The Japanese Journal of Language in Society
Online ISSN : 2189-7239
Print ISSN : 1344-3909
ISSN-L : 1344-3909
Volume 18, Issue 1
Displaying 1-16 of 16 articles from this issue
  • Sau Kuen FAN
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 1-2
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Yukiko MORIYAMA, Kilyong LEE, Rie KIBAYASHI
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 3-6
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Mayumi USAMI
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 7-22
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The study on "style" in Japanese is one of the major research topics in sociolinguistic science, which studies the relationship between language and society. However, since the fields, purposes, and data used in studies on "style" are varied and numerous studies in related fields have been carried out, it is important to clarify the meaning of the specific terms and concepts which have been used. By doing so, we can place each study in it's appropriate position, determine the important discussion topics, and evaluate the significance of research in the filed. In this paper, I begin by reviewing studies in which the term "style" is used or the similar phenomena of "speech style shift" in Japanese. Following this, I discuss "speech-level shift" in Japanese conversational discourse in the field of discourse studies and Japanese language education studies. I also discuss the difference between terms such as "speech level", "honorific level", "taigu (treatment) level", and "speech style". Finally, I discuss the significance of studies which deal with "speech-level shift" in Japanese conversation from the viewpoint of "discourse politeness theory", and present perspectives from the viewpoints of pragmatics and interpersonal communication.
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  • Katsumi SHIBUYA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 23-39
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper aims to illustrate the mechanism of the creation of styles in written language through the works of Santo Kyoden. Causative forms, -te-forms of verbs and potential expressions employed in yomihon, gokan, kibyoshi and sharebon are analyzed from the perspective of 'writer design' and the following characteristics of Kyoden's styles are identified: (1) Kyoden sets the basic variety for each work and uses the forms which belong to the variety for the most part. (2) In each work, Kyoden sometimes style-shifts to forms which usually belong to other varieties in response to such factors as the mode of the passage (descriptive vs spoken) and social attributes of the characters (gender, age, class etc.). Kyoden also shifts to the forms of other varieties for the purpose of the creation of social, psychological and discourse effects.
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  • Jun TAKIZAWA, Satoru SAKAMAKI, Toshiyuki YAMASHITA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 40-49
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study examined the effect of emoticons within a received text message on emoticons within a reply. The task included a text message in which a fictitious character invites the participant to an event. We manipulated the text massage, using text messages with and without punctuation marks, and with and without emoticons. Participants replied to each of the messages on a questionnaire, as they would in an e-mail on their mobile or smart phone. The results showed that when punctuation marks were used in the received message, the reply also included many punctuation marks, but not many emoticons. Likewise, when emoticons were used in the message, many emoticons were used in the reply, but not many punctuation marks. These results indicate that people distinguish between punctuation marks and emoticons, and imitate the text-based communication behavior of the other. We discussed this synchronization in terms of the development of capacity of recipient design, and computer-mediated communication education.
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  • Kiyoko TADOKORO
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 50-59
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper focuses on how Koreans who speak Japanese as a second language perceive contexts when they choose a speech style and understand the meaning of speech styles in other people's speech. Five Koreans, who have studied in Japan, were interviewed about their experiences related to dissonance in selection of speech style. They recognized the different criteria for speech style selection between Japanese and Korean, especially hierarchical relationships related to age and social position. They also discussed how they decided to change their speech style as their relationship with the other person became closer. The results of the interviews also show that perception of context varies from person to person. The author concludes that it is important to focus on the cognitive aspect of speech style.
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  • Junko KATSUDA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 60-74
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The number of registered foreigners in Japan has increased by 40% over the last 30 years. Among them, university students from South East Asia have increased considerably. Contact situations between Japanese and foreigners have also increased proportionately. This increase in contact situations between different cultures may result in a variety of misunderstandings. In this paper, contact situations between Malaysians in Japanese universities and their Japanese university student friends, are analyzed. We attempt to show differences in 'norms,' focusing on aizuchi or 'back channels' and the 'norms' which Malaysian students with advanced Japanese language skills and rich experience of intermingling with Japanese counterparts have difficulty noticing. Malaysians' use of back channels differ somewhat from the norms in Japanese. In this study, we found that Malaysians did not notice their deviations from the Japanese norms of back channels, and that their deviations were often not noticed by their Japanese friends. Consequently the Malaysians did not adjust their communication. This paper connects the two phenomena, namely 'the differences of norms' and 'deviation from Japanese norm of back channels', and explains how they are connected.
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  • Hiroshi HANAMURA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 75-92
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper aims to clarify how expressions that shift topics in Japanese conversation, such as connecting expressions and hesitation disfluencies, are used for different purposes, based on an analysis of three types of topic shifts: "new-remark," "restart," and "assumption-presentation." In new-remark shifts, the topic introduced after the shift is not related to the previous topic; in restart shifts, the topic introduced after the shift is connected to the previous topic; and in assumption-presentation shifts, the remarks of assumption made in order to continue the conversation do not relate to the topic immediately preceding them. Different usage tendencies were found for each topic shift type. In new-remark shifts, silences indicating the end of the previous topic tend to be used, while connecting expressions tend to be absent. In restart shifts, connecting expressions tend to be used, while hesitation disfluencies are not. In assumption-presentation shifts, silences tend to be used after hesitation disfluencies, but are absent after the end of the previous topic. To prevent any difference in recognition by the listener, speakers were observed to use specific expressions according to their purpose.
