Journal of Asian Pacific Communication - Volume 22, Issue 2, 2012

This paper analyses how “noting” has been conceptualized in the Language Management Framework originating in the work of Neustupný and Jernudd. It deals with the influence of the cognitivist concept of “noticing” as used in the theories of Second Language Acquisition and instead proposes to assume the discursive approach of “noting” inspired by Discursive Psychology and Conversation Analysis. It pays attention to the formulations and concrete words which people use to express that they “noted” a phenomenon (be it linguistic, communicative or socio-cultural). Finally, it addresses micro-macro-linkage in the framework, namely, how “noting” of everyday speakers connects to management acts performed by experts in institutions.

This paper uses Language Management Theory (LMT) to explore situations in which non-native speakers of a language explicitly reveal that they have noted a potential linguistic deviation. This can be paraphrased as the concept of “checking”, identifiable through the use of question intonation for the trouble source item, phrases such as “is that right?”, or the offering of alternative words or forms. This process is explored in Czech conversations between native speakers and American missionaries. In the analysis, two major points are made: 1) There is a limit to the types of deviations which are noted in this way, as checking is mainly done in cases of potential lexical and morphological deviations, and 2) In order for this strategy to be realized, there must be an appropriate categorial context for its execution, particularly in regard to the categories that speakers assign (or do not assign) to one another situationally, such as “non-native speaker” or “language expert”. In this way, simple management can be directly connected to organized management in that missionaries learning a foreign language are instructed to utilize their interlocutors as “language experts”. The paper also considers methodological tools for LMT analysts to uncover the fact that noting has occurred.

This paper deals with language management within a transnational business network, with a specific focus on the process of noting. In an analysis of one business encounter involving one Japanese and one Australian business representative, language management is found to occur at the grammatical, (non-grammatical) communicative and also sociocultural/socioeconomic levels. Furthermore, the language management involves not just individual acts but also occurs at the level of the speech event, as seen through an analysis of how the participants perceive the function of the encounter and their respective roles vis-à-vis their own institutional networks. The data consists of a video-tape recording in conjunction with follow-up (stimulated recall) interviews with the two participants.

Empirical research has shown that not all deviations from norms occurring in contact situations are noted and that, in fact, many remain unnoted (Fairbrother, 2004; Kon, 2002). Indeed, Neustupný (1985) has proposed that there are “special circumstances” under which native speakers note deviations, such as when the speakers’ metalinguistic attention is drawn to the deviation or when the interlocutor is unfamiliar. Based on our analysis of natural data from a variety of Japanese contact situations, we will examine the factors that determine whether a deviation will be noted or not. In addition to finding evidence of “Neustupný’s “special circumstances”, we will show how the type of deviation, where the deviation occurs within the interaction, the situational context of the interaction, the relationship between the noted deviation and other previously noted deviations, the ethnicity of the interlocutor, and the psychological characteristics of the noter may each influence the noting process.

This case study examines the language problems that are noted and further managed by a Japanese language learner studying at an Australian university. Through the use of interviews as well as the analysis of the learner’s natural conversation, the study mainly focuses on some major factors that affect these management processes. To date, there has been little research on noting and other management processes in out-of-class natural contexts, in particular that on presentational problems noted by foreign language learners. Utilising an approach that incorporates language management theory and activity theory, this study reveals that these problems seem to be perceived and managed seriously by the learner in his conversation.The findings also indicate that one of the major factors that affect the learner’s language management processes is a contradiction that emerges between two activities of the communities where the learner and his interactants are situated. This contradiction, in turn, seems to lead to a number of other contradictions between the three interactants’ goals of the conversation, which possibly affect the learner’s evaluations of language deviations and consequent adjustments in complex ways. Other factors include the learner’s L2 use history, such as formal Japanese study, which might contribute to his correctness-oriented approach, and the strength of indication of each participant’s preference for English or Japanese.

This paper reports on a case study of Japanese exchange students that investigated the ways such students note and evaluate various types of contact between native and host academic cultures while participating in new communities of practice at an Australian university. In this study, language management theory (Jernudd & Neustupný, 1987; Neustupný, 1985, 1994, 2004) was employed in conjunction with Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral participation in order to investigate the sociocultural influence on cognitive processes of language management. The findings illustrate that not only norm deviations but also the phenomena relating to norm universality and compatibility generated processes of noting and evaluation. This study also provides an insight into mechanisms of self- and other-noting, as well as negative evaluations of norm deviations, and sheds light on positive evaluations of common disciplinary knowledge and cross-cultural situational similarities. Based on the findings, this paper indicates that noting and evaluation in language management processes should be considered in relation to students’ social positionings, their power relations with other community members, their perceptions of self, and the context where the management occurs.

This paper reports on an empirical analysis of the language management strategies of Australian learners of Japanese in Internet communication with their Japanese native-speaking peers, in order to evaluate the interpersonal and technological factors that contribute to learner noting processes. The paper makes use of the language management model, including the concept of “noting”, to explore learners’ Internet communication, not only in terms of occurrence of noting and perceptions of norm deviations on the micro-level, but also the impact of macro-level language planning in Internet communities.

This paper addresses the distinction between theory and practice networks and the ways in which theory can be made more useful for language management practitioners. With regard to the dissemination of knowledge of language management theories, one should not forget that many of these theories contain components that are a direct reflection of their authors’ interests. Therefore, rather than teaching practitioners a set of concepts of a language management theory, it is more rewarding to acquaint them with the basic strategies that govern more than one of these theories. Six examples of such strategies are proposed.