Dissecting Sentence Anatomy A baseline morpho-syntactic analysis between English and Japanese [Condensed]

Abstract

I would like to preface this essay by explaining the environment in which it was born. After meeting fellow student-linguistic, Utano Imada, the two of us began discussing the differences and fun aspects of our respective languages from the perspectives of both a native and non-native of each language. We then both discussed wanting to teach both languages and how we believed both perspectives on a language (those from a native and those from a learner) are important to those wishing to learn the language. From here we had the idea to do a long-term research project on the differences and similarities between English and Japanese, including a small focus on how these things can then be adapted and taught to learners. This essay is a precursor to that larger project due to my lower levels in the subjects at hand. Though I have a decent grasp on my first language, English, I am still learning Japanese and do not possess it as a foreign language to the degree that Utano possesses English as her foreign language. Utano also possesses a higher understanding of morph-syntactic rules, even in English, than I do of Japanese and English. Therefore, the main purpose of the research project was for me to bring up my skills to be more on par with those of my future research partner, as well to prepare myself for a preferred future in not only linguistics as a whole, but also foreign language learning and linguistics