Journal of International and Advanced Japanese Studies, Volume 14 (2022)

Research Note

Comparative Psychological Study of Narratives in Native Marathi and Acquired
Japanese Language
Aashlesha MARATHE1
Abstract
This research note discusses a study that compares narratives in Marathi and Japanese
languages. There are five native Marathi participants, who have formally acquired theJapanese language. “Conflictive Thoughts Analysis Inventory” by C.G. Deshpande has
been used as the tool for (verbal) data collection. Questions about family, past, present
life, society, etc. were asked in both languages with a considerable gap between the twointerviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, qualitatively analyzed, andcompared in both languages on the following points - Codes and Themes, Emotional
Expression, Language Specific Terms and their impact on the content, Japanese societal
characteristics, and Code-Switching. Variations between the two languages were seen interms of details in the narratives. Language-specific expressions brought about variation incontent, and there were interesting instances of code-switching throughout the interviews.
Similarities and differences between the two languages have been analyzed throughout
the research note.
Keywords: Native language, Acquired Language, Emotion, Culture, Code-switching
1. Introduction2
Prior bilingual studies have investigated pairs like Japanese-English (Wydell & Butterworth1999), Japanese-Portuguese (Senaha, M.L.H. & de Mattos Pimenta Parente, M.A. 2012),
etc. Many of these studies focus on neurological processes, like Alzheimer’s’ and dyslexia
in bilinguals.
Dr. Prashant Pardeshi has worked on Japanese and South Asian languages, including
extensive work on Marathi and Japanese (e.g., Pardeshi 2008; Pardeshi 2011). Other
studies comparing Marathi and Japanese are by Matsumoto (1998), Chida (2015), etc.
However, they have focused mainly on grammatical aspects, and not the psychological,
sociological, or cultural perspective of Japanese-Marathi bilingualism.
A study by Ervin (1964) has taken a psychological perspective to compare responses tothe projective Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) by French-English bilinguals. The
present study is inspired by this research. It compares Marathi and Japanese responses
by the same participants to the same questions, emotional expression, and how language
impacts the content of narratives from a cultural perspective.
This note discusses a range of ideas without going into extensive details of a single aspectof analysis. Therefore, this note has attempted to provide a starting point for bilingual and
1

Doctoral student, International and Advanced Japanese Studies, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
University of Tsukuba. Contact: aashlesha.arun.2021@japan.tsukuba.ac.jp
2
I would like to extend my gratitude to all those who have contributed to this project as a participant or as a guide. I
would like to thank my professor Dr. Sheetal Ruikar for her guidance, and Fergusson College, Pune for giving me theopportunity to carry out this study. I also thank all my Japanese language teachers from Pune who have supported me
throughout my endeavors.
© 20212022 Journal of International and Advanced Japanese Studies, Master’s and Doctoral Program in International and Advanced
Japanese Studies, Degree Programs in Humanities and Social Sciences, Graduate School of Business Sciences, Humanities andSocial Sciences, University of Tsukuba

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Aashlesha MARATHE, Comparative Psychological Study of Narratives in Native Marathi and Acquired Japanese LanguageJIAJSMARATHE, Comparison of Japanese and Marathi Narratives

multilingual studies of Japanese with Indian languages from psychological and sociocultural perspectives, that go beyond grammar and semantics.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Native language, second language, and emotions
Native language3 is the first tool of interaction used by a child. Languages acquired inchildhood are developed at the same time as emotional regulation systems. Hence, they
relate to emotional physiology and cover a wide range of emotions (Bloom & Beckwith
1989 in Ayçiçeǧi & Berko 2003).
Native languages guide further communication (see Sultana 2018). They influence L2
acquisition, both positively and negatively. A study found that many bilinguals, regardlessof their learning level, preferred their native language to express strong emotions(Dewaele & Pavlenko 2001 in Yashima 2006). Thus, native languages have an emotional
advantage over L2.
On the other hand, non-native languages are languages of detachment. They do not affectthe heart (Dewaele & Pavlenko 2004). In such languages, it is easier to use abusive
expressions or express difficult emotions. E.g., non-native English speakers find it easier
to say “I love you” in English. Thus, bilinguals and multilinguals may use their non-native
languages while expressing affection or scolding their kids (Yashima 2006). L2 processing
demands more cognitive resources, thus compromising emotional resources (seeMorishima 2013). Therefore, native language expresses emotion more clearly while L2
serves a more intellectual function, lacking emotion. However, L2 acquired throughimmersion learning and interaction with cultural environments and used habitually and inwider contexts are capable of carrying emotions (Pavlenko 2002). Thus, emotional
intensity and distance with native and acquired language respectively cannot be
generalized. Speakers may use multiple languages to communicate an emotion.
Language dominance affects emotional expression (Pavlenko 2004).
In this study, emotional distance with L2 is seen to be played out in the participants’narratives through code-switching.
Ekman & Friesen (1986) suggested that emotions are biological and universal. However,others proposed that emotions are not purely innate. They are influenced by socio-culturalsituations, creating complex interaction of innate processes and social situations
surrounding a person (see Kitayama & Markus 1994). Fundamental elements of a culture
are determined by everyday language. They are internalized by members of a culture,especially during native language acquisition (D'Andrade & Strauss 1992 in Yashima2006). Emotional scripts (emotional expression in a particular culture and language) arealso internalized through socialization.
Culture-specific emotional words are words for which literal translations do not exist inother languages (Wierzbicka 1999). They are naturally acquired through direct emotional
experience while learning a language. Thus, so-called culture-specific emotions may be
experienced by other cultures as well but labeled specifically by some. Thus, words
expressing emotions in one language do not always have a corresponding term in otherlanguages (Wierzbicka 1999).
3

The language acquired before the age of three is referred to as first language, native language, or mother tongue(Sinha, Banerjee, Sinha, & Shastri 2009 in Deng & Zou 2016). This paper will use the term native language. L2 will refer
to non-native languages.

