「リボリア賞」は、その年度に提出された卒業論文の中から最も優秀な論文を執筆した学生に授与されます。2024年度のリボリア賞は、言語?コミュニケーション専修の玉井瑠華さんと、文学?文化専修の西桃花さんに授与されました。今回は、2名の受賞理由と卒論要旨をご紹介します。

玉井瑠華
“How to Become a Good Listener: An Analysis of Listener Responses in Japanese Conversation”

【受賞理由】
本研究は、聞き手としての好感度の高さ（低さ）を言語学的観点から分析したものである。この研究を通して、好感度の高い聞き手は、あいづちの現れ方、話し手への質問?コメント、うなずきや呼気音などの非言語的な要素、さらには発話の共同構築性があることを詳らかにし、これらは聞き手としての「積極的な関与」を示す特徴があることを明らかにした。一方で、好感度の低い聞き手は、聞き手としての役割を果たしつつも、話し手として自身のターンを開始するための要素を用いる傾向が高いことも示された。
本論文は、発話の好感度に関する先行研究の結果を、堅実な言語学的手法を用いて掘り下げ、言語?非言語面での諸特徴を明らかにしたという点で意義のある研究である。また、収集した自然発話のデータをしっかりとした会話分析の手法に基づいて記述し、分析した点も評価できる。さらには、データ分析によって得られた結果を先行研究の考察や知見に照らして議論を行っている点も、学術論文としての価値を備えている。本研究で得られた成果は、会話分析や語用論研究だけでなく、我々の日常のコミュニケーションにおいても高い実用性が認められる。
とりわけ、本研究がリボリア賞受賞に値する最大の理由は、受賞者がこれらの研究手続きを主体的?自立的に進めていった点にある。こういった自主的な取り組みを通して、4年間大学で培った学びや研究手法を十分に卒業論文に結実させることが出来たと言って良い。

【論文要旨】

This thesis compares listener responses of two persons (A and T) identified as the most likable listener and the least likable listener in Ichihara (2014) and investigates their differences from five perspectives: 1. types of aizuchi, 2. frequency of aizuchi, 3. timing of aizuchi, 4. questions and comments, and 5. non-verbal elements. The study used four videos in which A and T each had a conversation with a woman and a man respectively. From these videos, five minutes of conversation were clipped and used as data for analyzing how listener responses were used. The classification of listener responses was based on “reactive tokens” by Clancy et al. (1996), and A’s and T’s listener responses were classified into five types of reactive tokens: backchannels, reactive expressions, collaborative finishes, repetitions, and resumptive openers.

The results reveal that there were many differences in listener responses between the two listeners. For example, surprisingly, the least likable listener, T, used backchannels more than A. Compared to T, A asked more questions and made a lot of comments, and she did not use “resumptive openers” so frequently. Also, A used more non-verbal elements (e.g., expiratory sounds) than T. In other words, a person who simply uses a lot of backchannels is not necessarily regarded as a good listener. The analysis finds six factors that contribute to the impression of likable listener responses: not repeating the same backchannels (e.g., Ununununun) many times, overlapping use of backchannels to show active involvement, asking many questions and making a lot of comments, avoiding the frequent use of “resumptive openers,” using non-verbal behaviors, and having a good posture (e.g., not crossing arms or legs). Also, using “collaborative finishes” to show an interest in a speaker is an important factor of a good listener. The study concludes that a combination of these various factors is necessary for a person to become a favorable listener.

西桃花
“Lookism as a Structural Form of Women’s Oppression in Japan”

【受賞理由】

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the term “lookism” in Japan, with some movements calling for more acceptance of the diversity of people’s appearance and for a relaxing of rigid beauty expectations, especially with regard to women. However, despite increased awareness of, and sensitivity towards, how lookism can lead to discrimination, bias and unfair disadvantages (as well as unearned advantages), the issue remains deeply ingrained in society. Momoka Nishi’s graduation thesis titled “Lookism as a Structural Form of Women’s Oppression in Japan” addresses the issue of lookism in contemporary Japan from a critical perspective by considering the different, and often harmful and unrecognized, ways that the social and professional manifestations of lookism impact women. Because it is difficult to prove why one customer received better service in a restaurant than another, or why one candidate was given the broadcaster job on TV over another, or why one athlete received more media attention than another despite equal or inferior skill, empirically examining lookism as a form of discrimination or bias is inherently problematic.

