L2 Pragmatics Research Articles

Corpus Pragmatics and Second Language Pragmatics: A Mutualistic Entente in Theory and Practice

Ten years after the publication of the volume ‘Pragmatics and corpus linguistics: a mutualistic entente’ (Romero-Trillo, in: Romero-Trillo (ed) Pragmatics and corpus linguistics: a mutualistic entente, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 2008), this article intends to delve into the mutualistic relationship between Corpus Pragmatics and Second Language (henceforth L2) Pragmatics. The underlying hypothesis is that to master an L2 a learner needs to adopt a new social, cultural and linguistic identity, and that the difficulty during the process is that the pragmatic features of the L2 do not necessarily match those of the first language (henceforth L1). This is the reason why, in the process of L2 learning, speakers may reach the state of pragmatic fossilisation, with a near-to-native grammatical and lexical competence but with a limited range of pragmatic resources (Romero-Trillo in J Pragmat 34: 769–784, 2002). Recent studies have benefited from the support of corpora to investigate L2 learners’ pragmatics as an invaluable tool to test the constructs of pragmatic theories with real data (Romero-Trillo in Corpus Pragmat 1: 1–2, 2017); Maguire and Romero-Trillo, in: Kecskes, Assimakopoulos (eds) Current issues in intercultural pragmatics, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2017). The present study has three objectives: (1) to describe the theoretical concepts behind the notion of L2 pragmatics with a critical survey of the current literature; (2) to describe how corpus pragmatics has an overarching function in L2 pragmatic development; and (3) to analyse some essential insights of L2 pragmatic development, with particular reference to the role of prosody. The final section will offer suggestions for future research with practical implications for both theoretical and applied linguists.

Acquisition of scalar implicatures

AbstractOur study investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of scalar implicaturessomeandall. We set out to answer two research questions based on three theoretical accounts, the lexical, pragmatic and syntactic accounts. In an experiment we include English and Japanese native speakers, and intermediate and advanced Japanese L2 learners of English. We used quantifierssomeandallin ‘Yes/No’ questions in a context with sets of toy fruits, where pragmatic answers are expected, e.g., a ‘No’ response to the question ‘Are some of the strawberries in the red circle?’ (when a set of 14/14 strawberries are placed inside a red circle). Our individual results indicate that L2 learners are generally more pragmatic in their responses than native English speakers. But, there are neither significant differences between groups nor significant differences between L2 proficiency levels. We consider the implications of our findings for the acquisition of L2 semantics and pragmatics.

‘Do I Really Need It?’ Professional Development in Pragmatics in Asian EFL

One of the foremost tasks in conducting any research in the field of social sciences involves ascertaining a need for such research to be carried out. Needs Analysis (NA) is the primary tool used in recording the perceptions of stakeholders in educational research. The present study employed a sequential exploratory strategy to gather the views of 15 Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNEST) from the North of Thailand. The first aim of the study was to determine the extent to which a need for L2 pragmatics instruction existed in Thailand, an Asian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Secondly, the study aimed to collect the suggestions of the participants regarding tasks, methods of instruction, and other activities that would enable the delivery of such instruction using in-service professional development workshops in Thailand. The data to reach the objectives were collected by employing a semi-structured interview and an online questionnaire. The present paper discusses the qualitative findings, which were determined using content analysis followed by thematic analysis of the data. The findings reveal a definite need for L2 pragmatics instruction for Asian NNESTs in Thailand. Furthermore, the participants indicated a preference for explicit L2 pragmatic instruction. In addition, the participants favored an enhancement of L2 pragmatic strategies in speech acts that would be relevant in academic, and pedagogical contexts in Thailand.

O ensino de pragmática por professores nativos e não-nativos de línguas: o que eles sabem e o que relatam estar fazendo

