Article published In: Methodology of Narrative Study: What the first thirty years of Narrative Inquiry have revealed
Edited by Allyssa McCabe and Dorien Van De Mieroop
[Narrative Inquiry 31:1] 2021
► pp. 214–235
Narrative as cultural representation
An analysis of Japanese-language learners’ storytelling styles from the perspective of coherence and cohesion
Published online: 17 November 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.20063.min
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.20063.min
Abstract
This paper addresses issues related to narrative, cognition, and culture within the framework of foreign- or
second-language (L2) narrative discourse, using a methodology of connecting the story- and language-related qualities of narrative
discourse. The term “coherence” refers to whether or not a text makes sense at a global level, whereas “cohesion” describes the linguistic
relationships among clauses in a narrative, such as how its surface linguistic elements are linked together at a local level. The paper (1)
examines oral narratives, (2) reveals how both coherence and cohesion serve as the twin engines of narrative, and (3) emphasizes the
significance of noting not only the narrative content/structure but also the appropriate use of linguistic devices, to identify
language-specific ways of expressing affective elements in narrative. That is, the paper suggests the importance of developing conceptual
understanding of L2 forms (e.g., grammatical variables) and their stylistic significance.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Theoretical framework: Narrative as linguistic expression
- Labovian methodology: Macrostructural analysis for narrative coherence
- Findings from studies on child bilingualism
- Method
- Results
- Labovian methodology: Macrostructural analysis for narrative coherence
- Microstructural levels of narratives: The choice of voice as a reflection of perspective-taking
- Microstructural levels of narratives: Aspects te-shimaw-u and te-iru
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Notes
References
References (40)
Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bamberg, M. (1987). The acquisition of narratives: Learning to use language. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Berman, R. (1996). Form and function in developing narrative abilities: The case of ‘and.’ In D. I. Slobin, J. Gerhardt, A. Kytatzis, & J. Guo (Eds.), Social interaction, context, and language: Essays in honor of Susan Ervin-Tripp (pp. 243–268). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
(1997). Narrative theory and narrative development: The Labovian impact. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7(1–4), 235–244.
Berman, R. A. (2004a). The role of context in developing narrative abilities. In S. Strömqvist & L. Verhoeven (Eds.), Relating events in narrative, Volume 2: Typological and contextual perspectives (pp. 261–280). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
(2004b). Between emergence and mastery: The long developmental route of language acquisition. In B. A. Berman (Ed.), Language development across childhood and adolescence (pp. 9–34). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Berman, R. A., & Slobin, D. I. (1994). Relating events in narrative: A crosslinguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Blum-Kulka, S. (2004). The role of peer interaction in later pragmatic development. In B. A. Berman (Ed.), Language development across childhood and adolescence (pp. 191–210). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Chafe, W. L. (1980). The pear stories: Cognitive, cultural, and linguistic aspects of narrative production. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Ervin-Tripp, S. M., & Küntay, A. (1997). The occasioning and structure of conversational stories. In T. Givón (Ed.), Conversation: Cognitive, communicative and social perspectives (pp. 133–166). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Kang, J. Y. (2003). On the ability to tell good stories in another language: Analysis of Korean EFL learners’ oral “frog story” narratives. Narrative Inquiry, 13(1), 127–149.
(2006). Producing culturally appropriate narratives in English as a foreign language: A discourse analysis of Korean EFL learners’ written narratives. Narrative Inquiry, 16(2), 379–407.
(2012). How do narrative and language skills relate to each other?: Investigation of young Korean EFL learners’ oral narratives. Narrative Inquiry, 22(2), 307–331.
Kimura, H. (2014). Koto, kokoro, kotoba – Genjitsu o kotoba ni suru shiten – [Things, mind, and words: A perspective that puts reality into words]. In K. Karasawa & T. Hayashi (Eds.), Jin-bun-chi 1 Kokoro to kotoba no mēkyū [Humanities 1: Labyrinth of mind and words] (97–118). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Kuno, S. (1987). Functional syntax: Anaphora, discourse and empathy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kuno, S., & Kaburaki, E. (1977). Empathy and syntax. Linguistic Inquiry, 8(4), 627–672. [URL]
Labov, W. (1972). Language in the inner city: Studies in the Black English vernacular. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
(1997). Some further steps in narrative analysis. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7(1–4), 395–415.
(2006). Narrative pre-construction. Narrative Inquiry, 16(1), 37–45.
(2013). The language of life and death: The transformation of experience in oral narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Labov, W., & Waletzky, J. (1967). Narrative analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. In June Helm (Ed.), Essays on the verbal and visual arts: Proceedings of the 1966 annual spring meeting of the American Ethnological Society (pp. 12–44). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174.
Maynard, S. K. (1990). An introduction to Japanese grammar and communication strategies. Tokyo: The Japan Times.
Minami, M. (2002). Culture-specific language styles: The development of oral narrative and literacy. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
(2011). Telling stories in two languages: Multiple approaches to understanding English-Japanese bilingual children’s narratives. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
(2015a). Narrative, cognition, and socialization. In A. De Fina & A. Georgakopoulou (Eds.), The handbook of narrative analysis (pp. 76–96). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
(2015b). Narrative development in L1 Japanese. In M. Nakayama (Ed.), Handbook of Japanese psycholinguistics (pp.181–215). Berlin/Boston, MA: De Gruyter Mouton.
(2016). The influence of topic choice on narrative proficiency by learners of Japanese as a foreign language. In M. Minami (Ed.), Handbook of Japanese applied linguistics (pp. 223–251). Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
(2019). Connecting L1 and L2 acquisition: From the perspective of macro and micro narrative structure. Journal of Japanese Linguistics, 35(2), 143–164.
Minami, M., & McCabe, A. (1991). Haiku as a discourse regulation device: Stanza analysis of Japanese children’s personal narratives. Language in Society, 20(4), 577–599.
(1995). Rice balls and bear hunts: Japanese and North American family narrative patterns. Journal of Child Language, 22(2), 423–445.
Ohta, A. S. (2017). From SCOBA development to implementation in concept-based instruction: Conceptualizing and teaching Japanese addressee honorifics as expressing modes of self. Language and Sociocultural Theory, 4(2), 187–218.
Peng, G. (2016). Nitchū ryōgo no voisu ni mirareru shiten no arikata [Perspectives in Japanese and Chinese voices]. In M. Ono & Q. Li (Eds.), Gengo no shukansei [Language subjectivity] (pp. 35–51). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
Peterson, C., & McCabe, A. (1983). Developmental psycholinguistics: Three ways of looking at a child’s narrative. New York: Plenum.
(1991). Linking children’s connective use and narrative macrostructure. In A. McCabe & C. Peterson (Eds.), Developing narrative structure (pp. 29–53). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Muranaka-Vuletich, Hiromi
Feng, Tao
Gladkova, Katerina, Natalia Khorosheva, Ekaterina Petkova, Anna Podgaetc & Natalia Shutemova
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.