Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2010, 32, 141–156.  

© Cambridge University Press, 2010 0272-2631/10 $15.00

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          BOOK REVIEWS   

    doi:10.1017/S0272263109990283  

        SOCIALIZING IDENTITIES THROUGH SPEECH STYLE: LEARNERS OF 
JAPANESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE .    Haruko Minegishi     Cook   . 
 Clevedon, UK :  Multilingual Matters ,  2008 . Pp.  viii  + 225.  

       Linguists and language teachers have, for years, relied on overly simplistic and 
misleading explanations of the way in which Japanese speakers use  masu  (often 
identifi ed as a formal, out-group or polite speech marker) versus plain verb 
endings. For learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL), fi guring out how 
to choose between these two forms can be especially vexing. In this study, Cook 
combines indexical theory and language socialization methodologies in an effort 
to clarify not only how these forms are used by native speakers but also how JFL 
learners can be socialized through implicit as well as explicit language practices 
to use these forms appropriately. 

 For her language socialization methodology, Cook focuses on microanalysis 

of how  masu  versus plain forms are used by nine JFL learners and their host 
families during a total of 25 recorded homestay dinner table conversations. For 
her indexical theory, Cook relies primarily on a version of what she identifi es as 
a two-step model of indexical relations (see Ochs,  1990 ). Based on her adaptation 
of this analytical method, Cook posits the theory that the choice of  masu  versus 
plain forms indexes social identities among nonnative as well as native speakers 
during talk-in-interaction and thus also contributes to the way in which this 
language mediates, socializes, and coconstructs these identities. 

 For ease of explication, Cook’s volume can be divided into three sections. 

In the fi rst section, which includes chapters 1–3, Cook offers what is, overall, a 
clear and concise overview of her theoretical and analytical approach, her data 
collection, and her focus on the use of  masu  versus plain forms during dinnertime 
conversation. It is in chapters 4 and 5 that Cook presents the core of her indexical 
analysis of the use of these forms in her dinnertime recordings. In the third 
section, chapters 6–8, she addresses issues of most direct interest to teachers 
and learners of JFL: the role of explicit versus implicit language socialization 
practices and the implications of this study for future studies of second language 
pragmatics and pedagogy. 

 Although Cook’s analysis of the dinnertime conversation data is rich and 

compelling, I do have questions concerning Cook’s application of her two-step 
approach to indexical analysis. Although Ochs ( 1990 ) used Japanese sentence-fi nal 
particles as examples of how some language forms may fi rst convey one direct 
meaning and then index several indirect meanings, the  masu  versus plain form 
system exemplifi es more of what Ochs might describe as complex, collocational 

Book Reviews

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indexicality and what Silverstein ( 2003 ) might identify as multiple layers of 
indexicality. Cook’s idea that self-presentational stance is the direct indexical 
meaning of  masu , with all other indexical meanings as secondary, is somewhat 
simplistic. At the same time, Cook’s analysis of how  masu  versus plain forms are 
used as contextualization cues for changes in speech genre or activity type is 
just as, or even more, convincing in explaining how and why speakers switch 
between these forms during informal as well as formal conversational activities. 

 Although I agree with Cook’s discussion of the pedagogical problems associ-

ated with the way in which most textbooks and curricula highlight the  soto - uchi  
(outside-inside) explanation for choosing between  masu  versus plain forms and 
with her plea to create alternative materials, I would also like to have seen a 
more pointed discussion of the infl uence of Japanese language ideology on this 
maintenance of this misleading approach. 

 The problems with the indexical portions of Cook’s analysis notwithstanding, 

her discussion of the importance of JFL learners’ participation in real-life, naturally 
occurring social interactions is convincing and of great import for all interested 
in second language pedagogy. Much of her indexical approach to analyzing the 
use of  masu  versus plain forms in Japanese is a step forward, and I anticipate 
continuing discussions on the language socialization of Japanese in general and 
further use of indexical theory for enhancing our overall understanding of SLA.     

 REFERENCES 

    Ochs  ,   E   . ( 1990 ).  Indexicality and socialization . In    J. W.     Stigler  ,   R. A.     Shweder  , &   G.     Herdt    

(Eds.),  Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative human development  (pp.  287 – 308 ). 
 New York :  Cambridge University Press . 

    Silverstein  ,   M   . ( 2003 ).  Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life .  Language 

and Communication ,  23 ,  193 – 229 . 

   ( Received  23   February   2009  )  

    Laurie     Schick       

   Oklahoma State University           

          doi:10.1017/S0272263109990295  

        TEACHING THROUGH BASQUE: ACHIEVEMENTS AND 
CHALLENGES .    Jasone     Cenoz     (Ed.) .  Clevedon, UK :  Multilingual Matters , 
 2008 . Pp.  101 .  

       The multilingual sociolinguistic landscape of Spain makes it an ideal space for 
the implementation and testing of educational systems whose goal is the acqui-
sition of three languages (two offi cial languages in the Basque Country, Catalonia, 
Galicia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, in addition to English in most of these 
areas). This volume provides an extensive discussion of the educational system 
in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC). 

 The chapter by Zalbide and Cenoz is an overview of bilingual education in the 

BAC since the 1960s. It introduces the three models of Basque education—all in 
Spanish, bilingual, and all in Basque—and documents their evolution. The fi nal