Who are you referring to: Referencing intercultural membership in talk among users of Japanese

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Who are you referring to?Referencing
intercultural membership in talk among users of
Japanese
AAAL 2009 Denver March 21-24

• Erica Zimmerman
• United States Naval Academy
• zimmerma_at_usna.edu

Website www.nihongoganbaru.com
HRPP Approval USNA.2009.0002-CR01-EM4-A
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Introduction

• Using Conversation Analysis, this study examines
  how and/or if interculturality is constructed
  through the use of referential practices in
  conversations among speakers of Japanese. The
  findings show that the presence of a Korean
  referential resource that could be deemed
  cultural does not always mean that the
  participants are doing their interculturality.
  The reference could be a local practice.

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Previous literature

• Interculturality in talk (Japanese)
• Nishizaka 1995, 1999
• Mori, 2003
• Zimmerman, 2007
• Referring
• Different from Addressing (Schegloff,1968 Sacks,
  1992)
• Present vs. non-present persons (Moerman, 1988)

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Defining Interculturality

• The interculturality is defined as the joint
  orientation to similarities and differences that
  results in the participants indicating a shared
  understanding as the outcome of the talk.

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What is an intercultural moment in talk?

• A moment when the participants orient to their
  interculturality to accomplish the goals of the
  talk. This engagement may be a second, a minute
  or last the duration of a conversation. The
  identity of the participants in these
  intercultural moments can only be determined by
  examining the sequential and topical talk of the
  participants in the segment.

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Data

• Two of five participants
• 17 hours of audio-recorded conversations
• Korean speakers of Japanese
• Attending a Japanese university as matriculated
  students

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Table 1. Participant Information
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Methodology

• Conversation Analysis
• Sacks 1972a, 1972b,1992
• Sacks Schegloff 1979
• Schegloff 1968, 1972, 1996
• Membership Categorization Analysis
• Sacks 1972a, 1979, 1992
• Antaki Widdicombe, 1998
• Hester Eglin, 1997

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Research Questions

• What role do Korean reference terms play in the
  participants co-construction of their
  identities, vis-à-vis each other (and vis-à-vis
  the broader social setting)?
• Do they serve as an opening for indicating an
  intercultural moment or a local practice of the
  participants?

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Participants in Segment 1

• A male friend over dinner (segment (2))
• Conversation about a Japanese pop star

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Segment 1 Background information

• Kusanagi Tsuyoshi Member of SMAP
• Studied Korean and Korean culture
• Extended stays in Korea in 2003 during the height
  of the Kankoku buumu or Hanryu in Korean
• Chonan Kan stage name (translation of his name in
  Korean)
• Chonan Kan variety show (hosted Korean guests)

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Segment 1. Ji Eun Han MD 5 Track 2JH Ji Eun Han
Participant A Male friend

• 821-822 A kankoku no CHONAN KAN . ((CHONAN
  KAN is his name in Korean.))
• Korea's CHONAN KAN . 1((CHONAN KAN is
  his name in Korean.))
• 823 JH soo? watashi mo, a CHONAN KAN
  tte.
• really? I also, a ((he is)) called
  CHONAN KAN .
• 824 A a
• 825 (2.1)
• 826 A yuumei na no?
• is ((he)) famous?
• 827 (1.2)
• 828 JH yuumei datta n da tte.
• ((they)) say ((he)) was famous.
• 829 A yuumei datta n, a nihon ni
  itta kara. wakanai.
• ((he)) was famous, a because ((you))
  were in Japan. ((you)) do not know.
• 830 JH soo ne watashi wa shiranakatta.
• that's right I don't know.

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AnalysisSegment 1

• Referencing to pop star
• Shows how the participants assumptions which are
  made visible in the talk, lead to membership work
  as the result of the referential work
• Inteculturality of the participants becomes focal
  point of results of talk

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Segment 1. Ji Eun Han MD 5 Track 2JH Ji Eun Han
Participant A Male friend
Full Transcript Please click on icon below.
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Segment 2

• Coworkers at the workplace
• On a break
• Discussing a problem the boss is having.

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Segment2 Table 2. Summary of participants
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Figure 1. Co-workers relationships
Owner of the Nomiya (EMMA or mama) Boss of Sake
Division (buchoo) Sang Ki Ha
Participant S
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Reference terms
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Segment 2. Sang Ki Ha MD 4 Track 1(Bbuchoo
(boss), Sang Ki HaSH, Sco-worker)

• 20 SH issho ni kaereba ii janai desu
  ka.
• isn't ok if ((you)) leave together.
• 21 S honto
  ni ii desu.
• it is really
  ok.
• 22 B ( )
• ?23 SH mama inai toki EMMA inai toki
  daijoobu desu.
• when the owner ((mama)) is not here when
  the owner ((EMMA)) is not here it is ok.
• 24 B ( )
• 25 S (hai)
• (yes)
• 26 B ( )
• 27 SH hai.
• yes.
• 28 (1.8)

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Segment 2. Sang Ki Ha MD 4 Track 1(Bbuchoo
(boss), Sang Ki HaSH, Sco-worker)

• 29 S yappari maa ima made mo maa to
• just as I thought well until now also well
• ?30 B
  mama chikara ga aru mon ne.
• The owner
  ((mama)) has power.
• 31 S
  chi- chikara aru
• ?32 toiu ka. so- sore wa maa EMMA shika nai
  desu.
• ((she)) has po- power what
  can I say th- as for that well only the owner
  ((EMMA)) has ((it)).
• 33 SH hai.
• yes.
• 34 S un.
• yes.
• 35 (2.6)
• 36 B ( ) tachi ni nanka wai wai
  iwareru no.
• well ( ) they will talk.
• 37 (2.6)

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Analysis Segment 2

• This does not show an orientation to the
  participants interculturality.
• While there is codeswitching between two
  reference terms, the participants do not orient
  to their backgrounds.

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Segment 2. Sang Ki Ha MD 4 Track 1(Bbuchoo
(boss), Sang Ki HaSH, Sco-worker)
Full Transcript Please click on icon below and
scroll down to segment 2.
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Conclusions

• There is a difference between working towards
  intersubjectivity for an intercultural topic and
  using a reference term in the local talk as a
  local referential practice.
• The data indicates that the presence of a Korean
  term within talk in Japanese among interlocutors
  who are of different ethnic backgrounds, does not
  always mean that the exchange is intercultural.

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What does this mean for examining talk in
interaction of intercultural participants?

• Assumptions of their identity and the role this
  may play before examining the data is
  problematic.
• Careful examination of participants
  interactional moves and orientations need to be
  in the forefront of the analysis.
• As learners build and establish relationships
  with others, the use of another language within
  talk may not be intercultural, but rather a local
  practice among those interlocutors. This shows
  that learners must be aware of contextual issues
  when they speak. It is not just the words that
  are important but the social relationships and
  how these are built by the participants.

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References
Please click on the icon below for the references.