First Advisor

Suwako Watanabe

Term of Graduation

Spring 2024

Date of Publication

7-22-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Japanese

Department

World Languages and Literatures

Language

English

Subjects

Japanese Grammar, Japanese Pedagogy

Physical Description

1 online resource (x, 146 pages)

Abstract

This study examined to what extent Japanese as Foreign Language (JFL) learners have mastered the grammatical pattern for the verb gerund + kuru ("come"), which is referred to as Vte-kuru henceforth. There are two types of Vte-kuru: (1) the spatial Vte-kuru, meaning "to do [something] and come back," and (2) the temporal Vte- kuru, meaning "begin to." It is assumed that learners did not use Vte-kuru often, even though they should have learned two uses of Vte-kuru by the end of their 200-level Japanese class. To find out to what extent JFL students used Vte-kuru in verbal communication compared to native speakers, the research conducted two activities: (1) roleplay activity for the spatial Vte-kuru, and (2) reporting weather changes activity for the temporal Vte-kuru. In addition, data regarding alternative expressions to Vte-kuru used by JFL students was collected and analyzed.

The overall findings showed the JFL students' use of both temporal and spatial Vte-kuru was very sparse compared to native speakers, or J1 students. Specifically, the temporal Vte-kuru utterances by JFL students were very few. Regarding the alternative expressions instead of the spatial Vte-kuru, the analysis showed students' confusion of grammatical patterns related to Vte. In addition, the data indicated JFL students had a linguistic transfer from English. The textbook NihonGO NOW! states, "In English, the going is mentioned and the coming back is assumed" and "In Japanese, the going is assumed, but the coming back is included". As the textbook pointed out, the JFL students in this study tended to mention "go" more than "come back" using the spatial Vte-kuru.

In terms of the alternative expressions to the temporal Vte-kuru, JFL students tended to use simple grammatical patterns, including Past Verb (Vmashita), Present Verb (Vmasu), and Present Noun/Adjective (Noun/Adjective + da). Additionally, JFL students used Existential patterns (Noun ga aru/iru) and Negative patterns. I propose two theories as to why they used these expressions: (1) due to the linguistic transfer from English, and (2) JFL students are not accustomed to describing changes of situation and the flow of time in Japanese. Based on the results of these findings, I claim it is important to create lessons about Vte-kuru that are cognitively stimulating. To have JFL students be able to use Vte-kuru appropriately in communication, I proposed some teaching design for each the spatial Vte-kuru and the temporal Vte-kuru.

Rights

© 2024 Ayumi Naraoka

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42360

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