Effects of Frequent Interaction with Non-Native Speakers on English Dialect:/-t,d/ Deletion in the Anglophone Community of Japan

Authors

  • Keiko Hirano University of Kitakyushu

Abstract

/T,d/ deletion was chosen as a speech token to test modifications to usage by native speakers of English due to frequent interactions with non-native anglophones in Japan. Approximately 250 tokens per each of thirty-nine informants were gathered at two intervals of one year. All informants were language or conversation instructors from the U.K., the U.S. and New Zealand working in Japan. A shift away from /t,d/ deletion was expected in function of the type of social networks of the speakers and their degree of contact with non-native anglophones, a result validated in two of three nationalities of informants but with variations according to gender in all three national groups. Social network theory is used to examine differences in individual rates of /t,d/ deletion and a multiple regression analysis confirms an inverse correlation between deletion and strong networks with Japanese anglophones.

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Published

2005-11-20

How to Cite

Hirano, K. (2005). Effects of Frequent Interaction with Non-Native Speakers on English Dialect:/-t,d/ Deletion in the Anglophone Community of Japan. Linguistica Atlantica, 26, 21–42. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/la/article/view/22526

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