Interlanguage speech act realization of apologies and complaints: The performances of Japanese L2 speakers in comparison with Japanese L1 and English L1 speakers.

摘要

Scholars of interlanguage pragmatics have been researching cross-cultural differences of speech act realization and second/foreign language learners' acquisition of these speech acts (e.g., Cohen & Olshtain, 1981, 1996), and transfer from L1 at the pragmatic level is argued to exist (e.g., Kasper, 1992). Takahashi & Beebe (1987, 1993) contend that the transfer effect is greater among high proficiency learners than among their low-proficiency counterparts because the former have enough control over the target language to utilize their L1 pragmatics in the L2. However, some studies find that the advanced learners better approximated the native speakers' performance in some uses of speech act strategies (e.g., Trosborg, 1995).; This study investigates apologies and complaints elicited through interactive role-plays that are performed by American learners of Japanese, who are at intermediate (J2L) and advanced (J2H) levels in using Japanese. Native speakers of Japanese (J1) and native speakers of American English (E1) are used as comparison groups. Specifically, the present study analyzes (1) the characteristics of apologies and complaints produced by the J1s and the E1s, (2) the characteristics of Japanese learners' apologies and complaints in terms of L1 transfer and linguistic difficulties in performing such speech acts in L2, and (3) proficiency effects that become apparent between the J2Ls and the J2Hs.; The results indicate that there are cross-cultural differences found in apology role-plays; namely, there is a tendency for the E1 speakers to prefer more rational strategies whereas the J1 speakers prefer emotional strategies as previously attested (e.g., Barnlund & Yoshioka, 1990; Kumagai, 1993). In terms of complaints, the J1 speakers were overall slightly more indirect and mitigated than the E1 speakers. In terms of learner performances, the J2Ls' performed rather poorly, while the J2Hs' role-plays closely approximated those produced by the J1s both quantitatively and qualitatively as well as grammatically and pragmatically. Both the J2Ls and the J2Hs showed signs of negative pragmatic transfer from their L1 in several common features, but overall the J2Hs exhibited less negative pragmatic transfer than the J2Ls. The interactive role-plays thus proved to be an effective means to investigate the participants' pragmatic competence.