attainments than lower-class students (Bourdieu, 1977; Bourdieu &
Passeron, 1977). He argues that cultural capital is transmitted from one generation
to the next by agents, namely from parents to their children. Schools do not teach

14
cultural capital but they assume that students from the higher-class have cultural
capital.
Coleman (1988) describes the concept of social capital. A person builds a
relation with another person in a certain social structure. A person’s social relation
can provide useful resources in the creation of human capital. Stanton-Salazar
(1997) offers that “the development of social ties to institutional agents is crucial to
the social development and empowerment of ethnic minority children (p.15).” In
case of Japanese-speaking families, it is critical if the parents can develop social
ties to teachers and school staff so that the parents can contact those school agents
to support their children’s education at school. English language skill is necessary
for Japanese-speaking parents to build the social network with teachers, counselors,
and other school staff to familiarize themselves about school resources available for
their children to learn. Social network with their host community can play an
important role for Japanese-speaking families to access educational resources.
Definition of Terms
English learners
For this study, definition of English learners by the California States Department of
Education (2006) will be used. English learners are “those students who report a
primary language other than English on the state-approved Home Language Survey
and who, on the basis of the state approved oral language (K-12) assessment
procedures and including literacy (grade 3-12 only), have been determined to lack
the clearly defined English language skills of listening comprehension, speaking,

15
reading, and writing necessary to succeed in the school’s regular instructional
programs” (California Department of Education, 2006).
Company-sponsored Japanese employees
It refers to Japanese employees who are internally relocated from Japan to the
United States by their employers to carry out business. The employers pay for the
relocation and housing during their residence in the United States. Company-
sponsored Japanese employees are not immigrants.
Company-sponsored Japanese children
It refers to children of company-sponsored Japanese employees. Company-
sponsored Japanese children are not immigrants.
Cultural capital
It refers to the linguistic and cultural competence that is transmitted from one
generation to another (Bourdieu, 1977). Garcia (2002) describes cultural capital as
“a person’s entire set of cultural relationships, not just in the family but across all
the key social spheres” (p.84). In this dissertation study, I define cultural capital as
an individual’s cultural resources that help the individual succeed in school and
transmitted from parents to their children.
Educational attainment
Educational attainment refers specifically to the completion level of education such
as high school, undergraduate, or graduate.

16
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
The population of Asian Americans accounts for 10.2 million, or 3.6
percent of the total population of the United States (United States Census Burean,
2000). Of the 10.2 million, approximately 0.8 million are Japanese which accounts
for 0.3% of the total population. Japanese are the sixth largest group among Asians.
Of the 0.8 million, 39 percent of Japanese are foreign born and about half of them
came to the United States between 1990 and 2000. According to the Japanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004), there are 20,659 non-immigrant Japanese
children enrolled in elementary and middle schools in North America. Those
children were mostly born in Japan and relocated to the United States with their
parents. Many of the families are sent by their employers. This group of children
and their parents are my research focus. They are foreign nationals and not
immigrants. Most of the Japanese-speaking children, who come to the United
States before reaching seventh grade in Japan, are thrown into American
classrooms without appropriate English language skills because English is not
taught as an academic subject in the Japanese public school curriculum before that
time. Ogbu (1998) states that voluntary immigrant minorities usually experience
some problems in school when they first arrive due to their cultural and language
differences. Japanese children and voluntary immigrant minorities experience
similar problems at schools.

17
From a cultural capitalist point of view, it is important to study parental
influence on their children’s learning. Numerous researches have examined how
parental educational attainment influences their children’s academic achievement
within Latino or African American populations. Some research has been conducted
on Asians, but research on Japanese-speaking parents and their children is limited.
The purpose of this study is to examine how Japanese-speaking parents
influence their children’s education in the United States. The study is intended to
answer the following questions: (a) What are the interrelationships amongst
parental cultural capital, parental aspiration for their children’s education, parental
access to educational resources, and parental acculturation level?, (b) What forms
of support do Japanese-speaking parents provide for their children’s education in
the United States?, (c) In what ways do Japanese-speaking parents influence their
children’s academic experiences in the United States?, and (d) What are the
similarities and differences between the characteristics of company-sponsored
parents and non company-sponsored parents? The literature review will set the
stage for studying Japanese parental influence on their children’s learning in the
United States. The following five sections of the review will guide the readers
through the literature review: (a) second language development, (b) cultural capital,
(c) parental influence on their children’s learning, (d) parent-child interaction, and
(e) summary of findings from the research.

18
Second Language Development
In this section of the literature review, the researcher reviewed studies on
second language development. Age in second language development is a popular
topic. In language acquisition theory, there is a concept of an optimum time frame
to acquire language, the critical period hypothesis (CPH). Numerous researchers
conducted studies on this issue. Most researchers agree with critical period
hypothesis with first language acquisition but not with second language acquisition
(Ioup, 2005). In the study of maturational constraints in second language
acquisition by Spanish natives, Birdsong and Molis (2001) found that there was no
age difference among young learners but older learners’ test results were negatively
correlated with age. The study did not examine the process of second language
acquisition by the research subjects. Bialstok (1997) also found evidence that the
age of beginning second language acquisition is not a significant factor. The study
indicates that the amount of time spent speaking the second language is significant.
Another popular topic is the effect of first language on second language.
Winsler, Diaz, Espionasa, and Rodoriguez (1999) examined if attending a bilingual
preschool leads to the loss of first language, Spanish. The research found no
evidence of Spanish proficiency loss for children attending bilingual preschool.
Children, who attended bilingual preschool, showed significant gains in Spanish
language development and significant increase in English language proficiency.
The findings support Cummins’ (1979; 1999) concept that a child’s skills
developed in the first language transfer to the second language.

19
Many youthful immigrants experience difficulty in cultural adjustment from
the first day of their arrival in the United States. Language acquisition poses a
major challenge for them particularly at schools (Yeh et al, 2003). Mitsutomi and
McDonald (2005) interviewed English language learners at a high school to
identify factors which enhance or hinder second language learners’ acculturation
and language acquisition processes. There were three groups of students at different
English proficiency levels: advanced, intermediate, and beginner. The advanced
speakers of English had the most exposure to English use in their home country and
in the United States, had clear personal goals for their future, and enjoyed reading
or writing in English.
In the study of adult ESL learners from a different first language (L1)
background, Mackey (1999) examined relationship between different types of
conversational interaction and second language development. As a measurement of
development, the study used the formation of questions in ESL. The study found
that conversational interaction facilitated second language development. Only the
groups that actively participated in interaction produced significantly higher level
structures. One of the limitations to this study is generalizability. Further research
is needed to use other measurements of the development. Children can be used as
the research subjects.
The last topic in this section of Chapter two is the relationship between
language use and acculturation. In the study of acculturative stress among 200
Amerasian refugees ages 19 to 23, Nwadoria and McAdoo (1996) investigated the

20
mental health, adjustment, and issues of acculturation through survey. Amerasians
are individuals or groups of persons born of American servicemen and Vietnamese
or Cambodian women during the Vietnam War. The study found that the link
between the ability to speak the host country’s language and the level of
acculturative stress on refugees. The more they could communicate in English, the
fewer stresses they experienced.
Cultural Capital
Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory explains that ownership of cultural capital
influences students to attain higher academic achievement than those who do not
possess cultural capital. Numerous studies about cultural capital focus on the
relationship between ownership of cultural capital and educational achievement
(De Graaf, De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000; Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999;
Goldstein, 2003; Sullivan, 2001). Some research conceptualizes cultural capital as a
family’s visit to highly cultured activities such as visits to art museums, the opera,
and dance performances. Other studies define cultural capital more broadly to
include all the cultural advantages that may influence a children’s ability to do well
in school.
In addition to family visits to high cultural activities, De Graff et al (2000)
used parental reading behavior as one indicator for cultural capital. In the study of
cultural capital in the Netherlands, the researchers examined how parental cultural
capital affects their children’s academic achievement. The hypotheses of this study
were parents who read books (1) have better linguistic skills and are more able to

21
pass on knowledge to their children and (2) contribute to a cultural home
environment that sets an example for their children. Data from the Netherlands
Family Survey for 1992-93 were used to test their hypothesis. A sample of 1,000
residents who were age 25 or older from the Survey participants and 800 spouses
were selected. For married households, both spouses were interviewed separately.
Of the 1,800 samples, 1,479 were valid cases for data analysis. Variables for this
study include years of education, parental years of education, father’s occupational
status, parental financial resources, parental beaux arts participation, and parental
reading behavior.
The study presented two major findings. First, the effect of parental reading
behavior on their children’s education is approximately four times as large as the
effect of parental beaux arts participation and the difference was statistically
significant. They offered two possible explanations for this finding: 1) parents
provide their children with a stimulating learning environment at home and act as
examples for their children, and 2) parents who read frequently have more cultural
literacy and are probably better informed on how their children’s functioning in
school can be improved. Second, differences in parental cultural capital, measured
by the participation in art museums or parental reading behavior, are more
important for children from lower and middle socioeconomic backgrounds and less
important for children from high socioeconomic backgrounds.
Further research is needed to provide an answer as to how parental reading
behavior of the native language and second language at company-sponsored

22
Japanese families influence parental aspiration for their children’s education in
their foreign land, the United States.
In her study in England, Sullivan (2001) surveyed 11
th
grade students in
their final year of compulsory schooling. A significant difference from the study by
De Graff et al.’s research is that Sullivan attempted to study cultural capital for the
students and their parents. Her potential sample size was 557 students from four
schools with 465 students completing the surveys. Parents’ social class, educational
attainment, occupation, and qualification data were collected. She surveyed a broad
range of components of cultural capital in the students: activities, cultural
knowledge, and language. Detailed descriptions of these three components were
given. For activities, the survey asked about the students’ reading, television
watching, music, and participation in public or formal culture. Data on reading
included the types of books read as well as the amount read. Reading classic books
and contemporary books were regarded as having cultural capital. Regularly
watching factual programs on science, arts or humanities, and politics were
categorized as having cultural capital. Cultural knowledge was assessed by asking
students to categorize twenty-five famous cultural figures as to politics, music,
novels, art or science. Language was evaluated by asking students active and
passive vocabulary in the form of sentence completion tests. Students were asked to
provide several synonyms for each of five words given. For parental cultural
activities, Sullivan collected data on the following five components: the number of

23
books in the home, subscription to newspapers, the type of music and radio listened
to, participation in formal culture, and the subjects talked about in the home.
The completed survey data were analyzed in two steps. First, the study
examined the distribution of cultural capital by social class and parental education.
Second, the study assessed the extent of transmission of cultural capital within the
homes. Linear regression analysis revealed the main determinants of the activities
component of students’ cultural capital. The parents’ qualifications and social class,
and the school attended had significant effects on the students’ cultural activities.
There was a significant positive association with graduate parents in a higher
service-class and a student’s cultural activities.
The study concludes that (a) parental cultural capital is strongly associated
with parental social class and with parental qualifications, (b) linguistic ability and
cultural knowledge are more strongly transmitted within the home than in the
school, (c) a students’ reading develops his or her intellectual abilities but
participation in formal culture does not, and (d) the parents’ social class retains a
large and significant direct effect on the student’s General Certificate of Secondary
Education (GCSE) examination score. Sullivan’s study provides significant
findings which support Bourdieu’s claim that parental cultural capital is transmitted
to the next generation in the homes.
In the study of eighth graders (N=16,189, 83.6 percent white and 16.4
percent black), Roscigno & Ainsworth-Darnell (1999) investigated whether the
difference in cultural capital and educational resources contribute to racial

24
disparities in achievement between African Americans and white students. The
study used two indicators of family cultural capital: the students’ participation in
cultural trips to museums and cultural classes such as art, music, and dance. The
study indicates strong effects of cultural capital and educational resources on
children’s academic achievement, which are consistent with both African American
and White students.
The next study shows how immigrant students achieved good grades as
cultural capital. In her four-year ethnographic study, Goldstein (2003) investigated
how immigrant high school students from Hong Kong used Cantonese as well as
English to achieve academic and social success in a Canadian school where English
was the language of instruction. Although the school board adopted the language
policy of speaking English at school, the immigrant students from Hong Kong who
relied on peer social capital spoke in Cantonese with other Cantonese. When
Cantonese students spoke to other Cantonese in English, the behavior was regarded
as a showing-off. As a result, the Cantonese student was not able to build peer
social networks. The study revealed that immigrant high school students found
ways to acquire cultural capital of the dominant society, good grades, by using
ethnic-sociolinguistic resources and channels. In the study the social peer capital
was convertible to the dominant cultural capital.
The previous research shows that social peer capital mediates the immigrant
students and cultural capital. According to Coleman (1988), a person builds a
relation with another person in a certain social structure. A person’s social relation

25
can provide useful resources in the creation of human capital. In order to build
meaningful relations, trustworthy social structure is necessary. Schools and families
are two primary sources of social capital. In the case of the immigrant students
from Hong Kong in Canadian schools, they did not want to speak English with
other Cantonese because speaking English meant showing-off in the eyes of other
Cantonese. In order to maintain a trustworthy relation with other Cantonese, the
immigrant students from Hong Kong selectively chose languages to communicate
depending on with whom they were talking.
The previously discussed research provides valuable knowledge about
cultural capital and academic achievement. However, there was no study of cultural
capital for Japanese parents and their children. This dissertation study intends to
explore the role of parental cultural capital in their children’s education.
Second language acquisition involves, to some degree, the learning a
second culture. Brown (2000) argues that learning a second language involves
acquiring a second identity. The second identity is developed during the process of
acculturation. The process of acculturation can be enhanced when language, the
means of communication among members of a culture, is added.
In the study of immigrant Chinese adolescents in Canada, Kuo and
Roysircar (2004) studied the relationships of the age of arrival, length of stay,
English proficiency, and socioeconomic status (SES) to acculturation. The
researchers defined acculturation as a process that begins with a first contact
between two cultural groups and the changes that occur in either or both of the

26
contacting groups. Participants of the study were 770 Chinese adolescents between
the ages of 12 and 19. Surveys were sent to the participants and 506 (54% male,
46% female) were considered usable for the data analyses. Six variables were used
for the study: age of arrival, length of stay in Canada, SES, English reading ability,
acculturation, and acculturative stress. The participants were divided into three
groups: early immigrants (n=284), late immigrants (n=106), and internationals
(n=108). The researchers modified Minority-Majority Relations Survey (MMRS) to
measure acculturation. MMRS is a 43-item, multidimensional instrument designed
to study the acculturation of American minorities. In order to measure acculturative
stress, Culturally Adjusted Difficulties Checklist (CADC) was modified for the
study. Pearson correlations among the sociodemographic variables, the MMRS,
and the CADC were examined. Multiple regressions were administered to predict
acculturation and acculturative stress from the six variables. The research found
that all of the variables are significant in predicting acculturation level with English
language reading ability, the major determinant of acculturation over the other
demographic variables for the Chinese adolescents in Canada.
Among the recent approaches of identity in second language acquisition
research, Norton (2000) describes the concept of investment. He argues that
learners invest in a second language because they understand that “they will
acquire a wider range of symbolic and material resources, which will in turn
increase the value of their cultural capital (p. 122).”

27
Parental Influence on Student Learning
As discussed in the previous section of the literature review, cultural capital
is transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents and children are the agents
of cultural capital and it is significant to study parental influence on children.
Parents, as transmitters of cultural capital, influence children as receivers in various
ways. Numerous researchers studied parental influence on children’s educational
performance or the children’s perceptions of their academic competence (Davis-
Kean, 2005; Frome & Eccles, 1998; Halle et al., 1997; Kaplan, Liu, & Kaplan,
2001; McGrath & Repetti, 2000; Okagaki & Frensch, 1998; Fuligni, 1997).
In their study of sixth-grade children and their parents (N=914), Frome and
Eccles (1998) investigated two aspects of the relation between the parents’
perceptions of their children and their children’s self- and task perceptions in math
and English: the mediating role of the parents’ perception between the children’s’
grades and their self-perceptions and the gendered nature of the parents’
perceptions. There are four findings in the research: (a) the parents’ perception of
their children’s ability and effort predict children’s self- and task perceptions in
math and English, (b) the parents perception partially mediated the link between
grades and the children’s self- and task perceptions for both math and English, (c)
fathers rely less on gender stereotypes and more on grades in estimating their
child’s math ability than mothers do, (d) gender has an influence on the children’s
perceptions of their math ability but the influence did not come from their parents.

28
In the study of 248 families with fourth graders, McGrath and Repetti
(2000) examined the role of the parents’ attitude toward their children’s academic
competence and children’s perceptions of their academic competence. Most of the
respondents were high income, highly educated Caucasians. This research found
that the mothers’ satisfaction was positively associated with both their sons’ and
daughters’ perceptions of academic competence, independent of the children’s
actual grades in school. The fathers’ satisfaction alone did not show a strong
correlation with their sons’ self-perceptions. Additionally, the importance fathers
placed on the children’s academic success was positively associated with the girls’
self-perceptions. Further research is needed before these findings can be
generalized to a more ethnically and economically diverse sample. My study
intended to investigate the role of the parents’ attitude toward their children’s
academic competence.
Kaplan, Liu, and Kaplan (2001) examined the degree to which parents’
negative self-feelings affect the relationship between their educational attainment
and their educational expectations for their adolescent children. Surveys and
interviews were administered with 1864 pairs of parents and children (11-15 years
of age) who came from a diverse population. The research confirmed a significant
relationship between the parents’ educational attainment and the level of parental
expectations for their children. The relationship is relatively stronger for parents
who reported higher negative self-feelings than it is for parents who reported lower
negative self-feelings.

