非外来語に対するカタカナ使用 ―タイ人日本語学習者と中国人日本語学習者の比較を通して―

Abstract

Katakana, one of the scripts in Japanese, is usually used to write foreign names and loan words,
but it is sometimes used to write non-loan words with specific purpose. However, the usage
of Katakana for non-loan words is not much taught systematically in Japanese language classes.
This research investigates the use of Katakana for Japanese non-loan words and strategies on
the use of Katakana among Thai learners of Japanese and Chinese learners of Japanese in order
to reveal how they choose script for certain words. A Japanese language test was used to collect
data from 207 Thai learners of Japanese and 229 Chinese learners of Japanese whose Japanese
proficiency ranged from intermediate level to advanced level (Japanese Language Proficiency
Test or JLPT at the level of N3-N1). The test consists of 16 questions about Japanese non-loan
words which were selected from 6 categories; name of plants, name of animals, informal
spoken words, general nouns, onomatopoeia, and verb. The participants were asked to choose
the spelling from Kanji, Hiragana, or Katakana of which the participants could select only one
answer. The result shows that 1) there is no significant difference in using Katakana for
Japanese non-loan words between Thai learners and Chinese learners, 2) there is no significant
difference in using Katakana for Japanese non-loan words between word categories, and 3) the
learners with higher level of JLPT used more Katakana for Japanese non-loan words than those
with lower level. We also found that the main strategies used by learners in choosing Katakana
were to consider the origin of words and to judge based on their experience.

Topic: Using Katakana for Japanese Non-loan Words:
Comparative Study of Thai and Chinese Learners of Japanese
https://lc.nida.ac.th/iclc/proceeding_iclc2019.pdf

非外来語に対するカタカナ使用 ―タイ人日本語学習者と中国人日本語学習者の比較を通して―. NIDA, The 9th International Conference on Language and Communication (108-116).

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