A pragmatic analysis of L2 Spanish requests: Acquisition in three situational contexts during short-term study abroad

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Czerwionka ◽  
Alejandro Cuza
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Familial Data ◽  
Situational Contexts ◽  
Pragmatic Analysis ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Food And Drink

AbstractThis study examines pragmatic acquisition of requests for English-speaking learners of Spanish. This research expands upon previous work by investigating the acquisition of second language requests during a short-term immersion program (6 weeks) in Madrid, Spain and in three situational contexts: food and drink, general merchandise, and familial. Data were collected using an experimental computerized oral discourse completion task. Requests made by learners (501 requests) and native speakers (224 requests) were compared considering personal deictic orientation and directness of the requests. For learners, shifts from speaker-oriented to hearer-oriented requests indicated greater pragmatic development in food and drink and familial contexts. Results are discussed considering pragmatic developmental stages and differential results in the three contexts.

Acquisition of L2 Spanish requests in short-term study abroad

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd A. Hernandez
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Performance Ratings ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Request Strategies

The aim of this investigation was to examine the pragmatic development of 20 students during a short-term study abroad program in Spain. Request strategies were assessed with a written request production questionnaire. A language contact profile (LCP) was used to measure the relationship between pragmatic performance ratings and target language contact. Pretest and posttest mean scores on the request production questionnaire indicated that the students improved their request performance as rated by two native speakers. In looking at the specific request strategies used on the pretest and posttest vignettes, it is clear, however, that the students improved some aspects of their request production while other aspects remained unchanged. Further, LCP scores indicated that the students had little contact with native speakers during their time in Spain. No significant relationships were found between the LCP and request performance ratings. Results suggest that study abroad leadership should support students’ L2 pragmatic development before, during, and after study abroad.

Duration Matters: Separating the Impact of Depth and Duration in Study Abroad Programs

2019 ◽  
pp. 102831531988738
Author(s):  
Stephen B. DeLoach ◽  
Mark R. Kurt ◽  
Neal H. Olitsky
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Academic Program ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact

Study abroad participation has increased dramatically over the past two decades, primarily through the growth of short-term study abroad experiences. Given this, it is logical to ask whether short-term experiences are capable of delivering student learning outcomes equivalent to those of long-term experiences. The research presented in this article addresses this question by asking if program duration (i.e., temporal length of the academic program) or depth (i.e., focused and reflective interaction with the destination culture) has a greater impact on changes in students’ global awareness. A longitudinal study across 80 study abroad programs from a single institution, measured global awareness pre- and post-abroad experience. This design controlled for preexisting differences (self-selection) and allowed us to rigorously estimate the relative effects of depth and duration across four dimensions of global awareness. Results show that a longer duration was associated with significant changes in three out of the four global awareness dimensions measured. The only depth measure that positively and significantly impacted global awareness was when the study abroad destination was a non-English speaking country. Even in this instance, the impact non-English speaking destination was increased further for longer durations.

Utilizing electropalatography to train palatalized versus unpalatalized consonant productions by native speakers of American English learning Russian

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane F. Hacking ◽  
Bruce L. Smith ◽  
Eric M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Advanced Proficiency

Previous research has shown that English-speaking learners of Russian, even those with advanced proficiency, often have not acquired the contrast between palatalized and unpalatalized consonants, which is a central feature of the Russian consonant system. The present study examined whether training utilizing electropalatography (EPG) could help a group of Russian learners achieve more native-like productions of this contrast. Although not all subjects showed significant improvements, on average, the Russian learners showed an increase from pre- to post-training in the second formant frequency of vowels preceding palatalized consonants, thus enhancing their contrast between palatalized and unpalatalized consonants. To determine whether these acoustic differences were associated with increased identification accuracy, three native Russian speakers listened to all pre- and post-training productions. A modest increase in identification accuracy was observed. These results suggest that even short-term EPG training can be an effective intervention with adult L2 learners.

Grammar and pragmatics

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 137-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Håkansson ◽  
Catrin Elisabeth Norrby
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Pragmatic Analysis ◽  
Syntactic Development ◽  
High Level

This paper compares grammatical and pragmatic development in foreign language learners of Swedish. For the analysis of grammatical proficiency, data from translation tasks and essays were tested against the stage model proposed in Processability Theory, which identifies five stages of morpho-syntactic development for Swedish (Pienemann 1998, Pienemann and Håkansson 1999). For the pragmatic analysis a gap-fill task was used, inspired by the discourse completion task (Blum-Kulka 1982, Kasper and Roever 2005), but taking into consideration sequential aspects of the interaction. All tasks were piloted with a control group of Swedish native speakers. The results indicate a relationship between native-like pragmatic command and a high level of morpho-syntactic processability. The findings suggest that students whose grammatical processing capacity is restricted to lower levels find it difficult to contextualise their utterances in a pragmatically appropriate way.

scholarly journals Investigating the effects of pragmatic instruction: a comparison of L2 Spanish compliments and apologies during short term study-abroad

Letrônica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 33989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan DiBartolomeo ◽  
Vanessa Elias ◽  
Daniel Jung
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Pragmatic Instruction