29
In the study of the relation between parenting and school performance,
Okagaki and Frensch (1998) examined fourth grade and fifth grade children of
Asian American (N=75), Latino (N=109), and European-American families (N=91)
in a suburban school district in northern California. Data were collected through
questionnaires to assess the parent’s beliefs about education, school achievement,
and self-reported parental behaviors. The study found differences of expectation of
their children’s education among the three ethnic groups. Asian American parents
had higher educational expectations for their children. Asian American parents
expected their children to graduate from college. For Asian American parents, the
minimum educational attainment they set for their children was a college
education. In contrast, European-American and Latino parents expected their
children to get some college education. The European-American parents’ lower
boundary for their children was high school graduation. The Latino parent’s lower
boundary for their children was some college education. Additionally, The Asian
American parents set higher expectations for their children’s grades. Asian
American parents were less satisfied with Bs and Cs than other parents were. While
the research finding is useful in understanding the parental expectations of different
ethnic backgrounds, the study did not investigate the difference between Asian
Americans and Asians.
In the study of 1,100 adolescents from immigrant families of Latino
(N=249), East Asian (N=195), Filipino (N=392) and European (N=264), Fuligni
(1997) examined the relative impact of family background, parental attitudes, peer

30
support, and the students’ own attitudes and behaviors on their academic
achievement. East Asians were mostly Chinese. Adolescents were evenly divided
by gender and distributed across the three grade levels (sixth, 30%; eighth, 30%;
tenth 40%). Three measures were used for this study: academic achievement,
perceived parental attitudes, and the adolescents’ academic attitudes and study
time. For academic achievement, students’ grades in mathematics and English were
obtained from the official school records. For perceived parental attitudes, students
were asked to use a scale to answer three questions: their parents’ value of
academic success, high parental expectations, and their parents’ educational
aspiration. For the adolescents’ academic attitudes, students were asked to use a
five-point scale to respond to questions: the value of mathematics and English, the
value of academic success, and educational aspiration and expectation. Students
also indicated the amount of time they spent studying on a typical weekday,
Saturday, and Sunday. The study found that students with East Asian and Filipino
backgrounds reported higher parental expectations and aspirations, greater peer
support, stronger academic attitudes, and more frequent studying than those with
Latino and European backgrounds.
In the study of 868 children of 8-12 year olds, the influence of parental
education and family income on child achievement, Davis-Kean (2005)
investigated the process of how parents’ education and income relates to their
children’s academic achievement through parental beliefs and behaviors. The
sample was divided approximately equal across gender. The sample was 49% non-

31
Hispanic European American and 47% African American. The study found that
socioeconomic factors were related indirectly to the children’s academic
achievement through their parents’ beliefs and behaviors; however, the process of
these relations was different by racial group. For both African Americans and
European Americans, the indirect link of the parents’ education to the parents’
behaviors is substantially related to the parents’ educational expectations for their
children.
In the study of family influences on school achievement, Halle et al. (1997)
examined the achievement-related beliefs and behaviors of parents of economically
disadvantaged African American youths, and the relation between parental factors
and the children’s academic self-concept and achievement. Forty-one children (22
girls and 19 boys) and their primary caregivers participated in a structured
interview in their homes for this study. These children had completed either third
grade or fourth grade at the time of the interviews. Data was collected on three
aspects of the parents’ achievement-related cognition: the parents’ expectations for
their children’s level of educational attainment (expectations), their beliefs about
the development of academic skills (developmental beliefs), and parental
perceptions of the child’s skills (perception of ability). The children completed the
Wide Range Achievement Test, Revised Edition (WRAT-R) during the first
interview. The WRAT is a standardized achievement test to assess arithmetic,
spelling, and reading competencies. The study found that maternal education level
was positively correlated to the parents’ expectation for their child’s academic

32
attainment. The mothers’ education was not significantly correlated to the
children’s math achievement but was positively related to the children’s reading
scores.
Parent-Child Interaction
Adolescence is a period when many people experience difficulty. To
understand the causes of stress during adolescence, I reviewed research on the
interaction between parents and their adolescent children.
In the study of adolescents (sixth and seventh graders, N=1771) in a
predominantly White, lower-middle to middle income school district, Eccle and
Fuligni (1993) examined the relationship between an adolescents’ perception of the
parent-child relationship and the adolescents’ orientation toward peers. Surveys
were filled out during the subjects’ sixth and seventh grades as part of a large-scale,
multiwave longitudinal study. Six measures were used for the study: parental
strictness, decision-making opportunity, parental monitoring, peer advice seeking,
extreme peer orientation, and junior high school adjustment. The study found that
the adolescents’ desire for greater participation in family decision making increased
over time. The extent of the adolescents’ participation in family decision making
positively correlates with both intrinsic school motivation and positive self-esteem.
The stronger the parental strictness and parental monitoring, the stronger the peer
orientation is.
Eccles et al. (1993) hypothesize that “some of the negative psychological
changes associated with adolescent development result from a mismatch between

33
the needs of developing adolescents and the opportunities afforded them by their
social environments” (p. 90). In the case of company-sponsored Japanese
adolescents, they were transferred from their schools in Japan to schools in the
United States. The relocation from Japan to the United States created problematic
situations for the children because they have limited English skills and they are not
familiar with the American school system. Their social environment was also
changed. They had to leave their friends in Japan. Person-environment fit theory
suggests that “behavior, motivation, and mental health are influenced by the fit
between the characteristics individuals bring to their social environments and the
characteristics of these social environments (p. 91).”
In the study of adolescents in grade 7-12 (N=11,815), Crosnoe (2004)
examined how adolescents’ bond with their parents and that the social environment
of the schools was associated with the students’ academic achievement. The
adolescents were asked to provide self-reported grades on English, math, science,
and social studies. Parent-adolescent emotional distance was measured by five
composites: parent-reported lack of bonding, adolescent-reported lack of bonding,
adolescent-reported lack of communication, adolescent-reported lack of shared
activities, and adolescent-reported lack of family cohesion. This study indicates
emotionally distant relationships with parents are associated with a students’
declining academic achievement over two years of secondary schooling. The study
suggests that building and maintaining an emotionally close relationship between

34
adolescent children and their parents is particularly important for the children’s
academic achievement.
In the study of Asian and Caucasian American adolescents in the same
neighborhood, Rhee, Change, and Rhee (2003) examined the level of acculturation,
openness in communication with parents, peer interaction, and self-esteem. The
Asians were mostly Chinese. The study found that the Asian adolescents
experienced greater difficulty communicating with their parents, particularly with
their fathers, in contrast to the Caucasian adolescents. This can be partially
explained by the strong emphasis on authority of fathers in Asian cultures. The
study also showed an ethnic difference in predicting self-esteem. For the Caucasian
adolescents, the level of openness in communication with parents and the number
of siblings was found to predict self-esteem. For the Asian adolescents, in addition
to the above two predictors, the level of acculturation and age predicted self-
esteem. In other words, the more acculturated they were, the more positively they
thought of themselves. The older they were the higher self-esteem they had.
Researchers in this section found that emotional distance between
adolescent children and their parents affects the children’s academic performance.
The fit of adolescents to their environment plays a critical role in terms of school
learning and self-esteem. Communication between adolescents and their parents
plays a significant role. Further research is needed to study how relocation from
Japan to the United States, an environment change, affects Japanese parent-child

35
interaction in their foreign land. My dissertation study intends to investigate types
of support Japanese parents provide to their children.
For the attribution of ability and effort to achievement, Halloway’s research
(1988) offers information about how the Japanese and American cultures value the
concept of ability and effort differently. Specifically, in the United States, ability is
related to achievement and effort is less emphasized. In Japan, effort is the primary
determinant of achievement. This premise is supported by Hess and Azuma (1991)
who researched mothers and their four-year-old preschool children (58 families in
Japan and 67 in the United States). The researchers also conducted a follow up
study when the children became 11 years old in Japan and 12 years old in the
United States. In this follow up study, the researchers asked both mothers and their
children about why students succeed or fail in mathematics. On a scale from 0-10,
Japanese mothers had a mean score of 6.17 for “lack of effort”. American mothers
had a mean score of 3.09 for the same question. For “lack of ability”, American and
Japanese mothers had a mean score of 2.62 and 1.48 respectively. The results show
that Japanese mothers attribute failure to lack of effort. In contrast, American
mothers attribute failure to lack of ability. The same question was asked of their
children. On lack of ability, American and Japanese children had a mean score of
3.38 and 1.93 respectively. On lack of effort, Japanese children scored almost twice
as much as American children. The results show that American mothers and their
children attribute “lack of ability” to failure. In contrast, Japanese mothers and their

36
children attributed “lack of effort” to the failure. The findings support the assertion
by Halloway.
Summary of Findings in the Literature Review
In this literature review, numerous aspects related to issues of parental
influence on their children’s learning were examined. A child’s skills developed in
the first language will transfer to the second language (Cummins, 1979; 1999). The
advanced speakers of English had the most exposure to English use in their home
country and in the United States, had clear personal goals for their future, and
enjoyed reading or writing in English (Mitsutomi & McDonald, 2005). The effect
of parental reading behavior on their children’s education is much stronger than
that of the parents’ mastery of highbrow cultural codes (De Graff et al., 2000).
Sullivan’s (2000) findings are significant: (a) parental cultural capital is strongly
associated with parental social class and with parental qualifications, (b) linguistic
ability and cultural knowledge are more strongly transmitted within the home than
in the school, (c) a students’ reading develops his or her intellectual abilities but
participation in formal culture does not, and (d) a parents’ social class retains a
large and significant direct effect on the General Certificate of Secondary
Education (GCSE) examination score. The social peer capital is convertible to the
dominant cultural capital (Goldstein, 2003). The age of arrival, length of stay,
English proficiency, and socioeconomic status (SES) to acculturation are
significant in predicting the acculturation level of Chinese adolescents in Canada
(Kuo & Roysircar, 2004).

37
A significant relationship between parental education attainment and the level of
parental expectations for their children was confirmed (Davis-Kean, 2005; Kaplan,
Liu, & Kaplan, 2001; Halle et al., 1997). Asian American parents had higher
educational expectations for their children than European American and Latino
parents (Okagaki & Frensch, 1998). Students with East Asian and Filipino
backgrounds reported higher parental expectations and aspirations, greater peer
support, stronger academic attitudes, and more frequent studying than those with
Latino and European backgrounds (Fuligni, 1997). Building and maintaining
emotionally close relationships between adolescent children and their parents is
particularly important for the children’s academic achievement (Crosnoe, 2004).
Asian adolescents experienced greater difficulty communicating with their parents,
particularly with their fathers, in contrast to the Caucasian adolescents (Rhee,
Change, & Rhee, 2003).
Although numerous issues have been addressed in the literature review,
further research is needed to explain issues pertinent to parental influence on their
children’s academic experiences in Japanese-speaking families. The following
section indicates gaps found in the review of the literature.
Gaps in Research
First, the previously discussed research found that the evidence which
supports language skills in the first language, transfer to the second language.
However, research on the company-sponsored Japanese children’s learning of
English in the United States is limited. Second, numerous research have been

38
conducted on cultural capital with non-Japanese Asians. However, there is an
evident need to research the role of cultural capital in the company-sponsored
Japanese children’s school success. Third, parental perception, attitude, and
expectation toward their children’s education have been analyzed for U. S. citizen
and immigrants. However, there is no research on non-immigrant foreign nationals
in the United States. Lastly, an environmental change affects the academic
performance of children. However, they did not study how parents support their
children’s academic success as it is affected by this change in their environment.
Based on the gaps found from the review of the literature, several research
questions have emerged: (a) What are the interrelationships amongst parental
cultural capital, parental aspiration for their children’s education, parental
educational resources, and parental acculturation level?, (b) In what ways do
Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s academic experiences in the
United States?, (c) What forms of support do Japanese-speaking parents provide for
their children’s education in the United States? , and (d) What are the similarities
and differences between the characteristics of company-sponsored parents and non
company-sponsored parents?

39
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to investigate in what ways Japanese-
speaking parents influence their children’s academic experiences in the Unite
States. This study specifically collected data to measure four factors in order to
understand parental beliefs and values toward their children’s learning in the
United States.
• Parental acculturation level in the United States
• Parental cultural capital
• Parental access to educational resources
• Parental aspiration for their children’s education
In order to collect parental data, this researcher believed that the mixed
method was appropriate for this study. The strength of this method is its
straightforward nature. It can be useful when unexpected results arise from the
quantitative study. It is easy to implement because the steps fall into clear, separate
stages (Creswell, 2003). Since survey participants did not need to meet with this
researcher, they could remain anonymous. In addition, data from the two methods
complemented each other to fulfill the purpose of this study. Correlation analyses
were conducted to investigate the interrelationship amongst variables which
measured the four parental factors. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to
identify predictors of parental expectation of their children’s education.
Purposefully selected interviews with company-sponsored Japanese speaking

40
parents identified factors which influenced values and behaviors of the parents
toward their children’s education in the United States. Additionally, an interview
with non company-sponsored parents who were enthusiastic about their children’s
education provided a comparative observation between Japanese classrooms and
American classrooms.
This chapter is organized to describe the research questions, the hypothesis,
the research design, recruitment procedures, study participants, instrumentation,
implementation, data analysis, limitations of this research method, and ethical
considerations. A pseudonym was used for the names of the school district, the
school, and the interview participants in this dissertation for the sake of
confidentiality.
Research Questions
This dissertation aims to explore the interrelationship among the parental
factors that may influence their children’s academic experiences. The following
research questions will guide the research:
1. What are the interrelationships amongst parental cultural capital, parental
aspiration for their children’s education, parental access to educational
resources, and parental acculturation level?
2. In what ways do Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s
academic experiences in the United States?
3. What forms of support do Japanese-speaking parents provide for their
children’s education in the United States?

41
4. What are the similarities and differences between the characteristics of
company-sponsored parents and non company-sponsored parents?

Hypotheses
Three hypotheses have been developed from the literature review and they
were tested in this study: (a) Japanese parents who have higher cultural capital and
higher educational attainment will show higher aspiration for their children’s
education; (b) Japanese parents who have limited English ability will find
alternatives to access outside educational resources to support their children’s
academic success; and (c) parental aspiration for their children’s education in the
United States differ among parents depending on their children’s grade level.
Area of Investigation and Unit of Analysis
The unit of analysis for this study was each Japanese-speaking parent with
K-8 grade children who were English learners at public schools in Southern
California. A large number of Japanese English learners between kindergarten and
eighth grade reside in Southern California where many Japanese companies have
offices.
The Research Design
The purpose of this sequential mixed-method study was to investigate the
parental influence of Japanese-speaking parents on their children’s education in the
United States. The quantitative research questions for this dissertation study
addressed the interrelationship among parental factors that may influence parental

42
beliefs about their children’s education with Japanese-speaking parents at XYZ
Unified School District in Southern California. Additionally, the research questions
investigated predictor(s) of parental expectation of academic grades and parental
aspiration for the final level of education for their children. Lastly, the qualitative
semi-structured parent interviews were conducted in Japanese by this researcher
with a goal of deeply exploring aspects of parent beliefs about their children’s
education with both parents from five Japanese-speaking families.
Study Participants
Study participants for the parent survey were 216 (79 company-sponsored,
137 non company-sponsored) Japanese-speaking parents whose children were
English learners from kindergarten through eighth grade in XYZ Unified School
District in Southern California. The district, which had one of the largest numbers
of Japanese ELs in Southern California, identified 604 Japanese ELs (K-8).
According to the California State Department of Education (2007), the majority of
Japanese ELs reside in three school districts in Southern California during the
2006-2007 school years, and this study was conducted at one of these districts.
Recruitment Procedure
The researcher contacted two school districts that have a large number of
Japanese ELs in California and asked if they could help the researcher to conduct
this study. One district declined to help, however, XYZ Unified School District
agreed to support this study. The district identified 604 Japanese ELs from
kindergarten through eighth grades and this researcher prepared 604 research

43
packets which included enrollment letters, information sheets, a parent survey, and
a contact information sheet for the parent interview, in the pre-stamped envelopes.
The researcher of this study created all the necessary documents in English and
translated them into Japanese. All of the documents met the guidelines of the
Internal Review Board of the University of Southern California. The district
prepared pre-addressed labels for the 604 families and mailed them the research
packets. The contact information of the 604 Japanese ELs was confidential and the
researcher of this study did not have access to the information.
The enrollment letters in Japanese, included in Appendix C and G,
described the purpose of this study and asked parents to participate in the voluntary
parent survey. The information sheets explained about risks involved in the study,
confidentiality, and the rights of the study participants. Additionally, the voluntary
parent survey participants were asked if they were willing to participate in a parent
interview. Those who agreed to participate in the interview provided their names
and phone numbers on a separate contact information sheet which was included in
Appendix D and I. Parents who agreed to participate in the voluntary parent survey
completed the survey and returned them in pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope to
the researcher of this study.
For the voluntary parent interview, the researcher for this study used the
following criteria for the selection of the interview participants to identify
similarities and differences in their beliefs and concerns about their children’s
education in the United States among three children’s school-year groups: 1) select

44
five company-sponsored Japanese speaking families where both parents agree to
participate in the interview, 2) select at least one family from each of the three
school-year groups, and 3) include, if any, one family with parents who
demonstrated enthusiasm about their children’s education on the parent survey.
One parent was self-selected because she wrote down on the survey that she was an
active volunteer at her child’s school and she wanted to participate in the parent
interview. She was a non-company-sponsored parent but included for the parent
interview.
Twenty nine families (8 company-sponsored and 21 non company-
sponsored) agreed to participate in the parent interviews. Of the eight company-
sponsored families, five were parents of K-2 grade children, one were parents of 3-
5 grade children, and two were parents of 6-8 grade children. Since one of the
families of 6-8 grade children was this researcher’s dependent’s friends’ family, it
was eliminated from the candidate list. The researcher of this study purposely
selected four company-sponsored parents (2 of K-2 children, 1 of a 3-5 grade child,
and 1 of a 6-8 grade child), and one non company-sponsored parent of a 3-5 grade
child was self-selected because she wrote down on the survey that she was an
active volunteer at her child’s school.
As an honorarium for participation in this study, a five-dollar gift card was
provided for all parent survey participants who returned the survey, and a twenty-
dollar gift certificate was given to the five families who participated in the

45
voluntary parent interviews. The information about honorarium was included in the
enrollment letter.

