NEWS

2024.03.22

【Report】The International Colloquium, “Cross-Cultural Communication and Cohabitation among Multilinguistic Societies in Asia and the Pacific” was held!

The 5th International Colloquium, “Asian Paths of Civilization and Development: Promoting Post-COVID International Collaboration,” was held on February 26. It was divided into two sections and lasted two days. The first session's theme was “Cross-Cultural Communication and Cohabitation among Multilinguistic Societies in Asia and the Pacific.”

We invited researchers from six countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Pakistan, Australia, and Japan) with diverse expertise and backgrounds to participate in this colloquium. Opening the first session, Professor Yasushi Kosugi (Director of the Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Institute) welcomed each participant and stressed the importance of pursuing ways of communication and coexistence in the face of the increasingly demarcated religious and cultural differences that are dividing rather than unifying the world under the present globalization. Furthermore, in the second session discussing the theme of the Islamic economy, he emphasized the significance of gaining a clear understanding of the Islamic economy as an alternative economic ideology and practice that extends beyond the current financial system, highlighting the pursuit of regional development.

Professor Yasushi Kosugi delivering his opening address

Associate Professor Toshiyuki Takeda (The Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization) moderated this session.

Moderator: Associate Professor Toshiyuki Takeda

The first presenter, Dr. Jinhye Lee (Assistant Professor, Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University), presented “Linguistic Challenges in Belonging: Russian-Speaking Korean Diaspora’s Return and Education in South Korea.” She specializes in issues of local coexistence and social integration among the Korean diaspora of the former Soviet Union, who are known as the Koryo Saram, and their return to their historical roots in South Korea. Her presentation focused on the return of the Russian-speaking Koryo Saram to South Korea, and the integration issues pertaining to their return. She specifically explained that the public education provided by the Korean government to the children of Koryo Saram who returned to South Korea faced issues such as a low academic achievement among the children, a shortage of bilingual teachers, and problems in the education system, including the lack of Korean language education. She pointed out that the teachers who teach the Koryo Saram must have the ability to teach Korean through Russian because the Koryo Saram are native Russian speakers. She highlighted the crucial issues: first, the central government’s dominance over local governments engendered limitations in the ability to budget for local affairs. Second, the sustainability of the child education program for Koryo Saram remains a problem. Thirdly, Dr. Lee mentioned another issue linked to Koryo Saram’s lack of voting rights. In the Q&A, the participants discussed interesting issues such as whether the stance on education policy toward Koryo Saram differs among local governments in South Korea and what kind of problems the return of Koryo Saram would pose to Korean society.

Dr. Jinhye Lee making her presentation

Next, Ms. Soyeon Kim (PhD candidate, Monash University, Australia) made her presentation titled “Family Language Policy of Cross-Cultural Families in Australia and South Korea.” She is currently working on her PhD dissertation, conducting an empirical study of language choice and its determinants in families with children in international marriages between speakers of different languages. Her presentation focused mainly on the question of what kind of language choices tend to be made when it comes to the partnership between English and Korean speakers. In many cases, people choose English based on the host society and future prospects for pragmatic reasons. However, it has been noted that the number of people choosing both Korean and English is increasing. Nonetheless, her surveys revealed that the decision to choose Korean as a second language at home was influenced by specific factors. These included the social environment, the perception of the language within the marital relationship, and the level of responsibility for language education assigned to the mother. During the Q&A, participants engaged in lively discussions about the scope of her analysis framework and the impact of children’s age on language choice.

Ms. Soyeon KIM delivering her presentation

The third presenter, Associate Professor Junaini Kasdan (International Islamic University Malaysia), gave a presentation entitled “Understanding Cultural Disparities in Communication: Lessons Learned from Teaching Malay as a Second Language.” She researches effective language teaching methods, and her presentation highlighted the roles of actual local cultural practices based on meals, foods, and tea as critical factors in the effective acquisition of Malay. She underscored that learning Malay has different nuances in different societies, such as the connotation of honorific titles in personal names, the way names are called, the manner of eating, and the variety of names for tea when learning different Malay languages used in Malaysia, Indonesia, or Brunei. Not knowing about these differences can sometimes cause friction in communication. We could understand from her presentation that learning a foreign language through real-life practices in the local community was important. During the Q&A, participants had lively discussions about the differences in lexical meanings between Indonesian and Malay and the complex differences in pronunciation.

Associate Professor Junaini Kasdan making her presentation

The fourth presenter, Dr. Hina Jamshed (Assistant Professor, Government Graduate College Sahiwal, Pakistan), made her presentation online entitled “Words Without Borders: The Power of Urdu in Multiculturalism” to reevaluate the use of Urdu today. First, she pointed out that the Urdu language spoken in Pakistan and India has been losing its historical significance and depth. Secondly, Dr. Hina picked up various poems and fables expressed in Urdu, highlighting how the Urdu language was formed by incorporating historically diverse religious and cultural influences. In this historical process, Urdu has preserved and inherited a wealth of expressions that are consonant with universal values such as humanity, love, and justice. From this viewpoint, she concluded that the Urdu language could form a context for communicating and sharing public values in a South Asian society where diverse cultures are mixed. During the Q&A, meaningful discussions were shared on the scale of Urdu users in Pakistani universities and the specific policies and practices currently in place to reassess Urdu.

Dr. Hina Jamshed making her presentation

The final presenter of this session was Dr. Emiko Sunaga (Project Research Fellow, The Uehiro Project for the Asian Research Library [U-PARL] of the University of Tokyo Library System). Her presentation was titled “Living with English as a Common Language: Multilingual Societies and Language Education in South Asia.” Dr. Sunaga addressed the issues of language education in the multilingual context of Pakistan. In Pakistan, English is used as the official language, and Urdu is defined as the national language. Various other languages are also used, including Punjabi and Sindhi. In this multilingual situation, the coexistence of English and other languages has become a nationwide issue. Her presentation noted that in Pakistan, the use of English, the international and official language, has become indispensable to a rise in social status and has taken precedence over the preservation of Urdu in schooling. During the Q&A, there was a lively discussion about not only the current social conditions that motivate students to learn English, but also the historical context and the public language education policies required in the multilingual context.

Dr. Emiko Sunaga making her presentation

Through these diverse topics, this session addressed the multifaceted issues surrounding language use in the context of globalization today. At the same time, it showed that sharing the problems faced by different language usage situations could provide new perspectives and hints to other contexts. We are grateful to everyone who joined this session.

Attendees discussing specific issues in Section 1 of the Colloquium