The Influence of Culture on the Development of Biliteracy:
A Comparison of Error Correction in Early Writing in Japanese and Australian Schools
Meredith Stephens
Faculty of Business Administration
Matsuyama University, Matsuyama, Japan
Richard Blight
English Education Center
Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan
This study investigates the experience of a bilingual child in early writing education in Japanese and Australian classrooms, focussing on differences in error correction practices in the two school systems. In Australia, the subject's compositions demonstrated experimentation in the production of written forms and routine usage of invented spellings. In contrast, her Japanese compositions featured fewer errors and more frequent self-corrections. These differences may be attributed to the distinct linguistic purposes and varying goals of the two education systems. Whereas a primary goal of early writing education in the Australian system is self-expression, the Japanese system emphasizes accuracy of form. It is unclear whether the practices of one education system can be beneficial in the other education system. In this case, the child inadvertently applied pedagogical practices from one system to her compositions in the other system. Such instances of transfer may impede writing progress, but should be recognized as part of the general complexity associated with the development of bilinguality and biliteracy.
