English as a bridge in understanding Japanese gairago
Keywords:
English proficiency, gairaigo, Japanese languageAbstract
In multilingual higher education contexts, English proficiency functions not only as a global lingua franca but also as linguistic capital that shapes the acquisition of additional foreign languages. This study examines the role of English as a bridge in understanding gairaigo in Japanese language learning. The study involved 53 students of a Diploma III Japanese Language Program. Data were collected through a gairaigo comprehension test, an English proficiency questionnaire, and written responses to open-ended questions. The findings indicate that students with higher English proficiency demonstrate better accuracy in interpreting gairaigo, particularly in commonly used loanwords. However, errors frequently occur in words with semantic shifts, such as manshon and service. Qualitative responses reveal that most students consciously connect katakana words with English vocabulary, although differences in pronunciation often cause confusion. Furthermore, the majority of students reported that understanding meaning is more difficult than reading katakana.These results confirm that English plays a significant role as a linguistic bridge in Japanese language learning and highlight the importance of cross-linguistic awareness in multilingual education.
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