There are some dialect regions in Japan where watashi and variants of the first-person pronoun “I” are more likely to appear in speech than others. “I” often appears in speech in Tohoku dialect, while not often in Kinki dialect. In Tohoku, ‘self’ and ‘other’ are not clearly separated, and ‘self’ is embedded in the community. Therefore, when the focus is on ‘self’, it is necessary to mark it linguistically and we see the emergence of “I” in speech. In Kinki dialect, ‘self’ and ‘other’ are separate, and even within the community each ‘self’ is independent. Therefore, even when referring to the ‘self’, the need to mark it linguistically is weak, and thus ‘I’ appears less frequently in speech than in Tohoku dialect.

This paper sheds light on the social contribution of language communication research. As social contribution is a wide-ranging concept, the discussion here focuses on “welfare” as proposed by Munemasa Tokugawa. Based on 1998 Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s study, Tokugawa emphasizes the importance of language communication research in enhancing societal well-being. This paper firstly analyses the survey results of PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences) conducted by the OECD to assess the present situation concerning language communication competence in Japan. Next, Sen’s “capability” approach, which appraises welfare by considering individuals’ freedom to achieve valuable “functionings” in diverse democratic societies, is explored. Language communication research is then discussed from the aspect of societal implications. Issues relating to the ‘information gap’ between service providers and users in modern complex societies are explained. The ‘information gap’ refers to the disparity in access to and understanding of information, which can lead to social inequalities and hinder societal well-being. How these gaps can be addressed is illustrated by research on patient-physician communication. Finally, the relationship between basic, applied, and field research is examined based on Tokugawa’s work.

Currently, the impact of the new coronavirus, climate calamities, and conflicts and wars in various regions of the world have brought attention to individual wellbeing and social justice in both society at large and in the field of education. In this study, through the critical examination of the concepts of welfare linguistics and translanguaging, we attempt to scrutinize what constitutes wellbeing. To this end, by employing critical discourse analysis on the data of one student in a Japanese language class at an American college, we unpack how she was caught between monolingual ideology and her actual translanguaging practices. The results suggest that translanguaging does not necessarily guarantee wellbeing, and that wellbeing is influenced by factors such as individual life experiences, parental beliefs, and social environment. The implications for language education are that both students and teachers, as members of society, should not simply accept prevailing ideologies, but rather engage in continuous dialogues and reflections with others by using a range of available (linguistic) resources to envision and work towards the betterment of society. We believe such efforts would enhance the wellbeing of both individuals and society.

This study discusses the social contribution of the research field, “Taigu-Communication” (TC), mainly from the Japanese language education perspective. Chapter 2 describes TC, while Chapter 3 discusses how focusing on communication leads to social contribution. TC allows us to pursue relationships between individuals and society by analyzing address terms using discourse analysis. Chapter 4 describes how, in TC research, focusing on learners’ narratives and approaching TC from past experiences and values can lead to mutual respect and self-expression among people. Chapter 5 discusses practical examples of TC education on speech styles that focus on learners’ assumptions. It shows that questioning one’s assumptions, learning that each person’s assumptions are different, having tolerance and respect for others, and developing the ability to think of solutions to overcome friction can lead to a better society. Lastly, Chapter 6 discusses how people are connected, what self-expression and understanding based on mutual respect means, and how the premise, context, consciousness, content, and communicative subject are linked and connected to the social contribution of TC research.

This study examined the significance and challenges of dialogue activities aimed at fostering agency among international students in dialogic career education settings. The three key topics investigated were: 1. Career education goals vis-à-vis human resources; 2. The purpose of dialogues; and 3. Appropriate design of dialogues. Topic 1. covered career education to foster agency, achieving individual well-being and social contribution in the age of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity). Topic 2. examined the importance of dialogues in career education. Topic 3. illustrated examples of dialogue activities in interactive practice, while analyzing the linguistic phenomena of repetition, paraphrasing, and co-speech, extension, and deepening meaning. The study further investigated aspects of the participants based on qualitative and quantitative analysis related to the number of utterances and topics, topic development, SCT (Student Critical Turn), questions, and learner awareness. The results confirmed participation, extension, and deepening of dialogues. Finally, when designing dialogues, the following were suggested as important: (1) understanding the significance of dialogue, (2) Understanding the quality of dialogue, (3) sharing the purpose of dialogue activities, (4) explaining ground rules for dialogues, (5) activating awareness of and interest in themes, (6) stimulating group composition for investment in dialogues, (7) raising awareness of participant roles in dialogues, (8) Japanese language ability to expand and deepen dialogue, (9) raising awareness of dialogue progress management (important prior to dialogues), and (10) thorough review after a dialogue (crucial).

This research project aimed to promote equal footing dialogue on the topic of community development between native speakers (NS) and non-native speakers (NNS) of Japanese living in the same community. We analyzed multi-party dialogues involving both NS and NNS. Because some NNS were at beginner level Japanese, interpreters were provided for each group, and all participants were given multilingual feeling cards to be used as communication aids to encourage direct interaction without the use of interpreters. During the dialogues, we observed side-participants who were left on the periphery of the dialogue use the feeling cards to physically enter the engagement area formed by the other participants, and also use the visual information on the feeling cards as a means of demonstrating understanding or disagreement with the utterances of other group members. In particular, other participants were seen to adjust their linguistic behavior to accommodate speakers of different languages who engaged in these behaviors, forming a “new linguistic situation” within the dialogue space. In this way, feeling cards allowed people who were more likely to become side-participants, particularly NNS at beginner Japanese level, to actively participate in dialogues.