2
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India and Japan are Asian countries with collectivistic cultures that value group cohesionand harmony. They are guided by adherence to certain social norms, unlike individualistic
cultures driven by personal needs and a sense of self (Triandis 2001). Emotional scripts ofthese countries are influenced accordingly.
For example, “Amae” is specific to the Japanese language (and some Asian cultures). The
emotion that Amae suggests (depending on others’ kindness) is experienced by all
humans but is specifically used in Japanese language.
2.2 Code-switching
Code-switching is the alternating between two languages in a single conversation. It canbe intersentential i.e., whole sentences spoken in one language before switching toanother, or intrasentential, i.e., within the same sentence (Myers-Scotton 1997). Codeswitching is common in bilingual and multilingual communities. Codes of spoken
languages do not violate the syntactic rules of either language (Poplack 1980 in Barnali2017). Code-switching may take place for cognitive control, i.e., to convey the mostappropriate meaning using multiple languages, regulate emotional intensity, i.e., switching
between native language and L2 depending on emotional intensity (Pavlenko 2005), or
cultural frame switching (Williams, Srinivasan, Liu, Lee, & Zhou 2020)
According to census data of 2001, 25 percent of Indians can speak more than one
language (Times of India 2010). English was used widely for administration during British
rule in India and remains a common language of communication today (Gupta & Bajpai2016). It has made a significant mark on most Indian languages. Hence, code-switching toEnglish is common, and many times unconscious. Almost no Indian language is pure.
There are hybrid languages, like Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English. Some English
words do not have corresponding terms in Indian languages, and if they do, they are notcommonly used (Barnali 2017).
The participants of this study have acquired English in a social setting, where it is spoken
habitually. Their medium of education was also English at the university level. Therefore,
code-switching to English was extensively seen from Marathi (see section 3.4).
Considering the above findings, this research aims to investigate the differences between
the Marathi and Japanese narratives among native Marathi speakers who have formallyacquired Japanese language. The study explores the following points through the datacollected.
1. Possible reasons behind variation of content in response to the same questions in
native and second language
2. When does code-switching take place while speaking in Marathi and Japanese bynative Marathi speakers? What are the possible reasons for this?
The difference of content between the two languages, the emotional expression andcultural differences are discussed in this note. This study does not offer definite findings or
generalizable conclusions but offers an insight into the sociocultural and psychologicalaspects of the two languages that are not explored in prior studies. These factors can beincorporated into future bilingual studies with other languages in focus.

42Aashlesha MARATHE, Comparative Psychological Study of Narratives in Native Marathi and Acquired Japanese LanguageJIAJSMARATHE, Comparison of Japanese and Marathi Narratives

3. Methodology
3.1 Participants
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is conducted worldwide by “JapanFoundation”.4
In July 2019, 192 applicants appeared for the N2 level examination, and 35 people
appeared for the N1 exam in Pune. This is the second-highest number of examinees inIndia for the two examinations after New Delhi (JLPT 2019). Pune is famous for its
Japanese language studies (Bari 2017).
Therefore, this study was conducted with skilled Japanese teachers and experts from
Pune, who spoke native Marathi. The criterion for selection was based on age (above 30
years), mother tongue (Marathi), and Japanese language proficiency (N1). Participants
were fluent in English and used it in their professional lives and daily conversations fromtime to time. The participants have stayed in Japan for at least one year. They interact withJapanese people and keep visiting Japan from time to time.
The participation of subjects was voluntary. Informed consent was taken before theinterviews.
The researcher was a 21-year-old female, native Marathi speaker, a Psychology student,
training for JLPT N2 at the time of the interviews. She was junior to the participants in age,
proficiency, and education.
Table 1
Participant details
Participant Age Gender

Durationofstudying
Japanese

Completion of
N1/Ikkyuu

Profession

1

39

Female10 years2011 (8 years ago)

Teacher2

41Female24 years

1999 (20 years
ago)

Teacher andinterpreter3

32

Female15 years

NA (Cleared
multiple times,
latest attempt in
2013, 8 years ago)

Teacher

4

42

Male

24 years

1999 (20 years
ago)

Department head at
a Japanese firm in
India

5

48

Female32 years

December 1992
(27 years ago)

Translator,
Interpreter, Teacher,coordinator forJapanese projects

4

JLPT is being conducted since 1984. It measures Japanese proficiency, especially of non-native speakers. There are
five levels, N5 being the easiest and N1, the hardest (JLPT n.d.).

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3.2 Tools
Conflictive Thoughts Analysis Inventory (CTAI) by Dr. C.G. Deshpande consists of 30
questions related to “past experiences, present condition, future life, family interactions,and social life”. The questions allowed for the elicitation of emotional narratives across a
range of topics.
It is a projective test designed to understand the test-taker’s conflictive thoughts. However,for the present research, the test was not used as a projective test or for analyzing
conflictive thoughts, but as narrative questions. CTAI was translated into both Marathi andJapanese languages. The translation was checked by a skilled Japanese language
teacher, a native Marathi speaker who has been studying Japanese for twenty years andhas cleared JLPT N1.
“Memory” was formed as an additional category by the researcher for independent
analysis.
1. Family
2. Past3. Memory
4. Future
5. Present Life
6. Society
One question was omitted in data analysis, as it was vague.
3.3 Procedure
CTAI was taken for narrative questions (Deshpande 1988), i.e., questions to elicit
responses to provide data for subjective emotional experiences of the participants. This
test allowed the researcher to obtain narratives5 regarding different topics, which werepersonal, professional, analytical, and emotional. This allowed for an overall analysis of
the participants’ speech.
The test was verbally administered to the participants in both languages with a mean gapof 16.14 days. Before both interviews, the participants were told that they will be asked
about their thoughts on certain things, and they were asked to elaborate on thesethoughts. For example, “About my future life I think”, or “My relations with family membersare”. The Japanese interview was administered to three of five participants first. Twoparticipants took the Marathi interview first.
The mean length of Marathi interviews was 19:04 minutes and Japanese interviews was
17:49 minutes. Transcripts were created verbatim from audio recordings of all theinterviews.

5 Narratives allow researchers an insight into an interviewee’s subjective experiences through their life stories (Schütze

1976 in Flick 2009). These can be analyzed from a linguistic as well as social or cultural perspective.

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3.4 Analysis
Considering the abovementioned questions, the following points were explored in the
narratives of both languages.
1. The data was coded6 and categorized into themes7. Themes in both languages wereidentified and compared under each main category.
2. Emotional words under each category were compared for both languages, i.e., words
that describe universal emotions and adjectives describing emotions.
3. Language-specific words were noted. These included culture-specific terms, commonlyused phrases (with no corresponding term in the other language to denote the exact
meaning), and proverbs commonly used in a language.
4. Instances of code-switching were noted. Possible reasons for code-switching werestudied.
4. Data and Discussion8
Section 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 discuss the first research question, i.e., Variations in emotions
and content in Marathi and Japanese narratives in response to the same questions, andreasons for the same.
4.1 Codes and Themes
This section discusses the codes and themes that emerged in each category in bothlanguages. The data was coded and re-coded multiple times before moving on to thethematic analysis. It was also checked by an experienced researcher in qualitative
analysis.
Thematic analysis provided a basis for analysis of language-specific content, codeswitching, emotions, etc. In cases of a major difference in the content and themes basedon language, or where there is significant data, supporting literature is provided withfurther exploration of the findings.
1. Future
Contribution
Excerpt 1
Marathi - Participant 2

ShikShaN kShetrAt(0.8)samAjAlA
kAhitari ApaN deu Shaku asa kShetra Ahe
Education field-LOC society-DAT something we give canlike fieldistyAmuLe malA nakkich
kAm karAychay (0.6) tetherefore I definitely.EMPH Work want to do that

mAza
I.

antim dhyey ahefinal goalisThe education field is a field through which one can contribute to society. So,
I definitely want to work (in this field). That is my ultimate goal.

