scholarly journals Chinese EFL Learners’ Cross-cultural Pragmatic Competence: The Appropriateness of Request

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 20-41
Author(s):  
Joyce Yeboah
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Analyse Data

The speech act of requesting has attracted a lot of attention in recent research.  Previous studies reveal that conventionally indirect request strategies are commonly used by second language (L2) learners. This study is relevant because the findings would improve the requests strategies and its responses between Chinese EFL learners and foreigners. The study also examines the role of cross-cultural pragmatic competence in Chinese students in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) by considering the appropriateness of requests. It aims to find out the effects of knowledge of L1 culture on L2 pragmatic competence and how requests and its responses would contribute to pragmatic failure. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative approach to analyse data. The data were collected through a discourse completion test (DCT) from 72 undergraduates and postgraduate students. The modified DCT was composed of two parts. The first was mainly concerned with the demographic information of the participants and second was composed of 12 simulated situations eliciting the appropriateness of requests in various communication settings.  The findings of present study revealed that Chinese learners do not differ markedly from native speakers in their use of strategies, but do differ significantly in the formulaic expressions they employ for making the requests. Unclear request strategies and responses were identified as contributing factors to pragmatic failures. However, the study recommended that instructors should engage learners of English as a second language in a lot of appropriate request strategies to build learners’ competence and ability to understand situations in different environments.

scholarly journals Croatian EFL Learners’ Interlanguage Requests: A Focus on Request Modification

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Danijela Šegedin Borovina
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Oral Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Weak Evidence ◽  
Completion Test

This paper explores the development of pragmatic competence in the interlanguage of Croatian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at three proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). It investigates the way Croatian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) use internal and external supportive moves to modify their requests. Data were collected using an oral Discourse Completion Test consisting of ten school-related situations. The research participants were 60 EFL learners aged between 11 and 18. The coding categories developed in the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP, Blum-Kulka et al. 1989) and adapted by Schauer (2009) were used to analyse the data. Overall results indicated that the request production of EFL learners showed little variation regarding the type of modification and frequency of their use. Results also indicated weak evidence of pragmalinguistic development across levels, particularly in the use of grounders. The infrequent use of request modification suggests that pragmatic instruction should be included in FL classrooms to facilitate the development of L2 pragmatic ability.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Mitigating Devices of Request Used by Saudi EFL Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Fadi Al Khasawneh
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Cultural Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
English Program

This study aimed at exploring the linguistic mitigating devices of requests used by Saudi EFL learners. The participants of this study were 97 students enrolled in the English program at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The data of this study were collected by Discourse Completion Test (DCT) questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire contained five different situations of request and the factor of Social Distance (SD) was incorporated to investigate any differences of the learners’ request strategies attributed to this factor. The data were classified according to the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). The findings of this study revealed that the participants preferred to use internal mitigating devices more frequently than external ones. They also were more direct when making requests and it seems that social distance does not play a significant role in the students’ modification strategies of requests.

scholarly journals Pragmatic competence in English at the VG1 level: To what extent are Norwegian EFL students able to adapt to contextual demands when making requests in English?

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silje Brubæk
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Subject

The present article presents an investigation of Norwegian students of English as a foreign language (EFL) and their pragmatic competence in English. The importance of developing such a competence receives a strong focus in the English subject curriculum. However, very few studies have been conducted in the field of pragmatics in Norway, and even fewer Norwegian studies have focused on students’ pragmatic competence in a second language. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate whether Norwegian EFL students would be familiar with and show awareness of English politeness norms and pragmatic conventions when having to communicate in English. Would they be able to adapt their language, choice of strategy and level of formality to the contextual demands when making requests in the second language (L2)? Forty students answered a simplified version of a discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of four different situations in which the students had to make requests. The results, which were analysed by means of Brown and Levinson’s theory of face threatening acts, indicated that most of the students were at one of the beginning stages of English pragmatic development. Their language use was characterized by first language (L1) transfer and overuse of familiar and informal expressions. When faced with more formal and demanding situations, they fell short and clearly lacked the knowledge and competence that would allow them to communicate successfully. It can be argued that these findings might indicate a lack of focus in Norwegian schools when it comes to developing students’ pragmatic competence. If this is true, an important part of the subject curriculum is being neglected.

scholarly journals Topic prominence in Chinese EFL learners’ interlanguage

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaopeng Li ◽  
Lianrui Yang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Main Topic ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Zero Anaphora ◽  
Interlanguage Development ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004). The research target are the topic chain, which is the main topic-prominent structure in Chinese discourse, and zero anaphora, which is the most common topic anaphora in the topic chain. Two important findings emerged from the present study. First, the characteristics of Chinese topic chains are transferrable to the interlanguage of Chinese EFL learners, thus resulting in overgeneralization of the zero anaphora. Second, the interlanguage discourse of Chinese EFL learners reflects a change of the second language acquisition process from topic-prominence to subject-prominence, thus lending support to the discourse transfer hypothesis.

scholarly journals Study of Request Strategies Employed By Libyan and Malay POSTGRADUATE Students at USM

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awad Mohamed S Youssef
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
First Language ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Cultural Strategies ◽  
Cultural Implications ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Malaysian Students ◽  
Cultural Pragmatics

