The University of Arizona

REFERENTIAL MANAGEMENT BY ADVANCED LEARNERS OF JAPANESE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Masato Kogure

Abstract


 Previous studies on the use of referential expressions by second language (L2) learners have reported two conflicting results: one is that L2 learners tend to use noun phrases {NPs) more often than native speakers do (e.g., Tomlin, 1990) and the other is that L2 learners tend to overuse zero-anaphora, compared to native speakers (e.g., Williams, 1989). This study compares the referential expressions of advanced learners of Japanese as a second language (JSL) to that of native Japanese speakers by utilizing two models: the distance/recency model and the episode boundary model. Four advanced JSL learners, one bilingual speaker of Japanese and American English, and one native Japanese speaker are asked to describe a series of pictures. The study reveals that the JSL learners used NPs more frequently than their bilingual and native counterparts. I speculate that the frequent use of NPs by the JSL learners is due to their limited language processing abilities in an L2.


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