A study of conflict management by Japanese learners of English in conversation

本研究探讨日本英语学习者在面对面互动中如何处理（或未能处理）冲突情境。首先，通过对包括参与者之间的分歧、争论和谈判在内的录音对话数据的话语分析方法，识别出学习者和英语母语者之间的几个明显差异。然后对同一组学习者进行了后续分析，以观察他们如何改善对冲突的管理。结果表明，在英语国家逗留六周后，学习者开始使用母语人士典型的语言手段和话语策略。这些实证研究结果表明，通过与目标语言的母语人士互动和模仿，学习者可以获得更多与母语人士相似的冲突解决技能。

This study investigates how Japanese learners of English handle (or fail to handle) conflictive situations in face-to-face interaction. First, through discourse analytic approaches to audio-taped conversation data that included disagreements, arguments, and negotiations among participants, several distinct differences between the learners and native speakers of English were identified. Then a follow-up analysis on the same learner group was conducted to observe how they might improve their management of conflicts. The results showed that the learners, after a six-week sojourn in an English speaking country, started employing linguistic devices and discourse strategies typical to native speakers. These empirical findings suggest that learners may acquire more native-like conflict resolution skills by interacting with and imitating native speakers of the target language.