Fairbrother Lisa

Despite the large number of foreign companies operating in Japan, which employ speakers of many different languages, very little research has been conducted on the actual language practices in multilingual workplaces in Japan. Based on semi-structured and interaction interviews with plurilingual employees of European-owned multinationals, this study will show how interactional practices in such workplaces are 'multiform', including a variety of hybrid, pidginized and deliberately adjusted forms. Furthermore, these multiform practices are not limited to merely linguistic elements but also apply to sociolinguistic and sociocultural practices. However, in contrast with earlier studies that stress that multiform practices are undertaken for the purpose of aiding smooth communication, an analysis of the practices in this study, highlights the influence of the hierarchical power structure of the workplace. Multiform practices are not simply a choice but they may also be imposed on employees lower down in the hierarchy, affecting both the use of their own L1 and other lingua francas.

This article examines how participants in intercultural contact situations in Japan manage deviations relating to language and power in their daily life interactions. Based on the management summaries of eight plurilingual residents of Japan, this study investigates how deviations relating to language and power are noted and evaluated and what adjustment strategies are implemented in such cases. The results suggest that the management of language and power is complex and a number of interests may be in conflict. Deviations relating to power may be evaluated both positively and negatively and a lack of language proficiency can actually be used as a powerful tool. It is argued that speaker identity is a crucial issue that influences how interactional problems will be managed.

Although the stage of evaluation is the central component of language management theory, determining whether a deviation will become a problem or not and hence whether an adjustment should be made or not, it has been given relatively little attention by researchers. This paper, therefore, presents an overview of the evaluation stage of language management based on the findings of past research, focusing on processual features, the type of deviations that are evaluated, the effect of the speaker’s perception of their interlocutor on the evaluation process, the norms that govern whether or how a deviation will be evaluated and individual differences between evaluators. Finally, it will be suggested that different people may evaluate the same type of deviation differently because of their different levels of contact situation proficiency.

This article describes the author's experience of negative attitutudes towards multilingualism in Japan

Empirical research has shown that not all deviations from norms occurring in contact situations are noted and that, in fact, many remain unnoted (Fairbrother, 2004 Kon, 2002). Indeed, Neustupný (1985) has proposed that there are "special circumstances" under which native speakers note deviations, such as when the speakers' metalinguistic attention is drawn to the deviation or when the interlocutor is unfamiliar. Based on our analysis of natural data from a variety of Japanese contact situations, we will examine the factors that determine whether a deviation will be noted or not. In addition to finding evidence of "Neustupný's "special circumstances", we will show how the type of deviation, where the deviation occurs within the interaction, the situational context of the interaction, the relationship between the noted deviation and other previously noted deviations, the ethnicity of the interlocutor, and the psychological characteristics of the noter may each influence the noting process. © John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Through the analysis of a party situation this paper presents a number of issues concerning intercultural interaction in Japan. The data, obtained from a video recording and follow-up interviews, were analysed using the Language Management Model, making it possible to focus on features of interaction management. Although there were several problems at the party, there were also many positively evaluated events. There is evidence to show that the Japanese participants did not always expect non-Japanese participants to conform to their norms and, in some cases, they even positively evaluated deviations from their norms. An examination of norms, and deviations from those norms confirms that, in contact situations, there is norm divergence even among participants from similar cultural backgrounds.