An Empirical Study of Knowledge-Sharing Practices and Mechanisms in Interactions between Japanese ESL Learners and Native Speakers of English

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26770191
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Showa Women's University
• Principal Investigator: YAMAMOTO Aya 昭和女子大学, 人間文化学部, 講師 (10376999)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 相互行為 / 談話分析 / 会話分析 / 知識の共有 / 日本人英語学習者 / 英語母語話者 / 接触場面

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research is to explore how Japanese speakers learning English as a second language and native English speakers share their knowledge through face-to-face interactions. Dyadic conversations were recorded between learners and native speakers who were not familiar with each other. Methods of discourse analysis and the ethnomethodological approaches to conversation were used for qualitative and quantitative studies on several interactional practices related to knowledge sharing.
Close observation has illuminated that the discourse structures of the knowledge sharing practices and revealed the linguistic forms and their functions that are exploited in such practices. The results show how learners and native speakers seek and give each other advice, negotiate their epistemic statuses, and identify their information gaps about a topic at hand.

Free Research Field

談話分析