Study abroad has been proposed as a crucial aspect to acquire pragmatics in a second language, under the assumption that learners receive more access to authentic input than is available in the classroom. Recent trends indicate a rise in the frequency of short-term study abroad programs (less than 3 months, Allen, 2010), although research has shown that learners may need closer to 9 months to approximate native-like norms without instruction (FÉLIX-BRASDEFER, 2004). This raises the question of how much pragmatic development can be seen in short-term programs, and how to maximize this development. The current study analyzed the development of two expressive speech acts, compliments and apologies, in students who completed a five-week study abroad program in Mérida, Mexico. During the program, learners received instruction on compliments, but not apologies. Speech act data was collected via a 24-item oral discourse completion task administered at both the beginning and end of the program and was further analyzed in SPSS. Results indicate that only some learners developed their production of apologies, while almost all learners showed development in their production of compliments, operationalized by an increased repertoire of strategies available. These results suggest the need for pragmatic instruction during short-term study abroad, and question the utility of native-speaker norms to measure pragmatic development during short-term programs.***Uma pesquisa sobre os efeitos da instrução pragmática: uma comparação de elogios e desculpas em espanhol como segunda língua durante um programa de intercâmbio de curta duração***O intercâmbio estudantil foi proposto como um aspecto crucial para adquirir competência pragmática em um segundo idioma, sob a suposição de que os alunos recebem mais acesso à linguagem autêntica do que é oferecido em sala de aula. As tendências recentes indicam um aumento na frequência de programas de intercâmbio de curto prazo no exterior (menos de três meses, Allen, 2010), contudo outras pesquisas têm mostrado que os alunos podem precisar de mais de nove meses para aproximar-se das normas nativas sem instrução (FÉLIX-BRASDEFER, 2004). Isso levanta a questão de quanto o desenvolvimento pragmático pode ser visto em programas de intercâmbio de curto prazo, e como maximizar esse desenvolvimento. O presente estudo analisou o desenvolvimento de dois atos de fala expressivos, elogios e desculpas, em estudantes que completaram um programa de intercâmbio de cinco semanas em Mérida, México. Durante o programa, os alunos receberam instrução sobre expressões de elogios, mas não sobre pedidos de desculpas. Os dados do ato de fala foram coletados por meio de uma tarefa de conclusão do discurso oral de 24 itens, administrada no início e no final do programa e analisados no SPSS. Os resultados indicam que apenas alguns dos estudantes desenvolveram seus atos de pedir desculpas, enquanto quase todos os alunos mostraram desenvolvimento em sua produção de elogios, operacionalizado como um repertório crescente de estratégias disponíveis. Esses resultados sugerem a necessidade da instrução pragmática durante os programas de intercâmbio estudantil de curto prazo e questionam a utilidade das normas dos falantes nativos para medir o desenvolvimento pragmático durante programas de curto prazo.

Leave-taking in Indonesian during short-term study abroad

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-116
Author(s):  
Tim Hassall
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Rapid Learning ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Leave Taking ◽  
A Site

Abstract This study uses multiple sources of data to examine the learning of leave-taking in Indonesian by twelve students from Australia during a sojourn of either four or seven weeks. The learners departed with very little knowledge of leave-taking routines. They rapidly learned the forms of certain routines, and used them often. However they did not learn suitable contexts for them, and also failed to learn a number of other common routines. Under influence of English, they relied excessively on statements of obligation for taking leave but also adopted one useful discourse marker. The study confirms that pragmatic routines are a site of rapid learning during study abroad, while suggesting some very common routines are hard to learn by naturalistic exposure. It confirms study abroad learners are often slow to learn to adjust forms to social context, and shows the powerful influence of L1 transfer on their pragmatic development.

scholarly journals The effect of short-term study abroad on second language Spanish phonetic development

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Bongiovanni ◽  
Avizia Y. Long ◽  
Megan Solon ◽  
Erik W. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis study explores the impact of study abroad (SA) on second language Spanish phonetic development. Twenty-seven English-speaking learners of Spanish, 15 who were participating in a 4-week SA program in the Dominican Republic and 12 who were studying at their home (AH) institution, were recorded 5 weeks apart (at the approximate beginning and end of their respective programs). Recordings were analyzed acoustically, and four groups of segments were examined: word-initial /p t k/, intervocalic /b d ɡ/, intervocalic /ɾ/ and /r/, and word-final /l/. Productions at Time 1 and Time 2 as well as between the SA and AH groups were compared. Results suggested a minor benefit of the SA environment for phonetic development of some of the segments but with notable individual variation in both groups.

Cultural Awareness of Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Mixed-Methods Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1231-1242
Author(s):  
Celeste Domsch ◽  
Lori Stiritz ◽  
Jay Huff
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Global Awareness ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Short Term Study

Purpose This study used a mixed-methods design to assess changes in students' cultural awareness during and following a short-term study abroad. Method Thirty-six undergraduate and graduate students participated in a 2-week study abroad to England during the summers of 2016 and 2017. Quantitative data were collected using standardized self-report measures administered prior to departure and after returning to the United States and were analyzed using paired-samples t tests. Qualitative data were collected in the form of daily journal reflections during the trip and interviews after returning to the United States and analyzed using phenomenological methods. Results No statistically significant changes were evident on any standardized self-report measures once corrections for multiple t tests were applied. In addition, a ceiling effect was found on one measure. On the qualitative measures, themes from student transcripts included increased global awareness and a sense of personal growth. Conclusions Measuring cultural awareness poses many challenges. One is that social desirability bias may influence responses. A second is that current measures of cultural competence may exhibit ceiling or floor effects. Analysis of qualitative data may be more useful in examining effects of participation in a short-term study abroad, which appears to result in decreased ethnocentrism and increased global awareness in communication sciences and disorders students. Future work may wish to consider the long-term effects of participation in a study abroad for emerging professionals in the field.

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