A Sense of Inclusiveness Through Japanese Dialect : Preliminary Results of a Pilot Study on Non-Native Japanese Language Speakers' Attitudes Towards Learning the Local Dialect in Fukui City

要旨

In November 2015, the authors conducted a pilot study to investigate the level of desire by nonnative Japanese speakers to learn the local dialect in Fukui City, Japan and to assess non-native Japanese speakers' attitudes towards Fukui dialect.Research data was collected using a semistructured interview method to interview 10 non-Japanese residents of Fukui City, Japan.The interview specifically asked about: (1) ability to identify Fukui dialect when heard, (2) knowledge of characteristics of the Fukui dialect, (3) desire to be able to hear or understand Fukui dialect, and (4) desire to be able to speak Fukui dialect.The results indicate that a majority of participants have a desire to hear or understand Fukui dialect, while at the same time indicating there is not a strong desire to be able to speak Fukui dialect.Furthermore, deeper analysis of the interviews suggests that the desire to be able to understand the local Fukui dialect may be contingent on the level of desire to be included in the local Fukui community.

主題