Native Japanese Speakers Research Articles

The Noisy Encoding of Disparity (NED) Model Predicts Perception of the McGurk Effect in Native Japanese Speakers

The Noisy Encoding of Disparity (NED) Model Predicts Perception of the McGurk Effect in Native Japanese Speakers

Role of prosody and word order in identifying focus: evidence from pupillometry

ABSTRACT This study investigated the role of prosody and word order in identifying the focus of sentences in Japanese. Native Japanese speakers listened to sentences with different types of word order (subject–object–verb (SOV) vs. object–subject–verb (OSV)), prosody (whether the first noun phrase is stressed or not) and preceding contexts (object- vs. subject-wh questions), while processing costs were measured using pupillometry. Although syntactically non-basic OSV was more difficult to process than basic SOV, this processing difficulty was considerably reduced when the supportive context (the subject-wh question) required S to be focused. The time–course analysis of pupillometry revealed that the Japanese speakers immediately used prosodic cues to determine the focus of sentences, but the effect of word order cues for focus was delayed until the sentence-final verb was encountered. This study advances our understanding of the temporal dynamics of focus processing and the interplay between syntactic and information structures in sentence comprehension.

The Use of Japanese Words <i>Hito</i>, <i>Hitobito</i>, and <i>Hitotachi </i>in L1 and L2 Written Compositions

The paper aims to tackle two neglected issues in teaching Japanese as a foreign language – the pluralization of nouns and the differentiation of synonyms – by analyzing three Japanese words that correspond to the meaning “people”. We examined the usage of these words in compositions written by intermediate-level foreign students and native Japanese speakers that were compiled in the corpus “A Country Easy to Live In.” Although these words appear in the sentences of both groups, our analysis reveals that in Japanese, the meanings of singularity and plurality are marked and that distinguishing them poses challenges to students. We also show that the distinction between the plural meaning of “people”, expressed by the nouns 人々 hitobito and 人達 hitotachi, needs to be given more attention in Japanese language teaching.

Grammatical structures of emoji in Japanese-language text conversations

Emojis have become a ubiquitous part of everyday text communication worldwide. Cohn et al. (Cognit Res Princ Implic 4(1):1–18, 2019) studied the grammatical structure of emoji usage among English speakers and found a correlation between the sequence of emojis used and English word order, tending towards an subject–verb–object (SVO) sequence. However, it remains unclear whether emoji usage follows a universal grammar or whether it is influenced by native language grammar. Therefore, this study explored the potential influence of Japanese grammar on emoji usage by Japanese speakers. Twenty adults, all native Japanese speakers, participated in pairs. In Experiment 1, participants engaged in conversations through Google Hangouts on iPads. The experiment consisted of four conversation rounds of approximately 8 min each. The first two rounds involved one participant using only written Japanese and the other using only emojis and punctuation, with roles reversed in the second round. The third round required both participants to use only emojis and punctuation. The results indicated that participants preferred subject–object–verb (SOV) or object–verb (OV) sequences, with OV patterns being more common. This pattern reflects a distinctive attribute of Japanese grammatical structure, marked by the frequent omission of the subject. Experiment 2 substituted emojis for words, showing nouns were more commonly replaced than verbs due to the difficulty in conveying complex meanings. Reduced subject replacements again emphasised Japanese grammatical structure. In essence, emoji usage reflects native language structures, but complexities are challenging to convey, resulting in simplified sequences. This study offers insights for enhancing emoji-based communication and interface design, with implications for translation and broader communication.

