The intent of this study is to examine the trajectory of ideology regarding standard Japanese and dialects from the historical perspective, and also to discuss the cause of the post-war shift of the ideology. Before the war, the government attempted to disseminate hyojun-go aiming at creating a unified Japan in the time when many countries were developing to be nation states after industrial revolution. After the Pacific war, the less strict-sounding term kyotsu-go was more often used, conveying an ideology of democratization. Yet despite the difference in the terms, speaking a common language continues to play a role of unifying the country. Today there is great interest in regional dialects in Japan. Although kyotsu-go is the common language, most people, especially in urban areas, are familiar with (if not fluent in) kyotsu-go. Due to the development of media and mobilization there are few people who cannot understand kyotsu-go. However, until around the 1970s people were more likely to believe in the superiority of standard Japanese (hyojun-go). Standard language was believed to be superior as a result of language policy that had its origins in Meiji and lasted through WWII. This included education policy that required school children to learn hyojun-go. After the war, in a process of democratization there emerged greater acceptance of language variety: dialect. Thus, there has been a shift in language ideology in Japan, and the people's interests in dialects is one indicator of this. This shift is analyzed here from the perspective of Bourdieu's notion of social and linguistic capital, tying it to policy, historical events and societal change.

This thesis discusses the current Japanese language (nihongo) education for immigrant students at public schools in Japan and provides recommendations through the study of language policy and the comparison of bilingual education in the United States. The current situation of a decreasing birth rate and increasing aging population in Japan has led to the acceptance of more foreign workers. Due to this change, language education in Japan has increasing development. The focus of chapter 1 is on the theories of language policy. This paper particularly focuses on the ideas of Wright (2004), Neustupný (2006), Spolsky (2004), and Cooper (1989), and discusses similarities and differences between them. By applying these theories to language policy in Japan, chapter 1 shows how language policy changed throughout Japanese history. Chapter 2 discusses the current environment surrounding immigrant students. It includes a description not only of the expanding population of foreign students, but also the history of Japanese language education and the laws related to it. This chapter also presents the present movement of language policy in Japan and how the movement affects Japanese language education for language minority students. Chapter 3 compares bilingual education in the United States to bilingual education in Japan, and makes three suggestions to improve Japanese language education at public schools in Japan, particularly addressing the classification of language levels for immigrant students, teaching styles, and the limitation of qualified bilingual teachers.