Abstract
This cross‐sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study‐abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension in second‐language English. Participants were 25 native English speakers and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proficiency and no study‐abroad experience. Group 2 (n = 20) and Group 3 (n = 22) had higher proficiency than Group 1 but differed in their study‐abroad experience. Group 2 had no study‐abroad experience, but Group 3 had a minimum of 1 year of study‐abroad experience in an English‐speaking country. They completed a pragmatic listening test measuring their ability to comprehend conventional and nonconventional implicatures. Group performance was compared for the comprehension accuracy scores and response times. There was a significant effect of proficiency on response times but no effect of study‐abroad experience. Comprehension accuracy scores revealed mixed findings. It was advantageous for students to have study‐abroad experience in the comprehension of nonconventional implicatures and routine expressions but not in indirect refusals.
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