The Perceptions of Japanese Speakers Regarding the ‘Tú’/‘Usted’ Alternation in the Formulation of Requests in Spanish L2/FL.

This study evaluates the perceptions of Japanese speakers of Spanish L2/FL regarding the ‘tú’/‘usted’ alternation in the formulation of requests. This choice regulates formality in Spanish, whereas in Japanese, it is regulated by verb inflection and certain lexical variations that are used more frequently than ‘usted’ in Peninsular Spanish. It is proposed that Japanese learners may experience difficulties in acquiring Spanish politeness due to this interlinguistic contrast. To examine this phenomenon, a discourse selection task (MDCT) in Spanish was administered to two groups of learners (L1 = Japanese; L1 = other languages) and a group of native Spanish speakers. The results suggest that Japanese speakers perceive ‘tú’ as a less appropriate form of address in favor of ‘usted’. However, these speakers can reach native-like competence as their proficiency level increases.