scholarly journals Cultural Collision: The Interference of First Language Cultural Identity on Pragmatic Competence of the Target Language

2016 ◽  
pp. 131-147
Author(s):  
Yi-Fen Cecilia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Reflective Study ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge

This reflective study explores a different perspective of intercultural communicative competency (ICC) by focusing on the speech acts that nonnative speakers of Spanish from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds find difficult to perform competently in various contexts in Colombia. This article covers a qualitative case study using interpretative phenomenological analysis to describe these foreign learners’ experiences. It aims to understand the role of their first language, culture, and identity in their use of Spanish and intercultural communication. The data was collected through interviews and reflection notes. The findings demonstrate the interaction and negotiation between the pragmatic knowledge embedded in participants’ mother tongue and the target language as they encountered contradictions of their native cultural identity and that of the target culture.

scholarly journals Pragmatic Competence: Difficulties faced by Pakistani EFL Learners

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 444-451
Author(s):  
Dr. Sikander Ali ◽  
Muhammad Ashraf
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Competence Level ◽  
Pragmatic Failure ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge

The study investigates the pragmatic knowledge; pragmatic competence level as well as speech act strategies used by Pakistani EFL learners. It reveals that Master level English language learners are unable to produce and comprehend the intended meanings in the target language. As a result, pragmatic failure and misunderstanding occurred. Pragmatic comprehension and production is essential for effective communication especially for EFL learners in this modern age where people have to communicate cross-culturally as English is being used as lingua franca internationally. The study explores the problems faced by EFL learners in comprehending and producing the correct speech acts in English. The study used two data collection tools: a WDCT in which speech acts of refusal and apology are used to find out pragmatic competence level and difficulties faced by Pakistani EFL learners. A Likert Scale questionnaire is used to know about the views and suggestions of the Pakistani EFL learners about the teaching and learning environment regarding the pragmatics. The data of speech acts of refusal is analyzed qualitatively according to the taxonomy of Beebe, keeping in view frequency, shift and content of semantic formulas. While the data of speech acts of apology is analyzed according to the speech act strategies of Cohen. Data collected through the Likert scale questionnaire is analyzed quantitatively. The study finds out that pragmatic competence level of Pakistani EFL learners is very low as well as they have to face many difficulties which result in pragmatic failure.  Findings of the study show that Pakistani EFL learners lack knowledge of pragmatics in the target language. EFL learners acknowledged that pragmatic knowledge is very important for effective communication and it should be an integral part of syllabus and classroom activities.

scholarly journals A Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Study of Invitation Strategies As Produced by Indonesian and Yemeni EFL Language Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammed Saleh Al-Hamzi ◽  
Ni Wayan Sartini ◽  
Nurul Fitri Hapsari ◽  
Ayoub Gougui ◽  
Raghda Mansour Ali Al-Nozili
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
The Two Cultures

Based on cross-cultural pragmatic research perspectives, the present study aimed at comparing the attainment of speech acts of invitation between Indonesian and Yemeni EFL learners. The study participants were 30 undergraduate students from Airlangga University, Indonesia, and 30 undergraduate students from Sana’a University, Yemen. All of the participants were different in terms of their cultural background. The data were gathered by using Discourse Completion Task (DCT) and then analyzed on the bases of Bruder and Tillitt (1999), Al-Khatib (2006), and Suzuki (2009) compilations of invitation strategies. The findings of the study displayed some similarities and differences in terms of invitation making. Some invitation strategies seemed to be culturally specific to one culture and others are universal across the two cultures. In this regard, Indonesian EFL learners preferred to be indirect in the use of speech acts while invitation making with the high preference to use Yes/No questions, asking for willingness and Wh. questions strategies. They believe that the use of such strategies helps them to add some polite expressions that they use in their daily conversation while using their first language. In contrast, Yemeni EFL learners favored being direct in the use of the speech act of invitation, with the highest percentage of imperative strategy followed by Yes/ No questions strategy. This might show a portion of the effect of their first language on their answers. They also know that direct invitations are mostly accepted in their culture. Besides, the findings of the study revealed that Indonesian and Yemeni EFL learners translated the utterances in their mother tongue into the target language without considering the variations between the two languages in patterns of sentences and the order of words. Implications of the study are supplied too.

