The diversity of Japanese causatives : An analysis of the actual usage

Abstract

Traditionally, coercion and permission are regarded as prototypical functions of Japanese causatives from both a theoretical and a pedagogical point of view. With nine years of experience as a Japanese language teacher, it appears to me that coercive is the most emphasized causative function in the Japanese language education. Consequently, it seems that many students use the causative form Ein the limited meaning and have trouble making use of causative form in actual real-life situations. However, the actual usage of Japanese causatives is rich in variety.

The goal of this thesis is to show the diversity of Japanese causatives and to point out the gap between Japanese causatives from a pedagogical point of view and the actual usage of Japanese causatives by the native speaker. First, I analyze some Japanese textbooks which are used in educational institutions for Japanese language in order to grasp the typical definition of Japanese causatives. I also cite some instances of the actual condition of the use of causative sentence by the students of the Japanese language. Next, I investigate the actual usage of Japanese causatives by the native speaker by conducting an analysis of spoken and written corpora. Finally, I suggest alternative ways to teach causatives in Japanese.