EPAによるインドネシア人介護福祉士候補者の受入れ現場の現状と求められる日本語教育支援 : 候補者と日本語教師への支援を目指して <原著論文>

This study is a part of the knowledge acquired through research fieldwork at a nursing care facility in Japan. This paper focuses on the practical issues of Indonesian care workers under the EPA scheme from the view points of the candidates and the Japanese language teacher. The purpose of this research is to clarify the present situation of the actual facility where they accept the candidates, and to try to discuss the ways of feasibly supporting candidates and the care site.

Foreign care worker candidates under the EPA have been accepted since 2008, and they started On-the Job Training in various parts of Japan. However, this scheme has a lot of issues involving language, the system framework, communication in intercultural care, etc. Although it seems to not be concluded in arguments that relate to many fields, one particularly severe situation involves linguistic issues; acquiring Japanese language and the measures to pass the national examination.

One of the findings throughout the fieldwork is the gap between the necessary support for Japanese language learning by candidates and the support given by the Japanese language teacher at the nursing care facility as a step toward the national examination. The analysis in this paper highlights the confusion of candidates who spend a few months at the facility after arriving and the limitation that the Japanese language teacher feels. Based on the views of actual members who are working at the care facility with candidates, this research aims at giving suggestions for practical support to candidates and the care site from the Japanese language teaching site.