A Pragmatic Study of Speech Acts of Apology in Japanese

Abstract

All language learners try to enhance their skills in language learning. Learning a second language is woven around an intercultural process and is also necessaryfor communication purposes. Language learners should understand the culture behind their language in order to ensure effective communication between native language speakers. The Japanese language is always intertwined with Japanese culture. Therefore Japanese language learners should make efforts to understand the cultural backdrop in Japan. This study is an analysis of speech acts of apology in the Japanese language. Unlike Sinhala native speakers, Japanese people offer an apology with several expressions and they have a specific style of speaking apolitical expressions in different situations. Comparatively, Sinhala language apology expressions are restricted to a few words such as “sorry ane” and “poddak parakku una”. Therefore Sinhala native speakers feel uncomfortable while offering an apology in Japanese society. Firstly, this study aims at exploring various Japanese apology strategies. Data for this study was collected from 05 native Japanese Students in the Soka University in Japan and 5 nonnative Japanese Learners in the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. They are in same age range (20-25 Years old). This research expects to explore different speech acts of apology in Japanese and to ensure effective communication between Japanese learners and Japanese native speakers. Furthermore, this study will be useful to teaching the expressions of apology to Japanese language learners to improve their natural language competency. Additionally, this study may have beneficialeffects for Japanese language translators to translate Japanese utterances accurately.