Speech Act Of Refusal On Vertical Line Levels In Japanese And Indian Cultures

This study aims to describe the refusal speech acts of Japanese and Indian people in the context of vertical relationship lines. The research employs a cross-cultural pragmatic approach with a qualitative descriptive paradigm method. Data collection was carried out using the Discourse Completion Task (DCT) method on native Japanese and Indian speakers. Data were analyzed using Brown and Levinson's politeness theory and Ochi Suzuki's refusal strategies, presented through a descriptive analysis model. The results indicate differences in the refusal speech acts of Japanese and Indian people within vertical relationship lines. Japanese people, in this context, tend to use indirect refusals, employing various methods to show respect and avoid offending the interlocutor. This is influenced by factors such as social status, social distance, kinship relations, and the speaker's age. Indirect refusals often involve expressions of apology and the use of different language forms. There are slight differences between male and female refusal speech acts in Japanese culture. Women are more careful in choosing words to refuse, showing a higher regard for the feelings of the speaker. In contrast, Japanese men tend to provide straightforward reasons for their refusals but still choose their words cautiously. In the case of Indian people within vertical relationship lines, the majority use direct refusals, as evidenced by their speech. Social factors such as social status and social distance also play a role. Both Indian men and women tend to deliver refusals straightforwardly, assertively, and directly (to the point).

Code-Switching Used in Indonesian-Japanese Interpersonal Communication: A Sociolinguistics Study

This research analyzed code-switching used during interpersonal communication events between Indonesian and Japanese native speakers who understand both languages. This sociolinguistic analysis examines the phenomenon of code-switching based on socio-cultural and socio-situational. In this study, the data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Findings have found that several factors underlie code-switching in interpersonal communication: the ability of language participants, speakers' shifting moods and wills, conversational topics, speakers' sense of solidarity, speakers' incapacity to use linguistic codes, and speakers' propensity to use the idea that a first-learned vocabulary (cognitive primacy). The purposes of code-switching in a conversation are to facilitate communication, strengthen the bond between the speaker and the speaking partner, respect one another's cultural backgrounds, facilitate discussion, enhance foreign language proficiency, and serve as a reminder to speakers to address specific topics or provide an answer to a question.

Cross-cultural comparison of beauty judgments in visual art using machine learning analysis of art attribute predictors among Japanese and German speakers

In empirical art research, understanding how viewers judge visual artworks as beautiful is often explored through the study of attributes—specific inherent characteristics or artwork features such as color, complexity, and emotional expressiveness. These attributes form the basis for subjective evaluations, including the judgment of beauty. Building on this conceptual framework, our study examines the beauty judgments of 54 Western artworks made by native Japanese and German speakers, utilizing an extreme randomized trees model—a data-driven machine learning approach—to investigate cross-cultural differences in evaluation behavior. Our analysis of 17 attributes revealed that visual harmony, color variety, valence, and complexity significantly influenced beauty judgments across both cultural cohorts. Notably, preferences for complexity diverged significantly: while the native Japanese speakers found simpler artworks as more beautiful, the native German speakers evaluated more complex artworks as more beautiful. Further cultural distinctions were observed: for the native German speakers, emotional expressiveness was a significant factor, whereas for the native Japanese speakers, attributes such as brushwork, color world, and saturation were more impactful. Our findings illuminate the nuanced role that cultural context plays in shaping aesthetic judgments and demonstrate the utility of machine learning in unravelling these complex dynamics. This research not only advances our understanding of how beauty is judged in visual art—considering self-evaluated attributes—across different cultures but also underscores the potential of machine learning to enhance our comprehension of the aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks.

Self-Evaluations of Conversational Ability by Korean Learners of Japanese : Focusing on the Differences from the Evaluations by Native Speakers of Japanese

Self-Evaluations of Conversational Ability by Korean Learners of Japanese : Focusing on the Differences from the Evaluations by Native Speakers of Japanese

日本語母語話者はどのように断るか ― アンケート結果の親疎関係と状況に焦点を当てて ―

日本語母語話者はどのように断るか ― アンケート結果の親疎関係と状況に焦点を当てて ―

The Role of Occipitotemporal Network for Speed-Reading: An fMRI Study

The activity of occipitotemporal regions involved in linguistic reading processes, such as the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT), is believed to exhibit strong interactions during higher-order language processing, specifically in the connectivity between the occipital gyrus and the temporal gyrus. In this study, we utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with psychophysiological interaction (PPI) and dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate the functional and effective connectivity in the occipitotemporal network during speed reading. We conducted the experiment with native Japanese speakers who underwent and without speed-reading training and subsequently performed established reading tasks at different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) while undergoing 3-Tesla Siemens fMRI. Our activation analyses revealed significant changes in occipital and temporal regions as reading speed increased, indicating functional connectivity within the occipitotemporal network. DCM results further demonstrated more intricate effective connections and high involvement within the occipitotemporal pathway: (1) reading signals originated from the inferior occipital gyrus (iO), distributed to the vOT and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), and then gathered in the anterior superior temporal sulcus (aSTS); (2) reading speed loads had modulation effects on the pathways from the aSTS to vOT and from the iO to vOT. These findings highlight the complex connectivity and dynamic interactions within the occipitotemporal network during speed-reading processes.

