Reference: Activity 4
Communication strategies referring to actions and events
In the table below, we have listed excerpts from the Retell story in which the native speakers of Japanese (NSs) and Japanese language learners refer to a girl walking on the ledge of her apartment building. Note that there is no equivalent for the English word ‘ledge’ in Japanese. The NSs use different linguistic expressions to refer to the action and its location: ‘窓の外のとても狭い隙間の所を歩く(walk a very narrow space/gap place outside the window)’and‘建物の壁をつたって歩く(walk along the building wall).’
| NS1 | Lines 12-15 |
|
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NS2 | Lines 9-11 |
|
||||||||
Sebastian |
Lines 110 -113 |
|
||||||||
Maximus |
Lines 178 - 179 |
|
1. Now listen to the videos. In the table below, list the linguistic expressions Sebastian and Maximus use to refer to this action and location. Compared to what the NSs have produced, do you think the learners’ expressions are acceptable? If not, explain what is wrong with them.
Sebastian Retell
Maximus Retell
| Referents | Linguistic Expressions |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
NS1 |
NS2 |
Sebastian |
Maximus |
Girl (character: Noun phrase with particles) |
女の子は |
娘は、娘も |
|
|
Ledge (location: Noun phrase with particles) |
窓の外の狭い隙間の所を |
建物の壁をつたって |
|
|
Walking (action: Verb) |
歩いて行きました |
歩こうとしました |
|
|
2. The learners probably do not know that there is no equivalent word for the word “ledge” in Japanese; they are probably producing linguistic expressions based on the assumption that there is such a word. Describe the communication strategies each learner uses. Do their descriptions make clear what happens? Explain.
3. What pedagogical implications can you take away from this activity? If Sebastian and Maximus were completing this task in your classroom, given the words and structures they are currently using, how could you provide scaffolding?
Please type your answers to the questions in the box below.
When you have finished typing your answer, click to compare your response with the Learner Language staff response.
1. Comparison of linguistic expressions
| Referents | Linguistic Expressions |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
NS1 |
NS2 |
Sebastian |
Maximus |
Girl (character: Noun phrase with particles) |
女の子は |
娘は、娘も |
あの彼女は |
まやさんは |
Ledge (location: Noun phrase with particles) |
窓の外の狭い隙間の所を |
建物の壁を |
Not mentioned（→友達の家に） |
Not mentioned （→窓から*窓に友達の家に／窓を） |
Walking (action : Verb) |
歩いて行きました |
伝って歩こうとしました |
行きたいです／行きたいから行きます |
行きたい／出かけて |
NS1 and NS2 use different linguistic expressions. NS1 describes the ledge in detail; NS2 uses ‘壁 (wall)’ instead. However, the essential information that both include is that the girl walks outside the window along the wall of the building, and is not walking out the front door through the hallway.
Compared to what the NSs produced, Sebastian and Maximus do not directly refer to the girl’s action. The video excerpts show that they only describe the situation, that is, this is a tall building and it is dangerous but neither refers to the action of the girl walking on the ledge. While Sebastian only states that the girl wants to go to her friend’s house, Maximus explains that she wants to go there from the window – “窓から*窓で (from window *at window)” “窓を*出かけて(*go the window).”
Sebastian’s phrase is grammatically acceptable but is missing the key information about the location of the girl’s action. Maximus provides more information on location, but his production is grammatically less accurate.
2. The NSs’ descriptions make clear what happens, which means that both fully include the location of the action. Sebastian only describes the whole action as “ちょっと危なそう(it looks a little dangerous)” avoiding a description of the specific location, the ledge.
Maximus attempts to refer to the location by use of ‘窓 (window)’ as a circumlocution and further explains the situation that this is a tall building and it is dangerous (implying that it is dangerous to go out the window to her friend’s house ).
3. Overall, it is a good idea to have NSs do the same task in order to see what linguistic expressions they use for purposes of comparison.
Activity 4 shows the NS’s model versions of communication strategies in a situation where their native language does not include a word for the location on which the action occurs. It demonstrates that the successful use of communication strategies depends on how semantically informative one’s description is. In teaching Sebastian, you may want to ask him for clarification, requesting information on location. For Maximus, since he includes some information on location, you may first provide corrective feedback to increase his accuracy in referring to that location. For their proficiency level, it may also be useful to provide the verb “伝う(go along),” too.
