Paper short abstract:

In this practical report, we will examine the issue of impoliteness that was observed in the online interview conducted by students. Impoliteness in this context refers to situations in which the learners’ responses were unintentionally or unknowingly perceived as impolite by the interviewees.

Paper long abstract:

In this practical report, we will examine the issue of impoliteness that was observed in the online interview conducted by fourth-year students at the University of Manchester who were taking the Business Japanese Course. Specifically, we will focus on the use of laugh by Japanese interviewees and how it was perceived by the learners.

Impoliteness in this context refers to situations in which the learners’ words, responses, or reactions were unintentionally or unknowingly perceived as impolite by the Japanese interviewees. As part of the assignment, students were instructed to conduct an online interview with Japanese professionals working in Japan. They were also expected to use appropriate honorifics and demonstrate politeness throughout the interview.

To evaluate the impoliteness of the learners, we examined the use of laugh by the Japanese interviewees. Drawing on Sasakawa’s (2020) classification of laugh as an utterance-mediated act, we identified two distinct scenes. In the first scene, Japanese interviewees laughed in response to the learners’ inappropriate aizuchi or verbal responses. In the second scene, we will observe the learners’ response to the Japanese interviewees’ insertion of ‘laugh’ in a manner of ‘humbleness’.

In addition to analysing the students’ interpretations of laugh and their responses in these situations, we will explore ways to help students understand and appreciate the role of laugh in Japanese communication. We will also compare the use of laugh in Japanese with its use in English communication.

Reference:

Brown, P and Levinson, S.C. (1998) Politeness Some universals in language usage

笹川洋子 (2020)「おしゃべりなポライトネス　会話の中の共話・話題交換・笑い・メタファー」春風社