27.3429, Review: Lang Acq: Taguchi (2015)

Tue Aug 30 14:31:58 UTC 2016

LINGUIST List: Vol-27-3429. Tue Aug 30 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.3429, Review: Lang Acq: Taguchi (2015)

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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2016 10:31:38
From: Lisda Nurjaleka [lisda_nurjaleka at yahoo.com]
Subject: Developing Interactional Competence in a Japanese Study Abroad Context

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-2743.html

AUTHOR: Naoko  Taguchi
TITLE: Developing Interactional Competence in a Japanese Study Abroad Context
SERIES TITLE: Second Language Acquisition
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Lisda Nurjaleka,  

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

“Developing Interactional Competence in a Japanese Study Abroad Context,” by
Naoko Taguchi, is a study describing the process of second language
acquisition which focuses on the development of interactional competence in a
Japanese ゛study abroad゛ context. The book contains nine chapters, which
explain the introduction of the study, the method, speech style and style
shift in language learning; how incomplete sentences in the Japanese language
are produced; and the case histories in the study abroad experience. This book
is a qualitative study of learners studying abroad in Japan and explains
changes in their interactional competence, such as change in the use of speech
styles, style shifting between the polite and plain forms, and the function of
incomplete sentences. This function is one of the main characteristics of the
Japanese language. The main goal of this book is to enable researchers such as
postgraduate students to learn more about second language acquisition and to
assist learners in becoming competent L2 speakers in the target community.

In the first few chapters, Taguchi defines interactional competence. Taguchi
cites Young (2008a), listing three categories of resources: identity,
linguistic, and interactional. These resources are the basis of Taguchi’s
study of the L2 Japanese learner’s development in a face to face conversation.
Taguchi focuses on the linguistic resources of the Japanese language: speech
styles (e.g. the polite and plain forms) and incomplete sentence ending.

Taguchi explains the number of previous studies that have examined Japanese
learners’ use of the polite and plain forms (Atsuzawa-Windley & Noguchi, 1995;
Chen, 2004; Cook, 2001, 2008; Iwasaki, 2010, 2011; Marriott, 1995; Masuda,
2011; McMeekin, 2007, 2011; Uenaka, 1997). The context of study abroad is also
discussed, in that a variety of social settings can be an optimal environment
for the acquisition of speech styles and can facilitate socialization into the
appropriate use of those speech styles. Incomplete utterance endings in
Japanese conversation are furthermore introduced. According to Maynard (1989)
the Japanese language is well-known for its frequent ellipsis of particles,
and verbal and nominal phrases. Taguchi explores the use of incomplete
sentences in Japanese conversation and examines how L2 learners have
difficulty in using incomplete sentences. 

Furthermore, Taguchi describes case studies in study abroad as a site for
language learning. Study abroad presents a rich environment for language
learning because learners can explore a full community of language and
cultural practices, and this proves easier than a formal classroom. This
chapter shows an overview on study abroad previous studies. Taguchi states
that the result of the research in study abroad experiences may vary, and to
minimize the different outcomes, a new method data of collection through a
longitudinal study is needed, combined with qualitative analysis of context
and individuals. 

In Chapter 4, the methodology of this study is described, including
participants, data, and data analysis methods and data collection procedures.
The participants in this study were 18 international students, 4 males and 14
females. They were intermediate-levels (3 and 4) learners in the Japanese
program, who did not have any previous overseas experiences, and majored in
various disciplines, such as Psychology, Computer Science, Comparative
Studies, and International Studies. Informal conversations about daily life
topics were recorded for about 20 minutes at the beginning and at the end of
the semester. Although this study collected 18 international students´ data,
Taguchi further analyzes only eight of the interviewees in order to gain
insight into the relationship among interactional competence. Whether those
eight participants can be representative or not remains unclear. 

The main parts of the books are Chapters 5, 6, and 7. ‘Speech styles’ explores
the proportion of the polite and plain form as it changed over the semester.
Taguchi begins to describe the interactional development of the participants
in the ability to use language that is appropriate to a specific register.
Chapter 5 reports on the distribution of the 18 learners’ polite and plain
forms at the pre- and post- conversation sessions. The  learners’ studies here
demonstrate a major change in their dominant speech styles from the beginning
to the end of the semester. However, there is also consideration given to
individual variation in their choice of speech style. According to Taguchi,
this study did not cover individual learners’ perception of the speech style,
and the role of subjectivity in the choice of speech style is only suggested.

