How Japanese Language Learners Convey Politeness:

A Study of Indonesian Speakers

Abstract

This study examines how Indonesian learners of Japanese convey politeness through prosodic features. Speech data were collected from 24 intermediate to advanced learners who produced two Japanese expressions in neutral and polite conditions. Acoustic analyses using Praat examined mean F0, pitch range, utterance duration, and sentence-final intonation, supplemented by auditory impressions. Results showed that polite speech was often characterized by higher pitch, wider pitch range, longer utterance duration, and non-rising final intonation. Although these findings did not fully correspond to polite prosodic features described for native speakers in previous studies, some learners employed voice qualities such as creaky voice and breathy phonation.