Incomplete Utterances in One-to-one Thesis Supervision: A Strategy for Facilitating Interaction

Abstract

This study examines the forms and functions of ‘incomplete utterances’—utterances that end before syntactic completion—produced by supervisors and students in one-to-one thesis supervision sessions. The results revealed that supervisors most frequently used incomplete utterances for information and confirmation requests, followed by information provision and opinion expression. Nominal endings were often used for rapid confirmation or information provision, whereas utterances ending with conjunctive particles served as a means of showing consideration toward students. On the other hand, students used incomplete utterances mainly for information provision, followed by opinion expression and information and confirmation requests. These utterances primarily ended with conjunctive or case particles, indicating uncertainty, hesitation, and deference toward the supervisor. Furthermore, students also used noun-final forms to confirm the terminology and explanations provided by supervisors, as well as their own answers. Moreover, incomplete utterances elicited collaborative utterances, facilitated cooperative participation, and contributed to promoting discussion and reducing interpersonal distance. These results indicate that, in one-to-one thesis supervision, incomplete utterances are employed by both supervisors and students, serving as a means of facilitating interaction in discussions for improving the quality of research. The findings offer implications for Japanese language education for international students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.