Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of Applied Linguistics
First Advisor
Marjorie J. Terdal
Term of Graduation
Spring 2000
Date of Publication
5-4-2000
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Department
Applied Linguistics
Language
English
Subjects
Discourse analysis, Contrastive linguistics, Code switching (Linguistics), English language -- Spoken English -- Study and teaching -- Japanese speakers, Japanese language -- Spoken Japanese -- Study and teaching -- English speakers
Physical Description
1 online resource (ix, 162 pages)
Abstract
When a Japanese speaker or an American English speaker is engaged in an interaction in their second/foreign language (L2), they have choices in terms of language performance. They can maintain their behavior as what is conventional in their own first language/culture, what is expected in the partner's first language/culture, or what is believed to be the appropriate language behavior in the language in use (L2).
In this current study, backchanneling behavior is chosen to be one socio-pragmatic behavior that can be very different depending on language/culture. Data were collected in telephone conversations from a total of four listeners, all advanced speakers of their L2 (English or Japanese), while listening to narratives told to them by speakers of either an identical or different linguistic/cultural background. The language used in these interactions varied, and such variation was part of the design of the study in order to examine backchanneling behavior of the listeners as it occurred in relation to the linguistic/cultural background of their interlocutor. In addition to the interactions, a survey of the participants' afterthoughts and impressions about the interactions was utilized in order to find out whether the participants' positive/negative opinion was related to listeners' backchanneling behavior.
The results suggest that the linguistic/cultural background of the interlocutor is an important factor affecting listeners' backchannel code-switching. The subjects in this current study were concerned with 1) the L2 sophistication of their partner, 2) the partner's L1 linguistic/cultural background, and 3) the expected socio-pragmatic behavior of the language used in the interaction. Contrary to previous findings on L1 interference suggesting that listening behavior is unconscious, the findings of this current study seem to support that the learners make an active decision as to how they want to perform their socio-pragmatic behavior in the interaction considering sociolinguistic elements such as their partner's background and the context of the communication.
Rights
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Recommended Citation
Ikeda, Keiko, "Discourse Analysis: Backchanneling Behavior of Advanced Speaker of English/Japanese as a Second/Foreign Language" (2000). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 7042.