The noisy encoding of disparity model predicts perception of the McGurk effect in native Japanese speakers.

In the McGurk effect, visual speech from the face of the talker alters the perception of auditory speech. The diversity of human languages has prompted many intercultural studies of the effect in both Western and non-Western cultures, including native Japanese speakers. Studies of large samples of native English speakers have shown that the McGurk effect is characterized by high variability in the susceptibility of different individuals to the illusion and in the strength of different experimental stimuli to induce the illusion. The noisy encoding of disparity (NED) model of the McGurk effect uses principles from Bayesian causal inference to account for this variability, separately estimating the susceptibility and sensory noise for each individual and the strength of each stimulus. To determine whether variation in McGurk perception is similar between Western and non-Western cultures, we applied the NED model to data collected from 80 native Japanese-speaking participants. Fifteen different McGurk stimuli that varied in syllable content (unvoiced auditory "pa" + visual "ka" or voiced auditory "ba" + visual "ga") were presented interleaved with audiovisual congruent stimuli. The McGurk effect was highly variable across stimuli and participants, with the percentage of illusory fusion responses ranging from 3 to 78% across stimuli and from 0 to 91% across participants. Despite this variability, the NED model accurately predicted perception, predicting fusion rates for individual stimuli with 2.1% error and for individual participants with 2.4% error. Stimuli containing the unvoiced pa/ka pairing evoked more fusion responses than the voiced ba/ga pairing. Model estimates of sensory noise were correlated with participant age, with greater sensory noise in older participants. The NED model of the McGurk effect offers a principled way to account for individual and stimulus differences when examining the McGurk effect in different cultures.

Hikikomori and Sōshokukei-danshi: A semantic analysis of Japan’s social deviants

This study is a semantic analysis that examines the meanings of two contemporary Japanese labels, hikikomori and soushokukei-danshi. This duo has often been linked to the late marriage age, declining marriage rate, shoushika (low birth rate), and koureika (the aging society). The goal of this thesis is to define these individuals according to the perceptions of native Japanese speakers and to convey the definitions by using the reductive paraphrase methodology. Accordingly, cultural values reflected in the labels will be revealed. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach and corpus analysis are the chosen methodology. NSM is a universal mini metalanguage, while corpus analysis is a tool that can analyse data from online sources. Combined, these methods support the goal of delivering explications that reflect the labels from a Japanese perspective. Results from the study show that the values of Japanese society and the duos are at odds with one another, subsequently, fuelling the negative stigma directed towards both cohorts: Hikikomori are individuals who are emotionally withdrawn and bound to the house for the most part. Furthermore, their condition is something they feel they cannot change so easily; and Soushokukei-danshi are young men who are uninterested in romance or attaining stereotypical male positions in the workforce. Moreover, they would rather invest time in their hobbies. Through this study, a better comprehension of what these words mean is acquired.

How do differences in native language affect out-of-body experiences?

Out-of-body experiences are scientifically inducible cognitive phenomena attracting global attention due to their application in the Metaverse and medical care. Despite previous studies suggesting that one's native language influences one's cognition, the out-of-body experiences of humans with different native languages have not been investigated separately. This study replicated an experiment from a 2007 study to investigate whether differences in native language affect the ability to have scientifically induced out-of-body experiences. A total of 19 age-matched native English and Japanese speakers completed the experiment in two blocks. Thereafter, their experiences were evaluated using questionnaires, and their responses were compared. Importantly, no significant differences between the English and Japanese native-speaker conditions were found. The results showed that out-of-body experiences were induced similarly in both groups, suggesting that people can have out-of-body experiences as a response to similar stimuli, regardless of their native language. However, differences in participants' introspective reports suggested that their experiences may differ qualitatively, possibly, due to the different linguistic backgrounds. The elucidation of the mechanisms of science-assisted out-of-body experiences that consider different cultural and cognitive characteristics, such as native language, could lead to the investigation of their applications in the borderless Metaverse and medicine.

