Basic research about word difference between men and women, and gender awareness by foreigners learning Janenese language

Research Project

Project/Area Number	14580325
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Japanese language education
Research Institution	Tokyo Gakugei University
Principal Investigator	YABE Hiroko Tokyo Gakugei University, International Students Exchange Center, Professor, 留学生センター, 教授 (30227045)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	MURAMATSU Yasuko Tokyo Gakugei University, Faculty of Teacher Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (30239545)
Project Period (FY)	2002 – 2003
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2003)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000) Fiscal Year 2003: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000) Fiscal Year 2002: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Keywords	Teaching Japanese as a Second language / Speech Style / Gender Differentiation in Japanese / Sentence Final Expressions / Chinese learners of Japanese language / Korean learners of Japanese language / 女ことば / 男ことば / ジェンダー / 終助詞 / ことばの男女差
Research Abstract	This research is to provide useful data for improving the educational structure, with examining how foreigners learning the Japanese language accept and use 'Words for men and women as a basic research for developing educational material, and in connection with gender awareness. On the first stage of the research, we took a survey of Chinese speakers and Korean speakers who are learning Japanese as main subjects. The Chinese language doesn't have significant differences between men and women ; on the other hand, a sentence structure of the Korean language is closer to Japanese. During this research, we performed mainly the following along with the schedule of research implementation. (1)We organized and examined the previous research and the description about 'Word differences between men and women' by some major Japanese educational material in China and Korea. (2)Two kinds of survey using questionnaires were performed at 6 different universities in China and Korea. One is composing con … More versational sentences with terms between close friends, and the other is about awareness for the differences between men and women of their native languages and Japanese. (3)The survey results became a database ; we analyzed and reviewed those collected data. (4)We presented the study results, by presenting a thesis, orally, and later by lecture, and compiled the reports. From the result of the questionnaire survey, the following 4 items were made clear. (1)Chinese learners of Japanese language feel stronger about the difference between men and women of Japanese language than Korean learners, and also they evaluate it in a positive way. In addition, Chinese learners are more willing to study about gender expression. (2)Most of the conversational sentences composed by Chinese learners studying Japanese in China were mixed with a regular conversation and a formal conversation. It shows that it is difficult for Chinese learners to. select the proper conversation for the sentences considering psychological distance with listeners. (3)Both Chinese learners and Korean learners have higher contact with Japanese language comparatively, but there is a greater difference whether they have come to Japan or not. (4)Chinese learners are more experienced with getting in touch with Japanese people than Korean learners, however it doesn't mean they are good at using normal form of conversation. Less