Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2010, 32, 141–156.

© Cambridge University Press, 2010 0272-2631/10 $15.00

141

BOOK REVIEWS

doi:10.1017/S0272263109990283

SOCIALIZING IDENTITIES THROUGH SPEECH STYLE: LEARNERS OF
JAPANESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE . Haruko Minegishi Cook .
Clevedon, UK : Multilingual Matters , 2008 . Pp. viii + 225.

Linguists and language teachers have, for years, relied on overly simplistic and
misleading explanations of the way in which Japanese speakers use masu (often
identifi ed as a formal, out-group or polite speech marker) versus plain verb
endings. For learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL), fi guring out how
to choose between these two forms can be especially vexing. In this study, Cook
combines indexical theory and language socialization methodologies in an effort
to clarify not only how these forms are used by native speakers but also how JFL
learners can be socialized through implicit as well as explicit language practices
to use these forms appropriately.

For her language socialization methodology, Cook focuses on microanalysis

of how masu versus plain forms are used by nine JFL learners and their host
families during a total of 25 recorded homestay dinner table conversations. For
her indexical theory, Cook relies primarily on a version of what she identifi es as
a two-step model of indexical relations (see Ochs, 1990 ). Based on her adaptation
of this analytical method, Cook posits the theory that the choice of masu versus
plain forms indexes social identities among nonnative as well as native speakers
during talk-in-interaction and thus also contributes to the way in which this
language mediates, socializes, and coconstructs these identities.

For ease of explication, Cook’s volume can be divided into three sections.

In the fi rst section, which includes chapters 1–3, Cook offers what is, overall, a
clear and concise overview of her theoretical and analytical approach, her data
collection, and her focus on the use of masu versus plain forms during dinnertime
conversation. It is in chapters 4 and 5 that Cook presents the core of her indexical
analysis of the use of these forms in her dinnertime recordings. In the third
section, chapters 6–8, she addresses issues of most direct interest to teachers
and learners of JFL: the role of explicit versus implicit language socialization
practices and the implications of this study for future studies of second language
pragmatics and pedagogy.

Although Cook’s analysis of the dinnertime conversation data is rich and

compelling, I do have questions concerning Cook’s application of her two-step
approach to indexical analysis. Although Ochs ( 1990 ) used Japanese sentence-fi nal
particles as examples of how some language forms may fi rst convey one direct
meaning and then index several indirect meanings, the masu versus plain form
system exemplifi es more of what Ochs might describe as complex, collocational

Book Reviews

142

indexicality and what Silverstein ( 2003 ) might identify as multiple layers of
indexicality. Cook’s idea that self-presentational stance is the direct indexical
meaning of masu , with all other indexical meanings as secondary, is somewhat
simplistic. At the same time, Cook’s analysis of how masu versus plain forms are
used as contextualization cues for changes in speech genre or activity type is
just as, or even more, convincing in explaining how and why speakers switch
between these forms during informal as well as formal conversational activities.

Although I agree with Cook’s discussion of the pedagogical problems associ-

ated with the way in which most textbooks and curricula highlight the soto - uchi
(outside-inside) explanation for choosing between masu versus plain forms and
with her plea to create alternative materials, I would also like to have seen a
more pointed discussion of the infl uence of Japanese language ideology on this
maintenance of this misleading approach.

The problems with the indexical portions of Cook’s analysis notwithstanding,

her discussion of the importance of JFL learners’ participation in real-life, naturally
occurring social interactions is convincing and of great import for all interested
in second language pedagogy. Much of her indexical approach to analyzing the
use of masu versus plain forms in Japanese is a step forward, and I anticipate
continuing discussions on the language socialization of Japanese in general and
further use of indexical theory for enhancing our overall understanding of SLA.

REFERENCES

Ochs , E . ( 1990 ). Indexicality and socialization . In J. W. Stigler , R. A. Shweder , & G. Herdt

(Eds.), Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative human development (pp. 287 – 308 ).
New York : Cambridge University Press .

Silverstein , M . ( 2003 ). Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life . Language

and Communication , 23 , 193 – 229 .

( Received 23 February 2009 )

Laurie Schick

Oklahoma State University

doi:10.1017/S0272263109990295

TEACHING THROUGH BASQUE: ACHIEVEMENTS AND
CHALLENGES . Jasone Cenoz (Ed.) . Clevedon, UK : Multilingual Matters ,
2008 . Pp. 101 .

The multilingual sociolinguistic landscape of Spain makes it an ideal space for
the implementation and testing of educational systems whose goal is the acqui-
sition of three languages (two offi cial languages in the Basque Country, Catalonia,
Galicia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, in addition to English in most of these
areas). This volume provides an extensive discussion of the educational system
in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC).

The chapter by Zalbide and Cenoz is an overview of bilingual education in the

BAC since the 1960s. It introduces the three models of Basque education—all in
Spanish, bilingual, and all in Basque—and documents their evolution. The fi nal