Specifically regarding the Japanese, there is prototypical agreement among researchers that common responses to compliments are denial and avoidance. There has been much interest in the teaching of pragmatic transfer of speech acts across cultures. This minimal use of the avoidance strategy as compared to the common use of it by native speakers of Japanese could lead to misunderstanding, undermining the intended goal of maintaining social harmony. Findings like these demonstrate the need for teaching target language learners to recognize culturally-based differences in complimenting behavior. The techniques include phrase lists and role play.
Teachers can compile extracts of such dialogues for comparison and discussion.
This discussion shows how excerpts from a literary text, Bicycle Days by John Burnham Schwartz, were used in the classroom with the aim of showing different speech realizations for responses to compliments by English and Japanese speakers. Of course, different books can be used according to content and teaching goals. Regardless of which book is used, the role of the teacher is to alert and sensitize students to the differences in the communication styles and expectations of interlocutors from different cultures. As shown below, the selections from the text can be used as a springboard for further discussion and analysis. Links between such realizations and cultural norms can be made explicitly by the teacher or through awareness-raising activities by students.