In Japanese society, the transition from student to shakaijin (mature, contributing adult) is an important life change involving a fundamental identity shift. Primarily using “tactics of intersubjectivity,” this study explores how new employees are instructed to become competent members of the corporate world during a four-day-business manners training camp. The analysis demonstrates how an instructor teaches the norms and ideologies of the business world by assigning the new employees to various categories throughout the training period. Furthermore, the study shows that the instructor’s aim is for the new employees to fully adopt new identities based on the ideal of kigyō senshi (corporate warrior), reflecting the meso level norms and ideologies of the corporate world, even though this kigyō senshi model has been marked as problematic in macro level social and governmental discourses. The study therefore argues that the meso level determines the construction of professional identity. It also suggests that the recent societal shift toward valuing work-life balance will have limited success without deeper changes to the ideal of the corporate worker.

In a soccer game, the referee’s judgment and behavior are very important because they can lead to game control, the frustration of the players and coaches, and even influence the score. This paper analyzes the comments of referees of different qualification levels who discuss their thoughts while watching a video of a soccer match. This research employs think-aloud protocol analysis, in which each referee was asked to relay everything that they felt and noticed while watching the video. The analysis showed that perspectives and thoughts were clearly different depending on level. Level 4 referees were seen to speak from a third-person perspective, while Level 3 referees spoke from the referee’s perspective. Level 2 referees had a perspective of the entire field, including the positioning of the players and referees, while Level 1 referees had a perspective of the entire game. In addition, when it came to situations that influenced the flow of the game, the results of the analysis shed light on the management perspectives of referees of all levels. Through this analysis, the paper discusses how discourse research can contribute to soccer in regard to the training and development of future referees.

This paper examines the conditions under which the shite-iru, sarete-iru (passive construction), and shite-aru constructions are used to describe the result of human actions. Most of the research on these expressions has been conducted using written sources, and the conditions under which they are used have not yet been clearly described. In this study, we conducted a video speech experiment based on the assumption that whether or not the “process” leading to the state is perceived influences the choice of expression of the result state, and verified this assumption by analyzing the data collected. The results revealed the following: 1) Native Japanese speakers use the sarete-iru, intransitive shite-iru and shite-aru constructions in spoken language when they perceive the state in front of them as a result; 2) When describing a result state, the means of expression changes depending on the awareness of the process of change. When speakers perceive a process of change, they use the shite-aru construction, while when a process of change is not considered, speakers use either the sarete-iru or the intransitive site-iru construction.

Our society is full of stereotypical discourses and they often influence our thoughts and actions. How then, do we form and share common images of people with certain attributes in our daily interactions? Using conversation analysis, this study demonstrates the process in which the researcher and Japanese-Taiwanese youths collaboratively constructed “stereotypes” of Taiwanese people based on the descriptions of the youths’ Taiwanese mothers described during interviews. The results revealed the following interactional practices: 1) the researcher’s use of “Japanese” and “Taiwanese” as paired membership categories to elicit the youths’ narratives, naturally orientated the youths towards their mothers’ “Taiwanese-ness,” 2) the youths’ utilization of the utterance “yappari Taiwan(jin) wa ～ janai desu ka” to present their mothers’ characteristics as category-bound predicates, and 3) researcher-initiated laughter occurring early in the youths’ narratives. Through these practices, the identity of the researcher manifested as a “Japanese who knows Taiwanese people well and as someone capable of finding humor in Taiwanese people’s behaviors that may be negatively perceived.” Moreover, as the Japanese-Taiwanese youths aligned with the researcher’s stance through laughter, the co-construction of a stereotype of Taiwanese people could be said to have been accomplished by these two parties who are both “Japanese individuals familiar with Taiwanese people.”

This study explores how teasing is utilized in dealing with trouble that arises in storytelling and in invitation sequences within casual conversations among friends. Adopting the method of conversation analysis, cases in which a speaker fails to convey the punchline in a funny story or to construct a recognizable action of invitation are examined. The results suggest that teasing occurs in such sequential environments and participants use it to deal with interactional trouble. Subsequent to employing teasing, participants were seen to resolve trouble by reviewing their prior interactions and assessing their failures. The analysis demonstrated that teasing is employed as a strategy to reveal interactional trouble and resolve ongoing interactions.

Sokuon have been studied for their features and functions as phonological units in speech. Using the methodology of conversation analysis, this study examines actual conversational data, aiming to describe the interactive adjustment of using consequently stretched sokuon within words. Three practices were analyzed: 1) When a speaker invites a response by maintaining the closure of the sokuon at the end of the utterance and then choosing what to do next; 2) When a new utterance is initiated before the speaker completes his/hers, and he/she avoids overlapping the utterance by maintaining the closure of the sokuon; 3) When a speaker implements an urgent action by maintaining the closure of the sokuon near the beginning of the utterance while prioritizing the overlapping partner’s utterance. We show that sokuon are used as adjustment space to monitor the other speaker’s utterance while maintaining the syntactic trajectory of the utterance. Everyday conversation and conversations during the live broadcasts of car racing events were analyzed.

This paper explores the use of homophobia as a political tool in Russian state-affiliated media, particularly in relation to the 2020 referendum and how art activism contested this in social media. The 2020 constitutional referendum in Russia included an amendment that defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman on a constitutional level, reflecting the state’s rising radical conservative ideology and posing greater danger to the LGBT+ community. Using multimodal discourse analysis, this paper examines how state-affiliated media constructed homophobic narratives in the political advertising campaign video “Will you choose this kind of Russia?” and the ways in which the #YesWillChoose movement challenged the content of this campaign on Twitter.