Politeness of Japanese Learners in Cross-Cultural Mandarin Classrooms

要旨

This study investigates how politeness of Japanese learners is delivered in their L2 Mandarin inquiry, agreements or disagreements, and how their politeness is perceived by their instructors and peers in cross-cultural Mandarin classrooms. Based on 60 hours of video-taping and transcription of Elementary Chinese classroom discourse, in which data from 3 Mandarin language instructors, 8 Japanese learners, and 36 learners from other countries were included, Japanese learners have been reported as the most indirect in classroom inquiry and discussion. Negative responses from Japanese learners have been reported the least among the elementary-level learners of Mandarin. When pairing with English-speaking learners of Mandarin in cross-cultural communication, Japanese-speaking learners of Mandarin have been reported the most cooperative. Discourse analysis of classroom data has revealed that silence and repairs as are important cues for refusal and disagreements. The politeness of Japanese learners was further verified by the quantitative number of the usage of L2 Mandarin hao 'okay' and dui 'right' in response to the instructor's initiation, feedback, or inquiry. The study provides implications for teaching and learning Chinese as a second language in cross-cultural contexts with specific reference to L2 learners' cross-cultural communication.

主題