The final particles yo and ne are linguistic resources used to index a speaker's stance and/or action (Ochs, 2002) within a social interaction. The indexical functions of ne have been discussed by sociolinguistic researchers (Cook, 1990, 1992; Yoshimi, 1997). It has also been demonstrated JSL/JFL beginners slowly acquire the use of ne without being taught explicitly how to use it (Sawyer, 1992; Ohta, 2001). However, exposure to native speakers' use of ne alone does not ensure that learners master the native-like use of ne in real-life interaction (Yoshimi, 1999). In light of these studies, explicit instruction seems reasonable as a pedagogical tool to help learners develop their ability to use yo and ne.
Murayama (2002) found explicit instruction of yo and ne effective not only in the sense that it helped JFL learners become aware of the presence of these particles, but accelerated some learners? acquisition of ne in listener responses. However, it also became evident that we cannot expect every learner to use these particles appropriately in relatively unplanned discourse (Ochs, 1979) simply after receiving explicit instruction.
In this paper, I will reexamine JFL learners' production of yo and ne in the previous study (Murayama 2002) and discuss (1) the use of ne in listener responses and (2) the use of yo in a particular activity (i.e. invitation). I will argue that in addition to the problem of pragmatic transfer or incomplete acquisition, learners' underproduction as well as errors in the use of the particles may be attributable to instruction (cf. Mori, 2002). Specifically, the findings highlight the importance of expanding our instructional treatment of pragmatics to include a primary focus on interactive practices (Hall, 1999) and a secondary focus on the resources used to accomplish those practices (i.e., sentence-final particles, discourse markers, politeness routines, etc.)