A Critical Analysis of the Interjections ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' as Pragmatic Markers in MEXT Authorized English Textbooks

Abstract

　　The aim of this paper is to critically analyze both quantitatively and qualitatively how the interjections ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' are presented in English textbooks for junior high school students. Frequently used in oral discourse, ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' have been traditionally regarded just as grammatically optional ‘fillers' with empty meanings. However, linguistic studies have shown their noticeable functions as pragmatic markers. This paper first discusses pragmatics of ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' in order to show how their pragma-functional meanings contrast in one way or the other and at what token frequencies they are used in naturally occurring discourse. Then in comparison with those in naturalistic discourse token frequencies of ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' in MEXT textbooks are analyzed. The appropriateness of their uses in the text and context is also examined in reference to the discussion on ‘Oh' and ‘Ah' pragmatics. The results of the quantitative analysis demonstrated an extreme discrepancy, contrary to the prediction based on a general token tendency in naturalistic discourse, that ‘Ah' was rarely used in the textbooks while ‘Oh' was extensively used at over 200 tokens. Furthermore, the results from the qualitative analysis indicated that there existed certain contentious cases where ‘Ah,' instead of ‘Oh,' seemed more or less appropriate in the context. On the basis of these results, this paper concludes with implications for textbook writers and English teachers suggesting that it is necessary to raise their awareness toward pragmatic aspects in oral discourse as a means to improve texts in English textbooks and to enhance students' discourse competence as part of the total communicative competence.