O artigo aborda a questão de como professores não-nativos de uma língua alvo (PNNs) lidam com a pragmática em suas salas de aula. Inicia com uma discussão sobre o que é pragmática. Em seguida, traz aspectos relacionados ao ensino de pragmática, tais como o background do professor, comparações entre ensino de segunda língua (L2) e língua estrangeira (LE) e o potencial da mídia digital e outros meios para prover modelos de comportamento pragmático. Após, é apresentada uma pesquisa internacional, a qual investigou as experiências de PNNs de várias línguas com relação ao ensino da pragmática. Um total de 113 professores relataram o que ensinavam: 30 professores nativos (PNs) e 83 professores não-nativos (PNNs). Foi solicitado a eles que falassem sobre suas experiências como professores de pragmática da L2 e LE. Sendo a pragmática uma mescla de língua e cultura, aos professores foi solicitado que avaliassem seus conhecimentos de pragmalinguística (formas linguísticas) e sociopragmática (conhecimento sociocultural). Ademais, foram instruídos a darem suas opiniões em relação a semelhanças e diferenças entre o ensino da pragmática da LE e da L2, pois essa dicotomia tradicional acarreta uma realidade mais híbrida em um mundo cada vez mais globalizado. Da mesma forma, perguntas foram feitas sobre seus métodos de ensino de pragmática, sua utilização de mídia digital e seu tratamento de diferenças dialetais. Por fim, foi-lhes solicitado que sugerissem áreas nas quais fossem desenvolvidas pesquisas sobre o ensino de pragmática. O artigo relata os resultados do estudo, incluindo dados sobre o ensino de censuras, sarcasmo e blasfêmia, além do uso de mídia digital e coleta de dados pragmáticos feita por alunos.

Replication research in contextual and individual influences in pragmatic competence: Taguchi, Xiao & Li (2016) and Bardovi-Harlig & Bastos (2011)

Recent development in L2 pragmatics research in a study abroad context has witnessed an emerging line of studies investigating the joint influences of contextual and individual learner factors on second language (L2) pragmatic development. This paper argues for the replication of two representative quantitative studies in this new research direction. Situated within the field's increasing emphasis on explaining the development of L2 pragmatic competence, the first part of this paper makes a case for the necessity of replicating quantitative studies investigating the study abroad context, highlighting why and how the field can benefit from replication research. The second part of this paper presents detailed accounts of the two focus studies and suggests several options for approximate and conceptual replications.

The effectiveness of corrective feedback for the acquisition of L2 pragmatics: An eight month investigation

AbstractThis study investigates effects of pragmatics-focused instruction using different types of written corrective feedback (CF) on the development of pragmatic competence of Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language. Five intermediate-level groups of learners who were learning syntactic downgraders for mitigating their email requests were randomly assigned to either the control or one of the four treatment conditions: instruction + clarification requests, instruction + recasts, instruction + metapragmatic feedback, and instruction + explicit correction. The performance of the treatment groups on a DCT pre-test, immediate post-test, and two follow-up tests at one and eight months after the treatments was compared with that of a control group who received only routine instruction. Results showed that the four treatment groups performed significantly better than the control group when measured at all three post-tests, but there was no difference among the treatment groups in their post-treatment scores.

Exploring the Validity of a Second Language Intercultural Pragmatics Assessment Tool

ABSTRACTPragmatics has been a key component of language competence frameworks. While the majority of second/foreign language (L2) pragmatics tests have targeted productive skills, the assessment of receptive pragmatic skills remains a developing field. This study explores validation evidence for a test of receptive L2 pragmatic ability called the American English Sociopragmatic Comprehension Test (AESCT), which is a Web-based assessment consisting of 54 tasks measuring knowledge of speech acts, routine formulae, and culture-dependent lexical differences. The AESCT is intended to be used as a learning-oriented assessment in university-level applied linguistics classes. This study collected evidence on construct validity supporting the AESCT design as a measure of pragmatic comprehension and for providing feedback in low-stakes learning contexts; 97 university-level English language learners took the AESCT along with the Cambridge Placement Test and a background questionnaire on their exposure to target language input. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and linear regression were used to analyze aspects of construct validity. Results indicate that the AESCT is sufficiently reliable. Overall, learners were found to perform as previous research suggests: sociopragmatic knowledge was related to L2 exposure and L2 proficiency. Alongside future research into L2 pragmatics test validation, implications for instruction-oriented utilization of the AESCT are discussed.