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  • Tomoyo TAKAGI, Emi MORITA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 93-110
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this study we examine one of the most frequently occurring vocal markers in Japanese, eeto, which has been traditionally depicted as a mere "filler", in the attempt to reveal how it is instead employed as an interactional resource. By focusing on eeto as it is produced in the initial position of a turn responding to information-seeking or information-confirming types of questions, and analyzing in detail the interactional environments in which these eeto-prefaced responses occur, we argue that it is not a mere "time-buyer" or an epiphenomenon of the speaker's cognitive process, but that it publicly marks an interactional stance of the respondent. That is, eeto is an interactional resource that question-recipients can use in initiating their response, in order to display that they take the preceding turn as a question that is difficult to answer in some way or another and that they are nonetheless working to provide something hearable as an appropriate answer to the question. Thus using eeto at the outset of an answer to a question is a procedure that establishes intersubjectivity between the questioner and the respondent and ensures the progression of the on-going interaction when the progressivity of the talk seems temporarily hampered.
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  • Yukari TSUBONE, Mari TANAKA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 111-127
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper aims to clarify whether the ratings of "content" and "organization" in the assessment of essays in Japanese as a second language differ among assessors, and if so, how they differ. We also investigate which factors lead to "good content" and "good organization". Ten Japanese language teachers were asked to assess six argumentative essays. This paper identifies elements related to content and organization from among the protocols used in assessing the top four of these essays, and clarifies the specific differences in assessment perspectives between the assessors by checking them against the actual essays. The following key factors for "good content" were identified: 1) clearly stating assertions; 2) clearly indicating the persuasive grounds for the assertions; 3) providing opening sentences that aid overall comprehension; and 4) using refutation to a general idea. The following key factors for "good organization" were recognized: 1) using metalinguistic devices; 2) applying appropriate paragraph divisions; 3) refuting by presenting the pros of the opposite standpoint; and 4) balancing the amount of space devoted to the supported standpoint and the opposite standpoint. We also suggest that these findings will contribute to the assessment of essays in Japanese as a first language.
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  • Fumio INOUE
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 128-146
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Two new perspectives are introduced in this paper. One is concerned with the theory of investigation of linguistic change. The new concepts of "memory time" and "space time" are added to the conventional distinctions of "real time" and "apparent time". The second is a method to display survey results based on memory time. This technique allows us to overview a wide area by appropriately arranging several Glottograms. An analysis of address terms for "father", otoosan, indicated that terms used in childhood in "memory time" are quite different from present address terms. Theoretical considerations follow based on this data.
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  • Ikuko IJUIN, Juhyoun Ro
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 147-161
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper analyzes the characteristics of titles and structures of opinion essays written in Japanese and Korean by university students in both countries, focusing on the location of assertions. Comparing Japanese essays by Japanese (JJ), Korean essays by Koreans (KK), and Japanese essays by Korean learners of Japanese (KJ), the following characteristics were revealed: 1) For titles, "suggestive" assertion in noun form seemed to be preferred in JJ, while "explicit" assertion in sentence form was common in KK. 2) From the perspective of structure, JJ essays tended to be "head-tail format," with assertions made in first and last paragraphs, while KK essays were in three formats-"tail format," "body-tail format" and "head-tail format." 3) Initial sentences were often "assertion" or "background" in JJ, but mostly "background" in KK. Final sentences were often "assertion" in JJ, but more often "basis" or "supplement" in KK. 4) The characteristics attributed to KK above are also clearly reflected in KJ essays. 5) Use of "suggestive" assertion titles in noun form for KJ is low compared with mother language data (JJ, KK). 6) In both languages, "assertion" was found in the title and/or the first paragraph.
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  • Lisa FAIRBROTHER
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 162-175
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Despite the large number of foreign companies operating in Japan, which employ speakers of many different languages, very little research has been conducted on the actual language practices in multilingual workplaces in Japan. Based on semi-structured and interaction interviews with plurilingual employees of European-owned multinationals, this study will show how interactional practices in such workplaces are 'multiform', including a variety of hybrid, pidginized and deliberately adjusted forms. Furthermore, these multiform practices are not limited to merely linguistic elements but also apply to sociolinguistic and sociocultural practices. However, in contrast with earlier studies that stress that multiform practices are undertaken for the purpose of aiding smooth communication, an analysis of the practices in this study, highlights the influence of the hierarchical power structure of the workplace. Multiform practices are not simply a choice but they may also be imposed on employees lower down in the hierarchy, affecting both the use of their own L1 and other lingua francas.
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  • Hideki OGURA
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 176-178
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Ippei INOUE
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 179-181
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Mari HAMADA, Kazunari IWATA, Tamako OGAWA, Chiharu SHIMA, Seijyu TAKAH ...
    Article type: Article
    2015 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 182-186
    Published: September 30, 2015
    Released on J-STAGE: May 03, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (616K)
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