Explicit Pragmatic Instruction Research Articles

Learning with a purpose: Acquisition of compliments and compliment responses by beginning learners of Spanish in synchronous online exchanges

This research examines the effect of explicit pragmatic instruction and student's perceptions of guided reflections on the acquisition of compliments and compliment responses (CRs) in beginning learners of Spanish. It adopts a pragmatic consciousness-raising approach and a four-step lesson plan for teaching compliments and CRs in the language classroom. Unlike many studies in interlanguage pragmatics conducted in classrooms or laboratory settings at the intermediate and advanced level, this study examines the acquisition and use (or lack thereof) of compliments and CR's though synchronous online face-to-face conversations of L2 learners with L1 speakers of Spanish. It analyzes change overtime with the same learners using a pretest-posttest design. A quantitative analysis indicated statistically significant differences in the production of compliments, yet no significant differences were observed in the production of CR's. The qualitative analysis of the guided reflections highlighted a need for more in-class practice with compliments and CR's. Students' responses suggest that reflections can help raise awareness of the use (or lack thereof) of these speech acts. This study contributes to L2 pragmatics and to our understanding of L2 acquisition developmental stages.

Perception of Prosodic and Aspectual Cues to Politeness in Teacher Directives in L1 and L2 Russian

Background: Several studies in interlanguage pragmatics have reported Russian directive speech acts to take a particular position within the dimensions of linguistic politeness and (in)directness, when compared to some Germanic and Romance languages extensively studied in this framework.Purpose of the study: The present paper aimed to investigate the role of language specific cues to politeness in Russian requests by examining their perception by native speakers and L2 learners in a scenario of teacher-student interaction.Methods: An experiment was conducted in which L1 and L2 groups rated the politeness of teacher directives in Russian on a discrete 7-point scale. Three variables were controlled for in the experimental design: the directness of the speech act (manifested in the choice between an imperative or an interrogative construction), verbal aspect, and the type of nuclear pitch accent.Findings: The obtained data generally corroborate existing studies, demonstrating that both native Russian speakers and learners of Russian with Chinese L1 do not judge as impolite direct imperative strategies employed in teacher requests. Though both groups of participants similarly relied on intonational cues in their judgements, the L2 learners did not perform target-like in evaluating the pragmatics of verbal aspect. Within the native group, the usage of imperfective verbs both in direct and conventionally indirect constructions was perceived as a highly salient indicator of impoliteness. Conversely, the size of this effect in L2 judgements did not reach a significance level, implying that this language specific cue is not acquired through incidental learning at pre-intermediate or intermediate proficiency levels.Conclusions: Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of explicit pragmatic instruction even for students who have sufficient experience studying abroad; furthermore, they outline new directions for empirical studies in Russian from the perspective of interlanguage pragmatics.

The Effect of Study-Abroad on Pragmatic Transfer

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the effect that studying abroad may have on pragmatic transfer in requests, refusals, and expressions of gratitude, produced by Japanese learners of English. Twenty-two Japanese college students completed a multimedia elicitation task (MET) before and after studying in the US for one semester, together with twenty-two L1 English speakers and twenty L1 Japanese speakers as baseline data. The MET is a computer-based instrument for eliciting oral data. Unlike previous studies on pragmatic transfer, which often lack statistical evidence, this study includes statistical analysis. The analysis revealed that negative pragmatic transfer occurs within a limited range. The identified transfer includes pragmalinguistic transfer, whereby, assuming that their politeness levels are equal, learners directly translate L1 expressions into L2; and sociopragmatic transfer, whereby learners transfer L1 discourse patterns and functions. Resistance to L2 norms and increased fluency can be influencing factors. The results indicated that the effect of study-abroad is limited because most of the negative transfer which was identified before studying abroad remained after studying abroad. Thus, the necessity of explicit pragmatic instruction was proposed.