6 Coding refers to labeling and summarizing segments of data (Charmaz 2006 in Thornberg & Charmaz 2009)

7

Themes refer to patterns of data that identify meanings relevant to the research question

8 Excerpts from interviews have been given in the relevant parts of the report. Names, gender, or identity of any people

mentioned by the participants in these quotes have been changed or skipped (except in cases where necessary. E.g.,
where the answer is gender specific). Personal details or experiences have not been given anywhere in these quotes. If
mentioned, they have been modified to protect the speaker’s identity (For example, native town, name of their school orcollege, etc.).

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Excerpt 2
Japanese - Participant 4

Kazoku ya jibun no tame ni mo iroiro yatte:: kita to iu ano:: kanji ga suru
Family or self IP for for also various did came QT such SF feel SB do
no wa mochiron dake do: chotto hoka no hito no tame ni shakai no
IP TP of course CP-PLAIN but
someother IP people IP forsociety IP
tame ni mosukoshi gurai wa nani ka
iikoto yatta na:: to iu manzokukan
foralso some
TP something good thing did
such satisfaction
shite hoshii
dowant
Of course, (in the end), I want to feel that I have done things for myself, but
I want the satisfaction of knowing that I have done something good for others, alittle something for society.

Career Ambitions
Excerpt 3
Marathi - Participant 2

Research work vyavasthit pUrNa (0.8) neTAne
chalU THevaychay
Properly
complete
dedication-INST on
keep
I want to keep doing my research with dedication

Excerpt 4
Japanese - Participant 3

Keikaku wa (1.0) kaisha wo ookiku shitai
PlanTP
company O big
want to do
My plan is to expand (my) company

Personal Life Goals (Health, children, and travel)
Excerpt 5
Marathi - Participant 2

EkTa
malA jarA
firAylA AvDel (0.8) kAhiihii laTambar barobar na ghetA
Alone I-DAT little travel-DAT
anything burden
withno take
I would like to travel alone without taking any burden (of family/kids)alongwith meExcerpt 6
Japanese - Participant 2

Hitori tabi ni detai desu (omitted) genki de yamanobori
wo
Alone journey to go CP
healthy and mountain climbing O
shite iru watashi
doingme
I want to go on a trip alone (omitted) ((Imagining oneself as) I would behealthy and climbing mountains ((In response to a question asking, how do you
imagine yourself in ten years)

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Personality
Goals in terms of personality development, personal characteristics, and discipline.
Excerpt 7
Marathi - Participant 2

thoDasa priority Tharvauun consistently prayatna ajuun vADhavtA yetiil
Littledecideefforts more increase canI need to decide my priorities and increase my efforts

There was no major difference in the content in both languages by the participants, except
for the choice of words and the content that was elaborated upon.
2. PastThere was a great difference in content across participants. They spoke about theirexperiences, thoughts, and feelings about childhood, school and college, significant
people, and situations from the past, ups and downs, learnings, satisfaction, gratitude
towards these experiences, and pride. There was a huge variation in the codes thatemerged in the interviews of each participant. Some were grateful towards their school,
while some had negative experiences. Most participants described challenging phases intheir lives, but nobody expressed any regrets.
Excerpt 8
Marathi - Participant 3

Ektar
mAjhi shALA muliinci ShALA hotii (omitted) ANi jevhAFirst of all I-GEN school girls-GEN school was
and whenmi college
I collegegele tevha pahilyAndA mala mulAn-barobar paN shikAyca
went then first time I-DAT boys-DAT with also learnasta he kaLala
tyAmuLetekhuup interesting hota (0.8) ANi
Isthis understood therefore that very
wasandAdhii mhaNaje khuup bAvLaT hote mii
Before means very stupid was IFirst of all, I belonged to a girls' school (omitted) and the first time I foundout about co-education was when I entered college so that was very interesting.
And, well, I was really stupid before

Excerpt 9
Japanese - Participant 4

Gakkoo de osowatta (0.5) sono kiso
ga hijoo ni shikkari dekite ite
School at learnt
that foundation SB very ADV firm
became is(0.5) sono kiso
no ue ima no ookina biru
wo tateru koto ga dekita
That foundation IP up now IP big
building O build thing SB able
To kangaete irun desu ne De (0.8) gakkoo mosoo desu shi gakkoo de no
QT think
am
is
IP SF
school also that is and school in IP
kodomo ano:: tomodachi moChildren SF friends
alsohotondo minna ano:: chuukaikyuu (0.8)
almostallSF
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chuukaikyuu no hitotachi na no de kangaekata
Middle-class IP people IP IP IP thought process

to ka mo icchi shite ite
etc also match doiskarera kara mo (0.8) karera no ryooshin kara mo
iroiroThey
from also
they
IP parents from also various

manabu koto galearn thing SB

dekita to omoimasu
Able
QT think
Whatever I learnt at school contributed to building a strong foundation, andtherefore I think that I can construct a huge building on that foundation rightnow. That’s about school, but the kids-my friends at school were also from a
middle-class background due to which we got along. I could learn a lot from themas well as their parents.

