Topic-development style in Japanese and English Conversations: Exploring sociolinguistic competence of English learners in Japan

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370740
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Kyoto Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Otani Mami 京都女子大学, 文学部, 准教授 (60435930)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): IWATA Yuko 国際基督教大学, 教養学部, 教授 (50147154) ; SHIGEMITSU Yuka 東京工芸大学, 工学部, 教授 (80178780)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 英語 / 日本語 / 話題展開 / 情報要求 / 英語教育 / 社会言語能力

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we distinguished the role of listeners in both Japanese and English conversations. In Japanese conversations, listeners avoid getting involved in the speaker’s topic and maintain their distance. In contrast, English speakers are eager to request information on the topic and offer Second Story (Sacks, 1992). This contrastive attitude by listeners also leads to differences in the style of topic-development, depth of topic, degree of self-disclosure, and strategies for requesting information. Moreover, the contrastive communication styles between the languages derive from perceived differences about good conversation and preferred interpersonal relationships. In order to improve the communication skills of English learners in Japan, we argue that it is essential to teach these differences explicitly and develop their sociocultural competence in addition to their linguistic competence.

Free Research Field

社会言語学