Okamoto (1995) suggests through empirical studies that the differences between men's and women's usage of language is not strictly dichotomous, but more dynamic in nature; i.e., a speaker changes language according to different situations due to various factors such as formality of setting, interlocutor, topic of the conversation, emotion, etc. (cf. also Eckert & Rickford, 2001; Labov, 1973). However, to date, few studies have investigated Japanese kinship terms in this respect. This paper investigates how college-age native Japanese speakers of both genders address and refer to parents under different situations according to formality of settings and different interlocutors, and suggests the importance of incorporating the notion of gender, formality, and familiarity of the interlocutor in language classrooms.
30 female and 33 male college students completed a 5-page-questionnaire regarding kinship terms. 10 female and 10 male college students also participated in two 20-minute-conversations with different interlocutors: conversations between peers of the same gender (friend) and informal interviews by the researcher (stranger). The results clearly show that male subjects reported/used a wider variety of terms than female subjects did, and that the less formal the setting and more familiar the interlocutor, the less socially expected terms (e.g., kaa-chan, o-kan for 'mother') subjects reported/used. Many students also reported that use of "polite" terms (e.g., haha to refer to mother) creates distance in conversations with friends.
These results indicate that the choice of kinship terms is a device for young native Japanese speakers to express overall politeness, solidarity, and self-image, and the degree to which choice of a certain kinship term has different meanings between female and male speakers. Therefore, it is important for the language teachers to incorporate the notion of gender, formality of setting, and familiarity of interlocutor into Japanese teaching more vigorously so that learners will become socially-competent communicators in Japanese.