Discussion:
1. Three participants were significantly more descriptive about the details in their past while
speaking in Marathi. They elaborated on the experiences from their childhood, theirschool, and college life, and content was much more prominent while speaking about
the past in Marathi.
2. Four participants expressed in Marathi how the transition from school to college made a
difference in their lives, but none of them mentioned this in Japanese. Only one briefly
mentioned this point while speaking in Japanese.
3. Although themes were almost common in both languages, narratives lacked descriptive
quality while speaking in Japanese and were very brief.
4. All the themes mentioned appeared to some extent in both languages, except for “pride”.
Two participants expressed their pride in Marathi, with respect to their past, but not at allin Japanese.
Prior research suggests that stories narrated in the language where the original events
took place are more detailed and emotionally intense. When narrated in L2, an experience
may become shorter and elaborated differently (Javier, Barroso, & Muñoz 1993). Thus,
childhood or adolescence memories are emotionally richer when spoken in a native
language and lose their emotional intensity in L2 (Schrauf 2000 in Dewaele 2013). Thispattern in seen in the above data.
3. Memory
One of the questions was “What is the most important memory of your life?”. Everyone
described an emotional or impactful experience from their lives.
Discussion:
1. In two interviews, the memory was the same in both languages. There was somedifference in the content while talking about memory. One participant has elaborated
more while talking in Marathi, while the other has elaborated while speaking inJapanese.
2. The memories narrated by three participants were entirely different in both languages.
3. In two Japanese interviews, the most important memories described by the participants
were events related to their Japanese education and experience, how they felt duringthat experience and what they learned from it. The same participants described entirely
different experiences while speaking in Marathi. These were important events related
to their childhood, families, and feelings associated with them. For example, one of theparticipants elaborated on an incident of a Japanese contest while speaking in48

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Japanese. The same participant described an early childhood experience that has
impacted their life while speaking in Marathi.
Native language has greater emotional involvement (Pavlenko 2012). Relevant to the dataobtained in the present research is the pattern of social behaviors or scripts created incertain events and social interactions (Kitayama & Markus 1994). Stories narrated in thelanguage where original events took place are found to be more detailed and emotionallyintense (Javier et al. 1993). Emotions are not only manifested biologically but are
influenced by social and cultural situations, creating a complex interaction of innate
processes and social situations surrounding a person. Emotions are physiological andsensory elements embedded in a social situation (Kitayama & Markus 1994). This explains
why participants naturally thought of emotional childhood experiences while speaking in
Marathi, and Japanese educational experiences while speaking in Japanese.
For one of the participants, however, it was entirely the opposite. In Marathi, they said thatthe most important experience was an event related to their Japanese education. While
speaking about this, the participant elaborated on certain specificities of the experience. In
Japanese, the same participant answered that the birth of their child was the mostimportant experience for them, but the content was not elaborated on. It was mentioned ina single sentence. There are two contradicting explanations for this. Being a second
language, it does not resonate, therefore it was mentioned in one sentence. However,
although brief, it was a very emotional thing to mention in a second language. Someemotionally laden content may be expressed more comfortably in another language
Dewaele & Pavlenko (2004). Another possibility states that second languages that are
acquired through immersion learning and used habitually and in wider contexts anddifferent settings can carry emotions as well.
There are multiple explanations to the narrative content above, none of which can bestated conclusively. Therefore, narratives about “past” and “memory” particularly call for
deeper investigation in future bilingual studies. In future studies, more specific topics canbe studied in more detail. For example, how multilinguals speak about their “teenage” indifferent languages, or what kind of memories are recalled while speaking in a certain
language, etc.
4. Family
There were questions related to feelings about family members, relationship with them,etc. There were times where Marathi interviews were more descriptive and detailed thanthe Japanese interviews of the same participant. For example, while talking about thenature of their family, or feelings. This difference was not as prominent as in the “Past”
category.
The major themes that emerged wereRelationship with family members
Participants spoke about relationships with family, who they feel close to, or if they do not
get along with a family member.

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Excerpt 10
Marathi - Participant 3

AmhAlA ek lahAn mulagii Ahe so ticamuLe
gharAmadhala
We-DAT one little girl isbecause of her in the housevAtAvaraN ekadam kheLimeLica asata
Environment very livelyis
We have a little girl because of whom our house is very lively.

Feelings toward family members
Participants spoke about the importance of family in life and expressed feelings ofgratitude towards their support, etc.
Excerpt 11
Japanese - Participant 5

Amari iken
ga awanai
toki moarimasu keredomo (0.5) watashi wa
Much opinion SB match-NEG time also isbutITP
jibun nari ni ikite kite imasu kara daijoobu desu
Self way by live come amthus okisThere are times when our opinions don’t match but I’m someone who lives as I
like, so it is all fine.

Some participants also spoke about their children, their feelings about them, and how they
contribute to their lives. Under “Family”, there were instances where content entirely
differed while speaking in both languages (See “Language-specific content”).
5. Present Life
Questions in this category were regarding one’s daily life, conditions of life, etc. Narratives
highly overlapped with content from other categories. This was due to the ambiguity of thecategory. Participants spoke about many things, tapping on several themes. Sometimes,
participants were more descriptive in their content in Marathi, but not very prominently.
Participants spoke about being busy, what makes them happy, etc. and their views on life.
They narrated prior experiences and spoke about dissatisfaction and satisfaction. They
spoke about wanting to do certain things and wanting to make an effort for that, such as
career, personality development, enjoyment, and focusing on children.
Excerpt 12
Marathi - Participant 3

Aii vaDilAnnii je kAhi shikavalela ahe AttA paryanta tyAcAmuLe
Mom dad-INST
whatever taught
is now till
because of thatmii Ahe ANi sAsuu
sAsarepan ekdam khuup chhanI
is and mother-in-law father-in-law also very very niceAhet
ANi umm muLAt
tyAncaekamekanbarobarcha nAta
paN
is-PLU and SF basically they-GEN with each other-GEN relation also
khuup chhan asalyamuLe
AmhAla tyAchA khuup fAydA
hoto
Very nice is therefore we-DAT it-GEN very benefit happen

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I am what I am because of what my parents taught me. My in-laws are also
wonderful, and basically they have a good relation with each other which is goodfor us.

6. Society
Questions were related to thoughts about society and social life. Participants spoke about
issues in society, changes, conveniences, inconveniences, etc. They also spoke aboutsocial evils, issues in social relations. Some also expressed positive views and hopes forsociety. Content spoken by participants was similar in both languages, but narratives inMarathi were more descriptive and illustrated with examples.
Positive and Negative Evaluations
The content is regarding the Indian society, and more specifically about the participants’life in Pune city. The participants come from a middle-class lifestyle and face similar daily
hassles in their everyday life.
Excerpt 13
Marathi - Participant 5

JyAnnAkAmAlA
jAylA (.) travel karAyalA lAgta
tyAnnA
thoDa
those-DAT work-DAT godohave to they-DAT little
tough Ahe paN bAki khuupacsmooth Ahe mhaNaje ApalyAla sagaLya
Is but other many-EMPH
is means
we-DATallvastunci
sahaj upalabdhatA Ahe ANi tashA dainandin Ayushyat AplyalAthings-POSS easily available
is and that everyday life-LOC us-DAT
yenAre kAhic
problem nAhi mhaNaje basic suddhA kAhi chintA nAhii
Come
some-EMPH
no
means
also
some worry no
sagaLya sukh soyii
Ahet
asa malA waTata
All
happy utility is-PLU QT I-DAT think
It’s slightly tough for those who have to travel to work but otherwise it’sreally smooth. We have easy access to everything, and there are no problems
related to everyday life, not even basic stuff. I feel we have everything weneed.

