Acculturation and Identity of Bilingual Heritage Students of Japanese
Kimi Kondo-Brown
Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
This article examines how the additive acculturation model for immigrant minorities is reflected in the acculturation process and identity development of six Hawai'i-based bilingual heritage university students of Japanese. It also demonstrates how social interactions, language behavior, and identity contribute to the diversity and complexity of the individual acculturation experience. This article argues that through the process of integrating majority and minority languages and cultures these heritage language students were able to develop empowering identities that help them succeed in the mainstream educational system.
