This study investigated the effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of multiple speech acts during study abroad. Participants were 109 American learners of Chinese recruited from a study abroad program in China. They were divided into a higher proficiency (HP) group and a lower proficiency (LP) group based on their scores on a standardized Chinese proficiency test. The participants completed a computerized oral Discourse Completion Test (DCT) that assessed the production of compliment response, refusal, and request as pre- and posttests. The learners’ oral productions were analyzed according to measures of appropriateness rating and speech rate. Linguistic analysis was performed to examine changes in strategy preference and distribution across the three speech acts. Results revealed a complex relationship between proficiency, speech act type, pragmatic performance measure (e.g., appropriateness, speech rate), and ways that pragmatic changes are evaluated (e.g., developmental trajectory, amount of gain).
Al-Gahtani, S., & Roever, C. (2012). Proficiency and sequential organization of L2 requests. Applied Linguistics,
33
(1), 42–65.
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Clarendon Press.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Do language learners recognize pragmatic violations? Pragmatic versus grammatical awareness in instructed L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly,
32
(2), 233–263.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Hartford, B. (1993). Learning the rules of academic talk: A longitudinal study of pragmatic change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
15
(3), 279–304.
Bella, S. (2011). Mitigation and politeness in Greek invitation refusals: Effects of length of residence in the target community and intensity of interaction on non-native speakers’ performance. Journal of Pragmatics,
43
(6), 1718–1740.
Bialystok, E. (1993). Symbolic representation and attentional control. In G. Kasper & S. Blum-Kulka (Ed.), Interlanguage pragmatics (pp. 43–57). Oxford University Press.
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Ablex.
Chen, R., & Yang, D. (2010). Responding to compliments in Chinese: Has it changed?Journal of Pragmatics,
42
(7), 1951–1963.
Chen, Y., & Liu, J. (2016). Constructing a scale to assess L2 written speech act performance: WDCT and e-mail tasks. Language Assessment Quarterly,
13
(3), 231–250.
Diao, W. (2016). Peer socialization into gendered Mandarin practices in a study abroad context: Talk in the dorm. Applied Linguistics,
37
(5), 599–620.
Félix-Brasdefer, C. (2004). Interlanguage refusals: Linguistic politeness and length of residence in the target community. Language Learning,
54
(4), 587–653.
Hong, W. (2011). Refusals in Chinese: How do L1 and L2 differ?Foreign Language Annals,
44
(1), 122–136.
Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J. D. (1995). Developing prototypic measures of cross-cultural pragmatics. University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.
Jin, L. (2012). When in China, do as the Chinese do? Learning compliment responding in a study abroad program. Chinese as a Second Language Research,
1
(2), 211–240.
Lee, H. (2013). The influence of social situations on fluency difficulty in Korean EFL learners’ oral refusals. Journal of Pragmatics,
50
(1), 168–186.
Lee-Wong, S. M. (2000). Politeness and face in Chinese culture. Peter Lang.
Li, S. (2012). The effects of input-based practice on pragmatic development of requests in L2 Chinese. Language Learning,
62
(2), 403–438.
Li, S. (2014). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System,
45
1, 103–116.
Li, S., & Taguchi, N. (2014). The effects of practice modality on the development of pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. The Modern Language Journal,
98
(3), 794–812.
Li, S., Taguchi, N., & Xiao, F. (2019). Variations in rating scale functioning in assessing pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. Language Assessment Quarterly,
16
(3), 271–293.
Liu, J. (2006). Measuring interlanguage pragmatic knowledge of Chinese EFL learners. Peter Lang.
Matsumura, S. (2003). Modeling the relationship among interlanguage pragmatic development, L2 proficiency, and exposure to L2. Applied Linguistics,
24
(4), 465–491.
Pérez Vidal, C., & Shively, R. (2019). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad settings. In N. Taguchi (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and pragmatics (pp. 355–371). Routledge.
Phoocharoensil, S. (2012). L2 English compliment responses: An investigation of pragmatic transfer. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature,
1
(6), 276–287.
Ren, W. (2015). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad contexts. Peter Lang.
