NUNOO Katsuichiro | APU RESEARCH SEEDS - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Providing recommendations and assistance with the intention of building better relationships between non-Japanese workers and the Japanese language and between non-Japanese workers and Japanese society

The number of foreigners residing in Japan has exceeded 3.5 million. In particular, there has been progress in the acceptance of non-Japanese human resources with varying status of residence, such as Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker, in the nursing care field. However, the Japanese language poses a considerable barrier to the long-term employment and social participation of those human resources as well as to their self-realization.
I, the principal investigator, am studying how Japanese language education policy for non-Japanese workers has been discussed and implemented while placing particular focus on human resources in the nursing care fields. Through analysis of minutes of National Diet sessions and policy documents, I have clarified the challenges present with Japanese language education policy and made policy recommendations. I have also offered recommendations regarding the language rights of non-Japanese workers and the ideal nature of Japanese language educator training and local Japanese language education in relation to those rights.
Simultaneously, I have also tackled the development of educational materials necessitated by Japanese language learners in the nursing care and nursing fields. For the long-term employment of workers in those fields in Japan, the National Examination for Certified Care workers carries considerable meaning. As this National Examination is administered in Japanese and includes a number of specialized terms regarding nursing care, passing it presents a significantly high hurdle to non-Japanese individuals. In collaboration with researchers at other universities and Web designers, I have developed educational materials for such non-Japanese care workers to master those specialized terms when they take the exam, one of which is the “Learning Nursing Care Vocabulary in Easy Japanese” website. These materials make learning Japanese possible regardless of the learner’s native tongue or cultural background, and provide explanations of technical terms using “Easy Japanese.” Through these and other efforts, I develop materials from a user’s perspective which supports both learners of Japanese and the people who assist with that learning.

Aiming for practical research and contributions with the dual approach of policy recommendations and educational materials development

A defining characteristic of this research is how it involves the pursuit of two opposing approaches. One is the analysis and recommendations of policies with a view to the future of the nation and society. The other is the development of language education materials that are close by and actually beneficial. With the aim of building better relationships between non-Japanese workers and the Japanese language as well as between non-Japanese workers and Japanese society, those two approaches have been simultaneously worked on to carry out practical research that does not end in armchair theories.
For the analysis and recommendations of policies, the current state of discussions surrounding Japanese language education for non-Japanese nursing care workers and associated challenges have been clarified through the analysis of minutes of National Diet sessions. In particular, the characteristics of discussions for each status of residence, namely EPA and Technical Intern Training and Specified Skilled Worker, were visualized through a detailed analysis of National Diet session minutes, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Expert Study Group meetings and newspaper articles.
For the development of Japanese language learning materials, methods for explaining specialized terms in the nursing care field using “Simple Japanese” were established and implemented in the form of a website material titled “Learning Nursing Care Vocabulary in Easy Japanese” This approach differs from the conventional one of simple parallel translations and explanations of terms by making it possible to provide explanations in a manner that learners can easily understand for the concepts and systems particular to Japan’s nursing care frontlines as well. Moreover, it is equipped with functions that meet the diverse needs of learners, such as a text-to-speech function and multilingual support.
The “Learning Nursing Care Vocabulary in Easy Japanese” was first opened in English and Indonesian in 2021 in order to accommodate EPA candidates from the Philippines and Indonesia. From there, Vietnamese, Burmese, Chinese and Nepalese have been added in accordance with the growth in the intake of care workers. Such educational materials that make comprehensive learning assistance possible were successfully realized precisely because researchers who have performed analysis from the standpoint of Japanese language education for the National Examination for Certified Caregivers, those in the welfare field, and those familiar with practical learning support for Japanese language learners in the nursing care field, came together.

From the “Learning Nursing Care Vocabulary in Easy Japanese” website.
This example shows the results for a search of the Japanese term for “aspiration pneumonitis.” The result on the left is in Indonesian and on the right is in Burmese.

Scrutinizing the challenges with and possibilities of language education for the sake of better relationships between non-Japanese workers and Japanese society

The reason why I have implemented the abovementioned two approaches is because I am endeavoring to continue clarifying situations in which people experience a disadvantage due to finding themselves in the position of a minority as a result of language, examining the question of how language education can play a role in those situations and taking action towards that end. In that sense, there is no limit on the scope of activities under this research.
For activities such as policy recommendations made from the angle of scrutinizing Japan and its society, new themes will be explored while sizing up where Japanese language education policy is headed in the future and while collaborating with ministry and government office personnel and other researchers as well.
For practical involvement with non-Japanese human resources in the nursing care field, assistance will continue to be provided to address the situation of numerous individuals experiencing difficulties with language despite their desire to work in Japan.
The shortage of manpower in the nursing care field is predicted to advance even further in the future, as is the intake of non-Japanese human resources. Amid those circumstances, support under this research has the potential to further develop in a variety of forms.
For the development of the “Learning Nursing Care Vocabulary in Easy Japanese” there are plans to continue offering the website as a resource to assist learners of the Japanese language as well as supporters of that learning in the future, including the goal of making the resource more multilingual. Furthermore, efforts are being made alongside joint researchers to develop a new website that contributes to Japanese language learning support.

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Project: “Development of learning assistance support system for Japanese language learning supporters in the caregiving field” (Principal investigator: NAKAGAWA Kenji)

Additionally, activities to popularize “Easy Japanese” through collaboration with local governments and international exchange associations will be made. There are already examples of this in practice, such as serving as an instructor for human resources in hospitals and nursing care facilities in Hita City, Oita Prefecture. I seek to leverage this experience in efforts to popularize “Simple Japanese” on greater occasions.
In the future, it is likely that Japanese language education for non-Japanese human resources on the nursing care frontlines will experience diverse needs. Additionally, from the perspective of local governments and communities, firms and other entities as well, support from the aspect of language is a challenge when taking in non-Japanese human resources. Opportunities to collaborate with such organizations and groups are also likely to increase going forward.
By combining knowledge gained from policy analysis with experience in practical educational materials development, I aim to continue providing highly effective proposals and assistance tailored to various challenges.

Books: “Problematic attitudes and systems related to the Acceptance of foreign nurses and care workers” (Published by Hituzi Syobo), “Neglected but Important Aspects of Language: to reveal discrimination behind language in our daily life” (Co-authored; published by Sangensha). I continue to point out problematic areas in language education policy and make recommendations.