THE EVALUATION OF PRAGMATIC CONTENT OF CUTTING-EDGE INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOKS: THE CASE OF SPEECH ACTS

Ponte Academic JournalJun 2017, Volume 73, Issue 6 THE EVALUATION OF PRAGMATIC CONTENT OF CUTTING-EDGE INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOKS: THE CASE OF SPEECH ACTSAuthor(s): Atieh Farashaiyan ,Paramasivam MuthusamyJ. Ponte - Jun 2017 - Volume 73 - Issue 6 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2017.6.1 Abstract:The role of textbooks as the one of the main sources of language input in addition to the teacher and other learners cannot be ignored in the process of language learning. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the evaluation of the textbooks to meet the needs of both the teachers and learners. As such, this article aims to analyze and evaluate the pragmatic content of Cutting Edge Intermediate textbooks intended for use in most Malaysian colleges. Specifically, the article investigates the range and distribution of the speech acts included in these textbooks, the linguistic presentation of the speech acts in the textbooks and the provision of sufficient contextual and meta-pragmatic information for the facilitation of learning the speech acts. The results indicated that there is two typical ways for the presentation of speech acts through dialogues and list of some expressions. In addition, there is inadequate contextual and meta-pragmatic information in terms of the speech acts included in the textbooks. The article also draws some implications for teachers, materials writers and textbook designers in providing realistic models of L2 pragmatics in ESL contexts. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Pragma-Linguistic Differences in Korean EFL Student Productions of Conventional Expressions

Conventional expressions are considered an important area of study informing L2 pragmatics and inter-language pragmatics. This study investigates the differences between native English speakers’ and Korean EFL speakers’ productions of conventional expressions by employing an audio-visual production task (adapted from Bardovi-Harlig, 2009). Results show that EFL students statistically differ from their native speaker counterparts in about half of the scenarios involving the production of conventional expressions. While EFL learner productions were often grammatical and appropriate, they also displayed pragma-linguistically infelicitous utterances (e.g., I’m just looking out.) and more verbosity compared to their NS counterparts. Certain scenes including giving and deflecting thanks delivered less target-like expressions, which may lead to communicative failure in real time interaction. Pedagogical implications of this type of study are also discussed.

The teaching of pragmatics by native and nonnative language teachers: What they know and what they report doing

The paper focuses on how nonnative teachers of a target language (NNTs) deal with pragmatics in their classes. It starts with a discussion of what pragmatics entails. Next, issues relating to the teaching of pragmatics are identified, such as the language background of the teacher, comparisons between second- (L2) and foreign-language (FL) instruction, and the potential role of digital media and other means in providing models for pragmatic behavior. Then, an international survey is presented which probed into the experiences of NNTs of various languages while teaching the pragmatics of their language of instruction. A total of 113 teachers were asked to indicate what they taught with regard to pragmatics, 30 native-language teachers (NTs) and 83 NNTs. They were also asked to report on their experience as teachers of L2 and FL pragmatics (e.g., if they encountered classroom moments when they did not feel like an authority on some aspect of pragmatics, what they did about it). Since pragmatics is a meeting of language and culture, the teacher respondents were asked to assess their knowledge regarding pragmalinguistics (i.e., the language forms) and sociopragmatics (sociocultural knowledge). In addition, they were asked to give their opinion regarding similarities and differences between the teaching of FL as opposed to L2 pragmatics, as this traditional dichotomy gives way to a more hybrid reality in an increasingly globalized world. Similarly, they were asked about their methods for teaching pragmatics (e.g., their use of digital media and their handling of dialect differences). Finally, they were asked to suggest areas in which they would like to see research conducted that would inform the teaching of pragmatics. The paper reports the findings from the study, including statistical differences in reported teaching of criticism, sarcasm, and cursing, as well as in the use of digital media and in having students gather data on pragmatics.

Learning and Development of Second and Foreign Language Pragmatics as a Higher‐Order Language Skill: A Brief Overview of Relevant Theories

AbstractThe development of effective second and foreign (L2) language learning materials needs to be grounded in two types of theories: (a) a theory of language and language use and (b) a theory of language learning. Both are equally important, insofar as an effective learning environment requires an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are being targeted as well as an idea of how learner development progresses. Although the author and colleagues have previously provided a theoretical basis for the construct of L2 pragmatic ability, and thus a theory of language use, the current paper focuses on learner development, particularly on the theoretical orientation towards L2 pragmatic learning. Given this superordinate goal, the paper will briefly review different theoretical paradigms that have been employed in adult L2 pragmatics development research. In the first part of the paper, I will provide an overview of the cognitive, socially oriented, and emergentist perspectives used in research on L2 pragmatic development. Then, based on the different ontological perspectives, I will discuss the affordances and challenges of applying a theoretical perspective to designing L2 pragmatic learning environments, drawing upon the example of the cognitively oriented information processing theory.

