初級韓国人日本語学習者による動詞テ形の習得

Abstract

Among the grammatical items taught to the beginners of Japanese, the –te form of verbs is commonly recognized as one of the most difficult items to acquire. The conjugation of verbs to their –te forms requires the understanding of grammatical differences between verbs of “Godan” class, verbs of “Ichidan” class, and the irregular verbs; this conjugation paradigm is further complicated by euphonic changes that may occur at a verbal ending. This study consists of two parts. The first part aims to examine whether the Korean beginners of Japanese use either “Item Learning” or “Rule Learning” strategies in their acquisition of the –te form (Research Question1). The second part explores whether different verbal endings affect the acquisition of –te form. For these purses, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted, and the results were statistically analysed (Research Question2). For Research Question1, our results indicate that the beginners of Japanese employ the “Item Learning” strategy to convert verbs to their –te forms if they are not familiar with the grammatical rules itself. On the other hand, the learners with the knowledge of the–te form employ the “Rule Learning” strategy. It is also shown that there is a shift from “Item Learning” to “Rule Learning,” even at the beginner level. For Research Question2, the upper group and the lower group (classified in accordance with each participant’s overall Japanese ability) differ in terms of acquisition styles, but both groups display a lack of understanding in the acquisition of –ru.