Instrumentation
Parent Survey
The survey is included in the Appendix A and F. The researcher adopted
Fink’s (2006) How to Conduct Surveys as a guidebook for the development of the
parent survey. The questions have been designed based on a model found in
research by Alice Sullivan (2001) who explored cultural capital in British families
and De Graff (2000) in the Netherlands. The survey was adapted to match the
research questions for this dissertation. Since Japanese was the first language for
the study participants, the researcher of this study created the survey in Japanese.
The purpose of the parent survey was to collect quantitative data which are relevant
to this study. All of the survey items were multiple choices, closed-set. The survey
consisted of three sections. Section I contained 10 questions which asked about
family background: length of stay in the United States, company-sponsorship,
previous overseas living experience, length of period to prepare for American life
in Japan, access to information about American educational system prior to entry
into the United States, the children’s grade level, the types of schools the children
attend in the United States, the types of outside educational resources for the
children, attendance at back-to-school nights, and participation in volunteer
opportunities at the children’s schools. Section II and III includes 15 identical

46
questions for mothers and fathers to answer separately. These sections address a
self-report of English speaking and listening comprehension ability prior to their
arrival into the United States, the ratio of interaction with Japanese and non-
Japanese people, the frequency of local library usage, their reading behavior of
newspapers and books in Japanese and English, parental access to teachers,
parental monitoring of their children’s learning at school, parental aspiration for
their children’s academic grades, parental aspiration for their children’s future level
of education for their children, parental educational attainment, their fields of
major, and the parental age group.
The scales for the four parental factors included are described. First,
parental acculturation was measured by the ratio of interaction with Japanese and
non Japanese people. This scale was suggested by the dissertation committee of the
researcher. Second, parent cultural capital was measured by parental educational
attainment and reading behavior in Japanese and English. These two scales were
adopted from De Graff et al. (2000) and Sullivan (2001).Third, parental access to
educational resources was measured by asking parents about who they ask about
their children’s learning at school and what type of outside educational resources
they access to support their children’s education. These two scales were developed
by the researcher of this study. Lastly, parental aspiration for their children’s
education was measured by the parent’s expectation of their children’s academic
grades, and their aspirations for the future level of educational attainment for their
children. These two scales were found in Okagaki and Frensch (1998).

47
The researcher for this dissertation considered the cultural difference
between Japan and the United States to formulate culturally appropriate survey
questions. Harkins (2001) states that revealing concerns about their personal issues
to those who are outside of the family is foreign to Japanese. This means that
Japanese parents may not express what might make them uncomfortable with
others. They may have a strong tendency not to disclose their emotion to people
outside of the family. One of the traditional Japanese characteristics is that they do
not want to lose face by disclosing information which might show their
vulnerability to outsiders. An anonymous survey was an appropriate research
instrument for this study for two reasons in the context of Japanese culture: (a) the
research participants did not need to meet with this researcher who was a stranger
to the participants and (b) the research participants were able to provide
information through the survey with some level of anonymity. Another important
cultural consideration was to insure that questions were phrased in the honorific
and polite form of Japanese. To insure the content validity of the parent survey
questions, a pilot study was conducted with parents who did not reside in XYZ
Unified School District.
Semi-structured Parent Interview
Each interview was conducted in Japanese by the researcher of this study
and digitally recorded. The purpose of the semi-structured parent interview was to
deepen the knowledge about what company-sponsored Japanese parents believe

48
about their children’s education in the United States and how they influence their
children’s education.
Four interview questions were prepared for the interviews by the researcher
of this study. The protocol of parent interview questions was included in Appendix
B. The length of each parent interview was approximately 25 to 30 minutes. The
location of the interview was at the home of the participant or at a coffee shop.
Implementation
The design of this study can be characterized by three phases: 1) pilot study,
2) parent survey, and 3) parent interviews.
Phase One: Pilot Study
The first phase of this study was a pilot study. The purpose of the pilot
study was to establish content and construct validity of the instrument and to
improve the survey questions, format, and scale (Creswell, 2003). Since the
research subjects were Japanese speaking parents, the pilot study was important to
insure that the survey questions were appropriately phrased for them to understand
correctly without causing any misinterpretation and that all the questions were
relevant to Japanese-speaking parents. Two mothers and one father, who were not
included in this study, participated in the pilot study. Since one of the pilot parents
served as the PTA President at one of large Japanese supplementary schools in
Southern California, her knowledge of Japanese-speaking parents helped to provide
useful suggestions. First, the participants in the pilot study suggested deleting
survey questions about parental schooling in the United States because they were

49
not relevant to company-sponsored Japanese parents. Second, the pilot parents
suggested adding two questions: 1) What did the parents do to acquire knowledge
about American school education prior to their entry into the United States?, and 2)
What was the parent’s English speaking and listening comprehension level in
Japan? The pilot parents commented that the responses to these questions would
illuminate their degree of preparedness and their behavior with regard to their
children’s education in the United States. These three changes were made to the
original survey.
Phase Two: Parent Survey
Phase two of this study consisted of a closed-ended parent survey. Research
packets including the parent survey were sent to the homes of 604 Japanese ELs by
the District. The survey participants were asked to return the survey in pre-
addressed, pre-stamped envelopes within three weeks. The responses to survey
questions were recorded on a spreadsheet, followed by the data analysis and
interpretation. The analysis revealed the demographics and other attributes of the
survey participants. The result of the analysis in this phase set the stage for the
phase three, the semi-structured parent interview.
Phase Three: Parent Interview
Phase three of this study consisted of a semi-structured parent interview.
Five families were purposefully selected from the survey participants for the
interviews. Three interviews were conducted in the homes of participants and two
were taken place at coffee shops by their request. All interviews were conducted in

50
Japanese by the researcher of this study. In the interview, the researcher asked four
questions and series of probes. Each interview was digitally recorded for
transcription and data analysis.
Data Analysis
In this study, the characteristics of Japanese-speaking parents were revealed
by the parent survey and parent interview. To understand the characteristics of
Japanese-speaking parents, responses to survey questions were tabulated under four
subgroups of parents: company-sponsored fathers, company-sponsored mothers,
non company-sponsored fathers, and non company-sponsored mothers. To
determine interrelationship amongst four parental factors including cultural capital,
acculturation, access to educational resources, and aspiration for children’s
education, the researcher of this study identified seven independent variables and
two dependent variables. The independent variables include 1) the ratio of
interaction with non Japanese people, 2) self-reported English speaking and
listening ability in Japan, 3) Japanese reading behavior, 4) English reading
behavior, 5) parental educational attainment, 6) access to teachers, and 7) parental
monitoring of the children’s learning. The dependent variables include 1) parental
grade expectation of their children, and 2) the parents’ aspiration for the final level
of education for their children. Survey data for these nine variables were coded and
prepared for statistical analyses using the SPSS 15.0 version. Correlation analyses
were conducted by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient for the three subgroups
of parents. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify predictor(s) of

51
parental grade expectation of their children and parental aspiration for future
educational attainment of their children.
The transcribed interviews in Japanese were analyzed by identifying,
coding, categorizing, classifying and labeling the pattern in the data. The system of
codes developed by the researcher was connected to quantitative measures. Themes
of Japanese parental influence on their school age children were revealed by the
analysis and integrated with the results of the parent survey to answer the research
questions.
Parental Cultural Capital
Previous research on cultural capital collected information about museum
visits, and types of subscriptions to newspapers to determine the relationship
between parental cultural capital and their children’s academic success (De Graaf,
De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000; Sullivan, 2001). Measures of cultural capital in this
study included English speaking and listening comprehension skills in Japan,
reading behavior of books and newspapers in English and Japanese, and parental
educational attainment. For the context of Japanese-speaking parents, the
researcher modified the approach and asked the frequency of reading printed or
electronic versions of Japanese and English newspapers, and Japanese and English
books. Self-assessed English speaking and listening comprehension skills prior to
their entry to the United States indicated how much they were able to communicate
in English in Japan. Since the researcher of this study was not able to test English

52
speaking and listening comprehension skills of the survey participants prior to their
arrival to the United States, their responses were based on their perception.
Parental Acculturation
One of the unique characteristics of the company-sponsored Japanese
parents is that they reside in a nation that is foreign to them, the United States. The
research was conducted to investigate parental influence on their children’s
education in their homeland (De Graaf et al., 2000; Sullivan, 2001; Roscigno &
Ainsworth-Darnell, 1999). In the case of company-sponsored Japanese parents,
most of them moved from Japan to the United States due to their job assignment.
When the job assignments are complete, their families return to Japan. In the case
of non company-sponsored parents, their background varies. Some of them came to
the United States as company-sponsored families, but they decided to stay after
their job assignment. They gave up all the benefits as company-sponsored and
changed their status to non company-sponsored. Some non company-sponsored
parents came to the United States as students and remained to stay after their study.
The researcher of this study believes that the ratio of interaction with non-Japanese
persons in the United States indicates the level of acculturation to American
culture. The assumption explored via the survey was that the more acculturated
parents to American culture feel more comfortable to be involved in their
children’s education in the United States.
Parental Access to Educational Resources

53
In this study, two types of educational resources were included: 1) school
teachers, and 2) outside educational providers. This researcher believes that parents
who value education are likely to access school teachers to inquire about their
children’s academic progress. The inquiries may relate to homework, curriculum,
assessment, and other issues related to the children’s learning. Additionally, this
researcher believes that parents who value education access outside educational
providers to support their children’s learning. In this study, parents were asked to
indicate their access to outside educational services which provide English as a
second language lessons, tutoring for American school subjects, reading programs
at local libraries, and preparatory courses for the entrance exams to junior high
schools or high schools in Japan.
Parental Aspiration for Children’s Education
Previous research measured the level of parental aspiration for their
children’s education by asking what letter grade those parents expected from their
children (Fuligni, 1997). Okagaki and Frensch (1998) asked parents the level of
education they wanted for their children to measure the level of parental aspiration
for their children’s education. In this study, the researcher adapted the questions
from the previous two research studies and asked about what letter grades the
parents expected of their children and what final level of education the parents
wanted their children to complete. Since the pilot parents commented that Japanese
parents are not used to the concept of grade point average (GPA) in Japan, this
study asked about letter grades.

54
Further, to detect a predictor or predictors of parental aspiration for their
children’s academic grades and final level of education for their children, multiple
regression analyses were conducted with independent variables:
Ethical Considerations
This researcher followed guidelines by the Institutional Review Board to
conduct this study. The researcher developed an enrollment letter and information
sheet and emphasized that participation was voluntary. Parents were allowed to
skip any questions they did not want to answer without any penalty.

55
CHAPTER 4: RESULT
Chapter three discussed the methodology used to investigate the ways in
which the Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s academic
experiences in the United States. In this chapter, the researcher presented the results
of analyses and the findings from the sequential mixed method study. Quantitative
data from the parent survey and qualitative data from parent interviews enabled the
researcher to better understand Japanese-speaking families with a specific focus on
company-sponsored Japanese parents. Parent participants were asked to indicate
their company sponsorship and the school-year group of their children in the
survey, which enabled the researcher to analyze responses by different groups of
Japanese-speaking parents. Through the parent survey and interview,
characteristics of Japanese-speaking parents were revealed.
First, this chapter presents demographics and other attributes of Japanese-
speaking parents, which sets the context of this study. This is followed by
correlation of analysis and multiple regression analysis of all quantitative data. The
survey data are listed in Tables 1 through 16 in the pages that follow. Parent
interviews complemented information that surfaced in the parent survey.
Demographics and other features of the sample
Enrollment letters and the parent survey of this study were sent to the
homes of 604 Japanese ELs from kindergarten to eighth grade in XYZ Unified
School District in Southern California. One hundred thirty-three families returned
the surveys, which was a response rate of 22%. Since the parents of ten families did

56
not answer some of the questions, they were eliminated from the survey. In total,
123 families (41 company-sponsored families and 82 non company-sponsored
families) completed the surveys. Although only one parent completed the survey in
15 of the families, the data were included in this study. In total, 216 parents
completed all survey questions and their data were analyzed. Detailed breakdown
of the participants were shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Survey Participants

company-
sponsored
non company-
sponsored Total
Mothers 41 77 118
Fathers 38 60 98
Total 79 137 216

Since there are number of Japanese companies in the XYZ Unified School
District, the researcher of this study expected the majority of the survey participants
would be company-sponsored parents. However, the majority of the participants
were non company-sponsored parents. A pilot parent, a former PTA President at
one of the large Japanese Supplementary schools in Southern California, confirmed
that her school had more children from non company-sponsored families than those
from company-sponsored families. Some of the non company-sponsored families
initially came to the United States as company-sponsored families. However, they
decided to stay in the United States when their job assignment completed and
changed their status to non company-sponsored. As a result, they had to give up all
the benefits as company-sponsored families.

57

Length of stay
Table 2 provides the length of stay for Japanese-speaking families. The
majority (66.3%) of non company-sponsored families have lived more than seven
years in the United States. In contrast, the length of stay for company-sponsored
families is short. The data suggests that Japanese companies generally relocate their
company-sponsored families back to Japan after five years of job assignment in the
United States.
Table 2
Family’s Length of Stay in the United States
Company-
sponsored (n=41)
Non Company-
sponsored (n=82)
% %
Responses:

less than 1 year 22.7 2
1 - less than 3 yrs 20.5 15.7
3 - less than 5 yrs 36.4 7.9
5 - less than 7 yrs 11.4 7.9
more than 7 yrs 9.1 66.3

Less than a five-year stay in the United States is probably long enough to
acquire the basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) of English as a second
language (Cummins; 1979, 1999). However, it is not long enough for Japanese
children to develop cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) which
usually takes them longer (5-10 years) to acquire. Without CALP in English as a
second language, Japanese-speaking children are likely to experience a difficult
time with school. Relocation due to the fathers’ job transfer to the United States

58
could cause a problematic situation for their children with school. In Japan, English
as a second language is not formally taught until seventh grade in the public
schools. It means that Japanese children who come to the United States before
seventh grade do not have formal instruction in English as a second language.
Company-sponsored Japanese-speaking children who are brought to the United
States and are enrolled in school, particularly in middle school, probably find it
extremely difficult to learn academic subjects which require a higher level of
English literacy than in elementary school. Without proper support from teachers,
classmates, and parents, company-sponsored Japanese children will have a difficult
time adjusting to their new environment enough to appreciate learning at school.
Knowledge of school education in the United States
Company-sponsored Japanese parents acquired some knowledge about the
education in the United States, prior to their arrival, from at least one of the
following four sources: (1) An information session about education in the United
States, (2) books on schools in the United States, (3) information on websites, and
(4) Q&A sessions with families who have experienced children’s education in the
United States. A few parents consulted with Japan Overseas Education Services, a
non-profit organization which supports Japanese children overseas. Some non
company-sponsored mothers wrote down a few comments on the survey about why
they did not collect information about education systems in Japan. They stated that
they came to the United States when they were single and did not plan to stay
longer. However, they married later to have families in the United States. As a

59
result, they did not have any opportunities to attend any seminar or workshops
about American education system prior to their arrival to the United States.
One of the fathers talked about information sharing at his company. He
said,
Our company has a large presence in this area. We constantly have fifty
employees from Japan in our U.S. Headquarters in the South Bay. Since we
have many employees’ families who have experienced overseas assignment
in our headquarters in Japan, it is quite normal to have returnee employee
families share their experiences with those who will be transferred to the
offices outside of Japan.

