The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad

Abstract

This study examined the effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of pragmatically appropriate requests in L2 Chinese in a study abroad context. The participants were 31 American learners of Chinese studying in China. Fifteen learners came from intermediate level classes (Intermediate group) and the remaining 16 from advanced level classes (Advanced group). The participants completed a Computerized Oral Discourse Completion Test (CODCT) at the beginning and toward the end of their sojourn. The participants' oral request production was analyzed in terms of appropriateness rating, planning time, and speech rate. The results showed that the Intermediate and Advanced groups made comparable gains in appropriateness rating, that neither group reduced planning time, and that only the Advanced group gained in speech rate. The Intermediate and Advanced groups showed similar patterns of change in their production of alerters, head act forms (i.e., request strategies), internal modification, and external modification.