On the ability to express evaluations in another language: An analysis of Chinese JFL learners’ narratives

Zhen Chen; Baofeng  Wang; Zhengrui Han

doi:10.30827/portalin.vi44.28707

Authors

Zhen Chen Jinan University, China https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7872-184X
Baofeng Wang Jinan University, China
Zhengrui Han Jinan University, China (Corresponding author) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1626-3417

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi44.28707

Keywords:

cross-cultural comparison, discourse performance, evaluative strategies, Japanese, Chinese

Agencies: This study is supported by the Social Science Fund Project of Guangdong Province in 2023: The Research of Chinese JFL Learners’ Evaluative Strategies in Oral Narrative Discourse (Project No. GD23YWY09).

Abstract

Culturally determined discursive strategies in the native language have an influence on second language (L2) production, and a number of studies have detected the resulted transfer of first language discourse skills to L2 learners' linguistic performance. However, few of such studies have been conducted outside the context of Anglo-American languages, in this case, Chinese students’ learning and using of Japanese. Focusing on the commonly seen evaluative strategies in narrative discourse, the present study examines the marked difference between Japanese native speakers’ and Chinese JFL (Japanese as a Foreign Language) learners’ narrative discourses, and sees how these differences may be explained by the cross-cultural comparison of the two languages. The primary data are 75 “frog story” narratives solicited from the participating Japanese native speakers, Chinese JFL learners, and Chinese native speakers. The analytical findings verify that the influence of Chinese students’ native ways of evaluating may impose a negative challenge for their production of the preferred L2 evaluating strategies in Japanese, particularly due to the notable linguistic and pragmatic resemblance between the two languages.

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Author Biographies

Zhen Chen, Jinan University, China

Lecturer at Jinan University's College of Foreign Studies. Her research interests are evaluation in narratives, task-based language teaching, and second language acquisition. Her scholarly pursuits focus on the analysis of evaluative devices in oral narratives.

Baofeng Wang, Jinan University, China

Professor at Jinan University's College of Foreign Studies. His research interests are discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, and Japanese education.

Zhengrui Han, Jinan University, China (Corresponding author)

Associate professor at Jinan University's College of Foreign Studies. His research interests are applied linguistics, pragmatics, genre analysis, critical discourse studies, and language and professional communication. He publishes in Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics, Pragmatics and Society, Discourse & Society, Discourse and Communication, Critical Discourse Studies and other peer-reviewed journals.

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FUNDING INFORMATION

This study is supported by the Social Science Fund Project of Guangdong Province in 2023: The Research of Chinese JFL Learners’ Evaluative Strategies in Oral Narrative Discourse (Project No. GD23YWY09).