Saudi EFL Studentss Knowledge in Pragmatics - Making Requests

This paper investigates the pragmatic awareness of final-year Saudi students majoring in English; specifically, their interlanguage pragmatics knowledge when making requests. Accordingly, it addresses the following questions: a) how much knowledge do Saudi EFL students have about making appropriate requests? b) To what extent their knowledge differs from that of native English speakers? In this study, data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The findings revealed that both non-native speakers and native speakers showed similar performance in terms of the level of request directness. However, non-native speakers showed limited awareness in employing appropriate direct strategies and syntactic and lexical modifiers compared to native speakers. Finally, this paper highlights the need for further studies to address L2 pragmatics development.

Adult learners’ acquisitional patterns in L2 pragmatics: What do we know?

Abstract Language pedagogy designers are faced with the challenge of engineering learning experiences that are in harmony with how second and foreign languages (L2s) are developed. In the field of L2 pragmatics learning and teaching, this challenge has sparked a considerable amount of research on instructional methods, facilitative interventions, and input enhancements. To a lesser degree, researchers have also investigated L2 pragmatic learning progressions that might inform L2 instruction. This review paper canvasses empirical research into the acquisitional sequences of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) in adult L2 learners conducted after 2002, the year in which Kasper and Rose’s seminal book, Pragmatic Development in a Second Language, was published. The paper synthesizes the findings of 16 systematically identified empirical studies. Based on this synthesis of findings, new insights and tendencies in L2 pragmatic development are discussed, and areas in need of further research are identified.

Second language learners’ divergence from target language pragmatic norms

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable aspect of language ability in order for second and foreign language (L2/FL) learners to understand and be understood in their interactions with both native and nonnative speakers of the target language. Without a proper understanding of the pragmatic rules in the target language, learners may run the risk of coming across as insensitive and rude. Several researchers (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Kasper & Rose, 2002) suggest that L2 pragmatics not only can be taught in the L2/FL classroom, but, more importantly, that explicit approaches that involve direct explanation of target pragmatic features are beneficial for learning pragmatics. Just as native speakers of a language acquire a “set of dispositions to act in certain ways, which generates cognitive and bodily practices in the individual” (Watts, 2003, p. 149), instructors can help learners to become aware of the pragmatic features that characterize the target language. Although the importance of explicit teaching of pragmatics is well recognized in the literature, learning norms and rules of pragmatics largely depends on learners’ subjectivity. Learners’ convergence or divergence from the L2 pragmatic norms, both consciously and out of awareness, sometimes depends on whether these norms fit their image of self and their L1 cultural identity. Since identity-related conflict can have significant consequences for the acquisition of second language pragmatics, failing to consider the centrality of learners’ identities will produce an inadequate understanding of SLA. This paper synthesizes studies that document the reasons why learners opt to remain foreign by resisting certain L2 practic-es. The following synthesis question was proposed: Why do language learners resist the pragmatic norms of the target language?

How Iranian Instructors Teach L2 Pragmatics in Their Classroom Practices? A Mixed-Methods Approach

<p>This study examined the teaching approaches and techniques that Iranian instructors utilize for teaching L2 pragmatics in their classroom practices. 238 Iranian instructors participated in this study. The data for this study were accumulated through questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. In terms of the instructional approaches, both the quantitative and qualitative results showed that instructors make use of inductive and implicit approaches more than other two approaches, deductive and explicit, to teach L2 pragmatics .With regard to the pragmatic consciousness-raising techniques, the results revealed that instructors mostly make use of conversation topics and also situations to raise learners’ awareness of the speech act under study. In addition to this technique, instructors make use of field experience to give input to learners. Regarding the pragmatic communicative practice techniques, the quantitative and qualitative results showed that instructors mostly make use of role-play and pair- work techniques to engage learners to practice speech acts. Moreover, the results of the questionnaire and interview with regard to pragmatic corrective feedback techniques showed that instructors almost give feedback implicitly by reformulating learners’ mistakes and repeating their errors On the contrary, instructors give less metalinguistic information and explain the inappropriate expressions to learners. In terms of culture teaching techniques, the results illustrated that instructors share their knowledge of what they hear or read about other cultures with their learners. The results of this study have some implications for language instructors.</p>

