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“Cool” English: Stylized Native-Speaker English in Japanese Television Shows

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Published/Copyright: October 30, 2014

Abstract

This article analyzes stylized pronunciations of English by Japanese speakers on televised variety shows in Japan. Research on style and mocking has done much to reveal how linguistic forms are utilized in interaction as resources of identity construction that can oftentimes subvert hegemonic discourse (Chun 2004). Within this research area, scholars have primarily explored language among monolingual speakers of English, and immigrant or second generation L2 English multilinguals who have frequent contact with speakers of other languages (Rampton 1995; Chun 2009). What has not been examined is the use of stylized languages in contexts where English is considered a foreign language, such as Japan. In this article, I investigate Stylized native-speaker English (NSE), or English spoken with a highly enunciated hyper-L1 accent, which indexes a degree of social “cool”. I examine the ways in which NSE is stylized in variety shows through an analysis of both oral discourse and textual commentary (telop) produced on the screen for viewers. The article argues that these forms of stylization are used as resources in the social construction of cool identities and demonstrates how the indexical relationship between social cool and Stylized NSE works bi-directionally.

Transcription conventions

(())

detailed description

˚ ˚

low volume

underline

said with stress

=

Latching

$ $

laughing voice

CAPS

loud volume

!

Emphasis

.

falling tone

?

rising tone

::

extended sound

(0.8)

length of pause in seconds

Overlap

COP

Copula

Q

question marker

IP

interactional particle

NOM

Nominative

OBJ

object marker

PST

past tense

TOP

topic marker

NEG

Negative

QT

Quotative

VOL

Volitional

POT

Potential

INT

Interjection

DM

Diminuative

DER

Derogatory

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Published Online: 2014-10-30
Published in Print: 2015-3-1

©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton

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