L1 influence on the Use of Japanese Topic Marker "wa"

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520628
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Kansai University (2013-2014); Nagoya University (2011-2012)
• Principal Investigator: HASUIKE Izumi 関西大学, 国際教育センター, 留学生別科特任常勤講師 (10599020)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 助詞「は」 / 主題卓越言語 / 主語卓越言語 / 言語転移 / 助詞選択ストラテジー / 韓国語母語話者 / 中国語母語話者 / 英語母語話者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates the possibility of language transfer among Japanese-language learners regarding use of the topic marker "wa". Compared to topic-prominent languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, which follow a topic-comment structure, English is a subject-prominent language that follows a subject-predicate structure. This study investigates how expression of the topic in the L1 may influence the use of the topic marker "wa" in Japanese.
As a result, it was found that many of native Japanese and Korean speakers associated "wa" with nouns describing space. In contrast, many native English speakers used "wa" with nouns indicating people, while native Chinese speakers use "wa" with both of nouns indicating space and people. Consequently, it can be surmised that this L1 background influences the particular use of "wa" by non-native speakers. The research also showed that the task types affect non-native speakers' use of wa.

Free Research Field

第二言語習得