AFMLTA 2011 – Conference, Darwin

1. AFMLTA 2011 – Conference, Darwin

2. Summary of Paper • Film: My neighbours the Yamadas by Isao Takahata (1999) • Japanese Animation • Conversational Analysis approach • Characteristics of Japanese Language • Key terms and research • Analysis and discussion of film transcripts • Relevance to Learning and Teaching • Limitations of the research

3. Conversation(al) Analysis approach “The primary focus of research in CA is talk rather than language”, (Gardiner 2006:262) “Other approaches to discourse focus on the speaker, but in CA, talk is seen as a jointly accompanied activity with the speaker and listener both given equal status in the interaction…CA gives particular attention to the temporality of dialogue where silence and simultaneous talk in conversation are valued and warrant study” (Gardiner 2006: 263)

4. Conversation(al) Analysis approach “One of the major objectives of CA is to describe how the various sub-systems of talk combine, and provide an account of the mechanisms of talk .” (Gardiner 2006:264) “Conversational analysts working within the enthno-methodological tradition…examine how people manage conversations, how talk proceeds in turns, how one utterance relates to another often in some kind of pair relationship, how topics are introduced, developed, and changed and so on” (Wardhaugh 2006:315)

5. Key terms • Openings/Greetings • Closings • Terms of address • Turn-taking • Adjacency pairs

6. Research and studies • ‘Teaching language for inter-cultural communication: acquisition of socio-culturally appropriate greeting formulae by students of Japanese’, (Chen 1998). • This study looked at student’s performance in regard to opening routines, taken from data tape-recorded in 1996 and 1998.

7. Terms of address Japanese terms of address (Adapted from Wardhaugh, 2010, p. 286)

8. Analysis and discussion of film transcripts • Traditionally within Japanese classrooms around Australia formal greetings have been taught as suitable openings to initiate conversation. • Speech extracts from the film in this study demonstrate that in less formal situations, within the Japanese context, the use of terms of address, whether kinship term or name, is preferred as the favoured opening utterance to initiate conversation.

9. Analysis and discussion of film transcripts Preferred openings in Australian English and Japanese

10. Relevance to teaching and learning • Chen’s (1999) study and this study demonstrate the complexities of using greetings and openings in Japanese. • Japanese teachers may reflect on how they deal with the teaching and learning of openings, closings and terms of address in the Japanese classroom.

11. Limitations of the research • We must consider that in animated film: “Every scene is created, and every detail and action and inclusion is a deliberate choice.” (Cooper 2010:32) • Further research with spontaneous speech would need to occur to validate the findings of this paper.