A linguistic biography of an English-dependent Filipino migrant in Japan

Article Details

Ariane Macalinga Borlongan, joohyuklim@yahoo.com, Department of English and Applied Linguistics De La Salle University
Mikhail Alic C. Go, arianemacalingaborlongan@yahoo.com, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Journal: Asian Journal of English Language Studies
Volume 9 Issue 1 (Published: 2021-12-01)

Abstract

In this article, we present a linguistic biography of an English-dependent Filipino migrant in Japan. His multinational company stationed him in its Japan office even if he is not proficient in Japanese. He moves to Japan with almost no knowledge of Japanese, and we document his struggles, and, in particular, his language issues during his posting in Japan. We reflect on his experience and provide a discussion on how many other migrant workers may have similar experience as his. We end this article by providing recommendations as to how migrant workers could be supported in their destination countries.

Keywords: Migration linguistics, language and migration, labor migration, overseas Filipino migrant, migration to Japan

DOI: https://ajels.ust.edu.ph//wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AJELS-Vol9-RA5.pdf
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