By examining learners’ style shift between the plain and polite forms, and
between the different participants’ structures, Taguchi analyzes interactional
competence as displayed in the learners’ ability to use appropriate speech
styles that correspond to changing situations like talk-in-progress, e.g., a
three-way conversation in which they talked to their peers and at the same
time with the researcher. According to Taguchi, this style shifting reveals L2
learners´ ability to move between boundaries and discourse practices, and to
adapt and align their communicative behaviors to a dynamic and changing
context. 

Taguchi also analyzes one of the main characteristics of Japanese
conversation, which is incomplete sentences. Incomplete sentences in a
Japanese conversation play an important linguistic role in the process of
joint meaning making, and therefore contribute to learners’ interactional
competence. Describing  the development of interactional competence among the
18 learners of Japanese during their semester study abroad program, Taguchi
explains that learners are capable of making use of joint turn construction
and that they can perform a variety of social actions when completing each
other’s’ turn. Joint turn construction can help learners demonstrate empathy 
and shared perspective, and can elaborate on the topic-in-progress.

The description of the speech style of each participant might have more
objectivity if the data were supported with an individual learner’s
perception. Also through the style-shifting chapter, the author enough
explanation for conducting three groups of a conversation.  

The last part of the chapter presents four cases that reveal individual
variation in the extent of social networking and the degree of community
involvement during study abroad. The findings of each participants are
explained according to the relationship that they develop through interaction
with the community. Dewi’s case involved successful integration within her
local community, resulting in a higher level of intercultural competence. She
continued to practice established sociocultural language skills in a variety
of communities and social networking over time. Another participant was Lin;
her progress are similar to Dewi. By attending their activities regularly,
they established their position in the community and contributed to their
goals. Lin’s case exemplifies L2 development through participation in
communities and linguistic socialization. Taguchi explained that communities
can form effective platforms for learning linguistic variations--the polite
form, plain form, and honorifics--because these three communities each present
different social configurations and distinct linguistic repertoires reflecting
those in configuration. Ann’s case, for example, showed different results,
because her immediate community was her host family. She understood speech
forms because she had direct interaction with her host family. Anna used her
own speech style as a tool to always express her personal stance of respect
and formality. Because of her background in a different social community, she
was able to make a decision on what form of linguistic style to use and she
also could make a decision, case by case, while she was interacting in her
community. The last participant was Adrian. Adrian experienced a struggle
integrating into the local community. Adrian was a highly motivated student
when he first came to Japan, but he was not able to adjust with the community
very well. These findings were somewhat different, considering he had a high
motivation, commitment and positive attitude. But his intermediate-level of
language ability did not allow him to gain a complete understanding of social
context and cultural knowledge in communication. Taguchi stated that
successful interaction is a matter of collaborative effort of participants
working toward a shared understanding.

The final chapter shows two unique Japanese structures, speech styles and
incomplete sentences. Learners showed conspicuous progress in their treatment
of incomplete sentence endings. They adopted a more naturalistic way of speech
with interactional resources. This study contributes to the existing
literature of interactional competence in the areas of speech styles and
incomplete sentence endings. Taguchi gives four cases which exemplified
individual learners’ variations on linguistic outcomes of their study abroad
experiences. Through these four case histories Taguchi aimed to give detailed
descriptions of learners’ changes in interactional competence. A previous
study (Young, 2011) provided little evidence of how the changes happened. This
study described changes but at the same time sought to understand the meaning
of those changes by collecting qualitative data on individual learners’ study
abroad experiences. 

EVALUATION

This book is essential for language learners and researchers, especially
learners acquiring a second language in a study abroad context. Each chapter
explores and explains clearly step by step how the author analyzed the process
of second language acquisition. This study mainly discusses interactional
competence focusing on speech style, and style shifting and incomplete
sentences in the Japanese language. A study abroad setting was also considered
as facilitator of second language acquisition in this study. 

This study has a thorough analysis focusing interactional resources in
Japanese conversation by illustrating how each participant progresses from the
beginning of the semester until the end of the semester. Taguchi’s intention
was to observe the progress of each learner and how they  develop in
interactional competence. Therefore, the author used many kinds of data
analysis such as a recording session of a conversation; an interview to
provide an  insight into the relationship among interactional competence and
individual differences in these experiences; a motivational survey also was
administered  to assess various outcomes of intercultural service experience;
and lastly the author was  asked for a Japanese contact survey at the end of
her research in order to document the amount of out-of-class contact with
Japanese native speakers. 