Excerpt 14
Marathi – Participant 3

AplyA samaJamadhe AtA khuup chAngale badal ghaDuun yAylA lAglet
Our
society-LOC now many goodchange evolve come happen
asa distay(0.8) lok
swaChhatA
baLagAyalA lagalele Ahet kinwa lokAnci
QT visible
people cleanliness follow
started isorpeople-POSSsAmAjik jAgrutii kinwA sAmAjik bhAn
je
Ahe teSocietal awakening orsocietal awareness that is thatwADhAyalA
growinglAglay asa waTatay
Started QT think
It looks like there are a lot of good changes in society. People have started
following cleanliness, or people have become more aware and enlightened aboutsociety.

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Excerpt 15
Japanese - Participant 1

Shuukyoo ni tsuite ano:: gankoo
no kangae wo sutenakereba
Religion IP about SF
discernment IP thought O throw-COND-NEG
seichoo dekinai
Growthbe-NEG
I feel that society won’t grow unless we throw away our discerning thoughts
about religion, etc.

Comparison between India and Japan
Excerpt 16
Marathi - Participant 3

JapAnii lokAnci
quality khuup cAngalii ahe mhanuun AmhAlA te
Japanese people-POSS
very good
is sowe-DAT they
AvaDtAt he
ApaN khuup Avarjuun bolto paN tetasa ka kartAt hyAcA
Like
this wevery strongly say
but they that why dothat-POSS
abhyAs karat nAhi kinwA te
ApaN ApalyAmadhe AtmasAt
karaNyacA prayatna
Study donoorthat wein us
incorporate do-POSS
try
karat nAhi so te
hii karAyalA
Do
nothat also do

pAhije ANi kAhi varshAn nantar nakki
should and some years
later definitely

chAngale badal ghadalele asatiil asa waTatay mhaNaje positive wATatay
Goodchanges happened will be QT think
means
think
We strongly say that we like Japanese people because they have good quality, but
we don’t study why they do so or we don’t try to incorporate that in our lives.
So we must do that as well, and I feel positive and think that there will begood changes in the next few years.

Excerpt 17
Japanese – Participant 1

Nichijooseikatsu wa nihon dattara benri desu (omitted) chiisana
Daily life
TP Japan is-COND convenient ((India)) little

kotodethings in

hontooni iroiro
gambaranakereba
naranai jibun no pasupooto noReallydifferent do one’s best-COND have to self IP passport IP
tame ni moiroiro na kotowo yaranakereba naranai
For IP also different things O do-NEG-COND have to
Daily life is convenient in Japan. (In India) we have to struggle for smallthings, for example, we have struggle for simple things like passport
procedures.

Personal behavior
Excerpt 18
Marathi – Participant 5sAmAjik dabAv
koNihii koNavarahii sahaj ANuu shakata asa malA waTata
easily bring can
QT I-DAT think
Societal pressure anyone on anyone
paN ApaN ApalyA principles var ThAm asalo tar ApalyAvar nahi koNAcA
But weus
on firm isthen on us
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yeu shakat
Come canI think that people can easily be victims of social pressures, but if we arefirm on our principles we won’t get pressurized.

Excerpt 19
Japanese – Participant 1

Nichijou seikatsu wa isogashii desu ga: (0.5) gambareba
nanno tame ni
Daily
life
TP busy
is butif I do my best anything IP for IP
demo jikan ga tsukureru
also time SB can makeMy daily life is busy, but if I do my best (/take efforts), I can make time foranything.

Nothing conclusive can be stated based on the content analysis of the transcripts.
However, the kind of content variations in some cases, and the reasons behind those arevery interesting to investigate in further studies. The narratives in the present study arevery personal. Future studies can investigate how content plays out while talking about
general topics, e.g., discussing a movie, recent news, etc. Social experiments can be donesuch as manipulating the environment, changing the conversation partners to people ofdifferent backgrounds, etc. Cultural backgrounds and social setting are important in suchanalysis.
4.2 Emotional Expression
Emotional words and phrases9 in the data were highlighted. Emotional expression in bothlanguages was compared by listing emotional words and comparing their number.
Table 2
Number of Emotional Words and Phrases
Japanese Interview
Japanese Total

Marathi Interview
Marathi Total English Total Japanese Total

Total

1

20

30

3

0

33

2

49

41

22

2

65

3

30

12

4

1

17

4

12

30

0

0

30

5

40

13

17

0

30

For participants 3 and 5, the number of emotional words was greater in the Japaneseinterview. Even during the Marathi interview, Participants 2 and 5 have code switched toEnglish frequently while describing emotional content. Thus, of all three languages,
Participant 5 has expressed the least emotional content in Marathi. As studied by Dewaele& Pavlenko (2004), emotionally laden content may be comfortably narrated in another9 Ananda (Happiness) would be an emotional word while expressing “I want to be a good human” would be emotional
phrases, i.e. there is no emotional word in the sentence, but the emotion was interpreted from the context, and speaker’s
tone, etc.

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language, and as emotionally distant languages, it is also easier to express negative
emotions.
Some people experience socialization in the acquired language i.e., they are exposed toand are engaged in social situations more in the acquired rather than in their native
language. They may speak fluently in their native language at home, but their homeenvironment does not allow them to be expressive about their emotions, so they fulfill theiremotional needs in other settings. In such cases, one may find it easier to express in theacquired language (Pavlenko 2004). This may be specific to Participant 2 and 5 in thepresent research.
There was no code-switching from Japanese in terms of emotions. However, while
speaking in Marathi, four participants used emotional words from English (see Excerpt 35).
Two participants also uttered a few Japanese words.
The total number of emotional words and phrases is greater in Marathi for threeparticipants, but the difference between the number was not statistically significant.
Studies state that a native language is associated with greater emotional arousal, which isin line with this data, although it is not statistically significant here (see Pavlenko 1998).
Further studies can specifically investigate emotional expression in Marathi and Japanesebilinguals from a psychological perspective, going deeper into case history, such as,
whether the person’s family environment is conducive for emotional growth, howcommunication is with people who speak in native language and how that affects
emotional expression in L2, and probably how the nature of emotional expression changes
in a language along the course of counseling or psychotherapy.
Excerpt 20
Japanese – Participant 2

