An analysis of student errors in the use of Japanese ‐WA and ‐GA∗

Despite considerable attention given over the last several years to the linguistic analysis of the Japanese postpositions ‐WA and ‐GA, students of Japanese as a second language continue to experience difficulty in understanding and using ‐WA and ‐GA properly. This article presents an analysis, based on functional categories, of students’ errors in the use of ‐WA and ‐GA. An acquisition or accuracy order with respect to the various functional categories of ‐WA and ‐GA is inferred from the observed error rates, the positive effect of exposure to a functional linguistic analysis of ‐WA and ‐GA is shown in relation to students’ selection of these postpositions, and the existence of certain transitional strategies for the assignment of ‐WA and ‐GA in Japanese as an L2 is suggested.