Although the participants in this study are 18 international students who have
different first language backgrounds, the main focus of this study was 4
participants’ cases.  According to Taguchi herself, the limitation of this
collected data allows only somewhat limited interpretation of the
participants’ interactional development in relation to their sociocultural
experiences within the local community.  The reason she selected 4
participants with different backgrounds was not  explained in the case
histories’ chapter.

I think it would also be interesting to analyze from the point of view of
first language influence, for example selecting participants who have the same
first language background, then further analyzing this in the setting of study
abroad. Various backgrounds of first language of the participants could also
be considered to vary results. The case of Adrian, one of the case histories
explained in Chapter 8, might be used to exemplify a totally different
sociocultural background of  L2 and first language. 

Despite these limitations of the qualitative data, I believe this book could
enrich our knowledge of how to analyze interactional competence, especially
for Japanese as a second language. Also, the investigation of how learners’
communication strategies and personal qualities develop can contribute to
research on L2 acquisition on site. 

In conclusion, this book provides perspectives in conversational interaction
analysis different from previous studies such as Geiss (1995), Young (2011)
and Usami (2002). In my opinion, it is a valuable resource for all students,
researchers and teachers in this area. 

REFERENCES

Atsuzawa-Windley, S. and Noguchi, S. (1995) Effects of in-country experience
on the acquisition of oral communication skills in Japanese. Australian Review
of Applied Linguistics 12 (1) 83-98

Chen, W-M (2000). Incomplete speech in Japanese native speakers’
conversations]. Kotobato Bunka (language and culture), 125-141

Cook, H. (2001) Why can’t learners of JFL distinguish polite form impolite
speech styles? In K. Rose and G. Kasper (eds) Pragmatics in Language Teaching
(pp.80-102). Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press. 

Cook, H. (2008) Socializing Identities Through Speech Style. Bristol:
Multilingual Matters.

Geis, L. Michaels. 1995. Speech acts and conversational interaction. Cambridge
University Press. Australia. 

Iwasaki, N. (2010) Style shifts among Japanese learners before and after study
abroad in Japan: Becoming active social agents in Japanese. Applied
Linguistics 31 (1), 45-71.

Iwasaki, N. (2011) Learning L2 Japanese “politeness” and “impoliteness”: Young
American mean’s dilemmas during study abroad. Japanese Language and Literature
45 (1), 67-106.

Marriot, H. (1995) The acquisitionof politeness patterns by exchange students
in Japan. In B. Freed (ed.) Second Language Acquisition in a Study Abroad
Context (pp. 197-224). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Masuda, K.(2010) Nihongo gakushuusha no buntai shifuto nitsuite [Japanese
learner’s style shifting]. In M. Minami (ed.) Gengogakuto nihongokyoiku
(linguistics and Japanese Education) (Vol. 6, pp. 191-212). Tokyo: Kuroshio.

McMeekin, A.L. (2007). Learners of Japanese and socialization through
expert-novice negotiation in a study abroad setting. Paper presented at the
17th Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning. Honolulu, Hawaii.

McMeekin, A.L. (2011) Japanese L2 learners’ use and acquisition of the plain
form during study abroad. A paper presented at the meeting of the American
Association for Applied Linguistics. Chicago: EL.

Uenaka, A. (1997). Intermediate/advanced learners’ speech level and speech
level shift-comparisn with native Japanese speakers. Nihongo kyoiku ronbunyuu
[Journal of Japanese Language Education], 149-165.

Usami, M. 2002. Discourse Politeness in Japanese Conversation: some
implications for a universal theory of politeness.

Young, R. 2011. Interactional competence in language learning, teaching, and
testing. In H. Hinkel (ed.) Handbook of Research in Language Learning and
Teaching (pp. 426-443). New York: Routledge.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

My name is Lisda Nurjaleka. I'm a Phd students in Kanazawa University. I took
one year as a research student. My background is Japanese language and my
research fileds is in the sociolinguistic. I'm focusing study on speech act in
Japanese especially refusal interaction by Japanese learners.

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