Native Japanese Speakers’ Perspectives on Request Emails by Chinese Learners of Japanese

Abstract

This study aims to clarify two key aspects: (1) what aspects native Japanese speakers focus on when evaluating request emails written by learners of Japanese, particularly in relation to their willingness to accept the request, and (2) the communicative roles these aspects play in the email interaction process—from the moment the recipient reads the message to the point at which they respond.

Three native Japanese speakers evaluated forty request emails composed by Chinese learners of Japanese and ranked them according to the likelihood of accepting each request, as determined through group discussion. A qualitative analysis of the discussions revealed four key evaluation aspects: Appropriateness of self-disclosure, Clarity of request content, Politeness in consideration for the reader, and Naturalness of language expression.

The results indicate that the evaluators used these aspects to assess both (1) elements related to the communicative purpose of the email—such as the reliability of the message and the clarity of its content—and (2) elements related to interpersonal relationship-building.