As he mentioned, employees of large Japanese companies have the advantages of
acquiring information about children’s education in the United States within the
company.
It is important for Japanese-speaking parents to acquire some knowledge
about education in the United States to prepare for their children’s education.
Self-report of English speaking and listening comprehension skills in Japan
Pilot study participants suggested that the researcher ask about parental
English skills in Japan which could be one of the important factors which influence
parental behavior in the United States. This variable was added to this study based
on this suggestion. Table 3 provides the self-assessed level of English speaking and
listening comprehension skills for Japanese-speaking parents prior to their arrival
to the United States. A standard recording procedure was applied for speaking skill:
1 = “I could not speak English at all,” 2 = “I could speak travel English,” 3 = “I
could introduce myself,” 4 = “I could carry on daily conversation,” and 5 = “I could
discuss issues in English”; and for listening comprehension ability: 1 = “I could not

60
understand what a native English speaker said at all,” 2 = “I could understand ¼ of
what a native English speaker said,” 3 = “I could understand ½ of what a native
English speaker said,” 4 = “I could understand ¾ of what a native English speaker
said,” and 5 = “I could understand what a native English speaker said.” Since it was
not possible to test English speaking and listening comprehension skills prior to
their arrival to the United States, the researcher of this study had to depend on the
parents’ perception about their English skills.
Table 3
Self-report of English Speaking and Listening Skills in Japan

Company-
sponsored
Non Company-
sponsored

Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)
% % % %
Speaking

Discussion 4.9 39.5 6.5 15
Daily Conversation 14.6 23.7 16.9 20
Self-Introduction 9.8 10.5 15.6 8.3
Travel English 34.1 15.8 37.7 36.7
Could not speak at all 36.6 10.5 23.4 30

Listening comprehension

Understood all 2.4 10.5 2.6 8.3
Understood ¾ 4.9 28.9 7.8 10
Understood ½ 12.2 15.8 18.2 13.3
Understood ¼ 26.8 18.4 27.3 30
Could not understand at all 53.7 26.3 44.2 38.3

Of the company-sponsored families, fathers reported better English
speaking and listening comprehension skills than their spouses. Of the company-
sponsored fathers, 39.5% were able to discuss issues in English before their arrival

61
in the United States (Table 3). Of the company-sponsored mothers, however,
36.6% could not speak English at all and 53.7% could not understand spoken
English at all. It is necessary to acquire English speaking and listening skills to
communicate with others from the host community and to build a social network.
Limited English skills prevent Japanese parents from interacting with people from
the host community. Since they do not stay in the United States permanently,
company-sponsored parents are probably not willing to build a social network with
others from the host community. The researcher of this study believes that parent-
teacher communication is particularly important for parents whose children have
not acquired English literacy enough to communicate with teachers. Many
company-sponsored Japanese children are thrown into American schools with
limited knowledge of English as a second language. These children probably talk
about school and ask their parents for help. Since company-sponsored mothers are
not likely to possess good English communication skills, they are probably not able
to discuss their children with teachers. Although, fathers have better English skills
than mothers, fathers are busy at work and they do not always follow up on their
children’s academic progress with their teachers. Teachers will not know about the
difficulty that company-sponsored Japanese children experience at school unless
their parents inform the teachers about their circumstances.
In their study of high school English language learners to identify factors
which enhance or hinder the second language learners’ acculturation and language
acquisition processes, Mitsutomi and McDonald (2005) found that the advanced

62
speakers of English had the most exposure to English use in their home country and
in the United States. In the case of company-sponsored mothers, they probably did
not have much exposure to English in Japan and are not likely to become advanced
speakers of English in the United States. It is probably reasonable to assume that
company-sponsored mothers will not be able to acculturate to the United States as
much as other groups in this study. Company-sponsored mothers probably depend
on their spouses or other non family members who have competent English skills to
communicate with teachers and other educators in English. The worst case may be
that both children and their parents are not able to communicate in English with
teachers. As a result, teachers may give Japanese ELs low academic grades. Such a
tragic situation needs to be avoided. Although it is beyond the scope of this study, it
is necessary to study the level of awareness by teachers about the difficulty that
company-sponsored Japanese children experience and what kind of help these
teachers can provide for them.
Type of school
Japanese-speaking parents have the choice of sending their children to local
schools, Japanese Supplementary Schools, or both. Table 4 shows the types of
schools that Japanese-speaking children attend in the XYZ school district.

63
Table 4
Type of School Attendance
Company-
sponsored
families (n=41)
Non Company-
sponsored
families (n=82)
Type of school
% %
American public school only 36.6 50
Japanese supplementary
school & American public
school 63.4 50

Of the company-sponsored families, 63% send their children to both American
public school and Japanese Supplementary School. One half of non company-
sponsored families send their children to American public school and Japanese
supplementary school. Japanese supplementary schools follow the curriculum set
by the Japanese government. These schools adopt textbooks approved by the
Ministry of Education in Japan which are provided free of charge at the Japanese
Consulate Offices in the United States. Some teachers are sent by the Japanese
government, stay for a few years, and return to Japan. The rest of the teachers at
Japanese supplementary schools are hired locally to teach Japanese language arts,
math, social studies, and science.
Mr. Kawada sent his daughter to a Japanese supplementary school on
Saturdays. He said, “I did not have to tell her to study Japanese subjects because
she had to work on homework and kanji drills at the Japanese Supplementary
School.” Children who attend both American public school and Japanese
supplementary school have a double workload but parents seem to believe it is

64
worthwhile for their children when they return to schools in Japan. Since company-
sponsored families will return to Japan when the fathers job assignment ends in the
United States, the parents need to make sure that their children are able to succeed
when they return to schools in Japan. Maintenance of the home culture is
particularly important for company-sponsored Japanese children. If these children
discontinue the Japanese curriculum during their stay in the United States, they will
be academically behind other children in Japan. All of the parents who participated
in the interviews send their children to Japanese supplementary school and
American public school.
In contrast, 50% of non company-sponsored parents send their children to
both American school and Japanese supplementary school. Those parents do not
have to return to Japan but they may think it important to maintain their home
language and culture.
Parental Cultural Capital
In this study, parental cultural capital was measured by parental educational
attainment and parental reading behavior in Japanese and English.
Parental educational attainment
Table 5 shows the parental educational attainment of the survey participants
of this study.

65
Table 5
Parental Educational Attainment
Company-sponsored Non Company-sponsored
Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)
Education: % % % %
Doctorate 0 0 1.3 5
Master's 0 7.9 2.5 10
Bachelor's 29 81.6 23.4 38.3
2-Year
College 49 5.3 45.5 11.7
High school 22 0 24.7 35.1

All survey participants at least completed high schools. Of the company-
sponsored fathers, 81.6% earned bachelor’s degrees. The higher percentage of
college graduates among company-sponsored fathers indicates that their employers
have policy to send highly educated employees to overseas job assignment.
Company-sponsored mothers did not complete a higher degree than 4-year
colleges. Mothers’ educational attainments were quite similar between the
company-sponsored group and the non company-sponsored group. Nearly one half
of mothers (49.0% of company-sponsored and 45.5% of non company-sponsored)
completed junior colleges. Junior colleges or 2-year colleges in Japan are different
from community colleges in the Unites States. Most of Japanese junior colleges are
private. Non company-sponsored fathers had the highest percentage (35.1%) of
high school graduates. Some non company-sponsored fathers came to the United
States after graduating from high schools in Japan and attended some vocational
training program such as jewelry making. Kaplan, Liu, and Kaplan (2001)
confirmed a significant relationship between parental educational attainment and

66
the level of parental expectations for their children. Parents who had higher
educational attainment showed higher levels of expectations for their children.
Based on their theory, it is reasonable to assume that company-sponsored fathers,
who had the highest educational attainment among parents, are likely to show a
higher expectation for their children to perform academically in the United States
than other parents.
Parental reading behavior
In the study of cultural capital, De Graff et al (2000) found that parental
reading behavior demonstrated strong effect on their children’s education. In this
study, the research attempted to replicate De Graff’s et al (2000) research by using
a survey of a query for determining parental reading behavior. Parental reading
behavior was measured by the frequency of their reading newspapers and books in
Japanese and English.
Table 6 shows the survey result for parental reading behavior. A higher
percentage of fathers (51.3% of company-sponsored and 41.7% of non company-
sponsored) read Japanese newspapers every day. It is noticeable that company-
sponsored mothers do not read English newspapers (48.8%) and English books
(41.5%). This suggests that they may have limited English reading skills and may
not be likely to provide language help for their children, particularly at upper
grades where much higher English reading skill is required than at lower grades.

67
Table 6
Reading Behavior
company-sponsored
non company-
sponsored
Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)
% % % %
Japanese newspaper
Everyday 19.5 51.3 29.5 41.7
Often 24.4 15.4 17.9 16.7
Sometimes 24.4 20.5 32.1 13.3
Rarely 17.1 2.6 12.8 16.7
None 14.6 10.3 7.7 11.7
Japanese books
Everyday 26.8 23.1 23.1 15
Often 12.2 12.8 26.9 15
Sometimes 36.6 33.3 20.5 20
Rarely 12.2 25.6 21.8 33.3
None 12.2 5.1 7.7 16.7
English newspaper
Everyday 2.4 15.4 3.8 6.7
Often 7.3 10.3 5.1 16.7
Sometimes 7.3 35.9 33.3 20
Rarely 34.1 28.2 30.8 31.7
None 48.8 10.3 26.9 25
English books
Everyday 9.8 2.6 5.1 5
Often 0 10.3 10.3 3.3
Sometimes 12.2 23.1 30.8 23.3
Rarely 36.6 43.6 29.5 43.3
None 41.5 20.5 24.4 25

68
The summary for parental reading behavior was presented in Table 7.
Table 7
Summary of Reading Behavior
Company-sponsored Non Company-sponsored
Materials:
Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)
Japanese
newspapers 3.2 3.9 3.5 3.6
Japanese books 3.3 3.2 3.4 2.8
Mean 3.25 3.55 3.45 3.2

English
newspapers 1.8 2.9 2.3 2.5
English books 2 2.3 2.4 2.2
Mean 1.9 2.6 2.35 2.35
5 = everyday, 4 = often, 3 = sometimes, 2 = rarely, 1 = do not read

A high of 5 was assigned to “read everyday” and a low of 1 was given to
“do not read.” Means for subgroups were calculated for each reading material from
the raw scores (1 – 5) and demonstrated in the table. Means were provided for both
Japanese reading behavior and English reading behavior.
For Japanese reading behavior, company-sponsored fathers (3.55) read
more often than other parents. For Japanese newspapers, all groups scored more
than 3.0, led by company-sponsored fathers (3.9). For Japanese books, all groups
except non company-sponsored fathers scored more than 3.0. For English reading
behavior, company-sponsored fathers (2.6) read more often than other parents. For
English newspapers, company-sponsored fathers scored the highest (2.9). For
English books, non company-mothers most often read (2.4). Company-sponsored
mothers rarely read English newspaper (1.8) and English books (2.0). Overall,
company-sponsored fathers read both Japanese and English newspapers more often

69
than others. In summary, company-sponsored fathers engage in reading more often
than other parents both in English and Japanese.
In the study of cultural capital in the Netherlands, De Graf et al. (2000)
investigated how parental reading behavior may influence children’s learning. They
explained that parents who have high reading behavior set an example for their
children to read. In the case of they study participants of this dissertation, it can be
inferred that both mothers and fathers in company-sponsored Japanese families set
an example for their children to read in Japanese.
One of the company-sponsored fathers at the parent interview mentioned
his desire for his children to read. Mr. Suzuki reads newspapers and books in
Japanese and English everyday. He said, “I always tell my daughters’ teachers that
I want my children to be able to read books.” Another interview participant who
also demonstrated high reading behavior both in Japanese and English said, “I
emphasize the importance of reading and I would like to give my child many good
books to read. I want her to be able to read, think, and form opinions during her
early years.” These quotes support the perspective that, in general, parents who
have high reading behavior possess linguistic and cognitive skills that were
rewarded in school and can pass these educational skills on to their children (De
Graff et al., 2000).
Parental Acculturation
Interaction with non Japanese

70
As an indicator of acculturation to the United States, the survey asked
parents to indicate the ratio of interaction with Japanese and non-Japanese persons.
The result is presented in Table 8.
Table 8
Interaction with Japanese & non-Japanese Persons
Company-sponsored Non Company-sponsored
Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)

% % % %
Japanese only 58.5 7.9 32.5 18.3
3/4 Japanese & 1/4 non-
Japanese 36.6 44.7 41.5 30
1/2 Japanese & 1/2 non-
Japanese 4.9 34.2 18.2 25
1/4 Japanese & 3/4 Japanese 0 7.9 6.5 16.7
non-Japanese only 0 5.3 1.3 10

The survey found that 34.2% of company-sponsored fathers interact with
non Japanese and 7.9% interact only with Japanese. This can be explained from
two reasons: 1) fathers possess better English skills than their spouses, and 2)
fathers have more opportunity to interact with non-Japanese while at work than
their spouses. In contrast, 58.5 % of company-sponsored mothers interact only with
other Japanese. Interactions with Americans enhance company-sponsored Japanese
mothers’ acculturation into American culture.
The level of English fluency may be an important variable to predict
Japanese-speaking parents interacting with non Japanese in the United States.
Better English fluency may contribute to fewer communication difficulties and
better interpersonal interactions (Salgado de Synder, 1987). Company-sponsored
mothers rarely interact with non-Japanese, probably because they have problems

71
with communicating in English, and unfamiliar customs and values in the United
States. It is easy for them to interact with other Japanese. In the section of self-
reported English speaking and listening skills in Japan, company-sponsored fathers
reported better English speaking skills than other parents (Table 3). In contrast,
company-sponsored mothers reported that they were not able to communicate in
English in Japan. Company-sponsored fathers are probably more comfortable than
their spouses to interact with others from different backgrounds. It can be assumed
that company-sponsored fathers are the most comfortable interacting with English
speakers such as teachers and other school personnel. Since company-sponsored
mothers tend to interact with other Japanese from Japan but not with non Japanese,
they may not acculturate to American culture.
During the parent interview, one company-sponsored mother said, “Since I’m
not good at English, I had to depend on my husband.” The quote indicates that
mothers, who are not confident in their English skills, need to depend on their
spouses or others who can communicate in English. From the survey data on the
interaction with non-Japanese persons, it can be inferred that company-sponsored
Japanese mothers, in general, do not interact with American mothers from whom
they could learn how American parents involve in their children’s education. Since
company-sponsored mothers do not stay in the United States permanently, they do
not build a social network with their host community.

72

Parental Aspiration for their Children’s Education
Grade expectation
Parents of all subgroups in this study demonstrated a high expectation that
their children to receive A grades (Table 9). Particularly, 87.2% of non company-
sponsored mothers want their children to receive an A grades, which is the highest
percentage among all groups.
Table 9
Parental Aspiration for Children's Education
Company-sponsored
Non Company-
sponsored
Mothers
(n=41)
Fathers
(n=38)
Mothers
(n=77)
Fathers
(n=60)
% % % %

Aspired academic grades by parents
Academic grades:
A 78 74.4 87.2 68.3
B 19.5 23.1 12.8 26.7
C 2.4 2.6 0 5

Aspired level of education to complete for
children
Level of education:
Graduate school 7.3 7.7 15.4 15
4-year college 78 87.2 76.9 73.3
2-year college 7.3 0 5.1 5
High school 7.3 2.6 2.6 6.7
n.a. 0 2.6 0 0

Although, this survey did not ask for grade expectation of their children by
academic subject, one company-sponsored father commented in a blank area of the
survey that he wants his children to achieve an “A” in math but a “B” is acceptable

73
in language arts. He understands that language arts are particularly difficult for
Japanese ELs. Although this survey was closed-ended, one mother wrote on a
survey, “Is there any parent who does not want their children to achieve an A
grades?” As per this mother’s comment, it is unthinkable for this mother that some
parents are happy that their children receive grades less than an A. The quote
supports the finding that Asian American parents were not as pleased as European-
American parents or Latino parents with B and C grades (Okagaki and Frensch,
1998). Japanese parents and Asian American parents seem to possess similar
expectation of their children’s academic grades.
Aspiration for the final level of education for children
The bottom portion of the Table 9 illustrates the level of education the
parents desire their children to complete. More than 80% of parents in all groups
desire to have their children at least complete four-years of college. This finding
coincides with Okagaki and Frensch (1998)’s finding that Asian American parents
expected their children to graduate from college. In the case of company-sponsored
fathers, 87.2% indicated that they aspired for their children to complete four-years
of colleges, which is the highest among all groups. A small number of non
company-sponsored parents (15.4% of mothers and 15% of fathers) desire their
children to complete graduate school. These figures are approximately twice as
high as those of company-sponsored parents (7.3% of mothers and 7.7% of
fathers).

74
From the findings related to the desired education level for their children, it
is reasonable to assume that Japanese parents place a high value on education,
regardless of their educational attainment and their country of residence. They may
not be familiar with the educational system in the United States; however, they
seem to be universally motivated to support their children’s education in the United
States.
Parental Access to Educational Resources
In this study, educational resources are defined as teachers and other outside
educational resources that parents can rely on to support their children in school.
Parental access to teachers
Teachers can be a primary educational resource for parents to learn about
their children’s learning. They can contact these teachers to discuss any issue or
concern about their children with school. Since most of their children have not
learned English in Japan, it is important for company-sponsored parents to provide
support by communicating with teachers about class, homework, and other
assignments. In this way, parents can bridge the gap between their children and
their teachers.
Table 10 shows who parents contact to inquire about their children’s
education.