Explicit instruction for the development of L2 Spanish pragmatic ability during study abroad

This study investigates the effects of pragmatic instruction and short-term study abroad (SA) on the development of apologies in second language (L2) Spanish. Students who spent four weeks in different SA programs in Spain were randomly assigned either to an experimental group (n = 9) or a control group (n = 9). Native Spanish speakers from Spain were recruited to provide baseline comparison data. Prior to departure, the experimental group received explicit pragmatic instruction on how to formulate apologies in Spanish. During SA, they performed two task scenarios designed to promote their pragmatic competence. The control group did not receive pragmatic instruction, nor did they perform the tasks. Before departure and during the final week of the program, both groups completed an oral discourse completion task (ODCT) consisting of five apology scenarios. The ODCT data and appropriateness ratings indicate that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in three areas of pragmatic development: appropriateness, strategy use, and speech rate. Findings suggest that explicit pragmatic instruction both before and during SA contributes to participants’ L2 pragmatic competence.

Analysis of the Effects and Durability of Implicit and Explicit Pragmatic Instruction

Analysis of the Effects and Durability of Implicit and Explicit Pragmatic Instruction

Investigating longitudinal pragmatic development of complaints made by Chinese EFL learners

AbstractFew studies have investigated the development of L2 complaints. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of L2 complaints produced by Chinese university English learners based on their performance of a discourse completion task consisting of 18 complaint scenarios in terms of power (+P, =P, −P) and social distance (−D, =D, +D), supplemented by a delayed retrospective verbal report. Data were collected twice, over two academic years. The results indicate that students in these two ‘phases’ showed broadly similar patterns of sociopragmatic competence in terms of their ability to calibrate complaints to complainees’ (addressees’) position on power and social distance continua. However, as to internal modifications, learners in Phase 2 used significantly more lexical and syntactic downgraders than in Phase 1 at all levels of power and social distance except for syntactic downgraders at +D and =D; they only used significantly more lexical upgraders at −D. As for external modifications, the findings also showed significantly different patterns in the use of pre-moves at all levels and post-moves at all levels except at −P. Increase of English proficiency and a certain degree of explicit pragmatic instruction may have contributed to Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic development. Implications for pragmatic instruction are also discussed.

Teaching Apologies in the EFL Classroom: A Speech Acts Perspective

The aim of the study is to investigate the teaching of apologizing as a speech act in EFL Classroom. For this purpose, the definition and the communicative function of apologies are explored, aiming at crystalizing the importance of apologies in EFL. The paper finally provides four speech acts awareness-promoting activities that incorporate the apology speech act into a set of explicit pragmatic instruction.

THE EFFECTS OF PRAGMATIC INSTRUCTION ON THE PRAGMATIC AWARENESS AND PRODUCTION OF KOREAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Despite the ongoing research of interlanguage pragmatics, intervention studies concerning pragmatic instruction have not been conducted as actively. The present study aims to investigate the effects of pragmatic instruction on Korean university students specifically regarding compliment responses. The effects of the instruction were examined in terms of the students' pragmatic awareness and production, according to the various language proficiency levels of the students. A total of 106 Korean university students from various majors participated in the study. The experimental group received explicit pragmatic instruction, which entailed metapragmatic instruction, awareness raising activities, and output practice regarding compliment responses, whereas the control group was exposed to the target features with no explicit instruction. A set of pragmatic awareness questionnaire and discourse completion tasks were administered as the data collection instruments and an eclectic design was adopted to analyze the effects of the instruction regarding their pragmatic awareness and production. The results indicate that explicit pragmatic instruction provided positive effects for raising the level of pragmatic awareness in the low group. Additionally, both the intermediate and low groups showed a significant improvement in production, as confirmed by the examination between and within subjects, and also displayed a range of formulaic expressions with a less idiosyncrasy attributed to first language transfer. These results call for further attention to pragmatics in second language (L2) teaching and learning.