One of the key strengths of Momoka’s approach to discussing lookism is the method she used to highlight the very real, and discriminatory, effects of lookism. For example, to show that lookism has a particularly powerful impact on young women in Japan compared to those in other countries, Momoka cited a variety of government survey data showing how young Japanese women had disproportionately high levels of anxiety towards their body size and towards how they are viewed by others. She cited the types of criticism, and even praise, professional women, such as actors, journalists and athletes, routinely receive on social media that have nothing to do with their qualities and achievements in their field, but rather focus on (or criticize) their beauty. A particularly effective approach to empirically demonstrating how lookism impacts women in the workplace was when Momoka collected the ages of on-air broadcasters for five of Japan’s main broadcasting corporations, and compared the ages of men vs. women who appear on their programs. Unsurprisingly, while the number of women appearing as on-air broadcasters was slightly higher than the number of men, over 80% of these women were in their 20s or 30s, while almost 50% of the men were in their 40s, 50s or 60s. The obvious bias towards younger women and indifference towards men’s age reflects the hiring practices of these TV broadcasters, and Momoka makes a strong case for how this can be seen as a symptom of lookism. Momoka also effectively utilized statistical data from government sources to reliably highlight how women not only spend significantly more money on their appearance than men, and how this spending represents a significantly higher percentage of their disposable income due to earning less on average, but also that women spend more time on their appearance than men do, which reduces their sleep or leisure time. Momoka’s focus on both the demonstrably visible instances of lookism, such as when it affects celebrities or broadcasters, as well as the everyday, often overlooked, manifestations of lookism which affect women in their daily cosmetic rituals, helped make her overall investigation of this issue highly insightful and empirically solid.

【論文要旨】

This thesis explores the concept of lookism within the context of contemporary Japanese society, where commenting on, and even judging others by, appearances is less taboo than in many other countries. The aim of this thesis is to analyze and problematize the social tendency to prioritize appearance and to identify the invisible pressures exerted on women in various societal roles in Japan. To do so, the thesis examines three distinct groups of women and the specific aspects of lookism that they face: 1) young people and psychological lookism, 2) female celebrities who are valued for looks over talent; and 3) ordinary working women and their financial and time sacrifices.

The first chapter focuses on Japanese youth and their current challenges in contemporary society. By analyzing data showing that Japanese youth have lower levels of self-esteem and a sense of usefulness compared to their peers in other countries, along with survey results from government reports and the case of a junior high school girl, this chapter suggests that physical and mental health problems are a significant concern in a society that places an unreasonably high value on beauty.

The second chapter shifts the focus to female celebrities by discussing three cases where appearance is prioritized over job performance. The main section of the chapter examines gender disparities in relation to age by comparing male and female announcers at major Japanese TV networks. This section highlights the hidden regulations these companies use to discriminate against women over the age 40. The final part offers a detailed analysis of appearance discrimination faced by a female announcer in Canada.

The third chapter investigates the sacrifices and burdens faced by working women in Japan. It first examines the tangible time and financial pressures they face, and then delves into the psychological impact caused by these pressures. Using the example of a beauty product advertisement, the chapter finishes by outlining how advertising reinforces implicit beauty standards that influence societal perceptions and which stigmatize non-standard beauty.

Lookism is not simply an individual issue but a pervasive societal phenomenon that continues to disproportionately affect women. As such, this research aims to raise awareness of these problems and contribute to the development of measures that can drive positive change.

また、各専修より以下の学生の論文が代表論文に選出されました。

＜文学?文化専修＞
橘早映　“A Study of She Said: Sexual Abuse, Silence, and Voice”
本庄梨和　“A Study of Edgar Allan Poe: Self-Destruction in “William Wilson” from the Perspective of Sigmund Freud”
渡辺結衣莉　“Representations of Environmental Issues in Japanese Animation Films”

＜言語?コミュニケーション専修＞
鈴木桃花　“Order of Pronominal Affixes in Ainu Verbs”
中村美伶　“Speech Level Shifts in Korean Conversational Discourse”
宮西杜果　“Sound Symbolism in Product Names: A Case Study of Confectioneries”
八重樫花菜有　“A Study of the Functions of V-Sugosu and V-Nogasu Compounds Using Image Schema”

リボリア賞受賞論文と代表論文は本学図書館に所蔵されております。本学にお立ち寄りの際はぜひご覧ください。