I want to ask English native speakers who are studying Japanese. Could you tell me how you were taught to use "わけだ　（or わけです）” at the end of a sentence?

I'm a native Japanese speaker, but I got quite confused with this tricky word when an American friend of mine asked me the meaning of "ということになるわけだ." After having racked my brain for some time, I came to the conclusion that "わけ" gives listeners the impression that the speaker thinks what the speaker is telling them is not totally new to them. I'm not sure whether or not I gave him the correct answer. I would appreciate it very much if you could share your knowledge about how you were taught to use 'わけ' properly.

Just FYI, I found some research papers on this matter in Japanese. I felt relieved to know that I was not the only one who felt わけだ was a difficult expression to explain.

「わけだ」に関する一考察－その実質的意味と心的態度との関わりについて
http://www12.plala.or.jp/isaoiori/nagatani_syuuron.pdf

文末表現「わけだ」の意味と用法
http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/20933/1/jlc027004.pdf

Question

I want to ask English native speakers who are studying Japanese. Could you tell me how you were taught to use "わけだ　（or わけです）” at the end of a sentence?

I'm a native Japanese speaker, but I got quite confused with this tricky word when an American friend of mine asked me the meaning of "ということになるわけだ." After having racked my brain for some time,  I came to the conclusion that "わけ" gives listeners the impression that the speaker thinks what the speaker is telling them is not totally new to them. I'm not sure whether or not I gave him the correct answer. I would appreciate it very much if you could share your knowledge about how you were taught to use 'わけ' properly.

Just FYI,  I found some research papers on this matter in Japanese. I felt relieved to know that I was not the only one who felt わけだ was a difficult expression to explain.

「わけだ」に関する一考察－その実質的意味と心的態度との関わりについて
http://www12.plala.or.jp/isaoiori/nagatani_syuuron.pdf

文末表現「わけだ」の意味と用法
http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/20933/1/jlc027004.pdf

Deleted user · Answer

I checked my textbooks and the best explanation of わけだ I could find was in "An Introduction to Japanese Grammar and Communication Strategies" by Senko K. Maynard. There's a section in that book called "Predicate with Explanatory Mode" where わけだ is explained along with のだ and んだ。 Here's a quote:

When a speaker intends to explain a reason, cause, or circumstances which lead to a known result or conclusion, 'wake da' is used. 'Wake da' is often used to explain something one might have wondered about and may be compared to the English expressions 'that means...' or 'no wonder...'