The Use of Discourse Completion Task (DCT) As Explicit Instruction On Indonesian Efl Learners' Production of Suggestion Acts

There are some activities that can be developed to bring up EFL learners' pragmatic awareness, such as contextualized language practice in given situations, constructed peer dialogues, and metapragmatic discussions. This task-based approach used in these activities can be either explicit or implicit instruction. One of them is a metapragmatic discussion prompted by Discourse Completion Task (DCT). In this paper, DCT, as an explicit pragmatic instruction, was practically investigated its effectiveness to facilitate EFL learners in developing their pragmatic competence. The results demonstrated from the analysis of RP2 prompted by the DCT support the fact that the explicit instruction results in some variations of linguistic forms that contribute to the development of subjects' pragmatic competence Key words : Discourse Completion Task (DCT), pragmatic competence, explicit pragmatic instruction, English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Â

The Role Of Explicit Pragmatic Instruction To Improve Second Language Learners' Ideational Metafunction Of The Target Language

Pragmatics is considered to be the component of language which is hard to teach for beginner learners of English. Highlighting the argument on the model of language competence proposed by Bachman's (1990), this paper discusses how the definition of pragmatic competence in the field of TESOL should include illocutionary competence in Bachman's model. Taking the stance on functional grammar's perspective, a brief analysis is presented how explicit pragmatic instruction can improve second language learner's ideational metafunction of the target language. Keywords : explicit pragmatic instruction, ideational metafunction, functional grammar

Explicit Pragmatic Instruction In Teaching English As A Foreign Language

Teaching and learning languages involve more than targeting grammatical and lexical knowledge. To achieve communicative competence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, EFL learners need to develop their pragmatic competence which is better taught explicitly in the classroom. This essay argues that while the implicit instruction is reasonably applicable, the explicit pragmatic instruction is more effective to facilitate EFL learners in developing their pragmatic competence.

Sociocultural Theory and a Pragma-linguistic Pedagogical Intervention

L2 pragmatic instruction in grammar and writing is an area of second language acquisition that is underutilized by many teachers. This paper follows the process of one teacher as the instruction of the pragmatic speech act of requesting is integrated into a low-level grammar class. First, an argument is made for the importance of including explicit pragmatic instruction in an ESL classroom. Then, a recent pedagogical model based on Sociocultural Theory is utilized as a basis for the development of new materials and adaptation of existing materials. Also, the theoretical frameworks of both speech act theory of requesting and politeness theory are examined to inform the materials presented to the students. Finally, the teacher reflects on this process and gives recommendations for others who would integrate pragmatic instruction into their classroom.

Teaching the Sociocultural Norms of an Undergraduate Community of Practice

The importance of teaching second language learners the pragmatic norms of relevant communities of practice is widely recognised. Familiarisation with these norms is also an important aspect of socialisation for native speakers entering a new community of practice. This study focuses on pragmatic instruction of English as an additional language and native speaker learners preparing to enter undergraduate study. In particular, the instruction focused on one community of practice which undergraduates typically encounter: groups undertaking joint projects. The instruction was explicit, drawing on semiauthentic and naturalistic scripted samples of discourse relevant to the target community of practice. This report considers six cases of the total 15 participants in order to explore changes in their pragmatic competence and ability to participate effectively in the target community of practice. The data are derived from pre‐ and post group discussions and discourse completion tasks as well as post instruction participant reflections on group negotiations and intercultural communication. Instruction was found to have had a positive impact on the pragmatic competence of these participants as well as raising their awareness of cultural differences as they learned to interact in an intercultural third place. These findings support the value of using relevant naturalistic discourse samples in explicit pragmatic instruction.

