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| Format: | Recurso digital |
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Zenodo
2017
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18927355 |
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| _version_ | 1866901342312726528 |
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| author | Sakellarios, Marc Price, Gregory |
| author_facet | Sakellarios, Marc Price, Gregory |
| contents | <p>This paper has sought to demonstrate negative language transfer resulting from non-English loanwords in the Japanese language. Prior to conducting our experiment, we theorized that some L1 interference may result from the use of katakana for these borrowed words, which potentially leads to some students not knowing which loanwords are English, and which are of non-English origin. To test this theory, a double-blind randomized experiment was conducted among 83 university students at Nihon University’s School of Pharmacy. Subjects were given a vocabulary test containing five questions; one with descriptions of the English words only, and the other with descriptions and the katakana counterparts. Our aim was to test whether students given the katakana would assume it to be English. Compared to the control group (mean score= 1.551 out of 5), the group with access to the katakana counterparts scored significantly lower (mean score= 0.738). An unpaired t-test of the results was conducted, and the result showed a significant difference between the two groups (p= 0.0018). A follow up survey was conducted of 144 students from Tokyo University of Science and Nihon University’s School of Pharmacy to see if students could identify the origin of common non-English loanwords. Of the loanwords tested, 80.56% of students incorrectly identified one or more of the words to be from an English-speaking country. This supported the hypothesis that students may not be able to discern the origin of Japanese loanwords.</p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_18927355 |
| institution | Zenodo |
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| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Enhancing Intelligibility in ELF by Focusing on the Origin of Katakana Loanwords Sakellarios, Marc Price, Gregory <p>This paper has sought to demonstrate negative language transfer resulting from non-English loanwords in the Japanese language. Prior to conducting our experiment, we theorized that some L1 interference may result from the use of katakana for these borrowed words, which potentially leads to some students not knowing which loanwords are English, and which are of non-English origin. To test this theory, a double-blind randomized experiment was conducted among 83 university students at Nihon University’s School of Pharmacy. Subjects were given a vocabulary test containing five questions; one with descriptions of the English words only, and the other with descriptions and the katakana counterparts. Our aim was to test whether students given the katakana would assume it to be English. Compared to the control group (mean score= 1.551 out of 5), the group with access to the katakana counterparts scored significantly lower (mean score= 0.738). An unpaired t-test of the results was conducted, and the result showed a significant difference between the two groups (p= 0.0018). A follow up survey was conducted of 144 students from Tokyo University of Science and Nihon University’s School of Pharmacy to see if students could identify the origin of common non-English loanwords. Of the loanwords tested, 80.56% of students incorrectly identified one or more of the words to be from an English-speaking country. This supported the hypothesis that students may not be able to discern the origin of Japanese loanwords.</p> |
| title | Enhancing Intelligibility in ELF by Focusing on the Origin of Katakana Loanwords |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18927355 |