75

Table 10
Parental Access to Teachers

Company-
sponsored
Non Company-
sponsored
Mothers Fathers Mothers Fathers
(n=41) (n=38) (n=77) (n=60)
% % % %
Teachers 47.6 34.1 75.3 31.8
Counselors 2.4 7.3 1.3 3
School district office 2.4 34.1 0 36.4
Spouse 4.8 7.3 0 12.1
Friends/other Japanese mothers 26.2 0 19.5 1.5
Others 11.9 4.9 1.3 4.5
Nobody 4.8 12.2 2.6 10.6
Multiple answers allowed.

Possible answer choices were ‘teachers’, ‘counselors’, ‘school district’,
‘others’, and ‘I do not contact anyone” in the survey. Parents, who chose ‘others,’
were asked to specify their contacts. Although nearly three quarters of non
company-sponsored mothers (75.3%) contact teachers, less than half of company-
sponsored mothers (47.6%) do so. The discrepancy between the two subgroups can
be explained by their difference in self-reported English verbal communication
skills (Table 3). Company-sponsored mothers contact other Japanese-speaking
mothers (26.2%) instead of school teachers. Half of those who do not contact
teachers indicated that they could not speak English in Japan.
It is understandable that Japanese-speaking mothers contact other Japanese-
speaking mothers because they can communicate with each other in Japanese.
Company-sponsored mothers probably socialize with other company-sponsored
mothers whose children attend the same local public school or Japanese

76
supplementary school. However, information from the children’s school or the
teachers can be distorted in the process of translation by other Japanese mothers
who may not have appropriate English skills. Fathers, whether company-sponsored
or not, tend to contact teachers and school district to inquire about their children’s
education. There may be different roles between parents in a family to contact
teachers and the school district. It seems that mothers take care of day-to-day
school matters and fathers take care of issues that involve the school district at a
parent interview; one non company-sponsored father said “I’m busy at work and
have many business trips. I leave everything to my wife in terms of our children’s
education.” Since fathers are at work, they do not have much opportunity to talk
with teachers at school about their children in comparison to the mothers. Some
mothers, particularly those who volunteer as class mothers, can talk with teachers
about their children at school. Or mothers have informal conversation with teachers
about their children when they come to pick up their children. As a result, fathers
have less access to teachers to inquire about their children’s education than their
spouses.
Parental access to outside educational resources
The survey asked parents what type of outside educational resources they
provide for their children. In the XYZ Unified School District and nearby areas,
outside educational resources are available for educational counseling, English as a
second language (ESL) lessons, homework-help, and preparatory courses for

77
entrance exams for Japanese returnees. Survey participants were allowed to mark
all the choices that apply for these survey items.
Table 11
Parental Access to Outside Educational Resources by School-year Group
Company-sponsored children
K-2
(n=10)
3-5
(n=10)
6-8
(n=21)
Type of learning: % % %
English language 40 50 52.4
Tutor for American school 20 30 66.7
Prep school for Japanese entrance
exams 0 40 38.1
Library's reading program 0 0 0

Non Company-sponsored
children
Type of learning:
K-2
(n=27)
3-5
(n-26)
6-8
(n-28)
English language 11.1 15.4 14.3
Tutor for American school 14.8 30.8 32.1
Prep school for Japanese entrance
exams 0 7.7 10.7
Library's reading program 3.7 11.5 3.6
Respondents were allowed to mark more than one answer choice.

Table 11 illustrated what types of outside educational resources the parents
have accessed to support their children’s education. For example, of the company-
sponsored children, 50.0% of middle graders (3
rd
– 5
th
) and 52.4% of upper graders
(6
th
– 8
th
) provide English language lessons, and 30.0% of middle graders (3
rd
– 5
th
)
and 66.7% of upper graders (6
th
– 8
th
) attend tutoring for academic subjects. For
non company-sponsored children, percentages of attendance for English language
lessons were small across the school-year groups, 11.1% for K-2, 15.4% for 3-5,
and 14.3% for 6-8 children. The results of this portion of the survey reveal that

78
more parents of older children tend to access outside educational resources than
those of younger children.
These data indicate that company-sponsored parents have access to outside
educational resources to support their children’s education in the United States.
Since most of company-sponsored Japanese children did not have formal English
instruction in Japan, they need language help in the United States. The data
indicates that a larger percentage of company-sponsored children attend tutoring
for American school than those of non company-sponsored children. The number
may reflect that company-sponsored children need to attend tutoring because they
have not acquired English literacy at their grade level. Non company-sponsored
children may not need English language help particularly for those who were born
in the United States or who came to the United States when they were young and
acquired English literacy. Although the age of beginning second language
acquisition is not a significant factor (Bialstok, 1997), company-sponsored families
usually do not stay long enough for children to develop CALP which takes between
five to ten years (Cummins, 1997, 1999). New Japanese middle school children,
who were relocated from Japan to the United States, will have a difficult time with
school, not being able to speak, listen, read, and write in English.
Correlation Analyses
In order to find interrelationship amongst parental cultural capital, parental
aspiration for their children’s education, parental access to educational resources,
and parental acculturation level, correlation analyses were conducted between nine

79
variables: ratio of interaction with non-Japanese, self-reported English speaking
and listening skills in Japan, English reading behavior, Japanese reading behavior,
parental educational attainment, parental access to teachers to inquire about their
children’s learning, parental monitoring of their children’s learning at school,
parental grade expectation of their children, and parental aspiration for their
children’s final level of educational attainment.
In the following section of this dissertation, correlation analysis for all
parents is presented, followed by analysis for subgroups of parents by their
children’s school-year.
All parents
Table 12 presents the result of correlation analysis for all survey
participants (N=216). Ratio of interaction with non Japanese showed statistically
significant correlation with self-assessed English speaking and listening
comprehension skills in Japan (r=.45, p<.01), English reading behavior (r=.4,
p<.01), and access to teachers (r=.14, p<.05). Self-reported English speaking and
listening comprehension skills had statistically significant positive correlation with
English reading behavior (r=.4, p<.01), access to teachers (r=.21, p<.01), and grade
expectation of their children (r=.19, p<.05). Parental educational attainment showed
statistically significant positive correlation with self-assessed English speaking and
listening comprehension skills (r=.31, p<.01), English reading behavior (r=.17,
p<.05), and parental aspiration for their children’s education level (r=.24, p<.01).
Access to teachers showed statistically significant positive correlation with English

80
reading behavior (r=.3, p<.01), parental monitoring of their children’s learning
(r=.29, p<.01), and parental grade expectation of their children (r=.16, p<0.05).
Parental grade expectation of their children showed statistically significant positive
correlation with self-assessed English speaking and listening skills (r=.19, p<.01),
English behavior (r=.15, p<.05), and parental monitoring of their children’s
learning (r=.26, p<.01).
Table 12
Pearson Correlations Among Variables for All Parents
For all parents (N=216)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1. Interaction - .45**
-
.11 .40** .06 .14* -.07 .04 .13
2. English -
-
.04 .4** .31** .21** -.02 .19** .12
3. ReadJapanese - .15* -.01 -.05 .02 .04 -.00
4. ReadEnglish - .17* .30** .11 .15* .08
5. Edparent - -.05 .02 .09 .24**
6. Teacheracc - .29** .16* .01
7. Awarechild - .26** .11
8. Gradeexp - .05
9. Edexp -
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Interact - ratio interaction with non Japanese
English - self-reported English speaking and listening skills in Japan
ReadJapanese - frequency of reading Japanese newspapers and books
ReadEnglish - frequency of reading English newspapers and books
Edparent - level of education
Teacheracc - access to teachers for educational inquiries
Awarechild - awareness of their children's learning at school
Gradeexp - parental expectation for their children's academic grades
Edexp - parental aspiration for their children's final level of education

81
These correlation findings suggest that English speaking and listening
comprehension skills prior to their arrival to the United States and English reading
behavior play an important role in parental behavior toward their children’s
education in the United States. In summary, the data reveals that it is helpful for
company-sponsored mothers to acquire English skills prior to their arrival in the
United States to communicate with others in English. In the upcoming section of
this dissertation, the researcher divided parents into three school-year groups and
analyzed them to identify the difference in their responses.
Parents by children’s school-year group
In the previous section of this dissertation, Pearson correlations were
computed for the aggregate of the survey participants. In this section, Pearson
correlations were computed for three subgroups of parents by their children’s
school year and the results were presented in Table 13. The correlation analysis
revealed similarities and differences among subgroups.
First, four statistically significant positive correlations were detected from
all subgroups of parents: 1) Parental educational attainment and English speaking
and listening comprehension skills in Japan, 2) English speaking and listening
comprehension skills in Japan and the ratio of interaction with non Japanese, 3)
reading behavior in English and the ratio of interaction with non Japanese, and 4)
reading behavior in English and access to teachers.

82

Table 13
Pearson Correlations for Three Groups of Parents
For K-2 parents (n=66)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Interact - .43** -.01 .37** .09 .04 -.04 -.01 .06
2 English - .01 .18 .31* .26* .05 .13 .11
3 ReadJapanese - .18 -.14 .05 .08 -.07 -.01
4 ReadEnglish - -.04 .26* .12 .09 -.10
5 Edparent - -.02 .17 0.00 .16
6 Teacheracc - .54** .21 -.07
7 Awarechild - .36** .04
8 Gradeexp - -.19
9 Edexp -

For 3-5 parents (n=61)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Interact - .33*
-
.28* .38** -0.11 0.1 -0.09 -0.02 0.14
2 English - -0.2 .47** .27* 0.11 -0.07 0.01 0.17
3 ReadJapanese - 0.19 0.14 0.05 0.14 0.11 -0.05
4 ReadEnglish - 0.18 .34** 0.11 0.07 0.03
5 Edparent - -0.17 0.01 -0.01 0.2
6 Teacheracc - 0.24 0.14 0.04
7 Awarechild - 0.1 0.24
8 Gradeexp - 0.12
9 Edexp -

For 6-8 parents (n=89)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Interact - .55**
-
0.08 .43** 0.14 .23* -0.1 0.08 0.11
2 English - 0.06 .51** .33** .24* -0.07 .32** 0.05
3 ReadJapanese - 0.11 0.04 -0.15 -0.1 0.09 0.11
4 ReadEnglish - .29** .27** 0.08 .24* 0.17
5 Edparent - -0.04 -0.14 .22* .29**
6 Teacheracc - 0.1 0.14 -0.06
7 Awarechild - .28** 0.01
8 Gradeexp - 0.17
9 Edexp -
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

83
What these correlations mean is that parental educational attainment was
indirectly related to reading behavior in English, mediated by English speaking and
listening comprehension skills which enabled Japanese parents to interact with non-
Japanese, including teachers. These findings support the hypothesis that parents
who showed high reading behavior have more cultural literacy and are probably
better informed on how their children’s learning can be improved (De Graaf et al.,
2000), and that reading ability in English is a major determinant of acculturation
over other demographic variables (Kuo & Roysircar, 2004). In the case of Japanese
parents, those who completed a higher level of education studied more years of
English in Japan. The English skills help Japanese parents to interact with non-
Japanese, read English newspapers and books, and to access teachers in the United
States.
Next, differences in patterns of correlation among subgroups of parents
were detected for parental expectation of academic grades and parental aspiration
for final level of education for their children (Table 14).

84
Table 14
Correlation: Parental Aspiration for Children

Children's final level of
education
Parental grade
expectation

K - 2
(n=66)
3 - 5
(n=61)
6 - 8
(n=89)
K - 2
(n=66)
3 - 5
(n=61)
6 - 8
(n=89)
Interact .06 .14 .11 -.01 -.2 .08
English .11 .17 .05 .13 .01 .32**
ReadJapanese -.01 -.05 .11 -.07 .11 .09
ReadEnglsih -.10 .03 .17 .09 .07 .24*
Edparent .16 .2 .29** .00 -.01 .23*
Teacheracc -.07 .04 -.06 .21 .14 .14
Awareness .04 .24 .01 .36** .1 .28**

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

For parents of 6-8 grade children, parental grade expectation showed
statistically significant positive correlation with parental English speaking and
listening comprehension skills in Japan (r=.32, p<.01), parental English reading
behavior (r=.24, p<.05), parental educational attainment (r=.22, p<.05), and
parental monitoring of their children’s learning at school (r=.28, r<.01).
Additionally, parental educational attainment demonstrated statistically significant
positive correlation with the parents’ aspired final level of education for their
children (r=.29, p<0.1). These findings support the idea that parents who have
higher educational attainment tend to expect their children to achieve higher grades
and aspire to a higher level of educational attainment for their children (Halle et al.,
1997; Davis-Kean, 2005).

85
For parents of 3-5 grade children, no correlation was detected. For K-2
parents, a statistically significant positive correlation was detected between parental
grade expectation and parental awareness of their children’s learning (r=.36, r<.01).
The quantitative analyses provided limited information to answer why K-2
and 3-5 parents responded differently from 6-8 parents on parental aspiration for
their children’s education. Quantitative analyses themselves do not provide parental
beliefs about their children’s education. For further investigation, the researcher of
this study analyzed parent interviews and the findings were presented. Parents of
young children responded differently from those of older children. A mother of a
fifth grade child mentioned, “It is too early to think about college for a child when
he is still in elementary school.” This interview excerpt explains why K-2 and 3-5
grade parents did not show any statistically significant correlation with parental
aspiration for the final level of education for their children. Parent interviews
revealed that parents of K-2 grade children were primarily concerned about their
children’s first language development and maintenance of Japanese cultural values
during their stay in the United States. In the parent interviews, all parents with K-2
grade children talked about their concern for their children’s Japanese language
literacy but did not discuss any issues about academic grades or final education
level for their children. It can be inferred that, for parents of K-2 grade children, it
is extremely important to make sure that their children learn how to read and write
properly in the Japanese language. If their children do not acquire Japanese literacy
at their grade level during their stay in the United States, many problems will occur

86
when they return to Japan. It is almost unheard of that children are not able to read
and write at their grade level in Japan.
First language development
Parents of K-2 grade children expressed their concern about their children’s
first language development, Japanese. Mr. and Mrs. Suzuki came to the United
States approximately two years and ten month before the interview took place.
They have a second grader and a kindergartner. Mrs. Suzuki said,
What I most worry about is that our children might end up not being able to
develop literacy at their grade level in Japanese and learn a little English,
and go back to Japan. As I mentioned earlier, I tried to read in both
languages with my children but I find it difficult because we are busy. It is
not easy to find time to read in both languages every day and we usually
end up reading in one of the two (Mrs. Suzuki).

This parent was concerned that her children may not develop Japanese
literacy at their grade level in their foreign land, the United States. Since the family
eventually will return to Japan when Mr. Suzuki’s job assignment completes in the
United States, it is important for the parents to make sure that their children acquire
Japanese language at academic levels to be able to return to schools in Japan.
Mr. Suzuki added,
My company usually informs employees about the timing of transfer back
to Japan about six month in advance. When it happens, I probably should
give my children more opportunity to read Japanese rather than English to
prepare for going back to school in Japan.

The Tanaka family has been living in the United States for approximately
one year when the interview was conducted. They have a six-year old child who

87
goes to kindergarten. Mr. Tanaka shared his belief about education for his daughter.
He said,
I hope that she (his daughter) will acquire standard Japanese language while
we stay in the U.S. She is six years old. After staying in the U.S. for a year,
I already began noticing that she speaks strange Japanese. I want her to at
least master perfect Japanese.

These excerpts reveal that parents from both families acknowledge that
their children were at a critical age to acquire first language, Japanese. Most
researchers agree with the critical period hypothesis with first language acquisition
but not with second language acquisition (Ioup, 2005). For parents of young
children, Japanese language development is more important than academic grades
or final education level for their children. If they are not able to develop Japanese
literacy at grade level, they will have a difficult time assimilating into the Japanese
education system when they return to Japan.
The parents of a eighth grade child also mentioned about the importance of
first language development. Mr. and Mrs. Kawada had been in the United States
approximately two years and a half when the interview was conducted. He said,
If your children have not developed literacy in the first language (Japanese),
it will be difficult to understand the structure of another language and
express themselves in English… My daughter was a sixth grader in Japan
when she came and her Japanese literacy was already developed. I think
that child age is a key determinant for the parents to decide whether they
should bring the child to the U.S. I believe that children at higher grade (5
th

and 6
th
grade) in Japan will learn English efficiently in the U.S. because
children at those ages usually have developed literacy in Japanese.

At the beginning of the school year, this parent attended a workshop hosted
by his school district and learned the importance of maintaining first language to

88
acquire another language. Later, he understood what it meant by observing his
child acquiring English skills. As Mr. Kawada pointed out, first language
development is important and first language literacy will help with second language
development. Skills developed in the first language transfer to the second language
(Cummins, 1979).
In some cases, children were born in the United States for company-
sponsored Japanese parents. Mr. and Mrs. Miyagi were sent by their employer
more than ten years ago. They did not know how long they were going to stay in
the United States. Their two children were born in the United States. Mrs. Miyagi
said,
My son’s first language (English) has not been developed well and that’s
my major concern. When I had to choose a kindergarten, I did not know
whether I should choose Japanese one or English one. I just did not know
what to do particularly because my son’s first language development was
slow. Parents are Japanese-speaking and we are not permanent resident. I
knew that it was important for him to develop Japanese language, but once
you go outside, everything is in English. As long as we live here for now,
we can’t give up English.”