There has been considerable attention from the cross-cultural pragmatics literature towards the various strategies speakers use when performing the requesting speech act. Speech acts are often used when communicating verbally in either the first language or a second language. This paper presents a study into the similarities and differences in the request strategies by Malaysian and Libyan postgraduate students at USM. The study majorly uses information from existing literature on what other people have written on this topic. The study findings will give new insights to the directness and requesting behaviors within Libyan and Malaysian students and the challenges of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural communication. This study has cultural implications such as awareness of the request strategies used in one culture compared to another culture. This study tackles the ability of Libyan and Malay learners to apply requests in English.  Furthermore, this study attempts to provide explanations for pragmatic errors that Libyan and Malay learners may perform.   Keywords: Cross-Cultural, Strategies, Modifications, Linguistic.

scholarly journals Realisation of the Speech Act of Request, Suggestion and Apology by Libyan EFL Learners

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110503
Author(s):  
Abudalslam Alfghe ◽  
Behbood Mohammadzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Efl Students

This study investigates the three speech act strategies of request, suggestion and apology in Libyan Arab EFL undergraduate students (AREFLUS) and Amazigh EFL undergraduate students (AMEFLUS). It also examines their linguistic and pragmatic competence in these strategies. Two Libyan universities (Sebha and Zwara) are selected for the study, which includes 50 AREFLUS and 37 AMEFLUS participants. To investigate the students’ socio-pragmatic and pragma linguistic competence, two instruments are used: a questionnaire in the form of a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) and a rating scale. The results reveal numerous similarities between the Libyan Arab and Amazigh participants in performing all the speech act strategies of request, suggest and apology. However, some significant differences regarding gender are found among Libyan EFL students. Overall, both groups appear to be more competent in functioning than in structuring the three mentioned speech act strategies.

scholarly journals The Investigation of Request Strategies By EFL Learners of The International Institute of Tourism and Business Denpasar

HUMANIS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Gede Eka Wahyu ◽  
Ni Putu Evi Wahyu Citrawati
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Request Strategies

Communicative competence has been the goal teaching of a second or foreign language. In acquiring the language, speakers of language also acquire the rules of knowledge and choose the speech acts when communicating with others. This study aimed to investigate the act of request strategies and request perspectives produced by the student of The International Institute of Tourism and Business Denpasar. There are fifty students’ involved in the study with intermediate level in their English proficiency. The data is collected with a written Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which has ten request situations. Soshana Blum Kulka and Olshtain’s (1984) theory is used to categorize the speech acts produce in analyzing data. The result of the project showed that most of the students use internal modification and the number of students external modification in their speech acts.

A contrastive pragmatic study of politeness strategies in disagreement between native speakers of English and Chinese EFL learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chu Yan
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Chinese Undergraduates

AbstractThis paper attempts to make a contrastive cross-cultural study of a special speech act— “disagreement.” Participants are 35 American undergraduates and 42 Chinese undergraduates respectively with the data eliciting technique—DCT (discourse completion test). Findings show that Chinese undergraduates tend to use different politeness strategies according to different social distance and social power while American undergraduates prefer to use positive politeness strategy most followed by negative politeness strategy, regardless of social distance and social power. The results of the study reveal cultural differences between the U.S. and China that lead to the distribution of diverse politeness strategies and also offer insights into what Chinese EFL learners are struggling with during their development of interlanguage pragmatic competence.

scholarly journals Acts of Requesting as Realized by English for Specific Purposes Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Arif Nugroho ◽  
Nuning Wahyu Astuti ◽  
Arief Eko Priyo Atmojo
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Indirect Requests ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

The success of language learners’ intercultural communication highly depends on their acquisition of not only grammatical knowledge but also pragmatic aspects of the target language. However, research examining English for specific purposes (ESP) learners’ request realization, as a crucial indicator of pragmatic competence, still remains a paucity of evidence. Addressing this issue, the present study aims to examine English for specific purposes (ESP) students’ most frequently used request strategy and their reasons behind the selected strategy. To this end, 36 ESP students of a public university in Surakarta Indonesia were involved in a descriptive qualitative study. A set of Discourse Completion Test (DCT), role-play, and semi-structured interview were employed as a means of data collection. The data were analyzed based on Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) and followed by thematic content analysis for the interview responses. The results depicted that conventionally indirect requests were the most frequently used strategy by the students than other strategies, i.e. direct request, and non-conventionally indirect request. The semi-structured interview further revealed that cultural factors, degree of politeness, and social distance among the interlocutors became the primary reasons for the students’ massive selection of conventionally indirect strategies. These results offer fruitful insights for English language teaching stakeholders as an effort to equip ESP students with satisfactory pragmatic and cross-cultural knowledge.Keywords: acts of requesting, pragmatics, request strategies,

scholarly journals The Importance of the Request Strategies in the Iraqi EFL Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Nadhim Obaid Hussein ◽  
Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Social Communications ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
English Students

This paper explained English students’ pragmatics development, students’ pragmatics competence in chosen speech acts, request strategies that they used in gaining pragmatic ability. The paper was presented by a public syllabus lead that prioritizes the need for English learners to improve their ability to utilize request strategies successfully in academic and social communications. The study aimed to explain the significance of request strategies on developing EFL learners’ usage of the request in the classroom. Additionally, Many English learners fail to present pragmatic ability on how to understand request strategies by relating utterances to their meanings, knowing the intention of language users, and how request strategies are utilized in specific settings. There is growing material of researches on awareness-raising of the value of pragmatic competence and request strategies for EFL schoolroom teaching. However, researchers have pointed to concentrate on the traditional approaches rather than how English learners require or understand request strategies to develop the learners’ production of the request in the EFL schoolroom. Therefore, depending on the successful findings of previous studies, the study focused on the importance of strategies on developing students’ usage of the request. The request strategies and approaches of teaching English to these Iraqi students have been discussed in details of the current paper.

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