A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

Self-assessment. Now look back on what you have written in Yuta’s
role and answer the following questions.
6
1
(a) What reasons did you give to the professor for the
cancellation?
(b) Now compare your reason(s) with the reasons Japanese
university students gave in this task. How appropriate are
your reasons?
Below are the reasons for cancellation given by Japanese
university students:
1
family illness (23%)
2
your own physical condition (19%)
3
conflict with your school business (19%)
4
trouble with transportation (10%)
Common characteristics among these reasons are their realistic
nature and the fact that they are beyond your control.
2
(a) Where and in what way was your reason presented in your
dialogue?
(b) Now view common strategies used by Japanese university
students in this task. How does your use of strategies
compare to theirs?
■
Japanese university students first tended to give a generic
reason using a formulaic expression. Then as the professor
asks for more detail, they gave more specifics. Note that a
lengthy presentation of a reason/reasons may give the listener
the impression that the speaker is self-centered or justifying
the cancellation (which the student is not really entitled to).
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■
Japanese students also used certain strategies to communicate
their lack of intention to cause the infraction.
■
They often use jitsuwa “actually” before introducing the
specific reason to prepare the professor for the upcoming
reason. [sample exchange here]
■
The use of . . . shimatta implies that they had no control
over what happened or that something came up despite
their intentions.
Student:
“I’m sorry but some inconvenience occurred
today.”
3
(a) Which apology expression(s) did you use?
(b) Compare your apology expressions with those of Japanese
students and evaluate the level of politeness in your
apologizing expressions.
Apology expressions used by Japanese students (in the order of
frequency):