In case of the Miyagi family, English is the first language for their children.
Mrs. Miyagi was concerned about first language development for her son. Mr.
Miyagi does not know when his family can return to Japan. Some company-
sponsored Japanese families come to the United States without children. Later,
their children are born in the United States and are raised by Japanese-speaking
parents. As Mrs. Miyagi mentioned, some parents are concerned about their U.S. -
born children’s language development both in English and Japanese.

89
Cultural values

There are two cultural values that company-sponsored parents discussed at
the interviews: 1) importance of making an effort and 2) reluctance to let their
children become Americanized.
Mrs. Miyagi said,
I just do not want him (her older child) to give up any homework both in
Japanese and English. I do not agree with some excuses like “I don’t have
to learn English because I’m Japanese” or “I don’t have to learn Japanese
because I live in the U.S.” As parents, we do not want him to quit working
on homework at both schools (Japanese Supplementary School and
American public school).

This mother values persistent effort as an essential factor for her child to
succeed at school. This finding supports the hypothesis that Japanese mothers and
their children attributed “lack of effort” to the failure (Hess and Azuma, 1991).
Parents from different cultures value different behaviors of children. In the
United States, parents seem to encourage their children to be assertive and
competitive. In Japan parents encourage their children to be able to think of others.
As an example of this, Mrs. Suzuki is concerned about her kindergartner’s
behavior. She states:
Since she began her (American) kindergarten, she has become more
aggressive than before. I did not recognize that behavior when she was at a
Japanese kindergarten. If she develops her aggressiveness, it will be a
problem when we go back to Japan where aggressiveness is not encouraged.
This excerpt reveals that young Japanese children naturally learn to be
assertive or aggressive by interacting with American children during kindergarten.
It becomes a process of acculturation to American culture. However, Japanese
parents are careful not to let their children behave like American children because

90
some of those behaviors will not be accepted in Japanese society when they return
to Japan.
In summary, correlation analyses found that parents who have higher
educational attainment tend to aspire to a higher educational attainment for their
children and expect higher academic grades of their children. English verbal
communication skills help Japanese speaking parents access to their children’s
teachers. Parents of K-2 grade children are concerned about their children’s first
language development and maintaining Japanese cultural values. For parents of 3-5
grade children, it is too early to think about college education.
Regression Analyses
In the previous section of this dissertation, findings from correlation
analysis were presented. Multiple regression analyses were also used as useful tools
to investigate how independent variables influence dependent variables. In this
study multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify predictor(s) of
parental grade expectation of children and parental aspiration for final level of
education for children. Results were presented in Table 15 and 16.

91
Table 15
Summary of Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting
Regression Analysis: Parental Grade Expectation of Children
(N = 216)
Independent
Variables:
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
Interaction -.024 .035 -.054
English .067 .031 .176*
ReadJapanese .016 .031 .035
ReadEnglish .026 .039 .053
Edparent .016 .035 .033
Teacheracc .015 .024 .045
Awareness .148 .043 .239**
* p<.05
** p<.001

Table 16
Summary of Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting
Regression Analysis: Parental Aspiration for Final Level of
Education for Children (N = 216)
Independent
Variables:
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
Interaction .073 .044 .133
English .003 .039 .006
ReadJapanese .008 .039 .014
ReadEnglish -.014 .049 -.023
Edparent .144 .044 .231*
Teacheracc -.013 .03 -.033
Awareness 0.1 .054 .13
* p<.05

The multiple regression analyses reveal that 1) parental English speaking
and listening comprehension skills in Japan and parental awareness of their
children’s learning were predictors of the parental grade expectation of their

92
children (Table 15), and 2) parental educational attainment was the only predictor
of the parental aspired level of education for their children to complete (Table 16).
The second finding supports the idea that parental educational attainment and the
level of educational expectations for their children have a significant relationship
(Kaplan, Liu, & Kaplan, 2001; Teachman & Paasch, 1998). Teachman and Paasch
(1998) investigated the importance of the family for educational aspirations by
using data on sets of siblings to model the degree of sibling remembrance. The
analysis was conducted on 421 sibling pairs who were high school students. The
study revealed a significant relationship between the level of parental educational
attainment and the level of parental educational expectations for their children.
Kaplan, Liu and Kaplan (2001) studied parents and their children between the ages
of 11 and 15 in the multistage study in 1980s and 1990s by using data from an 810-
item questionnaire. Their regression analysis also confirmed that the level of
parental educational attainment and the level of parental educational expectation
were significantly correlated.
The results of this dissertational study suggest that Japanese-speaking
parents, who were able to communicate in English prior to their arrival to the
United States and who make sure they understand what their children learn at
school, tend to expect good academic grades from their children. Although
Japanese-speaking children may have difficulty understanding English and learning
academic subjects in the United States, their parents who have better verbal
communication skills in English tend to expect their children to earn high academic

93
grades. It is important for Japanese-speaking parents to improve their English
communication skills in Japan. With the improved English skills, Japanese parents
can learn about their children’s learning at school and provide support for their
children to perform well academically at school.
Parental Support at Home
In this section of chapter four, this researcher discusses what company-
sponsored Japanese parents do to support their children at home. The survey results
revealed that company-sponsored mothers have limited English ability in
comparison with other groups. These mothers may be able to help their young
children work on homework in the United States because the required English level
is not academically challenging for the mothers, but assisting older children with
homework may present them with insurmountable challenges. Company-sponsored
Japanese parents need to have English reading skills and vocabulary to help middle
school children. The parent interview used in this study enabled this researcher to
identify two types of support that company-sponsored parents provide for their
children at home: direct homework help and encouragement.
Homework
First, parents provide language help for their children work on homework
because the children’s English is limited. Mr. Kawada, a parent participant,
described how he struggled but helped his eighth grade daughter work on
homework during her first year in the United States. Mr. Kawada, his wife, and his
youngest daughter moved from Japan to the United States in the summer of 2004.

94
They left two older children who are college students in Japan. He responded to the
interview question about the parental role for his child’s education in the United
States as follows,
Well, first thing I thought about was homework help… my daughter and I
read whatever we could understand in those pages… We kind of tried to
find what was important in the textbooks. We struggled together …
Particularly difficult were English arts, science, and social studies. Math,
you can work by yourself as long as you understand the concept … I think
that social study was the most complicated one. It’s about history. For
example, American history. The content is really different from what we
study about American history in Japan.

He was dedicated to helping his daughter who did not have formal
instruction of English in Japan. They spent long hours working on homework. He
consulted with her teacher about assisting his daughter’s work on homework. He
added,
I asked her teacher if it’s okay to write down exactly what the textbook
says. She said “It’s okay.” I told her that I sometimes could not understand
what the textbook says and I told my daughter to copy whatever the
textbook says. The teacher said it is okay and encourage us to do so because
copying texts is good exercise to learn English.

His wife commented, “Since I’m not good at English, I had to depend on my
husband. He helped our daughter work on her homework late into the night every
day for about one year.” Her middle school had PTA of English learners. An ELD
representative from the school district came to the campus and hosted Q&A session
for the parents of English learners. He found the session was informative and
helpful.

95
As he demonstrated, teachers and ELD personnel from the school district are
valuable educational resources for parents of ELs to understand what is important
for their children’s education in their foreign land, the United States. Although
many company-sponsored mothers have limited English skills and do not interact
with non Japanese, it is important for them to learn English as a second language to
access teachers and ELD personnel. Useful information from these educational
resources can help their children’s education in the United States.
Encouragement
Adolescence is a difficult period for both adolescents and their parents. As
Eccles et al. (1993) pointed out, a mismatch between the needs of developing
adolescents and the opportunities afforded them by their social environment can
cause some negative psychological changes. Japanese company-sponsored
children, in particular, had to leave a familiar social environment and friends
behind to move to the United States. Mr. Kawada, a parent participant, described
how he encouraged his daughter to adjust to American school culture. He said,
For example, my daughter said that her teacher gave her a drop before the
test. That kind of thing never happens in Japan. If it does, the teacher will
be fired. In the U.S., that is acceptable. So, my role was to say something
positive about it like “That’s interesting” or “That’s great, isn’t it?” I was
saying that American school was a ‘fun place’ or ‘good place.’ She used to
say that American school was more fun than Japanese supplementary
school.
He revealed that he accepted that school customs are different in Japan and
the United States and did not take the American way negatively. He talked about
positive aspects of the American way at school to encourage his daughter to adjust
to American school.

96
His positive attitude toward the American educational system and culture
influences his child’s perceptions toward American school. His behaviors are
supported by previous research finding that building and maintaining emotionally
close relationship between adolescent children and their parents is particularly
important for the children’s academic achievement (Crosnoe, 2004).
Additional finding relevant to elementary school parents
This researcher interviewed non company-sponsored parents who were
proactively involved in their children’s education. The mother described her
involvement at her children’s elementary school. She said,
If you are not in the class of your children as a volunteer, you have no ways
of knowing what’s going on with your child at school. If you are in your
child’s class, you will know about your child’s progress relative to the
class… Once your child is left behind the class, you can easily tell how far
your child is behind if you participate as a class volunteer because you can
observe what is going on in class. Off course, you can look at the report
card of your child but it is too late to do anything at the end of the semester.

This parent was able to monitor her child’s learning progress relative to the
class by being a class mother. The information from her experience is helpful for
company-sponsored parents, particularly for parents who are new to the educational
system in the United States, to understand how parents can be involved with their
young children’s learning at school.
Conclusion
To summarize the findings for this dissertation study, Japanese-speaking
parents are serious about their children’s education in their foreign land, the United
States. Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s education in the United

97
States. Although their children may have limited English skills, their parents expect
them to earn good academic grades at school. Company-sponsored parents access
outside educational resources to support their children’s education. Company-
sponsored fathers had the highest English speaking and listening comprehension
skills in Japan and the highest educational attainment among all survey
participants. Correlation analyses revealed statistically significant positive
correlation between parental educational attainment and parental expectation of
their children’s academic grades. In this study, cultural capital was measured by
parental educational attainment and reading behavior. The study revealed that
company-sponsored fathers possess the highest cultural capital among study
participants. Additionally, of company-sponsored families, the ratio of interaction
with Japanese and non-Japanese suggest that fathers are more acculturated to
American culture than their spouses. Since company-sponsored mothers have
limited English skills and are less acculturated to American culture, fathers are
most likely to assume responsibility for their children’s education in the United
States.
Company-sponsored parents of K-2 and 3-5 grade children indicated their
concern about the first language development of their children. They claimed that it
was too early for parents of elementary school children to think about a college
education for their children. Parents of K-2 grade children believe that it is
important for their children to develop first language. Mothers read Japanese books
for their young children to develop Japanese at home.

98
Parents of 6-8 grade children expect their children to earn good academic
grades and expect their children to at least graduate from universities. The parent
interviews for this study revealed that a company-sponsored father of a middle
school child provided direct homework help for her. He attended an information
session by the school district on ELD students and consulted with teachers about
how he could provide support at home. His direct homework help to the middle
school child provided opportunities to build and maintain an emotionally close
relationship between the father and his child. Crosnoe (2004) found that building
and maintaining emotionally close relationship between adolescent children and
their parents is particularly important for the children’s academic achievement. All
of the parents interviewed sent their children to public schools and Japanese
supplementary schools. Company-sponsored parents believe that it is important to
send their children to Japanese supplementary schools to maintain Japanese
education and culture to be able to fit into the Japanese education system when
these families return to Japan. The parents also place high value in effort making
and teach their children to work hard.

99
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION
Summary
The purpose of this mix-method study was to better understand in which
ways Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s’ academic experience in
the United States. Parental survey enabled this study to identify patterns for
Japanese-speaking parents as a whole and for three groups of parents by their
children’s school-year. Previous research provided theoretical perspectives to
analyze Japanese parental beliefs, behaviors, and aspirations. De Graff et al (2000)
used parental reading behavior as one indicator for cultural capital and found
significant relationship between parental reading behavior and their children’s
education. Sullivan (2001) concluded that parental cultural capital is strongly
associated with parental social class and with parental qualification. English
language reading ability is a major determinant of acculturation over other
demographics variables (Kuo and Roysircar, 2004). This dissertational study
revealed that company-sponsored fathers had the highest educational attainment,
better English speaking and listening comprehension skills than other parents from
Japan, and the highest Japanese and English reading behavior among them. The
majority of study participants demonstrated their aspiration for their children to at
least complete a college education. In contrast, company-sponsored Japanese
mothers did not have strong English speaking and listening comprehension skills
prior to the arrival to the United States and they rarely read English. Company-

100
sponsored fathers who possess higher cultural capital than other Japanese parents
expected their children to earn higher academic grades in this study.
Japanese-speaking parents were found in this study to have high grade
expectation of their children. The regression analyses performed in this study
identified that Japanese-speaking parents who were able to communicate in English
prior to their arrival to the United States and were aware of what their children
learn at school tend to expect good grades from their children. Although Japanese-
speaking children have difficulty understanding English and learning academic
subjects in the United States, their parents who have better verbal communication
skills in English tend to expect their children to earn high academic grades. Of the
company-sponsored parents, parents of older children tend to provide outside
educational support for their children such as English and tutoring for American
school subjects in this study. This can be explained that older children need to have
a higher level of English skills for school than younger children and their parents
can afford the outside educational resources for their children. The parent
interviews conducted in this dissertation revealed that parents of young children
from kindergarten to second grades are concerned about their children’s first
language development, Japanese,
Limitations
There are a number of limitations to this study. First, it was uncertain
whether the survey participants answered the questions efficaciously. Second, self-
reported English speaking and listening comprehension skills in Japan were not

101
based on objective measures and depended predominantly on parental perception.
Third, the sample size was relatively small due to a relatively low response rate of
22%. Fourth, this study adopted nine variables to conduct correlation analyses and
regression analyses. More variables can be used to improve the findings of this
study. Fifth, this study was conducted in an area with a large number of Japanese
English learners. The findings may not be generalized to Japanese-speaking parents
of ELs in other areas in the United States.
Recommendation for Future Studies
This study focused on Japanese-speaking parents whose children are ELs
from kindergarten to eighth grade in the United States. It is important to note that
mixed-methods enabled the present study to reveal parental data which were not
available from single method, quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data provide
useful information about the research subjects but those numbers do not speak
everything about them. Voluntarily, parents shared their concerns and beliefs about
their children’s education with the researcher of this study at the parent interview.
Future studies can conduct comparative studies for company-sponsored
families in the United States who come from other non-English speaking countries
such as China, South Korea, France, and Germany. Those studies will help
educators in the United States to understand parents from different cultures and use
the knowledge to better serve children from other countries. Another possibility is
to investigate how company-sponsored American parents in Japan influence their

102
children’s education. Longitudinal studies can be conducted with one or more
subgroups and investigate how parental attitudes change over time.
Recommendation for Practitioners
As this study revealed, company-sponsored Japanese parents are highly
educated, particularly the fathers. Although English is taught from seventh grade in
Japan, many Japanese are not able to communicate in English. The majority of
company-sponsored mothers are not able to discuss their children’s education with
teachers in English. Recommendations are provided for practitioners to
accommodate English limited Japanese parents.
Well-planned workshops on homework are necessary for Japanese-speaking
parents so that they can provide their children instruction in Japanese. As this study
found, less than half of company-sponsored mothers access teachers about their
children’s learning. Some of them ask other Japanese-speaking mothers to find out
about class instead due to language difficulty. To avoid misunderstandings between
teachers and parents, it is important to translate syllabi from English to Japanese
and this can be done with the help from the school district. As an interview
participant indicated, a question and answer sessions at the beginning of school
year is helpful for the parents of new students from Japan. Departments for English
language development at school districts can host a question and answer session at
which participants can clarify whatever they are not sure of. It is advisable to have
a translator at the session. It is highly recommended that American teachers explain
their expectation of English learners in Japanese for Japanese-speaking parents.

103
Teachers usually write a syllabus for all students in English, however, they should
consider writing a separate one for English learners if possible and have them
translated in Japanese. In addition, teachers need to explain homework, particulars,
grading standards (rubric), and curriculum in simple sentences for parents to fully
understand the school’s education system and policies. All of these
recommendations will help Japanese-speaking parents understand what is expected
by teachers.
Recommendation for Parents of Japanese ELs
Japanese-speaking parents need to improve their English ability before they
move to the United States if possible. After they arrive in the United States, parents
should be encouraged to participate in English as a second language classes and
learn English. Although Japanese-speaking parents may have difficulty in
communicating with teachers in English, the parents are encouraged to raise their
concerns about the teachers’ support for their English learning children if any. It
may not be appropriate to raise their concerns to teachers in Japan but it is
acceptable to do so in the United States. In this way, parents can be involved in
their children’s learning with school more effectively. Potential misunderstandings
between teachers and parents or teachers and Japanese ELs can be minimized by
better communication between parents and teachers. This kind of parental
involvement is particularly important when children are not able to understand
what teachers say in class.

