Junko Mori
UW–Madison resident fellow (2024–2025)
Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UW–Madison
Cultural Diplomacy, Linguistic Capital, and Raciolinguistic Dynamics: Teaching Japanese in Wisconsin Public Schools
Despite its formation through waves of immigration and settlement from various regions of the world, the United States has long embraced a monolingual ideology that equates Americanization with Anglicization. A corresponding challenge to this development is the struggle to establish coherent policies and strategies for the education of languages other than English. The ever-changing status of, and commitment to, teaching languages other than English reflects prevailing world affairs as well as the political climate within the nation, and vice versa. As an illustration of this interplay, the current book project investigates the history of Japanese language and culture education in Wisconsin public schools. More specifically, it focuses on the development, implementation, and legacy of the Japanese Language and Culture Assistant Program administered by the state’s Department of Public Instruction from 1989 to 1993.
With reference to three central notions of cultural diplomacy, linguistic capital, and raciolinguistic dynamics, this project explores how the essential purpose and benefits of Japanese language and culture education in this upper Midwestern state were envisioned differently by program developers, district administrators, local teachers, Japanese interns, and students with varying racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds. This presentation articulates the project’s impetus and discusses highlights from selected chapters.
Junko Mori is a professor of Japanese language and linguistics in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and a member of the interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). She is a recipient of the ACTFL/MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education and a past president of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. Her research interests have evolved over the years, ranging from multimodal microanalysis of meaning-making processes observed in face-to-face interactions to the historical development and current conditions of language education in the United States. Her publications have appeared in journals such as Applied Linguistics, Journal of Sociolinguistics, and Multilingua. Her most recent essay, entitled “Global Geopolitics, Migration, and Language Education in the United Sates,” will appear in the Modern Language Journal this summer.
*Events currently open only to 2024-25 fellows due to space concerns; please contact IRH at info@irh.wisc.edu to be added to a cancellation list for in-person events.*