Hiroko Itakura

Describing conversational dominance

Abstract In previous studies dominance in every day conversation has been measured by the distribution between speakers of various interactional features, including topic control, interruptions and overlaps, and amount of speech. This paper reassesses the indicators of dominance used in these studies and proposes a framework of analysis that treats dominance as a multi-dimensional construct with sequential, participatory and quantitative aspects. It also attempts to determine a relative saliency among the three dimensions by proposing that sequential dominance, or one speakers tendency to control the actions of the other speaker within the exchange structure of a conversation, is the most significant dimension on the basis that it is most closely related to topic control. The framework and problems in its application are illustrated with conversational data gathered in a study of Japenese L1 and English L2 conversations between male and female speakers of Japanese.

Gender and conversational dominance in Japanese conversation

A number of studies have been conducted on “dominance” as reflected in spoken interactional features, most of which deal with English. Many of these studies adopt a quantitative approach, examining the amount and distribution of interactional features such as amount of talk, interruptions and overlaps, turn-taking, questions, and topic initiations, and they have drawn conclusions on “dominance” accordingly. The present study explores gender dominance in conversation by analyzing conversational data from eight Japanese dyads by integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis of two dimensions of conversational dominance, sequential dominance and participatory dominance, does not show any obvious gender dominance; however, the qualitative analysis of three of the dyads finds a clear pattern of male speakers’ self-oriented conversational style, which is manifested in their storytelling and claiming expertise, and this is supported by female speakers’ other-oriented conversational style. Gender dominance therefore is seen as a mutual construction. The conclusion discusses the importance of integrating findings from both quantitative and qualitative analyses in situated contexts to deepen understanding of the complexity of gender dominance. (Japanese conversation, gender, conversational dominance, conversational orientation, conversational style.)*

Attitudes towards the use of masculine and feminine Japanese among foreign professionals: what can learners learn from professionals?

Subordinate femininity associated with feminine Japanese has been found to pose barriers for foreign language learners of Japanese, especially among Western female learners of Japanese. The present study investigates attitudes towards the use of both masculine and feminine Japanese among non-native professional speakers of Japanese. The latters experiences can enlighten language educators in their efforts to help struggling learners cope with using language loaded with traditional gender roles and gender inequality. Data from interviews with male and female professionals who use Japanese in the courses of their work in Japanese companies in Hong Kong were used to study the problems posed by ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ Japanese for foreign learners of Japanese. It was found that Hong Kong professionals often use masculine and feminine Japanese in order to gain native-speaker status in the language. The study has implications not merely for the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language but also for the teaching of gendered aspects of foreign languages generally, especially when professional identity and status are involved.

Attitudes Towards Masculine Japanese Speech in Multilingual Professional Contexts of Hong Kong: Gender, Identity, and Native-Speaker Status

Abstract The gendered speech in a foreign language has been found to pose barriers for learners due to different gender norms associated with their mother tongue and the foreign language. The problem is especially serious with the masculine and feminine forms of speech in the Japanese language, as these are strongly linked with social inequality between men and women. While a number of previous studies have been conducted on feminine style of Japanese and foreign language learners, still little is known of masculine speech of Japanese and foreign professionals who use Japanese in their intercultural work contexts. The present paper investigates attitudes towards the use of masculine Japanese among Hong Kong professionals. It includes the finding that, unlike in monolingual contexts, in multilingual contexts masculine Japanese was perceived among the respondents as projecting not only the quality of Japanese masculinity but also of group solidarity and native speaker status in the language and culture. While the respondents felt that it could be an effective device for constructing their professional identity, the decision to use it appeared to involve a careful analysis of their professional contexts and identity considerations. The implications of the analysis for teaching Japanese as a foreign language are discussed.

English vs. Japanese Condolences: What People Say and Why

This paper uses the ethnopragmatics approach to discover the sociopragmatic knowledge that influences what English and Japanese speakers say when condoling bereaved people who have recently lost someone close to them. Linguistic data are drawn from: previous studies on English and Japanese condolences; discourse completion tasks; movies; and the authors’ native-speaker intuitions. Analyses from the literature on condolences contribute to the discussion. We present cultural scripts—one for English and one for Japanese—as hypotheses to account for the observed verbal and nonverbal behavior of English and Japanese speakers when offering condolences. We propose that the social closeness between the deceased and the bereaved affects what all condolers say, but that this effect is different for English and Japanese speakers. Another key difference is that the perceived role of the condoler is different between the two langua-cultures; Japanese speakers sense a greater responsibility to share in the mourning process.

Accuracy in reported speech: Evidence from masculine and feminine Japanese language

This paper addresses the notion of accuracy in reported content in direct and indirect speech by focusing on the use of masculine and feminine forms in Japanese. By analyzing naturally-occurring examples of direct reports, the paper suggests that direct speech is similar to indirect speech in that the reported content is transformed and thus “inaccurate” in similar ways to indirect speech. The analysis also shows that reporters use contextual clues to signal to the hearer that the direct reports are not to be taken literally. These clues include incongruous indexical expressions used in the reporting and reported contexts as well as mitigation expressions that approximate the accuracy of the reported content used with reporting verbs. The study provides supportive evidence that distinctions between direct and indirect speech are less clearcut than traditionally believed and that these distinctions may be based on the functions and contexts in which each form is used rather than verbatim report for direct report and inclusion of the reporter’s voice in indirect report.