Shippai shita koto moiroiro arimashita ga matomete ieba
tanoshii
Fail
didthings also various wasbut compile if said fun
jinsei datta
life
was
There were failures, but overall, it has been a fun life

Excerpt 21
Marathi – Participant 1

ThoDese ase
diwas kadhi asatAt kI
Aj
vargAtnAhI
Somelike this days some arethat today class-LOC noshikavAyalA jamala chAngala kinwa ekhAdya diwashI khUp positive wATata
teach
could do good
or
some
days
very
feel
There are some days where I feel I wasn’t able to teach well today, orsome days, I feel very positive

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4.3 Language-specific content
Japanese
There are some emotional words in a language that do not have exact translation(Wierzbicka,1999) e.g., taihen. Taihen has many connotations. Taihen means “very” or“terrible” (Miura 1983). It can be used colloquially, e.g., very hot, to describe a difficult
situation, or even a positive situation such as an amazing meal. It can thus be an
emotional term too. In Japanese, the word was uttered frequently in one of the interviews,
all in the context of describing a difficult situation or a tough spot.
In a Marathi interview, the speaker has code-switched and used the word taihen convey
their exact feelings. This is an instance of cognitive control (see Williams et al 2020),
where the speaker has chosen the words most appropriate to convey their emotions using
two languages.
Excerpt 22
Marathi - Participant 3

Kautumbik ayushya anubhavatana (0.8) khup maja yetey (0.8) jababdarya
pan
Familylife
experiencing
very fun coming
responsibilities also
astat (1.0) kadhikadhi khup taihen ((code switch with Japanese)) pan hota
aresometimes very stressful
also beExperiencing family life is very fun. There are responsibilities. It also getsstressful(taihen) at times.

In one instance, taihen appeared in the context of the hassles experienced while raising
one’s child. In a partially sarcastic narrative, the participant mentioned:
Excerpt 23
Japanese - Participant 2

Kosodate
wa hontooni taihen (hahahah) watashi kodomo futari ite daburu
Child-rearing TP reallydifficult
I
kids
two
is
doubledesu ne (0.5)(hahahhaa)(0.8) hontooni tokidoki
akite shimaun desu ne::isIPreally sometimes fed up entirely is IP
Demo akiramenai
but won’t give up
Sore wa hahaoya
da kara (1.0) ano:: gambatte gaman shite:: (1.2) ie wo  That TP mother is becauseSF
do best patient dohouse Odeyou to omou kurai nayami moarimasu ke do gaman shimasu (hahaha)
Leave QT think much trouble also isbutpatient do
Raising children is really difficult (taihen), and I have two, so there's double
trouble for me. I really get fed up sometimes, but I won’t give up. That’s
because I’m a mother. I will be patient and do my best. There are troubles whichmake you feel like running away, but I’ll be patient.

Non-native languages are emotionally distant languages at times. Hence, it is easy to use
abusive expressions or express things that are hard to say in the native language(Dewaele 2004). Therefore, the above utterance may not be hurtful to mention in55

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Japanese, possibly due to an emotional distance. The same interviewee, while speaking in
Marathi has not expressed the above feelings about their children.
Metaphors and proverbs
In Japanese interviews, only one participant used some metaphors. There were no
proverbs in any of the Japanese interviews.
Excerpt 24
Japanese - Participant 4

Shakai ni wa hito
to iu haguruma
Society in TP person QT say gear

ga atte (0.5) sono haguruma
SB isthat gear

jibun no shitei sareta
toori ni kinoo
surebaSelf IP specify do-PASS like ADV function if it does

ga subete
SB allshakai tte iu
society QT say

ookina kikaiga (0.5) junchooni ugoku
no de wa nai ka to watashi wa
Bigmachine SB
well-ADV function IP
not Q QT I
SBkangaete imasu
ThinkisSociety consists of gears in the form of humans. If those gears function as per
their designated tasks, I feel that this machine, i.e. the society will function
well.

Excerpt 25
Japanese - Participant 4

Jibun no kazoku wa watashi ni totte
toodaino yoo na mono nan desu
Self IP family TP I
IP according lighthouse IP like IP thingisne:: (0.5) michi ni mayotte shimau to (0.5) sono toodai
wo mite chantoIProad IP lostcompletelythat lighthouse O see properhoogakuga wakaru
yoo na sonzai da to omoimasu
Direction SB understand like IP being CP QT think
According to me, family is like a lighthouse. If one gets lost, one can look at
the lighthouse and find the right direction. That is what a family is.

Proverbs are figurative expressions that capture the shared beliefs and values of a society(Nipold & Haq 1996).
MarathiMarathi narratives were found to be more descriptive and emotional for some. Narratives
are affected by multiple factors, and culture plays an important part in it (see Yashima2006). Certain words that emerged in Marathi interviews were interesting words usedcommonly in everyday language.
Following is a common proverb in Marathi, to describe that someone with the slightest
knowledge ends up looking smart among a group of fools (Transliteral Foundation n.d.).
The participant said that she was considered smart as a child but realized later that it was
just an illusion.

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Excerpt 26
Marathi - Participant 1

VAsrAtlangDigAy shahANi
Calves-LOC paraplegic cow wise
A paraplegic cow seems smart among a group of calves

Metaphors were used frequently in Marathi interviews.
ExampleExcerpt 27
Marathi - Participant 2

PAnAtlii kaDU
bhAjiiPlate
bitter vegetablesampavaNya sArkha Ahe
finishlikeis

It is like finishing the bitter food on your plate first.

There were some words used in Marathi for which parallel words were not used inJapanese while speaking about the same content. Some of these were related to old
traditions, specific to India, or Maharashtrian culture. The availability of these words in
Marathi and their usage had a great impact on some of the content.
Excerpt 28
Japanese - Participant 2

Kanojo ga gan
no kenkyuu zutto
yatte kita hitodesuSheSB cancer IP research all along docome person is(omitted) kanojo no kenkyuu wa ma (1.0) hijooni korekara moyuumeiShe
IP research TP SF
veryfrom now also famousni naru daroo to omoimasu (0.5) de (0.5) hontooni jiman no hanashi nan
IP become will QT thinkSF
reallyproud IP talk
EMPH
Desu
Is
She is a cancer researcher (omitted) I believe her research will become
famous. It is truly a matter of pride for me.

