How do Japanese language learners choose between synonymous grammatical forms according to the situation?-A comparison with native speakers-

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21720191
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Japanese language education
Research Institution	Tokyo Gakugei University
Principal Investigator	KONISHI Madoka Tokyo Gakugei University, 留学生センター, 研究員 (60460052)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2010
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2010)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000) Fiscal Year 2010: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000) Fiscal Year 2009: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000)
Keywords	日本語教育 / 第二言語習得 / 実態調査 / 日本語文法 / 文法 / 使い分け / レジスター / 「から」「ので」
Research Abstract	The purpose of this research is to clarify the following two points: 1) How do Japanese language learners choose between synonymous grammatical forms according to the situation? 2) What is the difference between Japanese language learners and Japanese native speakers in choosing between synonymous grammatical forms according to the situation? In order to clarify these points, this research investigated "kara" and "node", used to express cause or reason, and "souda" and its synonymous expressions used to show hearsay. The three results suggested by the research can be stated as follows: 1) There is a gap between the Japanese language learners' explicit knowledge and actual usage of synonymous expressions. 2) Japanese language learners choose between expressions that differ from the expressions treated as synonymous in the fields of Japanese linguistics and education. 3) Japanese native speakers choose according to the situation various synonymous forms that can not be summarized into a lemma.