Examining Cross-linguistic Influence of Japanese Word Order: An Eye-Tracking Study on L2 English Learners’ Text Comprehension

Cross-linguistic influence is a systematic and unavoidable feature of language learning. This study aimed to investigate whether prepositive word order in Japanese noun clauses can serve as a cross-linguistic influence element in the acquisition of relative clauses (a form of a postpositive modifier) in English. To test this hypothesis, this study conducted an eye-tracking experiment with native Japanese speakers and showed the following results statistically. First, Japanese participants generally paid more attention to modifier clauses than the noun phrases they modified when reading English sentences with relative clauses. Second, when interpreting accusative relative clauses, longer fixations were observed both in the modifier clauses and in the antecedents, likely due to their complexity for Japanese L2 learners of English, as evidenced by the lowest accuracy rate. Finally, and most notably, the findings revealed that the participants who had not fully acquired the relative clause construction focused more on the left side of the relative pronoun than those who had. This tendency was most prominent when interpreting subjective relative clauses, a result that supports the hypothesis that prepositive L1 modifiers could be a CLI element in the acquisition of English postpositive modifiers.

Learners’ preferred L2 vocabulary learning modalities

Under the framework of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, this study examined how four modalities (iconic gestures, beat gestures, no gesture, audio) and learner modality preferences affect L2 vocabulary learning coupled with their relation to language aptitude. Sixty native or bilingual Japanese speakers watched video clips of sixty Spanish words under the above-mentioned four conditions six times. Their retention rate was measured immediately following the learning phase and after two weeks. The primary findings were (a) modalities had no relationship with the test scores; (b) learners preferred iconic gestures most; (c) modality preferences had a strong relationship to test scores; (d) the scores of their most preferred modality were significantly higher than those of other less-preferred modalities, and (e) the language aptitude score was correlated with modalities but not with modality preferences. This study suggests that learners may learn L2 vocabulary most efficiently when the modality matches their preferences.

THE ROLE OF L1 PROSODY IN L2 VOWEL DURATION PRODUCTION: EVIDENCE FROM ASIAN LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

The pre-fortis clipping pattern refers to vowels being shorter before voiceless consonants compared to vowels before voiced consonants. This study examined whether first-language (L1) prosodic properties affect the production of this vowel duration pattern in second-language (L2) English speech. Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese with varying English proficiency participated in a production experiment. Results showed that while speakers exhibited some pre-fortis clipping, there were no significant vowel lengthening patterns. Additional analysis revealed subtle differences based on the L1 prosody type. Native Mandarin and Vietnamese speakers, with lexical tone, had similar duration ratios. However, native Korean speakers, with no tone, showed less distinction in vowel duration by consonant voicing. Japanese speakers, with pitch accents, fell in the middle. The findings provide limited evidence that L1 prosody affects L2 vowel duration production. The results have implications for theories of L2 speech acquisition as well as pedagogical techniques when teaching English vowels.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0711/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

An experimental investigation of the Deep Double-o Constraint in Japanese causative constructions

Abstract The Double-o Constraint (DoC) was proposed to explain the ungrammaticality of having two or more noun phrases (NPs) marked by the accusative case marker -o in a single Japanese clause. It has been argued that there are two types of DoCs: the Surface Double-o Constraint (SDoC) and the Deep Double-o Constraint (DDoC). The DDoC prohibits two accusative arguments in a single argument structure and is not affected by the number of accusative case markers on the surface. The evidence is from Japanese causatives. Our study conducted an experiment to test the DDoC and found that it may only apply to some native Japanese speakers.

Impact of Japanese L1 Rhythm on English L2 Speech.

