Development of Interlanguage Pragmatic Competence: Input- and Output-based Instruction in the Zone of Proximal Development

Abstract

Among the Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) studies which have investigated the differential effect of different instructional treatments, little attention has been given to the role of the sociocultural concepts of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and peer scaffolding in the development of pragmatic competence. Furthermore, none have juxtaposed the effect of incorporating an output-based instruction with an input-based one. The study employed an experimental design over a 13 week period with 90 students randomly assigned to the one of the five groups consisting of four treatment groups and a control group. Each treatment group received one of the following kinds of instructions: (a) individual input-based, (b) collaborative input-based, (c) individual output-based, or (d) collaborative output-based. Treatment groups’ performance was compared with that of a control group on pretests and posttests consisting of a multiple choice discourse completion task and a written discourse completion task. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between pre- and posttests of the four experimental groups in both awareness and production. The results lend support to Schmidt’s (1993) noticing hypothesis and Swain’s (1985) output hypothesis and provides evidence for the success of Sharwood Smith’s (1991, 1993) input enhancement techniques. However, the results cast doubt on the superiority of output based instruction over input based even in output focused activities. Further results and implications are discussed in the paper.