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Email Pragmatics and Second Language Learners
Edited by Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis, Milica Savić and Nicola Halenko
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 328] 2021
► pp. 41–70

Chapter 2
L2 emails of complaints

Strategy use by low and high proficiency learners of English as a foreign language

ORCID logo | University of Otago
ORCID logo | Vietnam National University Hanoi
In this chapter, we analysed the emails of complaints written by 48 low- and high-proficiency Vietnamese EFL learners when communicating with different audiences. The emails were elicited by means of a computerised discourse completion task developed by an international testing organisation. To understand the cognitive processes involved in the learners’ production of complaints, we also analysed think-aloud protocols provided by 8 learners randomly selected from the above pool. Our findings indicate some effect of proficiency on the learners’ pragmatic performance and decision-making processes. However, our findings also show that regardless of proficiency levels, the learners tended to neglect important writing processes. The findings suggest that the learners require pragmatic instruction as well as training in writing processes in order to carry out the email-writing task more effectively.
Keywords: Vietnamese EFL learners, complaints, computerised DCT, think-aloud protocols, proficiency
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The study
    • 2.1Research questions
    • 2.2Participants
    • 2.3Data collection
      • 2.3.1The computerised discourse completion task
      • 2.3.2The think-aloud protocol (TAP)
    • 2.4Data analysis
      • 2.4.1Email data
      • 2.4.2TAP data
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Research question 1: What pragmatic strategies did the low- and high- proficiency learners employ to carry out the acts of direct and indirect complaints in emails?
      • 3.1.1Framing moves
      • 3.1.2Realisation strategies
      • 3.1.3Modification
    • 3.2Research Question 2: What cognitive processes did the low- and high-proficiency learners engage in when performing the email writing task?
  • 4.Discussion and conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 27 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.328.02ngu
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