Abstract
This study examined Japanese beginner learners' understanding of the locative case particles "de" and "ni" through interviews. Unlike the results from a previous study by Iwasaki (2001), approximately half of the learners appeared to understand that both "de" and "ni" mark place, even if they did not necessarily have a clear target-like understanding. The results suggest that learners do not necessarily consider that only one of the particles is a locative particle even at the beginning stage of the interlanguage construction.