An Investigation into EFL Learners’ Perception towards L2 Pragmatic Instruction

The present study investigated EFL students’ perception toward the pragmatic instruction provided as a part of regular English curricula. A total of 52 university students from various majors participated in the study. The treatment was given for nine weeks during the regular class hours in terms of four speech acts, compliments, apologies, requests, and refusals, with the goal of enhancing the learners’ pragmatic awareness as well as pragmatic competence. A questionnaire and the learners’ reflection journals were adopted as data collection instruments, and an eclectic design was adopted to analyze their perception. Both the intermediate and low groups showed positive perception in terms of the four major categories—interest, usefulness, importance, and motivation, yet more than half of the learners from the low group found that learning L2 pragmatics was difficult due to the complexity and length of some of the sentence patterns of formulaic expressions. Further, there were significant differences between subjects regarding the category of difficulty for each speech act. Nevertheless, the learners expressed that pragmatic instruction facilitated their communication skills, enhanced their pragmatic awareness on intercultural differences, as well as instilled confidence in English interactions. These findings imply learners’ motivation and needs for learning L2 pragmatic features.

Saudi EFL Students’ Knowledge in Pragmatics - Making Requests

This paper investigates the pragmatic awareness of final-year Saudi students majoring in English; specifically, their interlanguage pragmatics knowledge when making requests. Accordingly, it addresses the following questions: a) how much knowledge do Saudi EFL students have about making appropriate requests? b) To what extent their knowledge differs from that of native English speakers? In this study, data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The findings revealed that both non-native speakers and native speakers showed similar performance in terms of the level of request directness. However, non-native speakers showed limited awareness in employing appropriate direct strategies and syntactic and lexical modifiers compared to native speakers. Finally, this paper highlights the need for further studies to address L2 pragmatics development.

English

Successful communication is influenced not only by language accuracy, but also by language appropriateness in various social contexts. Accordingly, second/foreign language (L2) learners’ pragmatic competence as well as how they develop the competence has attracted much attention in the research field of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). The existing literature on Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic competence focuses on their awareness of contextually appropriate language and neglects their production of the language. This study investigated Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic competence in terms of both awareness and production. Three research instruments were employed to collect data: a multiple-choice discourse completion task (MDCT), a written discourse completion task (WDCT), and a retrospective interview. Eight-five English major undergraduates from a university in China participated in the study. The results showed that Chinese EFL learners’ ability to identify and produce contextually appropriate utterances needed to be promoted, and their pragmatic awareness was found to be positively correlated with their production. Compared with the ranking of imposition, Chinese EFL learners were more aware of the interlocutor’s social power and tried to display the power distance in their language. However, they had difficulties in using appropriate strategies and linguistic features to achieve communicative intentions, and a very serious problem that they encountered was the intended meaning and force of different linguistic forms and strategies. The research findings provide evidence that Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic competence is still much influenced by Chinese language and culture, and some form of pragmatic instruction to raise their awareness or understanding of pragmatic features and force relation is crucial for the learning of L2 pragmatics.

The Construct of Interlanguage Pragmatic Learning Strategies: Investigating Preferences of High vs. Low Pragmatic Performers

Interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) has witnessed a growing body of research in the past two decades. One of the under-explored domains of L2 pragmatics is the role of learning strategies specifically tailored for the development of ILP knowledge. Therefore, this investigation aimed to determine the significant interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies (IPLS) used by high vs. low L2 pragmatic achievers. It was conducted in two phases. First, a multiple-choice discourse completion test including five common English speech acts was administered to 500 EFL learners. Next, 80 highest and 80 lowest ILP performers were orally interviewed and their answers were audio-taped. The most important interlanguage pragmatic learning strategies were extracted from L2 learners' interviews. The elicited IPLS were arranged based on Cohen's (2005, 2010) classification, the findings of the study itself, and an analogy with general language learning strategies (LLS) classification suggested by Oxford (1990). The extracted IPLS were divided into six categories of memory-related, cognitive, social, affective, metacognitive and compensatory IPLS. The high ILP performers used more strategies in all the six categories. The main conclusion of this study is that the use of more IPLS means a better ILP knowledge of speech acts. The most significant implication of the current study was that ILPS need to be taught to L2 learners to enhance their ILP knowledge in general and their speech-act-specific competence in particular.

Integrated Foreign Language Learning and Consiousness-Raising of World Englishes and L2 Pragmatics

Integrated Foreign Language Learning and Consiousness-Raising of World Englishes and L2 Pragmatics