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This book examines dilemmas faced by second language (L2) Japanese speakers as a result of persistent challenges to their legitimacy as speakers of Japanese. Based on an ethnographic interview study with L2-Japanese speakers and their L1-Japanese-speaking friends, co-workers and significant others, the book examines ideologies linked to three core speech styles of Japanese – keigo or polite language, gendered language and regional dialects – to show how such ideologies impact L2-Japanese speakers. The author demonstrates that speaker legitimacy is often tenuous for L2 speakers and argues that, despite increasing numbers of Japanese-speaking foreign residents in Japan, native speaker bias remains a persistent issue for L2-Japanese speakers living and working in Japan. This book extends the discussion of native speaker bias beyond educational contexts, and in the process reveals tensions between how L2 speakers aspire to speak and how L1 speakers expect them to speak.
Jae DiBello Takeuchi is Assistant Professor of Japanese and Director of the Language and International Business Program in the Department of Languages, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. Her research interests include Japanese sociolinguistics and language variation, second language acquisition, foreign language pedagogy, native speaker bias and speaker legitimacy.
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. This Study: L2 Speakers in Japan
Chapter 3. 'Foreigners Don’t Need Keigo': Excusing L2 Speakers from Keigo
Chapter 4. Trying (Not) to Sound Like a 'Girly-Girl' or a 'Manly-Man'
Chapter 5. 'You’re Speaking Dialect, That’s Funny Cuz You’re a Foreigner'
Chapter 6. 'His Japanese Makes No Sense'
Chapter 7. Conclusion
Appendix A: Sample L2 Interview Protocol
Appendix B: Sample L1 Interview Protocol
Appendix C: Transcription Conventions
Appendix D: Sample Questionnaires
References
Index