RECONCILING TEXTBOOK DIALOGUES AND NATURALLY OCCURRING TALK: WHAT WE THINK WE DO IS NOT WHAT WE DO

Abstract

Compared to natural conversations, textbook dialogues 1) focus almost entirely on exchanging information, 2) are mainly made up of pairs of complete sentences, such as question-answer pairs, instead of the shorter, non-paired units found in actual speech, 3) contain too much new information in one utterance, potentially hindering communication, and 4) are notably lacking in linguistic devices speakers use interactionally to create their conversations as they present information bit by bit and negotiate the meaning of what they are saying (devices such as repetition, repair, postposing, final particles, backchannels, fillers, and lengthening). Since an ultimate goal of most learners of Japanese is to be able to participate in actual talk, we suggest that learners should be given increased opportunities for contact with level-appropriate natural conversations and that teachers and those developing pedagogical materials study actual talk in order to be able to represent it better to learners.