Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dept. of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne, 2000. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 377-387).

Since Kaplan started the study of contrastive rhetoric, researchers have investigated Japanese and English compositions and have found some differences between them. However, few studies have investigated how these differences are perceived by native English readers when the different rhetorical patterns are transferred to English writing. Drawing from Hinds' study, this research focuses on the following: how the Japanese style of writing is evaluated by Japanese and American readers, especially in academic situations, how Japanese rhetorical patterns are perceived by American readers, and how a change of organization affects the evaluation by American readers.

"May 2002" / Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, School of English, Linguistics and Media, Department of Linguistics, 2003. / Bibliography: p. 399-419. / Introduction -- Brief overview of above-clause analysis in Japanese -- Methodology and conventions of analysis -- Marco Polo text -- Bean Scattering Day text -- University lecture text -- Family conversation text -- Generalisation and a university tutorial text -- Conclusion. / This thesis is concerned with the construction of texture in Japanese, in particular with resources related to the general area of cohesion and particular aspects of participant tracking. An investigation is here presented as to the degree to which conventional views adequately represent Japanese in the light of authentic data. Such statements as "WA marks Given information", "GA marks New information", "zero is a pronoun in Japanese" are common throughout the literature characterising Japanese texts, but there is reason to believe that they stem, at least in part, from a naive transfer of English grammars, in particular, those with a narrow focus on the sentence. This thesis proposes a new framework for the description of Japanese; and in this proposal, an essential dimension is a detailed account of relevant contextual factors, both linguistic and nonlinguistic. The aim is to offer a description of Japanese more defensible to Japanese speakers, that is, to represent Japanese "in its own terms". -- Chapter 1 sets out problems and issues in the related literature on Japanese cohesion. It also addresses issues that are seen to be most pressing in relation to the description of Japanese. The chapter gives a brief account of the resources for cohesion and referential tracking and the particular deployment in Japanese, so that it offers a provisional account of the meaning potential for Japanese speakers. -- Chapter 2 reviews several standard treatments of cohesion and participant tracking in Japanese. This review is organised around two different kinds of resources, that is, those pre-predicate elements (such as WA, GA and other particles), and those post-predicate elements (such as conjunctive particles and certain sentence final expressions). -- Chapter 3 explains the method undertaken here and the conventions of analysis employed in subsequent desclipiions of texts from five separate contexts. Methods are set so as not only to view choices synoptically, but also to try to give careful description of choices in the logogenetic reality of text. That means the choices are viewed as being available to the speaker, writer or reader, as they unfold in text time. -- In each of Chapters 4,5,6 and 7, one of the following four texts, a (1) Marco Polo Text, (2) Bean Scattering Day Text, (3) University Lecture Text and (4) Family Conversation Text, is analysed and discussed in detail. The texts are chosen for the detailed examination of four different registers, representing a continuum from most written-like to most spoken-like, as well as continua of other kinds (like hierarchically differentiated social distance and formality differentiated). Each chapter has two major components, the first of which looks at subject realisations from the perspective of referential progression, and the second of which looks at the text from the perspective of subjectJreferent sequencing. Furthermore, these issues concerning subject are mapped against the macro structures individually for the three "writerly" texts (Texts (1) - (3)). -- In Chapter 8, generalisations are proposed, based on the results of the investigations of these four texts; and then, those principles, as they have emerged from the preceding arguments, are tested on a further study: (5) the University Tutorial Text, a text which combines characteristics across the continuum from most written to most spoken. (It is both strongly dialogic as well as involving sustained spoken 'turns'.) In Chapter 9, findings of the analytical chapters are further distilled. The outline for a new, although provisional, model of cohesion in Japanese is set out. These findings suggest future directions for research projects as well. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xix, 591 p