Using film to provide a context for teaching L2 pragmatics

This qualitative study examines the pragmatic tools that first-year learners of German from two intact classes have at their disposal at the beginning and at the end of an eight-week period. The control ( n = 15) and treatment groups ( n = 22) watched a feature film, The Edukators, as part of the study. The control group answered comprehension questions based on the film, while the treatment group completed tasks focused on pragmatics, using the film as context-rich scaffolding for analyzing authentic, discourse-length language. The pre- and post-tests were administered eight weeks apart and elicited dialogs based on interactions in the film. Learners' metapragmatic reflections were also analyzed. The data suggests that participants in the treatment group were better able to vary their responses to reflect relationships between interactants or the purpose of the exchange, utilizing the social context portrayed in the film and explicit pragmatic instruction. Their ability to express pragmatic variability, albeit with limited linguistic tools, has implications for understanding beginning language learners' pragmatic abilities and for the possibilities of using films for teaching pragmatics in foreign language contexts, where other types of authentic input may be scarce.

The Role Of Explicit Pragmatic Instruction To Improve Second Language Learners' Ideational Metafunction Of The Target Language

Pragmatics is considered to be the component of language which is hard to teach for beginner learners of English. Highlighting the argument on the model of language competence proposed by Bachman's (1990), this paper discusses how the definition of pragmatic competence in the field of TESOL should include illocutionary competence in Bachman's model. Taking the stance on functional grammar's perspective, a brief analysis is presented how explicit pragmatic instruction can improve second language learner's ideational metafunction of the target language.Keywords: explicit pragmatic instruction, ideational metafunction, functional grammar

The Effects of Collaborative Translation Task on the Apology Speech Act Production of Iranian EFL Learners

The present study aims to investigate the relative effectiveness of different types of pragmatic instruction including two collaborative translation tasks and two structured input tasks with and without explicit pragmatic instruction on the production of apologetic utterances by low-intermediate EFL learners. One hundred and fifty university students in four experimental groups and one control group participated in pre-tests, post-tests and two month follow ups consisting of open-ended discourse completion tasks (OPDCT), mobile short message tasks (MSMT) and telephone conversation tasks (TCT). The results of the study indicated that pragmatic instruction may enhance interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). It was also found that the participants receiving explicit pragmatic instruction outperformed the implicit and control groups. Moreover, the two Collaborative Translation Task (CTT) groups showed better retention of pragmatic knowledge. It was concluded that collaborative translation may result in deeper processing of both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic knowledge leading to more appropriate pragmatic production.

The Use of Discourse Completion Task (DCT) As Explicit Instruction On Indonesian Efl Learners' Production of Suggestion Acts

There are some activities that can be developed to bring up EFL learners' pragmatic awareness, such as contextualized language practice in given situations, constructed peer dialogues, and metapragmatic discussions. This task-based approach used in these activities can be either explicit or implicit instruction. One of them is a metapragmatic discussion prompted by Discourse Completion Task (DCT). In this paper, DCT, as an explicit pragmatic instruction, was practically investigated its effectiveness to facilitate EFL learners in developing their pragmatic competence. The results demonstrated from the analysis of RP2 prompted by the DCT support the fact that the explicit instruction results in some variations of linguistic forms that contribute to the development of subjects' pragmatic competence Key words : Discourse Completion Task (DCT), pragmatic competence, explicit pragmatic instruction, English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Explicit Pragmatic Instruction In Teaching English As A Foreign Language

Teaching and learning languages involve more than targeting grammatical and lexical knowledge. To achieve communicative competence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, EFL learners need to develop their pragmatic competence which is better taught explicitly in the classroom. This essay argues that while the implicit instruction is reasonably applicable, the explicit pragmatic instruction is more effective to facilitate EFL learners in developing their pragmatic competence.

Developing Pragmatic Competence in a Foreign Language

This article presents a theoretical discussion about the inclusion of explicit pragmatic instruction as a facilitative tool to develop pragmatic competence in a foreign language. Given the theoretically and empirically informed fact that this competence is generally neglected in the classroom, the rationale here presented may serve as a foundation for foreign language teachers, who face the necessity of helping learners develop pragmatic skills in the target language. Likewise, this article intends to be a prompter for classroom researchers, eager to explore the effect of pragmatic instruction, and the potential developmental stages learners undergo, through the conduction of longitudinal and cross-sectional research studies.