Analysis of Speech Act Between SA and AH Chinese L2 Speakers of English—With Regard to Request Refusal, and Apology Strategies

Abstract

This research examines the effect of study abroad experience on L2 English learners’ pragmatic competence in terms of strategies used in the speech act of request, refusal and apology. The Discourse Completion Task was administrated among 16 Chinese graduate students who were divided into two groups, including the study-abroad (SA) group and at-home (AH) group. The results do not reveal any evident improvements in the pragmatic competence of learners who have study-abroad experience compared to those who study English at home in China, but some of their strategies of using speech acts do have differences. In terms of requests, the conventionally indirect level strategy is the most frequently used request strategy among both groups of learners, and SA learners are more direct in making requests than AH learners. In terms of refusal strategies, both AH and SA learners prefer indirect refusal strategies. There is no obvious difference in apologies between SA learners and AH learners, and their apologies tend to be more direct. Based on these findings, it is suggested that more emphasis and importance should be placed on the pragmatic knowledge, which should be explicitly taught in the classroom because of the limited chance to enhance pragmatic competence outside the classroom.