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This study seeks to understand the social interaction of small talk in two different countries. Defining small talk as 'phatic communion' and 'social talk' as contrasted to 'core business talk' and 'work-related talk,' Holmes (2000) claims that small talk in the workplace is intertwined with main work-talk. Small talk can help build solidarity and rapport, as well as maintain good relationships between workers. Much of the research on small talk has been focused on institutional settings such as business and service interactions; thus, there is a need for research on non-institutional small talk between participants without established relationships. This study compared how native English and Japanese male speakers interact in small talk that occurs during the initial phase of relationship formation, when interlocutors who have just met are waiting for a shared purpose. I analyzed their unmonitored small talk interaction in order to examine what types of topics they discuss and how conversations actually occur. I also conducted interviews to obtain information on perceptions of small talk and examined how these perceptions reflect different social norms and values pertaining to small talk in real-life settings. The data on the characteristics of small talk come from the pre-interview conversation between two participants, and the data on perceptions about small talk come from the interviews. The topics discussed differed between the U.S. and Japanese pairs. The U.S. pairs had "Informational Talk" elaborating on class details such as professors, systems, materials, or class content. The Japanese pairs, on the other hand, had "Personal Informational Talk," talking about personal matters such as study problems, worries, gossip, and stories. Furthermore, the Japanese pairs tended to have many pauses/silences compared to their English-speaking counterparts (the average frequency of pauses per conversation were 6 for the U.S. participants and 16 for the Japanese), presenting the impression that the Japanese pairs might have been uncomfortable and awkward. However, one similarity was that both groups discussed topics on which they shared knowledge or discussed the research study in which they were participating in order to fill silence during small talk with strangers. The most prominent result from the interviews is that interactions with strangers are completely normal for the U.S. participants, while for the Japanese participants such small talk with strangers makes them feel surprised and uncomfortable. The U.S. participants have numerous experiences with and are aware of the small talk occurring in everyday life, and they commonly discuss impersonal subjects; that is, their talks tend to be about factual information. The Japanese males, on the other hand, reported that they do not commonly talk with strangers; they need a defined place or reason to talk in order to converse openly and exchange personal information. However, in the actual pre-interview small talk, they incrementally came to know each other and started to discuss personal concerns and gossip about friends. This study has shown that small talk can be viewed as a locus where cultural differences in social norms are reflected.

This study examines the role of compliment topic by analyzing compliment responses by Japanese and American college students. Compliment responses can be seen as solutions for maintaining a balance between (1) a preference to avoid self-praise and (2) a preference to accept or agree with the compliment (Pomerantz 1978). Building on studies showing that response strategies can be influenced by compliment content and context, the study analyzed responses to compliments on ability, achievement, belongings, appearance, and personal characteristics by determining the subjects' choice of response strategy--categorized as acceptance, avoidance, or rejection--for each compliment topic. Compliment responses were elicited in a recorded, free-flowing conversation by the researcher or the English-speaking research assistant's issuing of compliments on traits of the participants based on information collected prior to the conversation by e-mail. Compliments were subtly dispersed throughout the conversation. Each compliment response was coded according to whether the overall response accepted, avoided, or rejected the credit attributed by the compliment, while the component parts of each response were coded by semantic formulas. The American group accepted compliments more often than the Japanese group and the Japanese group avoided and rejected compliments more often than the English group. But, contrary to a commonly held belief, the Japanese speakers did not overwhelmingly reject compliments, and instead used all three response types with a substantial frequency. The American participants overwhelmingly accepted compliments and almost never rejected compliments, but avoidance strategies were also commonly observed and should not be overlooked in the discussion of American English compliment response patterns. Furthermore, the study found relations between the content and structure of compliment responses and the type of compliment topic. Overall response strategies varied relative to compliment topic, as compliments on personal appearance were overwhelmingly rejected or avoided by both groups while those on belongings were largely accepted by both groups. Some response structures were also unique to a type of compliment topic, including the use of "wa" as a limit on the credit accepted in response to compliments on achievements or the use of "`a' + gratitude" as a means of demonstrating modesty in response to compliments on belongings.