Declining an invitation as performed by Japanese ESL learners: Pragmatic transfer and its causes.

摘要

This study demonstrates pragmatic transfer in Japanese ESL learners' speech act of declining by comparing Japanese learners' performance with corresponding L1 (Japanese) and L2 (English) realization data. Additionally, this study discusses how the Japanese learners' performances are influenced by Japanese sociocultural norms as well as the Japanese language. The data are based on oral declining elicited by a closed role-play from 46 subjects: 8 native English speakers, 8 native Japanese speakers, and 30 Japanese ESL learners.; The results reveal that Japanese learners' production in English is profoundly influenced by unique declining strategies in Japanese, such as the use of apologies, and the Japanese idiosyncratic communicative style. Pragmatic transfer from Japanese is evident in three areas: the frequency of semantic formulas, the order of semantic formulas, and the way in which Japanese learners express ideas. Finally, Japanese sociocultural values and the language itself account for the strongest influence on pragmatic transfer.