Students’ Attitudes towards English Loan Words in Japanese

Abstract

Numerous English loan words have been adopted into Japanese, and many of them are used in the textbooks for Japanese Foreign Language students. This study aimed to identify Thai university students’ attitudes towards English loan words (Katakana words) in Japanese. A total of 106 university students of Japanese major were involved in this survey research. A questionnaire was used to collect data, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. The study found the neutral tendencies of learner’s attitudes towards the loan words in Japanese. Although students were ambivalent, they seemed to be not suffering in learning loan word in Japanese. Pronunciation of loan words was some burden in their learning Japanese. Regarding the origins of students’ attitudes towards English loan word, students claimed particularly that social media, textbooks and university teachers were the causes of their attitudes.