English

Rui Li,Raja Rozina Raja Suleiman

doi:10.17576/3l-2017-2301-05

English

Rui Li, Raja Rozina Raja Suleiman

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.17576/3l-2017-2301-05

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Abstract

Complaint is an under-researched speech act in the field of interlanguage pragmatics. Making a complaint runs the risk of impairing the relationship between speaker and hearer as it requires the speaker to express displeasure and frustration to what is believed to be the responsibility of the hearer. The speaker, therefore, has to use appropriate linguistic forms bearing in mind social conventions to make the hearer take some action of repair or to avoid interactional conflicts. For L2 learners, making complaints in a second/foreign language is more difficult as they may lack both sociocultural and L2 knowledge. This study investigated the ability of Chinese EFL learners to produce complaints and its relationship with their L2 proficiency. Thirty-two Chinese university students and five native speakers of American English completed a Free Discourse Completion Test (FDCT); English proficiency was measured by learners’ performance in TEM-4. Data elicited from the FDCT were analysed using a holistic rating scale for the overall appropriateness of complaints and a coding framework for complaint strategies and modifications. Results showed that learners were unable to produce appropriate complaints and L2 proficiency significantly influenced the overall appropriateness of complaints. Differences were also identified in strategies and external and internal modifications used by learners of different proficiency levels. The study suggested that the production of complaints by Chinese learners is greatly influenced by their native culture. In addition to improving L2 proficiency, lessons on cultural differences should be introduced for them to improve the ability to complain in English. Keywords: L2 proficiency; speech act of complaint; complaint strategies; Chinese EFL learners; Chinese culture DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-05

Highlights

Ever since the identification of pragmatic competence as an indispensable component of language ability, researchers have directed their attention to second/foreign language (L2) learners’ ability to realise communicative functions and how this ability is acquired
Four scales with value labels were used to judge students’ responses in Free Discourse Completion Test (FDCT) and the following scores were assigned to the responses to accord with the total score of Test for English Majors-4 (TEM-4) (100 points): native-like (16 points), acceptable (12 points), problematic (8 points), and not acceptable (4 points)
The statistics shows that the data from FDCT are relatively normally distributed as the skewness (0.461) and kurtosis (-0.740) are between +1 and -1, satisfying one of the assumptions for the Pearson correlation analysis

Summary

Introduction

Ever since the identification of pragmatic competence as an indispensable component of language ability, researchers have directed their attention to second/foreign language (L2) learners’ ability to realise communicative functions and how this ability is acquired. A number of studies have been conducted on speech act production with a focus on L2 learners’ knowledge of linguistic forms and their knowledge of social and cultural norms to perform different speech functions. For Chinese learners of English, learning to make complaints may be more difficult as it means breaking the harmonious personal relationship that Chinese culture values. Researchers in China have started to explore the speech act of complaint since the start of the 21st century. Existing studies have identified differences between Chinese and English speakers in the use of linguistic forms and semantic content and in the choice of strategies when talking to different people, i.e. professors, intimates, friends and strangers

Results

Discussion

Conclusion