Excerpt 29
Marathi - Participant 2

TicA
baddal malA khuup special bhAvanA Ahet kAran
ticAt mAzyAt
she-GEN about I-DAT lot
emotion is
because her-LOC I-LOC
sahA varShAca antar
Ahe ANi vaDiil gele tevha ti fakta sAt
Six year-GEN distance is and father went then she only sevenvarshAci hotii
years-GEN was
jAstii mii
MoreI(0.5) dusriit hoti
mhaNaje (0.5) tyAmuLe
second grade-LOC means
therefore

protective Ahe tica bAbtimadhe (0.5) tii umm ANi
is her about-LOC
she SF andyogAyogAne
ticakanyAdAn
Coincidentally she-GEN wedding ritual ((of giving away the daughter)

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paN miic
kelay lagnAt
tyAmuLeek thodasa jAsti motherly Ahe
Also I-EMPH did
wedding-LOC therefore one little more
is
(0.5)

emotions jAsti Ahet (0.5) bahiiN fakta hyAchyAvar limited nAhiye
More issister only of onnotI have very special emotions for her, because there’s a six-year age gap
between us. She was only seven when dad passed away, she was in second
grade. So I’m more protective of her, and coincidentally it is I who has
performed her kanyadaan as well when she got married. So I have moremotherly emotions for her, they’re not limited to being a sister.

When asked about her sibling in Japanese, a participant spoke about her younger sister’s
career and how she makes her proud with her research. In Marathi, the same participant
spoke about motherly emotions towards her sister, and how she has performed her sister’skanyadaan (wedding ritual of giving the daughter away to the husband’s family), making
the bond special.
While talking about their childhood, one of the participants mentioned in Marathi,
how they’ve spent their childhood in a vaadaa (a traditional house in Maharashtra),another spoke about their participation in the Marathi vangmay mandal (Marathi
literature club) in college. One of them spoke about specific castes (Kokanastha
and Deshastha - two Brahmin sub-castes of Maharashtra) and their differences.
These topics were not touched upon while speaking in Japanese, thus bringing out
different themes in response to the same question. Furthermore, the events wereexperienced by the participant in their native language.
Thus, the descriptive nature of the Marathi interviews can be attributed to theavailability of these words.
Some words were related to the Maharashtrian/Indian society and customs such as
bhishi (kitty party), jaat (caste), aarakshan (reservation based on caste), vasti(slums).
The above words may be translated very well by a proficient speaker, but their nuance islost in translation. Naturally, the availability of these words in Marathi brought about
different codes and themes while speaking about certain topics, and the same topics were
not mentioned in Japanese.
One of the participants’ interviews displayed that language ability makes a lot of difference
to the content expressed. Both interviews with this participant brought out the samecontent in both languages, in most of the topics, except for the “important memory”. A few
metaphors and phrases used in the respective languages were different but did notchange the content of speech.
One important characteristic of Japanese culture and society, i.e., Honne and Tatemae
was seen with one participant while speaking in Marathi and Japanese.

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Honne-Tatemae
Honne is one’s true intention, reserved for personal spaces. Tatemae refers to sociallystructured intentions (Honna & Hoffer 1986 in Davies & Ikeno 2002). The Japaneseconsider it a virtue to not express true thoughts and emotions. They are careful to not hurt
someone’s feelings, thus using tatemae and maintaining harmony.
Some participants were candid in expressing their thoughts and feelings in bothlanguages.
However, the following are instances of a clear distinction between Honne-Tatemae. The
statement is socially attuned in Japanese and more straightforward in Marathi.
Excerpt 30
Marathi - Participant 2

SAsuu sAsaryAncha::, typically baghAyalA gela tar sAsuu sAsare ANi
Parents-in-law-POSS typicallyconsiderif in-laws
and
suun
he
nAta
jarA
avghaD
Ahe tasa (0.8) paN chAngale
Daughter-in-law this relation little difficult is Kind ofbut good
guuN
gheNyasArakhe astAt tyAnCAmadhe (0.5) ApaN shikaNyasArkhe
points worth taking arein themusworth learning
Typically, the relationship between parents-in-law and daughter-in-law is kindof difficult, but there are some things that we can learn from themExcerpt 31
Japanese - Participant 2

Giri
to iu kotoba wa chotto yokunai na to omoimasu kedo ne (0.8)
In-law QT say word
TP little good-NEG IP QT thinkbut IPnanka gimu to shite oya
to yonde iru ki ga shimasu ke do (0.8)
like duty QT do parent QT Call am feel SB dobut
I don’t like the word “in-laws”, because I feel like calling them parents
because that is the duty they fulfill.

4.4 Code-switchingThis section addresses the second research question, i.e., the reasons behind codeswitching while speaking in Marathi and Japanese.
No code-switching was seen to another language in the Japanese interviews, i.e., Marathi
or English terms were not used apart from Katakana. Only once, one of the participantsemphasized their speech content by switching to English completely.
Excerpt 32
Japanese - Participant 2

Seishunki datta toki (0.8) namaiki deshita (.) hontoo ni namaiki deshita.
Adolescence was whenimpertinent was
really impertinent was
I was really moody
I was very impertinent as a teenager, really very impertinent. I was really
moody

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Code-switching in Marathi Interviews:
Code-switching was seen in all the Marathi interviews. Most of the switches were in
English and very few in Japanese.
Table 3Code-Switching in Marathi Interviews
Participants

Words (Approximate)

Japanese

English

1

1600

1

60

2

2500

3

141

3

2000

1

105

4

2400

0

8

5

1200

0

107

Following are the instances of using Japanese in a Marathi interview.
Excerpt 33
Marathi - Participant 2

AvghaDpaN phases kAhi hotyA (1.0) mentally jAsti karun (0.6)
Difficult also
some were
mostly dophysically kurushii vagaire (0.8)khuup thakwA ANaNAryA ashA goshti
painful et ceteraLottiring bringlike things
fArsha navtyA paN mentally exhaustive jAstii hotyA
many
not
but
more were
There were some difficult phases, mostly mentally, not physically painful persay, they were more mentally exhaustive

Excerpt 34
Marathi - Participant 2

ChhAn Ahet kuTumba (0.5) chikara ni narimasu
Good are family
power PT become
My family is very nice. They are my strength. (code switching with Japanese
sentence)

Three of these instances are expressing the speaker’s emotion, and twice, these emotions
have a negative connotation to them. One of the participants has code-switched to using
the word taihen in the Marathi interview (Excerpt 23).
Code-switching to English from Marathi was frequent. Code-switching to English is
habitual in Indian languages. Some were related to work and education such as “career,social work, company, corporate, students, thesis”, etc.

