Gairaigo in Japanese foreign language learning: a tool for native English speakers?

Abstract

ere is considerable academic literature on the usefulness of loanwords to Foreign Language (FL) learners. !is literature, based on empirical studies conducted among learners of various language backgrounds and learning various target languages, indicates that cognates shared by the "rst language (L1) of the learner and the target language are generally a positive learning resource in Foreign Language Learning (FLL) contexts. !is study extends the current literature by its examination of the speci"c context of English speakers learning Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL). It takes both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the investigation of teaching practices related to the use of loanwords borrowed from English into Japanese, known as gairaigo. A quantitative analysis of three series of JFL textbooks reveals that gairaigo nouns are used in introductory texts at an unrepresentatively high proportion. While there is currently no empirical basis for this strategy, qualitative interviews with teachers give some support to the strategy of using gairaigo in preference to words of Japanese origin in introductory courses to assist learner comprehension and production. !is study identi"es a number of variables driving teachers’ use of gairaigo that have so far not been articulated in the literature.