The Use of Repetition by Native Speakers in Contact and Native Situations: An Examination from the Perspective of Daily Contact Experience and the Interlocutor’s Japanese Proficiency Level

Abstract

This study focuses on repetition used by native speakers in contact situations and in situations with other native speakers. The subjects were strangers who were meeting each other for the first time. The investigation examined whether the act of repetition functioned differently depending on (1) the experience of the native speakers when interacting with non-native speakers in daily life and (2) the Japanese proficiency levels of the conversation partners of native Japanese speakers. The findings were discussed from the perspective of the communication accommodation theory. The analysis demonstrated that native speakers with more experience in communicating with non-native speakers tended to (1) frequently use repetition to convey information to intermediate-level learners and (2) frequently use repetition as a form of echo question regardless of the Japanese proficiency of their conversation counterparts. Furthermore, the results showed that native Japanese speakers frequently used repetition for the purpose of confirmation and approval with intermediate-level Japanese learners regardless of their own experience of interaction with non-native speakers. These adjustments can be interpreted as cognitive or emotional convergence.