104
Since Japanese-speaking children may be thrown into American schools
and experience cultural differences between American schools and Japanese
schools in addition to language difficulty, they need unending support from their
teachers and parents. Japanese-speaking parents who are new to American schools
are highly encouraged to contact the teachers of their children at the beginning of
the school year and let teachers know their concern. This is particularly important
for parents of children at middle school because a higher level of English
proficiency is necessary to understand the contents of various academic subjects.
Since some American middle schools do not often have homeroom teachers as they
do in Japan, Japanese-speaking parents need to contact teachers by academic
subjects to resolve the situation. Teachers are often not familiar with what
Japanese-speaking families go through in terms of their adjustment to new culture
and language in addition to maintaining Japanese education in the United States. It
is not advisable for company-sponsored parents to assume that their children’s’
teachers will provide extra support for company-sponsored children. Japanese-
speaking parents are advised to proactively access teachers to help their children
with school in the United States.
Recommendation for Policy of Japanese Companies
Overseas job assignments put a lot of burden on spouses and children of the
company-sponsored employees. Their employers need to provide their employee’s
families support programs to prepare for their children’s education in the United
States. Since English abilities of their employees and their spouses are key factor to

105
support their children’s education in the United States, those companies need to
provide English as a second language lessons not only for their employees but also
for their spouses and children, workshops for American public school education
system, and training for parents to communicate with teachers in the United States.
Conclusion
This mixed method study provided knowledge about one small group of
minorities in the United States. Understanding parents of Japanese ELs provide
insights about how their children will perform academically at school.
Simultaneously, the present study revealed the environment of Japanese ELs. As
Vigostky stated, learning occurs when a child interacts with other persons and
language plays an important role for children to learn. In case of ELs, the school’s
principal, vice principal, teachers, school staff, and non EL students all influence
the ELs’ learning at school. All the cast perform their roles on a stage called school.
Parents can influence their children’s learning but they are not on the stage. Given
that enough resources are available at school, the whole cast needs to understand
and mutually agree with the goal of the school, and they have to be willing to work
toward the goal. Academic achievement is the end product of teamwork among all
the cast at school and theparents at home with ELs at the center.

106

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Yeh, C. J., Arora, A. K., Inose, M., Okubo, Y., Li, R. H., & Greene, P. (2003). The
cultural adjustment and mental health of Japanese immigrant youth.
Adolescence, 38, 482-500.

111

APPENDICES

112

APPENDIX A

Parent Survey

Instruction: Please circle the alphabet from answer choices for each question.
Participation is voluntary. If you do not want to answer a particular question, please
skip the question and go to the next one.

This survey has three sections:
Section I (11 questions) is for one of parents.
Section II (14 questions) is for mothers to answer.
Section III (14 questions) is for fathers to answer.

113

This section (Q1 – Q11) needs to be answered by a parent.

1. How many years have your family been living in the United States?
a. less than 1 year
b. 1 to less than 3 years
c. 3 to less than 5 years
d. 5 to less than 7 years
e. 7 years or longer

2. Is your family sent by your employer (or chuzai-in katei) from Japan?
a. Yes
b. No

3. Is this the first time for your family to live outside of Japan?
a. Yes
b. No

4. How many months did you have to prepare for American life before coming
to the United States?
a. less than a month
b. one month to less than three months
c. three months to less than six months
d. six month to less than twelve months
e. more than twelve months

114

5. What did you do to learn about American school education before coming to
the United States? Please choose all that apply.
a. I attended an information session(s) about American school
education.
b. I read a book about American school education.
c. I researched information about American school education on the
internet.
d. I did not search information about American school education.
e. Others
(____________________________________________________)

6. What is year grade of your child who lives with you? Please choose one from
three grade groups below. (If you have more than one child, please refer to
your oldest child between kinder and eighth grade.)
a. Lower Elementary (K-2)
b. Higher Elementary (3-5)
c. Middle School (6-8)

7. What type of school(s) does your first child, who lives with you, attend?
Please choose all that apply.
a. American school
b. Japanese Day School
c. Japanese Supplementary School

115

8. What kinds of learning activities does your child attend outside of school?
Please choose all that apply.
a. English lessons
b. tutoring or learning class for American school
c. prep school (juku) for returnee’s exams in Japan
d. reading program at local libraries
e. music lessons
f. sports lessons
g. Other (_______________)

9. How often do you or your spouse attend Back to School Nite? If you have
moved to the area recently and did not have an opportunity to attend one,
please go to question 11.
a. always
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

10. How many times have you or your spouse volunteered for your child or
children’s school for the last 12 months?
a. none
b. 1
c. 2 or more

116

Questions (Q11 – 25) need to be answered by mothers.

11. Please choose your level of your speaking ability in English before coming to
the United States
a. I was not able to speak in English at all.
b. I was able to use traveler’s English.
c. I was able to introduce myself.
d. I was able to carry a daily conversation in English.
e. I was able to discuss in English.

12. Please choose your level of listening comprehension in English before
coming to the United States.
a. I was not able to understand what a native English speaker said.
b. I was able to understand about 25% of what a native English speaker
said.
c. I was able to understand about 50% of what a native English speaker
said.
d. I was able to understand about 75% of what a native English speaker
said.
e. I was able to understand what a native English speaker said.

13. What is the ratio between Japanese and non-Japanese persons whom you
regularly interact?
a. Mostly Japanese
b. ¾ Japanese, ¼ non-Japanese
c. ½ Japanese, ½ non-Japanese
d. ¼ Japanese, ¾ non-Japanese
e. Mostly non-Japanese

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14. How often do you use a local library in your area per month?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3 or more

15. How often do you read printed or electronic Japanese newspapers per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

16. How often do you read printed or electronic English newspapers per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

17. How often do you read Japanese books per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

118

18. How often do you read English books per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

19. When you have a question about your child’s education at school, who do you
usually consult with?
a. teachers
b. counselors
c. district personnel
d. Other (____________)
e. nobody

20. How do you monitor what your child learns at school? Please choose all that
apply.
a. through my child
b. from school intranet
c. from teachers
d. Others (___________________)
e. I do not access the information

21. What letter grade do you want your child to achieve?
a. A
b. B
c. C

119

22. What level of education do you want your child to achieve?
a. high school
b. junior college
c. four-year university
d. graduate school

23. What is your highest level of education that you achieved?
a. high school
b. junior college
c. bachelor’s degree
d. master’s degree
e. doctorate degree

24. What was your major?
a. law b. economics/commerce
c. science and technology d. computer science
e. sociology f. political science
g. foreign language studies h. foreign literature
i. literature j. education/psychology
k. agriculture, forestry, and fishery
l. medial/dental/pharmaceutical m. other (_____________)

120

25. What is your age group?
a. 20 – 29

b. 30 – 39

c. 40 – 49

d. 50 – 59

e. 60 or older

Thank you very much for your participation in the survey.

121

Questions (Q26 – 40) need to be answered by mothers.

26. Please choose your level of your speaking ability in English before coming to
the United States
f. I was not able to speak in English at all.
g. I was able to use traveler’s English.
h. I was able to introduce myself.
i. I was able to carry a daily conversation in English.
j. I was able to discuss in English.

27. Please choose your level of listening comprehension in English before
coming to the United States.
f. I was not able to understand what a native English speaker said.
g. I was able to understand about 25% of what a native English speaker
said.
h. I was able to understand about 50% of what a native English speaker
said.
i. I was able to understand about 75% of what a native English speaker
said.
j. I was able to understand what a native English speaker said.

28. What is the ratio between Japanese and non-Japanese persons whom you
regularly interact?
a. Mostly Japanese
b. ¾ Japanese, ¼ non-Japanese
c. ½ Japanese, ½ non-Japanese
d. ¼ Japanese, ¾ non-Japanese
e. Mostly non-Japanese

122

29. How often do you use a local library in your area per month?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3 or more

30. How often do you read printed or electronic Japanese newspapers per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

31. How often do you read printed or electronic English newspapers per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

32. How often do you read Japanese books per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

123

33. How often do you read English books per week?
a. everyday
b. often
c. occasionally
d. rarely
e. never

34. When you have a question about your child’s education at school, who do you
usually consult with?
a. teachers
b. counselors
c. district personnel
d. Other (____________)
e. nobody

35. How do you monitor what your child learns at school? Please choose all that
apply.
a. through my child
b. from school website
c. from teachers
d. Others (___________________)
e. I do not access the information

36. What letter grade do you want your child to achieve?
a. A
b. B
c. C

124

37. What level of education do you want your child to achieve?
a. high school
b. junior college
c. four-year university
d. graduate school

38. What is your highest level of education that you achieved?
a. high school
b. junior college
c. bachelor’s degree
d. master’s degree
e. doctorate degree

39. What was your major?
a. law b. economics/commerce
c. science and technology d. computer science
e. sociology f. political science
g. foreign language studies h. foreign literature
i. literature j. education/psychology
k. agriculture, forestry, and fishery
l. medial/dental/pharmaceutical m. other (_____________)

125

40. What is your age group?
f. 20 – 29

g. 30 – 39

h. 40 – 49

i. 50 – 59

j. 60 or older

Thank you very much for your participation in the survey.

126

APPENDIX B

Parent Interview Questions

I appreciate your participation in my research today. It will take about 30
minutes for this interview. Please feel free to ask any question during the interview.
The information you will provide in the interview today will be treated strictly
confidential.

(This researcher will generate a few questions from the result of survey and ask at
the beginning of the interview.)
1. What is your role for your child education?
2. In your family, what forms of support do you provide for your child’s
education? Please describe.
3. What do you do to help your children’s homework, writing a paper,
working on a project, and preparing for quizzes and exams?
4. From your past experience, what kind of difficulties has your child
experienced at American school? What did you do to help your child
resolve the situation? What is your concern about your children’s
education?

127

APPENDIX C

Enrollement Letter

Invitation for an educational study
[Insert Date]
Dear parents,

My name is Mikiya Mori. I’m a doctorate student at Rossier School of Education at
the University of Southern California. As a doctoral study in the field of education,
I will be conducting a study on Japanese-speaking families. I have received a
permission from [insert name] to distribute this letter to you.

This study is about parental influence on their children’s education at Japanese
families in the U.S. Research tools include a parental survey and a parental
interview. Your participation is very important because educational research on
Japanese speaking parents in the U.S. is limited. This study will help American
educators better understand Japanese-speaking families. School districts which are
new to serve Japanese speaking families can benefit from this study. Participation
is voluntary. It will take about 15 minutes to fill out the survey.

Please read the consent form which describes this study. If you agree to participate
in the study, please sign the consent form and begin the survey. When you
complete the survey, please return it with the signed consent form in the stamped,
pre-addressed envelope.

To show my appreciation of your participation in this study, all the survey
participants in this study will receive a Starbucks Gift Card ($5 value).

Sincerely,

Mikiya Mori
Candidate, Doctor of Education class of 2007
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California

128

APPENDIX D

Information Sheet

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

Parental influence on their children’s education at Japanese-speaking families

You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Mikiya Mori, from
the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. The
results of this study will be contributed to his dissertation. You were selected as a
possible participant in this study because this study is about Japanese-speaking
families in the U.S. A total of 200 parents will be selected from Japanese speaking
parents who send their children to American public schools from kindergarten
through eighth grade. Your participation is voluntary.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
You are asked to take part in a research study because this researcher is trying to
learn more about how parents influence their children’s education at Japanese
speaking families in the U.S.

Completion and return of the questionnaire or response to the interview questions
will constitute consent to participate in this research project.

PROCEDURES
There are two phases for this study: 1) parent survey and 2) parent interview.
All the participants are asked to complete the parent survey and four parents from
the survey participants are selected for parent interview.

1) Parent Survey:
You and your spouse will be asked to complete the parent survey at your home.
Participation is voluntary. All of the survey questions are multiple-choices. The
survey consists of 36 questions and you will be asked about your beliefs of your
children’s education, your behavior and your background. It will take about 15
minutes to complete the survey. When you complete the survey, you are asked to
return it in the stamped, pre-addressed envelope.

129

2) Parent Interview:
The researcher will select four parents from the parent survey participants who
agree to participate in the parent interview. The parent interview will take place in
the homes of the participants later in the year. Participation is voluntary. It will take
about 25-30 minutes for the interview. The interview will be audio-recorded for
analysis.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks to your participation; you may experience some
discomfort at responding the interview questions or you may be inconvenienced
from taking time out of your day to participate in the interview.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You may not directly benefit from your participation in this research study.
However, your participation in this study will help the American educators to better
understand in what ways Japanese-speaking parents influence their children’s
education in the U.S. School districts, which are new to serve Japanese-speaking
families, will benefit from this study to develop programs for English language
learners and their parents.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
1) All the participated families in the parental survey will receive a Starbucks Card
for $5 value by mail. Please provide your name and mailing address to receive the
Card.
2) Four parents among survey participants who agree to participate in the parental
interview will be selected by the researcher. The four interview participants will
receive a gift card for $20 value at the end of the interview.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be
identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your
permission or as required by law. The information collected about you will be
coded using a fake name (pseudonym) or initials and numbers, for example abc-
123, etc. The information which has your identifiable information will be kept
separately from the rest of your data.

Only the investigator will have access to the data associated with this study. The
data will be stored in the investigator’s home in a password protected computer.
The result of the survey will be released to the dissertation committee of this
investigator. Personal information such as your names and contact information will
be separated from the rest of the survey data and codes will be used as an identifier
between your personal information and your survey data. The data will be kept
indefinitely for reference to future research about parents.

130

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
information will be included that would reveal your identity. If audio-taped
recordings of you will be used for educational purposes, your identity will be
protected or disguised.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this
study, you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may
also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the
study. The investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise
which warrant doing so.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as
a research subject, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research Advancement, Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, Room 306, Los Angeles, CA
90089-1695, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.

IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to send
email to mmori@usc.edu for Mikiya Mori.

131

APPENDIX E

Contact Information Sheet

Parental survey participants will receive a Starbucks Card. One card is limited per
family. Please provide your name and mailing address.

Name: ______________ ________________
Last Name First Name

Mailing Address: ________________________ ____________
____________
Street Address City Zip Code

If you are willing to participate in parental interview, please provide your phone
number. Participation is voluntary. Four participants will be selected from whoever
agree to participate in the interview.

Phone Number: (_______)______-___________

Please place this sheet and your survey in a pre-addressed envelope and return it by
mail.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Mikiya Mori
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Doctor of Education Program

132

APPENDIX F

Parent Survey (Japanese version)

ご両親へのアンケート

進め方：それぞれの質問に対する答えは、特別に指示が無ければ選択肢のアルファベット
一つにマルを付けてください。

尚、このアンケートへの参加は任意です。答えたくない質問がある場合は、その質問に答
える必要はありませんので、次の質問に進んでください。

このアンケートは、3セクションに分かれています。
セクションI（全10問）は、ご両親のどちらかがお答えください。
セクションII（全15問）は、お母様がお答えください。
セクションIII（全15問）は、お父様がお答えください。

IからIIIまでの全ての回答が終わりましたら、このアンケート用紙と連絡先用紙を返信
用封筒（切手は貼ってあります）にいれ最寄の郵便ポストに投函してください。

締め切り：遅くとも1月末までに返送していただけると助かります。

尚、ご出張や一時帰国などでお父様かお母様のどちらが回答出来ない場合は、その方のセ
クション（IIまたはIII）は無回答のままで結構です。

133

セクションセクションセクションセクションI（（（（1番から番から番から番から10番）は、ご両親のどちらかがお答えください。番）は、ご両親のどちらかがお答えください。番）は、ご両親のどちらかがお答えください。番）は、ご両親のどちらかがお答えください。

1. アメリカでの居住年数は何年ですか。
a. 1 年未満
b. 1 年以上3年未満
c. 3 年以上5年未満
d. 5 年以上7年未満
e. 7 年以上

2. あなたの家庭は駐在員家庭ですか。
a. はい
b. いいえ

3. 日本から見て海外に家族で居住するのは初めてですか。
a. はい
b. いいえ

4. 渡米前、アメリカ生活への準備期間（永住や駐在が決まってから出発まで）は何
ヶ月ぐらいありましたか。
a. 1 ヶ月未満
b. 1 ヶ月以上3ヶ月未満
c. 3 ヶ月以上6ヶ月未満
d. 6 ヶ月以上12ヶ月未満
e. 12 ヶ月以上

134

5. 渡米前、アメリカの学校教育についての情報を得るために何をしましたか。（複
数回答可）
a. アメリカの学校教育についての説明会に参加した。
b. アメリカの学校教育についての本を読んだ。
c. アメリカの学校教育についてインターネットで調べた。
d. 渡米経験のある親にアメリカの学校教育に関する話を聞いた。
e. アメリカの学校教育について調べなかった。
f. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）

6. あなたのお子様は何年生ですか。該当する3つのグループの中から一つ選んで下
さい。（二人以上のお子様がいる場合は、キンダーから8年生までの一番年上の
お子様についてお答えください。）
a. キンダーから2年生まで
b. 3 年生から5年生まで
c. 6 年生から8年生まで

7. 7 番で答えたお子様は、現在どの学校に通っていますか。下記の三つの中から該
当するもの全てにマルを付けて下さい。
a. アメリカの現地校
b. 全日制の日本人学校
c. 日本の補習校