Kommunikationsprobleme Von "Near Native Speakern" Deutsch

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Erika Niehaus
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Indirect Speech Act

Communication has at least two different aspects: the propositi-onal aspect and the social aspect. Any utterance in a face-to-face-interaction therefore has the function to give information and to indicate how the ralation to the other participant is interpreted. In order to establish his communicative goal, the speaker has to analyse the social situation and the preceding context. Depending on this interpretation he selects between the different verbal patterns to perform a certain speech act. This involves for instance the choice of direct/indirect speech act realizations, the selection of certain linguistic elements (modality markers) for downtoning or upgrading the illocutionary force of speech acts. The contrastive analysis of the realizations of the speech act REQUEST in three different dialogue batteries elicited via role play from Dutch learners of German, native speakers of Dutch and native speakers of German has shown 1. that Dutch native speakers use modality markers in different communicative functions than German native speakers, 2. that Dutch learners of German mostly choose the same social strategies when speaking the target language as they do when speaking the mother tongue, 3. that the learners are not always able to establish their modal goal, that is, the are not able to communicate their intentions on an interpersonal level. The reason for this seems to be that in the Netherlands the teaching of German as a second language is mainly a matter of teaching grammatical rules and linguistic expressions without taking into consideration that the meaning of these expressions is pragmaticalley conditioned and that their usage is motivated by the relevant characteris-tics of such social situations.

scholarly journals A Survey on the Effectiveness of Mother Tongue on Learning L2 Vocabulary by Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Khodareza ◽  
Maryam Kaviani
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proposal A ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Objective Structures ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
Learning English

<p>This study investigated the role of mother tongue on learning English vocabulary by Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. For this purpose, 30 female pre-intermediate learners were chosen. After administering a Nelson test participants were selected from the intact classes at Foreign Language Institute in Babol. These 30 partners were randomly allocated to 2 gatherings (one laboratory and the other control) each comprising of 15 partners. The participants received a pre-test comprising 70 English words to ensure that they did not have previous information of objective structures. Experimental group received their instruction, meaning of each target word, and translation of target words with their mother tongue (Persian). But control group just received target language (English) for all activities or instructions. Both teacher and students in this group didn’t allow using Persian. After the treatment, the same pre-test was given to the participants as a post-test to measure the effectiveness of therapy gained. After collecting the data, to respond the research proposal, a t-test was conducted. The results indicated that first language had significant effect on learning English words. The findings of this study are considered to be useful in methodology issue.</p>

scholarly journals THE NECESSITY OF IMPROVING CULTURAL AWARENESS OF EFL LEARNERS IN STMIK HANDAYANI MAKASSAR

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Yuliah Abdul Haris
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
The Relationship

This paper mainly discusses the relationship between language and culture. Language and culture are closely related. If one does not understand the cultural backgrounds, he or she cannot learn the target language really well because any language is an integral part of its culture. Moreover, misunderstanding between the speaker whose first language is English and the speaker whose first language is not English occur between them.  The writer believes that there is still an important cultural element missing from foreign language education in Indonesian EFL classes in such as in STMIK Handayani Makassar. Therefore, English learning in STMIK Handayani Makassar should not only to learn the language, but also to learn its culture. To improve students’ sensitivity for cultural difference between the West and the East and to raise their cultural awareness, English teachers at schools are required not only to teach language but also to impart cultural background knowledge and further to deal with the relationship between language and culture well. This article starts with the necessity of teaching cultural awareness in English teaching at schools, and then this paper discusses some common cultural language mistakes by English Foreign Language learners in STMIK Handayani Makassar.

scholarly journals The Kinds of the Linguistic Interference

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Sayana Movsum Baghirova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Linguistic Interference

In the scientific literature, the symbols L1 (Language 1) and L2 (Language 2) are used to indicate the sequence of languages. In most countries, L1 is understood as a first language, and it usually coincides with the mother tongue. The other languages are learned later. This can be seen in the children of multilingual parents. Teaching a second foreign language covers everything a student hears and sees in a new language. This includes a variety of discourse activities, such as exchanges in restaurants and shops, talking to friends, reading billboards and newspapers, as well as teacher-student attitudes in the classroom, as well as language activities and books in the classroom. Regardless of the learning environment, the learner's goal is to master a target language. The learner starts the task of learning a second language from scratch (or close to it) and uses the necessary language skills in the mother tongue to determine the reciprocity of language units in the target language.

scholarly journals THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE IN UNDERSTANDING CROSSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: A STUDY AT XI GRADE STUDENT OF SMK NEGERI 1 BATULAYAR

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Derah Mayanto
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Grade Student ◽  
Missing Information ◽  
Crosscultural Communication ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge ◽  
The Given ◽  
Hotel Accommodation

This paper investigates the students’ English pragmatic competence in understanding crossculturalcommunication. There were eighteen communicative situations designed in threedifferent speech acts namely; handling complaint, request and refusal. The situationspresented were very similar to the authentic situation that students found during the joborientation for six months in tourism industry. Three instruments were used in collecting thedata; questionnaires, discourse completion tests (DCTs) and interview. The multiple choicequestionnaire was used to investigate the students’ pragmatic understanding in three deferentspeech acts. Meanwhile DCTs was used to investigate the students’ pragmatic knowledge ingiving response to the given situations related to three different speech acts. Interviewquestion was used to clarify the missing information and to strengthen the reason why suchresponses were given in questionnaire and in DCTs. The sample of this study was 92 XIGrade students from Hotel Accommodation Program (AP) at SMK Negeri 1 Batulayar. Theresult show that the students ability in understanding pragmatic is considered very low, theyonly can understand the utterance from the literal meaning of words and phrases, but theimplied meaning of some particular utterances were uneasy to deal with. It is seen from thereported data that the average of the students’ responses in understanding pragmatics of thethree different speech acts is only 12.7%. The second three different speech acts in discoursecompletion test (DCTs) was also about giving response to the complaint, request and refusal.DCTs were used to investigate the students’ ability in using their pragmatic knowledge toresponse the nine situational communicative designed. The finding show that the students’ability in giving the written response were vary and less impressive. The written responsesin three different speech acts prompt were potentially led to a pragmatic inability inmaintaining the smooth conversation in various situations.