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The experience of certain events and social interactions create patterns of social scripts,
i.e., knowledge of the sequence of events as a cognitive structure and these scripts orschemas guide similar interactions in the future (Kitayama & Markus 1994). Thus,
speakers tend to speak in English while speaking about their work and education, (thelanguage they have socialized in at their workplaces). The word happyoo 発表(presentation) was also used in the context of the participant’s Japanese work-life in
Marathi.
Emotional English words used in Marathi interviews were – “positive”, “negative”,“comfortable”, “looking forward”, “no one to answer to”, “motherly”, “close” (relation),“special”, “happy”, “disturb”, “attachment”, “enjoy”, “support”, etc.
As mentioned by Pavlenko (2012) a person may be fluent in several languages but differ
in terms of emotional expression. Emotional expression and speech content is largely
influenced by culture, environment, and circumstances in which the language was learned(Ervin 1964). Code-switching allows a multilingual speaker cognitive control, regulation ofemotional intensity, and cultural frame switching. Cognitive control over a language isdisrupted by emotions experienced by a speaker (Williams et al 2020).
Following is an emotional discourse by Participant 2 in Marathi, regarding the ills of thesociety and their negative impact. Out of about 220 words, there are 49 English words,
including entire sentences spoken in English.
Excerpt 35
Marathi - Participant 2

Umm..samAJAcA vicAr kar-tAnA malA watata ki (0.8) AtA khUp apapravrutti ahet
SF society-DAT thinking
I-DAT
feel thatnow many evils
areAplyA samAjAmadhe particularly malA baryAch weLelA
paper nahi wAcwat (0.8)
Our In the society particularly I-DAT many times.DAT paper not read-POT
mhanje mii TALte kityek weLelA
ki:: malA
In fact I avoid manytimes-Dat that I-DAT

sahan
tolerate

hot nAhii ANi AtA
be no
and now

newspaper madhe jarA
jAstach explicit tyAcha varNan
alela asta
newspaper inlittle lot.EMPH explicit its
description come isnews channel tar bhayAnakach astAt (0.5) paN (0.5) he suddhA malA kityek
news channel EMPH horrible
arebutthis also I-DAT many
welelaasa wAcwat nahi ki (0.8) malA saglyAt jAsta trAs hoNAri goshTa time-DAT
SF
read-POT no that
I-DAT all-LOC most trouble happen thing
atta kuThli Ahe samAjAtli
tar caste vagairehe
Now whatis society-LOC QTet cetera thissagLa (0.5) mhaNaje
all
means

Ahech (0.5) ki kAy bAlvivAha kinwa
ajun kAykAy (0.5) paN malA sagLyAt isEMPH
QT what child-marriage or more whatnot
but I-DAT all-LOC
disturb hoNAri goshTa mhaNaje (0.8) ti mhaNaje lahAn mulAnwarche atyAcAr
Happen thing QT
that QT
little on kids
torcher
ANi te (0.5) te ekamev
jarii eliminate kartA Ala nA kAhitari kuthlyAtari
And they
they one only if
do-POT come SF something something

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jaducA kAnDine (0.5) tari I'll be the happiest person in the world asa malAmagic-DAT wand-INSTstill
QT I-DAT
wATata (0.6) baki saglya goshti na adults shi sambandhit Ahet mhaNaje caste
Thinkother allthings SF
with related
are likekinwa arakshan kay (0.8) mag quota ch ahe (0.8) mag admission milali nahiOrreservation what
then
EMPH isthengot
nostill they can survive (0.8) tyanna tevdhi
strength ahe mental, physicalthey-DAT that muchis(0.5) lahan mula weak ahet mhaNaje weakest element of the society ANi tyAnchi
Little kids
are means
and they-DAT
tumhi muskaTdAbii kartay ANi that is something (2.0) mhaNaje mala AttA
you-PL torcher
do-PL andmeans
I-DAT now
boltAnA paN traas
hotoy ((welled up and started sobbing))
speaking Also trouble happen
I feel that there are many evils in the society, I particularly cannot bear toread newspapers, I avoid it most of the time. I cannot tolerate it. And nowadays
newspapers have an explicit description of everything, and news channels areeven worse. But I cannot tolerate reading about it. The thing that troubles me
the most in the society is- of course “caste” is a problem, and child-marriages,
etc. but what disturbs me the most is child abuse. If by magic, just that one
thing can be eliminated by a magic wand or something, I think I will be thehappiest person in the world. All other things have to do with adults, such as
caste, reservation, quota or not getting into your desired university (due tocaste-based reservation), they can survive as they have the physical and mental
strength to do so. But children are so weak, they are the weakest element of thesociety. Why are you abusing them? And that is something (wells up), I cannot
even speak about it.

In both languages, the speaker has talked about the hassles faced while living in thesociety in both languages, the need to change and adjust. However, while speaking in
Marathi, she got involved in the topic and went beyond descriptive statements to express
her anger about the situation. After a point, she welled up, and frequently code-switchedwhile doing so.
Prior literature states that native language has greater emotional involvement (Dewaele2013). Here, the dominant language was Marathi. She did not speak the same content inJapanese. As mentioned earlier, code-switching to English is common and habitual in
Indian languages. Heightened emotions interfere with cognitive control mechanisms forpeople who have multiple languages active in their brains. Therefore, code-switchingoccurs more loosely when the speaker is emotionally involved (Williams et al. 2020).
5. Conclusion
This study showed that native Marathi speakers with Japanese as an acquired language
generally had more detailed and emotional narratives in Marathi than Japanese. This wasmost prominent while talking about Past and Family. The usage of certain words,
characteristic of or specific to either language had an influence on the narratives in bothlanguages - in terms of content, emotions, and subthemes in a category. Code-switching
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was prominent in Marathi. Speakers mostly switched to English for multiple reasons (habit,
emotional, cognitive control, etc.) and to some extent in Japanese.
6. Limitations
The same questions were presented to the subjects twice, one in each language,
subjecting them to a practice effect. Although a considerable gap was given between thetwo interviews, the questions were familiar. In some interviews, this led to the second
interview being shorter than the first one, while sometimes, it was more elaborate.
Emotional expression and speech content is influenced by culture, environment, andcircumstances in which the language has been learned (Ervin 1964). While some people
may have an emotional distance from their native language, others may be more
comfortable with their native language in terms of emotional expressions. Therefore,
participants cannot be compared homogeneously. With each participant having aconsiderable amount of experience with the Japanese language, it is not possible toeliminate the impact of Japanese learning on the subjects’ discourse in Marathi, and theimpact of their Marathi language background on their Japanese speaking. Furthermore,
the participant’s state of mind during both interviews is also bound to guide their speech
content, as an extraneous variable.
Therefore, taking the present research as a basis, this study invites further investigation
into the emotional expression of multilingual people, in a more controlled, detailed, andbroader manner.
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