8. 学校の他でお子様が通っている習い事は何ですか。該当するもの全てにマルを付
けて下さい。
a. 英語及び英会話レッスン
b. アメリカの学校の為の家庭教師または学習教室
c. 日本への帰国向けの塾
d. 図書館のリーディングプログラム
e. 音楽レッスン
f. スポーツレッスン
g. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）

135

9. 現地校のバックトゥースクールナイトにどれくらい参加しますか。（最近、引越
して来られた方で、参加する機会がなかった方は10番に進んでください。）
a. いつも参加している。
b. 良く参加している。
c. 時々参加している。
d. めったに参加しない。
e. 参加しない。

10.過去12 ヶ月の間に、お子さんの学校（現地校）で何回ボランティア活動に参加し
ましたか。
a. 0 回
b. 1 回
c. 2 回以上

セクションIが終わりました。次はお母様のセクションです。

136

セクションセクションセクションセクションII（（（（11番～番～番～番～25番）はお母様がお答えください。番）はお母様がお答えください。番）はお母様がお答えください。番）はお母様がお答えください。

11.渡米前、どれくらい英語が話せましたか。
a. 英語は全く話せなかった。
b. 旅行で使う英語（買い物や行き先を尋ねる）ぐらいは話せた。
c. 英語で自己紹介が出来た。
d. 日常会話が出来た。
e. 英語でディスカッションが出来た。

12.渡米前、どれくらいネイティブスピーカーの英語を聞き取る事が出来ましたか。
a. 全く聞き取れなかった。
b. ４分の１ぐらい聞き取れた。
c. 半分ぐらい聞き取れた。
d. 4 分の３ぐらい聞き取れた。
e. 全部聞き取れた。

13.あなたが日頃関わりを持っている人を、日本人と日本人で無い人に分けた場合、
その割合は何ですか。次の五つの中から一番近いものを選んで下さい。
a. ほとんど日本人
b. 日本人が3/4 に対し日本人で無い人が1/4
c. 日本人が1/2 に対し日本人で無い人が1/2
d. 日本人が1/4 に対し日本人で無い人が3/4
e. ほとんどが日本人で無い人

14.一ヶ月の間に地元の図書館を何回ぐらい利用しますか。
a. 0 回
b. 1 回
c. 2 回以上

137

15.日本語の新聞（電子版を含む）を１週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

16.英字新聞（電子版を含む）を１週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

17.日本語の本（雑誌は除く）を1週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない

18.英語の本（雑誌は除く）を1 週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

138

19.子供の学校教育（現地校）に関して質問がある場合、いつも誰に相談しますか。
a. 学校の先生
b. 学校のカウンセラー
c. 学校区の担当者
d. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）
e. 誰とも相談しない。

20.子供の学校（現地校）での学習内容をどのようにして把握していますか。（複数
回答可）
a. 自分の子供を通じて
b. 学校のイントラネットを通じて
c. 学校の先生を通じて
d. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）
e. 特に把握していない。

21.子供にはどんな成績ををめざして欲しいですか。
a. A
b. B
c. C

22.自分の子供に修得して欲しい教育水準は何ですか。
a. 高校または高専卒業まで
b. 短期大学卒業まで
c. 4 年生大学卒業まで
d. 大学院卒業まで

139

23.あなたが最後に修得した学位は何でしたか。
a. 高校または高専卒業
b. 短期大学卒業
c. 学士号
d. 修士号
e. 博士号

24.専攻分野を下記の選択肢から選んで下さい。
a. 法律学 b. 経済学・商学
c. 理工学 d. コンピューターサイエンス
e. 社会学 f. 政治学
g. 外国語学 h. 外国文学
i. 文学（外国文学を除く） j. 教育学・心理学
k. 農林水産学 l. 医学・歯学・薬学
m. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）

25.あなたの年齢に該当するものを選んで下さい。
a. 20－29 歳
b. 30－39 歳
c. 40－49 歳
d. 50－59 歳
e. 60 歳以上

セクションIIが終わりました。次はお父様のセクションです。

140

セクションセクションセクションセクションIII（（（（26番～番～番～番～40番）はお父様がお答えください。番）はお父様がお答えください。番）はお父様がお答えください。番）はお父様がお答えください。

26.渡米前、どれくらい英語が話せましたか。該当するものにマルを付けて下さい。
a. 英語は全く話せなかった。
b. 旅行で使う英語（買い物や行き先を尋ねる）ぐらいは話せた。
c. 英語で自己紹介が出来た。
d. 日常会話が出来た。
e. 英語でディスカッションが出来た。

27.渡米前、どれくらいネイティブスピーカーの英語を聞き取る事が出来ましたか。
a. 全く聞き取れなかった。
b. ４分の１ぐらい聞き取れた。
c. 半分ぐらい聞き取れた。
d. 4 分の３ぐらい聞き取れた。
e. 全部聞き取れた。

28.あなたが常に関わりを持っている人を、日本人と日本人で無い人に分けた場合、
その割合は何ですか。次の五つの中から一番近いものを選んで下さい。
a. ほとんど日本人
b. 日本人が3/4 に対し日本人で無い人が1/4
c. 日本人が1/2 に対し日本人で無い人が1/2
d. 日本人が1/4 に対し日本人で無い人が3/4
e. ほとんどが日本人で無い人

29.一ヶ月の間に地元の図書館を何回ぐらい利用しますか。
a. 0 回
b. 1 回
c. 2 回以上

141

30.日本語の新聞（電子版を含む）を１週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

31.英字新聞（電子版を含む）を１週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

32.日本語の本（雑誌は除く）を1週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない

33.英語の本（雑誌は除く）を1 週間にどれくらい（頻度）読みますか。
a. 毎日読む。
b. よく読む。
c. ときどき読む。
d. めったに読まない。
e. 読まない。

142

34.子供の学校教育（現地校）に関して質問がある場合、いつも誰に相談しますか。
a. 学校の先生
b. 学校のカウンセラー
c. 知人
d. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）
e. 誰とも相談しない。

35.子供の学校（現地校）での学習内容をどのようにして把握していますか。（複数
回答可）
a. 自分の子供を通じて
b. 学校のイントラネットを通じて
c. 学校の先生を通じて
d. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）
e. 特に把握していない。

36.子供にはどんな成績をめざして欲しいですか。
a. A
b. B
c. C

37.自分の子供に修得して欲しい教育水準は何ですか。
a. 高校または高専卒業まで
b. 2 年制大学卒業まで
c. 4 年制大学卒業まで
d. 大学院卒業まで

143

38.あなたが最後に修得した学位は何でしたか。
a. 高校または高専卒業
b. 短期大学卒業
c. 学士号
d. 修士号
e. 博士号

39.専攻分野を下記の選択肢から選んで下さい。
a. 法律学 b. 経済学・商学
c. 理工学 d. コンピューターサイエンス
e. 社会学 f. 政治学
g. 外国語学 h. 外国文学
i. 文学（外国文学を除く） j. 教育学・心理学
k. 農林水産学 l. 医学・歯学・薬学
m. その他（＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿）

40.あなたの年齢に該当するものを選んで下さい。
a. 20－29 歳
b. 30－39 歳
c. 40－49 歳
d. 50－59 歳
e. 60 歳以上

御協力ありがとうございました。

144

APPENDIX G

Enrollment Letter (Japanese version)

2007年1月

教育に関わるアンケート調査のお願い

お父様、お母様へ

皆様、お忙しいところ大変失礼致します。アメリカ在住の皆様におかれまして
は、子女教育に大変ご苦労が多いことと存じます。私は、ロサンゼルスの南カリ
フォルニア大学（University of Southern California）で教育学の博士号を修得
中の森美樹也と申します。このたびは、教育分野の研究調査に御協力していた
だきたく、この案内を差し上げる次第です。尚、今回の案内配布については、ト
ーランス学校区より許可をいただき同学校区より郵送させていただきました。

私の博士論文研究テーマは、「親が子供の教育にどのように影響を与えている
か：アメリカ在住の日本人家庭の場合」です。調査の方法は、ご両親へのアンケ
ートとインタビューになります。アメリカの教育分野の文献には、アメリカ在住
の日本人家庭に関するものが非常に少なく、この研究は皆様の御協力なしでは実
現できません。この研究結果が、アメリカの教育者がより日本人家庭を理解する
ための参考となるよう願っています。また、日本人家庭を初めてコミュニティー
に迎える学校区が新しいプログラムを開発することにも役立つ事になると思いま
す。

アンケートへの参加は任意です。所要時間は15分程度です。詳細は同封の「調査
研究に関するインフォメーション（日本語版）」に記載されていますのでご覧下
さい。

尚、このアンケート調査に参加されたご家庭につき謝礼としてスターバックスの
ギフトカード（＄5ドル分）1枚を送ります。同封の連絡先用紙にお名前とメーリ
ングアドレスを記入し、回答されたアンケート用紙と一緒に返送してください。

大変ご迷惑をお掛けしますが、御協力いただけないでしょうか。ご質問はメール
でお答えしますので下記のアドレスまで連絡してください。

よろしくお願いします。

145

南カリフォルニア大学教育学部博士課程
(University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education, Doctor
of Education Program)
森美樹也
メールアドレス：mmori@usc.edu

146

APPENDIX H

Information Sheet (Japanese version)

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

調査研究に関するインフォメーション調査研究に関するインフォメーション調査研究に関するインフォメーション調査研究に関するインフォメーション(日本語版日本語版日本語版日本語版)

研究テーマ「親が子供の教育に与える影響について：アメリカ在住の日本研究テーマ「親が子供の教育に与える影響について：アメリカ在住の日本研究テーマ「親が子供の教育に与える影響について：アメリカ在住の日本研究テーマ「親が子供の教育に与える影響について：アメリカ在住の日本
人家庭の場合」人家庭の場合」人家庭の場合」人家庭の場合」

あなたは南カリフォルニア大学教育学部（USC ロシャスクールオブエデュケーション）
に所属する森美樹也による研究調査への参加を求められています。あなたには、この研
究調査に参加する資格があります。研究結果は学術論文に寄与されます。この研究がアメ
リカ在住の日本語を話す家庭に関するものであるため、参加の可能性があるうちの一人と
して選ばれました。アメリカの公立学校に子供を通わせている日本語を話す親の中から全
部で200名の参加者を募る予定です。あくまでも参加は任意です。

研究の目的研究の目的研究の目的研究の目的
この研究は、アメリカ在住の日本語を母国語とする家庭に於いて、親が子供の教育にどの
ように影響を与えるかを理解する事を目的としています。

あなたがアンケートやインタビューの質問に回答する事で、この研究への参加に同意したあなたがアンケートやインタビューの質問に回答する事で、この研究への参加に同意したあなたがアンケートやインタビューの質問に回答する事で、この研究への参加に同意したあなたがアンケートやインタビューの質問に回答する事で、この研究への参加に同意した
ものとされます。ものとされます。ものとされます。ものとされます。

研究の手順についてのご説明研究の手順についてのご説明研究の手順についてのご説明研究の手順についてのご説明
この研究は、ご両親へのアンケート調査とインタビューの二つから構成されています。参
加者全員にアンケートに答えていただき、その中から4名の方にインタビューをお願いす
る事になります。

１．ご両親へのアンケート：
ご自宅でアンケートに答えていただきます。質問は全て選択式です。アンケートは全部で
40問から構成されており、ご両親の子供の教育に対する考えやご両親ご自身に関わる質問
内容となっています。アンケートの所要時間は約15分です。返送は、備え付けのあて先が
書かれた封筒にアンケートを入れ、郵便ポストに投函します。

２．ご両親へのインタビュー：
インタビューには4組のお父様とお母様が参加します。アンケートの回収後、数週間
以内にアンケートに回答された方で、かつ、インタビューに参加を同意される方の中か
ら4組を研究員が選びます。インタビューの所要時間は25分から30分です。また、内容を
正確に理解するため、インタビューは録音されます。インタビューの日時や場所につい
ては、参加者される方に直接連絡されます。

147

潜在的リスクについて潜在的リスクについて潜在的リスクについて潜在的リスクについて
あなたがこの研究に参加することで考えられるリスクはありません。アンケートの質問や
インタビューの質問によっては、答えたくない内容があるかも知れません。アンケート調
査やインタビューに参加することで、貴重な時間を使う事になり不便を感じるかも知れま
せん。

研究への参加者と社会への貢献について研究への参加者と社会への貢献について研究への参加者と社会への貢献について研究への参加者と社会への貢献について
あなたがこの研究に参加することで直接恩恵を受けることはありません。しか
し、この研究に参加することでアメリカの教育者が日本語を話す親がこどもの教育にどの
ような影響を与えるかをよりよく理解する助けとなります。また、日本語を話す家族を初
めて迎える学校区委員会がそういった家族の為のプログラムを開発するのを助ける事にも
なります。

参加者への謝礼について参加者への謝礼について参加者への謝礼について参加者への謝礼について
１）アンケートに参加していただいたご家庭にスターバックスのギフトカード（5ドル
分）1枚が送られます。カード郵送の為、名前とメーリングアドレスを記入してください。
アンケートの受け取りが確認された後、カードを郵送します。
２）インタビューに応じていただいた4組（お父様とお母様）の皆様には、インタビュー
終了後に、1組当たりギフトカード（20ドル相当）1枚が送られます。

守秘義務について守秘義務について守秘義務について守秘義務について
この研究により参加者から得られる全ての情報や個人情報の秘密は守られます。法律で義
務付けられているように参加者の同意無しで外部に情報が出る事はありません。

あなたに関する情報は、架空の名前、または、イニシャルと数字（例：abc-123）記号に置
き換えられます。あなたの身元に関する情報は他の情報から分離保管されます。この研究
員のみが調査に関するデータにアクセス出来ます。調査に関するデータはこの研究者の自
宅にあるパスワードで保護されたコンピュータに保管されます。アンケート調査の結果は、
この研究員の学術委員会に提出されます。あなたの名前や連絡先等の個人情報は、アンケ
ートデータから分離されます。データは、この研究完了後、親に関する将来の研究の参考
の為に無期限に保管されます。

インタビューへの参加者は、録音内容をレビューする権利があります。この録音データを
入手できるのは、この研究者のみです。

この調査結果が出版されたり、会議で発表される場合、あなたの身元が判別できる情報
が含まれることはありません。あなたの録音データが教育の目的のために使われる場合
は、身元に関する情報は保護されるか、架空の名前に変更されます。

研究への参加と辞退について研究への参加と辞退について研究への参加と辞退について研究への参加と辞退について
この研究への参加はあくまでも任意です。もしこの研究に自発的に参加される場合、途中
で辞退してもペナルティーはありません。答えたくない質問を拒否することが出来、その
場合でもそのまま参加を続ける事が出来ます。状況によっては、この研究者の判断であな
たにこの研究から辞退していただく事があります。

148

研究対象者の権利について研究対象者の権利について研究対象者の権利について研究対象者の権利について
あなたはいつでも参加への同意を取り消す事が出来、罰則を受けることなく研究への参加
を途中でやめることが出来ます。この研究に参加することで、研究参加者の法的権利が放
棄される事はありません。研究参加者としての権利に関するご質問は、下記に連絡してく
ださい。
連絡先：University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Grace Ford Salvatori
Building, Room 306, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1695, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.

この研究者の身元についてこの研究者の身元についてこの研究者の身元についてこの研究者の身元について
この研究についての質問がある場合は、研究員である森美樹也に連絡してください。
メールアドレス：mmori@usc.edu

149
APPENDIX I
Contact Information Sheet (Japanese version)

連絡先用紙

１．１．１．１．謝礼送付の為の連絡先謝礼送付の為の連絡先謝礼送付の為の連絡先謝礼送付の為の連絡先

ご両親へのアンケートに答えていただいたご家庭に、スターバックスカー
ド（＄5ドル分）をお送りします。カードは１家庭につき１枚です。お手数
ですが、お名前とメーリングアドレスをローマ字でご記入ください。

Name: ______________ ________________
Last Name First Name

Mailing Address: __________________ _________________
____________
Street Address City Zip Code

２．ご両親へのインタビュー参加者の募集２．ご両親へのインタビュー参加者の募集２．ご両親へのインタビュー参加者の募集２．ご両親へのインタビュー参加者の募集

ご両親へのインタビューを募集しています。参加は任意です。お忙しいと
は思いますが、参加していただけると助かります。参加しても良いと言う
方は、お手数ですが電話番号をご記入ください。参加を承諾していただけ
る方の中から４名を選び、ご連絡申し上げます。

Phone Number: (_______)______-___________

この用紙とアンケート用紙を返信用封筒に入れ最寄の郵便ポストに投函し
てください。

150
御協力ありがとうございました。

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to better understand the ways in which Japanese-speaking parents influence their children's learning in the United States.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Mori, Mikiya (author)

Core Title Parental influence on children's education: Japanese-speaking families

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 02/04/2008

Defense Date 12/10/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,parental influence

Place Name California (states), USA (countries)

Language English

Advisor Ragusa, Gisele (committee chair), Lewis, Jack G. (committee member), Mora-Flores, Eugenia (committee member)

Creator Email mmori@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1005

Unique identifier UC1221754

Identifier etd-Mori-20080204 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-42378 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1005 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Mori-20080204.pdf

Dmrecord 42378

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Mori, Mikiya

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu