Japanese Apology Expressions by Javanese and Sundanese Speakers

Abstract

This research discusses expressions of apology in Japanese by Javanese and Sundanese speakers at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. The apology differs between Japanese and Indonesian. Apologizing to the Japanese uses many reasons, the Japanese may distrust the speech partner and cause misunderstanding. In learning Japanese, Javanese-speaking learners are different from Sundanese-speaking learners because their culture also influences them. This research aims to determine the strategy of apology expression by Japanese language learners who speak Javanese and Sundanese as seen from the semantic formula and the differences between the two. This research used a descriptive method with a qualitative approach to describe the strategy of apologizing in Japanese by Javanese and Sundanese mother tongue learners using semantic formulas. Respondents were UMY students from level 2 and level 3 PBJ Study Program with 15 Javanese speaking students and 15 Sundanese speaking students. This research showed that most Japanese learners who speak Javanese and Sundanese tended to use the Speech Act Indication Expression (apology and appreciation) when expressing Japanese apologies. They used polite language ultimately when apologizing to lecturers.

An Interlanguage Pragmatics Analysis

“…The author had been doing an investigation prior to research on the speech act of apologizing among Indonesian as Japanese learners and found two studies which are related to the subject. The two studies were conducted by Radhiya (2011), Savana and Meisa (2021). According to Radhiya (2011), a common strategy used by many Indonesian students is to apologize explicitly and provide an explanation or reason for their mistakes.…”

“…According to Radhiya (2011), a common strategy used by many Indonesian students is to apologize explicitly and provide an explanation or reason for their mistakes. Meanwhile, Savana and Meisa (2021) describe the way Japanese language learners employ different strategies depending on the situation and the interlocutors. In the first situation (apologies to the lecturer for being late to class), most Japanese learners who are Javanese and Sundanese used two strategies: speech act indication expression and explanation or reason; and polite language (keigo).…”

The politeness of criticism speech acts in Japanese and Minangkabau films

“…Several relevant previous studies have explored speech acts including criticism speech acts in cross-cultural contexts involving Japanese, Indonesian and regional languages in Indonesia. These studies cover various aspects, such as studies of directive speech act strategies in Japanese and Minangkabau focusing on politeness (Putri & Haristiani, 2021), Japanese and Javanese greeting terms (Rahayu et al, 2023), refusal speech acts in the context of politeness between native Japanese speakers and Japanese Indonesian language learners (Nurjaleka, 2019), interlanguage apology and complaint speech acts in Japanese and English (Tamanaha, 2003), expressions of reference used in Malay and Japanese speech acts (Okubo et al, 2022), speech acts from a referential perspective in German and Japanese (Matoba, 1996), and a study of Japanese language apology speech acts by Javanese and Sundanese Japanese learners (Savana & Meisa, 2021). Regarding politeness, Japanese speakers tend to use negative politeness strategies, while other contrasting languages such as Chinese, English, Indonesian, and Sundanese prefer positive politeness strategies (see e.g., Abe, 2006;Haristiani et al, 2021;Ikeda, 1993;Nurjaleka, 2019).…”