The use of first person pronouns by non-native speakers of Japanese

• Author / Creator

  Carter, Barbara

• Spoken and written data were analysed to examine the use of first person pronouns (1PP) in Japanese by non-native speakers (NNS), and then compared to 1PP use by native speakers (NS). For English NS who are used to obligatory subjects in their L1, Japanese 1PP poses challenges since Japanese 1PP are used rarely by NS and often brought about by pragmatic motivations. The results indicated that NNS initially overuse 1PP but their frequency of use becomes closer to that of NS over time. When looking at the postpositional particles used, similarities existed between NNS and NS in the written data. However, NNS in the spoken data more closely resembled the written NS data than the spoken data when marking the subject or topic. It was also found that NNS most often used 1PP for emphasis in the written data and for referential reasons in the spoken.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • First person pronouns
  • Second language acquisition
  • Japanese linguistics
  • Japanese

• Graduation date

  Fall 2009

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z05F

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.