The study aimed to examine whether L1 speech rhythm affects L2 speech by assessing how the speech rhythm of Japanese L2 English speakers differed from native speakers. We chose Japanese and English because they differ markedly in the phonological properties that likely contribute to speech rhythm. Speech rhythm was measured by the variability of vowel and consonant intervals using rate-normalized rhythm metrics (VarcoV and VarcoC; nPVI-V and nPVI-C) and %V. The study utilized recordings of spoken sentences in English by 10 native Australian English speakers; and in English and also in Japanese by 10 native Japanese speakers (who had limited experience in speaking English). Experiment 1 compared the rhythm of L1 English (by measuring 1,750 vowels and 3,093 consonants from 20 sentences) and L1 Japanese (1,923 vowels and 2,097 consonants from 10 sentences). The results showed that for all measures, Japanese had reduced durational variability in both consonant and vowel intervals compared with English. In Experiment 2, we examined the rhythm characteristics of L1 and L2 English using 40 sentences (including the 20 in Experiment 1). The results showed that vowel and consonant intervals were less variable in L2 (Japanese English) than in L1 (Australian English) speech, mirroring the results of Experiment 1. Overall, the results are consistent with the proposal that L1 (Japanese) speech rhythm influenced L2 (English) speech.

The <i>eye</i> lexeme conceptual sphere in differently structured languages: Based on paroemias

The article is devoted to the comparative typological analysis of Russian, English and Japanese paroemias with the eye lexeme глаз /eye /目[me] in terms of cognitive linguoculturology as one of the most dynamically developing areas in modern linguistics. We focus on the issues of the formation mechanism of the conceptual models within the framework of paremias in differently structured languages. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe paremias with the eye lexeme глаз /eye /目[me] as a micromodel of reality, reflecting the way of understanding, perception and conceptualization of the world by native speakers of Russian, English and Japanese. The subject of the study is the semantics and structure of paremiological units, such as proverbs, sayings and signs reflecting a certain nationally oriented way of the surrounding reality encoding. The comparative analysis, considering the paradigmatic and syntagmatic combinations of the eye lexeme глаз /eye /目[me] in differently structured languages, allows us to conclude that the paremiological units’ analysis contributes to the reconstruction of the so-called naive world picture, referring to earlier, ancient life periods of the particular people. The core of the national concept is the referential lexeme meaning, the peripheral layer is characterized by variability, since it reflects not only the territorial conditions, but also ancient traditions, customs, beliefs of the particular people. To achieve the goal of the undertaken research, we used the traditional descriptive and lexicographic methods, in addition to the comparative linguistic and cultural methods.

The Analysis of Adjunct to Refusal Expressions in a Refusal Discourse: A Contrastive Study between Japanese Native Speakers and Indonesian Japanese Learners

The study reports on the analysis of Adjunct to Refusal Expressions used by Japanese Native Speaker (JNS) and Indonesian Japanese Learners (IJL) in a refusal discourse. The aims are to see whether both use Adjunct to Refusal Expressions in a refusal interaction and to observe what type of expressions they use when refusing in the interaction, investigating the similarities and differences in their use from the first refusal stage to the stage where the intent of refusal is accepted by the refusee. The mixed method research involved 60 participants consisting of 30 pairs JNS female university students and 30 pairs of IJL female university students. The male students were not involved in this study due to the lack numbers of those learning Japanese language in the university. IJL students represented beginner and intermediate levels (N5, N4, and N3). The data were collected by situating the participants in a role play based on the setting given while being videotaped. The setting is a refusal to a close friend’s request. The data were analyzed by using a semantic formula framework, focusing on Adjunct to Refusal expressions modified from Beebe et al (1990), Yoshida (2015) and Hayati (2020, 2023). The results showed that both JNS and IJL employed Adjunct to Refusal expressions in their refusal discourse. There was no significant difference in the use of Adjunct to Refusal by JNS and IJL with χ2(1) = 1.270, p = .2597. However, JNS used higher Adjunct to Refusal expressions (46,7%) than IJL (33,3%). Further, their preferences in using certain type of Adjunct to Refusal expressions were similar in that they highly used information request type, whereas the differences could be seen from the absent use of confusion as Adjunct to refusal in JNS and that of backchannel response in IJL.