Style Shift to Plain Form in Advanced Learners of Japanese: Focusing on Informal‑Style

要旨

This paper investigates the usage of informal‑style (IF by advanced learners of Japanese as a second language when they shift from a formal (polite speech style into an informal (plain version. The data consists of fifteen dyads between native and non‑native speakers who meet for the fi rst time. The results show there was negligible diff erence in the plain form usage between learners and native speakers but the learners used IF proportionally more than native speakers. The analysis of sentence fi nal particles rising intonation and WH‑ questions in the learners' IF forms revealed that the learners' use of plain forms became IF in the following two occasions: First the learners expressed a spontaneous emotional reaction and the plain form was accompanied by the particle YO NE or rising intonation. Second they used rising intonation but did not use self‑monitoring discourse markers in monologues.

主題