Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | European Approaches to Japanese Language and Linguistics
Chapter | Thinking-for-Speaking to Describe Motion Events

Thinking-for-Speaking to Describe Motion Events

English-Japanese bilinguals’ L1 English and L2 Japanese Speech and Gesture

Abstract

Speaking a second language (L2) involves another way of “thinking for speaking” (Slobin 1996). Adopting Talmy’s typological framework of motion event description, this study examined how learning Japanese as L2 restructures English-Japanese bilingual speakers’ thinking-for-speaking. Thirteen English-speaking intermediate learners of L2 Japanese described motion events in English and Japanese. The analysis focused on speech and gesture describing ‘rolling down’ and ‘swinging’ events, for which English and Japanese native speakers’ descriptions differ (Kita, Özyürek 2003). The results suggest some restructuring in their thinking-for-speaking.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Feb. 14, 2020 | Accepted: June 11, 2020 | Published July 3, 2020 | Language: en

Keywords GestureEnglish-Japanese bilingualsThinking-for-SpeakingTalmy’s typologyMotion event description


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