This paper investigates distinct characteristics of written English by Japanese L1 (first language) speakers of English and compares them with common features of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Utilizing categories drawn from the literature, I have analyzed 92 writing samples by Japanese university students in order to assess whether there are any distinct characteristics shared among L1 Japanese speakers of English, particularly as to (i) lexico-grammar, (ii) lexis, (iii) semantics, and (iv) pragmatics. I have then examined whether there is any overlap between Japanese characteristics and ELF. The phenomenon of extending a sense of the original English word in Japanese and of then using the extended sense in English has supplied evidence of L1 seeping into L2 (second language) English use. In addition, the use of certain expressions has been found to be tightly connected with the Japanese language and culture (e.g., ‘study society’) in this study. This study has also shown a clear overlap between the writing of Japanese university students and common ELF properties and features, including extra use and regularization – in particular, the extra use of the particle and the pluralization of uncountable nouns – and explicitness and neutrality in word choice.

中文翻译：

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书面英语分析：从世界英语和英语作为通用语的角度评估日本大学生英语写作的特点

本文调查了以英语为母语的日语（第一语言）使用者的书面英语的显着特征，并将它们与英语作为通用语言 (ELF) 的共同特征进行了比较。利用从文献中提取的类别，我分析了 92 个日本大学生的写作样本，以评估母语为英语的日本人是否有任何共同的特征，特别是 (i) 词汇语法，(ii) 词汇， (iii) 语义学，以及 (iv) 语用学。然后我检查了日本特色和ELF之间是否有任何重叠。在日语中扩展原始英语单词的含义然后在英语中使用扩展含义的现象提供了 L1 渗入 L2（第二语言）英语使用的证据。此外，在这项研究中，已发现某些表达方式的使用与日本语言和文化（例如，“学习社会”）密切相关。这项研究还表明日本大学生的写作与常见的 ELF 属性和特征之间存在明显的重叠，包括额外使用和正则化——特别是粒子的额外使用和不可数名词的复数化——以及单词的明确性和中立性选择。