Abstract
This study examined second language (L2) Chinese learners’ developmental patterns of pragmatic competence in two
computer-mediated communication (CMC) conditions: (1) CMC with data-driven instruction embedded in the course of CMC and (2) CMC
without data-driven instruction. Learners’ pragmatic competence was operationalized as their ability to use a Chinese sentence
final particle (SFP) ne during CMC with a native speaker partner. The study investigated: (1) whether learners
(as a group) developed their use of ne over time in the two CMC conditions, and (2) how individual learners
changed their use of ne (if any) in the two conditions. The quantitative analysis (token and type frequency of
ne) revealed that CMC itself did not promote learners’ use of ne. However, it promoted
learners’ production of ne when data-driven instruction was incorporated into CMC. Supporting the quantitative
findings, the qualitative analysis showed that one learner in the CMC with data-driven instruction outperformed his counterpart in
the CMC without data-driven instruction group in the diverse use of ne.