Ren, W. (2019). Pragmatic development of Chinese during study abroad: A cross-sectional study of learner requests. Journal of Pragmatics,
146
1, 137–149.
Roever, C., Fraser, C., & Elder, C. (2014). Testing ESL sociopragmatics: Development and validation of a web-based test battery. Peter Lang.
Sánchez-Hernández, A. (2018). Acculturation and pragmatic learning: International students in the United States. In C. Pérez Vidal, S. López-Serrano, J. Ament, & D. J. Thomas-Wilhelm (Eds.), Learning context effects: Study abroad, formal instruction and international immersion classrooms (pp. 283–309). Language Science Press.
Schauer, G. (2009). Interlanguage pragmatic development: The study abroad context. Continuum.
Shardakova, M. (2005). Intercultural pragmatics in the speech of American L2 learners of Russian: Apologies offered by Americans in Russian. Intercultural Pragmatics,
2
(4), 423–451.
Shively, R. (2011). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad: A longitudinal study of Spanish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics,
43
(6), 1818–1835.
Su, Y., & Ren, W. (2017). Developing L2 pragmatic competence in Mandarin Chinese: Sequential realization of requests. Foreign Language Annals,
50
(2), 433–457.
Taguchi, N. (2007). Task difficulty in oral speech act production. Applied Linguistics,
28
(1), 113–135.
Taguchi, N. (2008). The role of learning environment in the development of pragmatic comprehension: A comparison of gains between EFL and ESL learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
30
(4), 423–452.
Taguchi, N. (2012). Context, individual differences and pragmatic competence. Multilingual Matters.
Taguchi, N., & Collentine, J. (2018). Language learning in a study-abroad context: Research agenda. Language Teaching,
51
(4), 553–566.
Taguchi, N., Li, S., & Xiao, F. (2013). Production of formulaic expressions in L2 Chinese: A developmental investigation in a study-abroad context. Chinese as a Second Language Research,
2
(1), 23–58.
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Taguchi, N., Xiao, F., & Li, S. (2016). Development of pragmatic knowledge in L2 Chinese: Effects of intercultural competence and social contact on speech act production in a study abroad context. The Modern Language Journal,
100
(4), 775–796.
Trosborg, A. (1995). Interlanguage pragmatics: Requests, complaints, and apologies. Mouton de Gruyter.
Wen, X. (2014). Pragmatic development: An exploratory study of requests by learners of Chinese. In Z. Han (Ed.), Studies in Second Language Acquisition of Chinese (pp. 30–56). Multilingual Matters.
Winke, P., & Teng, C. (2010). Using task-based pragmatics tutorials while studying abroad in China. Intercultural Pragmatics,
7
(2), 363–399.
Xiao, F. (2015a). Adult second language learners’ pragmatic development in the study-abroad context: A review. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad,
25
1, 132–149.
Xiao, F. (2015b). Proficiency effect on L2 pragmatic competence. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching,
5
(4), 557–581.
Xiao, F., Taguchi, N., & Li, S. (2019). Effects of proficiency sub-skills on pragmatic development in L2 Chinese study abroad. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
41
(2), 469–483.
Yang, L., & Ke, C. (2021). Proficiency and pragmatic production in L2 Chinese study abroad. System,
98
1.
Zhang, Y. (1995). Strategies in Chinese requesting. In G. Kasper (Ed.), Pragmatics of Chinese as native and target language (pp. 23–68). University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.
2024. L2 pragmatic development by early teenagers in study abroad and foreign language settings: a focus on pragmatic markers. Language, Culture and Curriculum► pp. 1 ff.
2024. The Development of Pragmatic Markers in English as a Second Language: Do Age and Learning Context Matter?. Languages 9:4 ► pp. 115 ff.
Tajeddin, Zia & Neda Khanlarzadeh
2024. The Role of Learner Variables in Pragmatic Development during Study Abroad: A Systematic Review. Languages 9:3 ► pp. 96 ff.
Kaderli, Aycan & Özge Razı
2023. English Preparatory School Learners’ Pragmatic Motivation in a StudyAbroad Setting. SAGE Open 13:4
Shively, Rachel L.
2023. Pragmatic Development in Study‐Abroad Contexts. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ► pp. 1 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.