Emblematic gestures learning in Spanish as L2/FL: Interactions between types of gestures and tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110068
Author(s):  
Helena S. Belío-Apaolaza ◽  
Natividad Hernández Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
The Usa

The acquisition of communicative competence in second and foreign languages requires the incorporation of verbal and non-verbal elements. Notwithstanding, few studies have performed empirical research into the acquisition of non-verbal signs. This research studies the learning of emblematic gestures for students of Spanish in the USA using an evolutionary analysis after instruction. Interactions between types of gestures ( common, different, and unique) based on the similarities with the first language and learning mechanisms in free and guided comprehension and production tasks are taken into account. The results indicate that although the detection and production of emblems improve with instruction, the progress is unequal: the categories different and unique obtain a higher rate of improvement than common emblems in specific tasks. In conclusion, it is essential for the teaching of gestures and non-verbal communication to consider, along with the non-verbal target language code, the non-verbal mother tongue code.

scholarly journals Assessing the effectiveness of a web-based tutorial for interlanguage pragmatic development prior to studying abroad

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 69-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Russell ◽  
Camilla Vásquez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
First Language ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
Development Data ◽  
Spanish Language Learners

This manuscript reports the results of a research study that investigated the effect of a web-based tutorial (WBT) on 13 Spanish language learners’ pragmatic development during the semester prior to studying abroad in Spain. Students who anticipate living abroad with a host family may be particularly motivated to acquire pragmatic competence in order to better assimilate into the target language culture. The WBT was designed to teach the speech acts of complaints and requests to Spanish language learners whose first language is English. The content in the WBT is based upon available empirical evidence at the time of development. Data were collected at pretest and posttest and the analysis employed a mixed methods approach. The results revealed that the WBT was more effective with intermediate- than with novice-level learners of Spanish. In addition, learners’ comprehension gains were greater than their production gains. In other words, learners improved in their ability to recognize appropriate pragmatic strategy use; however, they still had difficulty producing pragmatically appropriate features after completing the WBT. It is possible that pragmatic awareness may precede learners’ ability to use appropriate pragmatic strategies in their linguistic output.

scholarly journals Pragma-linguistic Difficulties in the Recognition of Phrasal Verbs by Iraqi EFL University Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Mohanad A. Amret ◽  
Sinan A. Yousif
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
First Language Transfer ◽  
Culture Gap

The purpose of this paper is to recognize the level of pragma-linguistic difficulties Iraqi EFL university learners face when handling phrasal verbs. Despite the fact that phrasal verbs are easy to understand by native speakers of English, non-native speakers usually encounter some difficulties in understanding the meaning of a phrasal verb depending on the meaning of the root verb, or different phrasal verbs of the same root. The problem might be attributed to pragma-linguistic knowledge. However, culture gap could be the reason behind such difficulties. The aim of the study is (1) to evaluate the pragma-linguistic level of interpreting phrasal verbs as understood and used by Iraqi EFL university learners, (2) to check the level of difficulty they experience while recognizing phrasal verbs, and (3) to find out reasons behind such misinterpretations. It is hypothesized that (1) the pragma-linguistic interpretation of phrasal verbs tends to play an important role in understanding the message conveyed by the speaker; (2) cultural gap could be the reason that EFL learners recognize phrasal verbs incorrectly, and (3) mother tongue language might make it difficult for EFL learners to understand phrasal verbs. To verify the aforementioned hypothesis, a test has been constructed and administered to a sample of 100 fourth-year Iraqi EFL university learners, morning classes at the department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts, in Mustansiriyah University, during the academic year 2017 – 2018. The responses of the students have been collected and linguistically analyzed according to a model given by Richards and Schmidt (2010). It has been found that Iraqi students’ lack of cultural norms of the target language makes it difficult for them to understand phrasal verbs. The lack of this knowledge is considered as a factor of confusion and then failure. The influence of the first language culture on the recognition of phrasal verbs may be seen as a negative first language transfer. The reason behind this negative transfer is that the norms and principles of first language are different from the norms and principles of the target language. It has been concluded that Iraqi EFL university learners have difficulties in pragma-linguistic knowledge as far as phrasal verbs are concerned. Iraqi EFL university learners face great difficulties in using phrasal verbs while communicating with other people. While using phrasal verbs, Iraqi EFL university learners have been highly influenced by their mother tongue language.

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