著者

ダナヒュー レイ T

出版者

中京大学

雑誌

国際英語学部紀要 (ISSN:13480162)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1, pp.3-18, 2002-11-30

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After decades of study, the author explains why contrastive rhetoric (CR) appears to have tenuous roots and the necessity for critical cultural analysis. The once vaunted "empirical" evidence from Japanese, a major basis for CR, appears methodologically unsound. CR, however, has been routinely accepted uncritically by scores of second language instructors, not to mention researchers in the field. Bold words to be sure, but until CR's house is put into order, the field will be left banking on hopes rather than solid empirical evidence expected of any social science. In this "Back to the Future" or nether land condition, practitioners are cast without a compass and so may more easily succumb to ethnocentric impulse. Rather than a strong form of CR, the author argues that a weak form would be more pragmatic. Various examples show why. Suggestions for future research are provided.