L1 language socialization as a variable in the use of ne by L2 learners of Japanese

Abstract

Studies of L1 communicative competence within the framework of language socialization have recognized the rich interplay of linguistic knowledge and sociocultural knowledge in the process of language socialization. Following this research tradition, some studies of L2 acquisition have begun to conceptualize this process as one of secondary socialization. This study argues that the language socialization framework also provides rich opportunities for the detailed, qualitative study of learner production, and of the role of the learner's L1 socialization on this production. A study of English-speaking learners' anomalous uses of the Japanese particle ne in their L2 production of Japanese, which takes into account the distinct communicative styles of the target language (L2) and the learners' base language (L1), is undertaken. Using qualitative discourse analysis, the learners' use of ne in talk with native speaker conversation partners is shown to be influenced by L1 culturally-ordered epistemic constraints, as well as by L1 discourse practices pertaining to stances of sharedness. The contribution of the language socialization framework, applied in combination with qualitative, discourse analytic methods, to the study of L2 learner production is discussed in conjunction with the findings. The importance of considering the role of affective and epistemic dimensions of communication in the study of L2 learner production is highlighted.