Come about Five-ish: Vagueness in Language

Abstract

The article examines differing use of vague terms such as “about”, “or so”, “more than” and “less than” in the discourse of English first-language (L1) users and English second-language (L2) users. It shows that while L1 users show a broadly general interpretation of such vague terms, L2 users vary in their interpretation, both amongst themselves and as opposed to the L1 users. Despite the fact that vague language is both a frequent and widespread phenomenon, it is a language resource that is rarely taught in the L2 classroom; rather it is ‘learnt’ within a particular socio-cultural context. The article argues that more attention should be paid to vague language use in the L2 classroom and ends by suggesting how this could be carried out.