Abstract
This study investigates the three speech act strategies of request, suggestion and apology in Libyan Arab EFL undergraduate students (AREFLUS) and Amazigh EFL undergraduate students (AMEFLUS). It also examines their linguistic and pragmatic competence in these strategies. Two Libyan universities (Sebha and Zwara) are selected for the study, which includes 50 AREFLUS and 37 AMEFLUS participants. To investigate the students’ socio-pragmatic and pragma linguistic competence, two instruments are used: a questionnaire in the form of a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a rating scale. The results reveal numerous similarities between the Libyan Arab and Amazigh participants in performing all the speech act strategies of request, suggest and apology. However, some significant differences regarding gender are found among Libyan EFL students. Overall, both groups appear to be more competent in functioning than in structuring the three mentioned speech act strategies.
Highlights
In the past, the concept of learning a language was correlated with learning linguistic rules and structure only, while the cultural side was essentially neglected
The current study investigates the pragmatic competence of multilingual learners by examining the speech act strategy uses of request, suggestion and apology, as used by Libyan EFL Arab and Amazigh university students
A lack of pragmatic competence of English learners in the Libyan context causes miscommunications in performing appropriate speech acts and grasping the intentional meaning of what is being said. This increases the need to conduct studies that focus on exploring the speech acts of request, suggestion and apology
Summary
The concept of learning a language was correlated with learning linguistic rules and structure only, while the cultural side was essentially neglected. Many scholars agree that ‘learning a language means acquiring the linguistic competence of it which includes vocabulary, grammar, and the pragmatic competence which involves how to use the language appropriately in different situations’ According to Littlewood and William (1981), when there is a lack of cultural knowledge, the social and pragmatic aspects of the spoken languages tend to be lost during conversation. There may be an increase in miscommunication, exemplified by producing inappropriate speech acts and failing to grasp the meaning of what is being said. This emphasises the importance of conducting more studies to clarify and discuss relevant issues for better awareness and understanding of the target language culture. Research has postulated the need for pragmatic instruction in an EFL context
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