THE USE OF FIRAA IN “MARUGOTO: JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE” TEXTBOOKS FOR BEGINNER (A1) AND ELEMENTARY (A2) LEVELS

Abstract

Filler, also known as Firaa in Japanese, is a discourse marker which frequently used by Japanese people in daily communication. However, Japanese learners are less likely to employ this discourse marker. This study aims to identify the types of Firaa and their functions in the textbook “Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture” for Beginner (A1) and Elementary (A2) levels. The data observed were collected from 217 audios of chokai (listening) and videos of kaiwa (conversation) as supplements in the Marugoto for Beginner (A1) and Elementary (A2) levels textbooks. The type of Firaa and their functions were then categorized using Yamane’s (2002) theory, and a total of 271 Firaa appear in conversations has been collected. The findings of this study showed that only six types of vowel sound Firaa type from the eight types of Yamane’s theory, namely the ‘Eeto’ Firaa type, the ‘Ko-So-A’ Firaa type, the ‘Hai’ Firaa type, the ‘N’ Firaa type, the ‘Maa’ Firaa type, and the ‘Saa’ type were found and introduced in the Marugoto textbooks at the beginner and elementary levels (A1 & A2). Moreover, it is found that the Firaa introduced to Japanese learners were based on their level of proficiency, so as the level increases, the Firaa types introduced in the textbooks also increase. Further, in the beginner level (A1), we found 74 times Firaa and five Firaa types, while at the elementary level (A2), the Firaa are used in much higher frequency. Hence, we can conclude that Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture for Beginner (A1) and Elementary (A2) levels has its’ own the criteria as textbooks which use communicative approach by introducing Firaa as one of the Japanese characteristic discourse markers from the beginner level.

Keywords

• communicative approach
• discourse marker
• japanese filler
• marugoto textbooks