Abstract
This paper attempts to investigate language problems in Japanese conversations which involve only non-native speakers. On the basis of 6 Japanese conversations between non-native speakers of different backgrounds, this paper investigates the management processes of language problems related to conversational participation, language variety choice and negotiation of meaning. The results suggest that in contact situations where Japanese is used as a third-party language, (1) Japanese only serves as a weak "base norm" and thus language problems may be derived from norms other than Japanese, (2) participants do not normally establish a linguistic host-guest relationship and, consequently, language problems pass through a management process different from the host-guest type, and (3) language problems are not regarded as issues to be solved (e.g. correction) but rather to be managed (e.g. change of norms, disregard of the problem).
