American English, Japanese, and Directness: More Than Stereotypes

There is a good deal of literature on American English and Japanese which can
be used to support the rather stereotypical notion that the former is characterized
by explicitness and directness, the latter by vagueness and indirectness. Although
stereotypes such as these are often based at least partly on facts, they are generally
overSimplifications of complex phenomena which, upon closer scrutiny, begin
to reveal their inherent complexities. This paper provides a review of some of
the literature on interaction in American English and Japanese supporting the
stereotype. It also discusses some recent studies of language use by Americans
and Japanese which suggest that the stereotypes need further elaboration. It is
argued that more research is needed to go beyond prevailing stereotypes in
describing and accounting for language use in both English and Japanese.