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Japanese-English Bilinguals' Competence of Speech Acts in Politeness

This thesis focuses on bi-cultural, and bilingual Japanese-English speakers, and the implications of language and culture differences that affect one’s disposition of politeness in communicative contexts. The author posits that speech acts in a language are acquired by the interactional experiences we participate in—coming from a sociocognitive approach. The cultural norms that surround Japanese, and separately, English-speaking communities, are manifested in the language used with speech acts such as: refusing/accepting invitations, requests, and compliments. For the purpose of this study, the latter 3 speech acts were operationalized through a discourse completion task, in which bilingual speakers’ perception of lexicon and grammar in Japanese and English were analyzed through—as referred to by the author— “impolite and polite” speech usage. Findings suggested that Japanese-English bilinguals’ ‘appropriate’ usage of lexical items coding polite/impolite speech, depended on their time spent in Japan, as opposed to the English-speaking community they moved to. Ultimately, many of these speakers showed abilities to discern and therefore, produce speech indicative of Japanese politeness.

Takehara, C. (2018). Japanese-English Bilinguals’ Competence of Speech Acts in Politeness. (Publication No: 10812559), [Master’s Thesis, University of Mississippi]. ProQuest Information & Learning database. pp. 1-101.

Compliments and responses to compliments — Learning communication in context. 

This investigation focuses on the foreign language learning contexts of English and Japanese learners, in which giving and responding to compliments is a widely-discussed speech act. Beyond the surface-level understanding of “single-statement” compliments language learners are taught, the author investigates and proposes pedagogically-accurate methods to implement pragmatic development in the classroom. This article provides an insightful break-down of the pragmatic, and smaller-scale semantics pertaining to compliment responses—in English and Japanese language environments. Additionally, the author includes real-world examples of classroom materials and activities—from introducing, to assessing the understanding of compliments—which can be adapted in various ways to fit the specific needs and levels of language learners. 

Ishihara, N. (2010). Compliments and responses to compliments — Learning communication in context. In A. Martínez-Flor & E. Usó-Juan (Eds.), Speech Act Performance: Theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp. 179-198). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

A Study of Speech Act Circumstances of Compliments and Compliment Responses Among Korean University Students

This study dives deeper into the theoretical approaches that have backed speech-act teaching and contextual communication in Korean educational environments. The study focuses on situational factors that affect Koreans' compliments: in giving them, and responding to them--based on gender (M/F). Methodology for collecting data was conducted through written and oral surveys, aimed at Korean university students. Findings suggested that male participants structure compliments differently than females, also differing in the adjectives used to compliment and the characteristics being complimented on.

Kim, H. (2003). A Study of Speech Act Circumstances of Compliments and Compliment Responses Among Korean University Students. Korean Semantics, Vol. 12, pp. 255-290.

A Study on the Usage of 'Compliment Responses' Strategies According to the Korean Learning Environment - Focused on Vietnamese Korean Learners in the KSL and KFL Environments

This research study aims to examine the compliment strategies used--direct and indirect--for learners of Korean language based on their exposure to different living and learning environments. The author poses two variable groups: KFL learners--who do not reside in Korea (specifically Vietnamese); and KSL learners--those who do live in Korea. By doing this, Park investigates how different audiences of Korean learners are able to adequately understand social and contextual variables, while practicing their L2 in a community. Findings suggested that among the 3 groups studied (KSL, KFL, KNL(Native Learners)), "thanking" and accepting compliments was most common--although, clear differences in usage and strategies chosen were identified and compared for both KSL & KFL learners.

Park, S. (2019). A Study on the Use of ‘Compliment Responses ’ Strategies According to the Korean Learning Environment - Focused on Vietnamese Korean Learners in the KSL and KFL Environments. Language and Culture, Vol. 15(4), pp. 131-163.  https://m.earticle.net/Article/A365580

Interpersonal Adjustment in Korean and Japanese Compliments

This research paper goes into the details of how compliments (responding & giving), can affect the development of interpersonal relationships, considering cultural and linguistic differences of the two referents. The audience focused on are Korean and Japanese L1 speakers, and the characteristics shown in their "acts of praise". A previous study quoted, that Korean had more evaluative speech functions, while Japanese contained more ritualistic speech functions (2002, p.49). Methods included analyzing spoken and written discourse data from college-aged students in Korea & Japan,  whom conversed with close friends of theirs. Findings suggested that overall, Japanese participants tended to give less compliments to close friends than Koreans, but a commonality between the two was found in that avoidance of a received compliment was most common across both languages.

Kim, K. (2010). Interpersonal Adjustment in Korean and Japanese Compliments. Japanese Language and Culture, Vol. 16, pp. 47-63. 

A Comparative Study of Compliment Responses: Korean Females in Korean Interactions and in English Interactions

This comparative study evaluated compliment responses given by Korean females, to both other Koreans, and English-speaking individuals. The implications of pragmatic functions--varying across language communities--such as: social distribution, semantics, and interpersonal functions, were considered before introducing the main study. The goals were as follows: 1) What are the most common compliment responses of Korean (F), in Korean interactions?, 2) What are the most common......in English interactions?, 3) Can evidence be found of pragmatic transfer b/w Korean and English?. With this, written data and spoken interviews were conducted and subsequent data was analyzed; frequency of compliment response types were found to be more outstanding in Korean interactions, than in English ones. Although starkly different compliment responses were produced for the different interlocutor groups (by Korean females), the overall pragmatic transfer was found to be minimal, hence, the intercultural interactions proceeded with little to no miscommunication. 

Han, C.H. (1992). A Comparative Study of Compliment Responses: Korean Females in Korean Interactions and in English Interactions. WPEL. Vol. 8(2), pp. 17-31.