Bilinguismo italiano-giapponese: abitudini scolastiche in ambito familiare e scolastico

This paper examines the linguistic situation of children of Japanese descent living in Milan and children of ltalians living in Tokyo. First, the main studies on Japanese bilingualism will be discussed，along with some demographic data about the two communities. The results of a questionaire survey investigating children's linguistic background will provide a description of language use at home and will highlight some promoting factors for bilingualism. In the case of Milan, parents and educators succeed in creating a monolingual context, that results in a more active use of the heritage language by the children. By contrast, in the caseof Tokyo, many factors seem to predict a less successful language maintenance.