Interlanguage Pragmatics
Interlanguage Pragmatics
AND
PRAGMATICS
Celia Fullana
ILP research [email protected]
2
Supported by…
Schimdt & Frota (1986)
Schmidt did better in grammar competence than in
pragmatic ability
According to them, this was due to the lack of contact with
the L2 community
Dogançay-Aktuna & Kamish (1997)
Advanced learners who used complex language but not
appropriately. They claim that L1 influence played a role.
PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT
8
Schauer (2006)
ESL in Stay Abroad period
Grammatical and pragmatic awareness increased
during their Stay Abroad experience
A parallel development of the two competences
PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT
11
Formulaic
language
Grammatical complexity
Prosody
PRAGMATIC
FLUENCY
ILP research
PRAGMATIC FLUENCY
16
In other words,…
… being a pragmatically fluent speaker would
mean to be pragmatically competent and being a
fluent speaker.
PRAGMATIC FLUENCY
18
Discourse strategies
Speech acts
Turn-taking
Speech rate
Pauses
Repairs
PRAGMATIC FLUENCY
21
ILP research
PRAGMATICS IN E-MAIL STUDIES
23
3) closing sequences
Objectives:
To examine EFL learners’ requests, apologies and
openings/closings in e-mail communication
Participants
40 Catalan/Spanish bilinguals with an intermediate
/upper intermediate level of English
G1: 20 undergraduates (ages 18-20)
G2: 20 professionals (ages 30-40)
Base-line data in Catalan/Spanish also included
The task
A written task: an e-mail sent to their professor asking for the
possibility to change the date of an exam they had missed
A request addressed to an interlocutor with a higher rank was
required
E-mail: written language with oral features
Analysis
Examination of how participants requested in L2 English
The level of directness of the request was analyzed following
Ervin-Tripp (1976) and Blum-Kulka & Olshtain (1987)
Alcón et al. (2005) was followed to study how students
mitigated the request
Examination of apologies: Do participants apologize?
Analysis of the openings / closings of the e-mails
Perceived politeness by NSs of each age group
Judges gave the e-mails a score through a 5-point scale on
politeness (1=very impolite, 5=very polite) + brief explanation
RESULTS (1) - Requests
33
50 G1
40
G2
30
20 G3
10
G4
0
Reference to Reference to Hedge Explicit Hints
preparatoy preparatoy performative performative
conditions conditions
interrogative
RESULTS (4) - Modification
36
Grounder
Grounder & Grounder Grounder & 55%
Disarmer & 55% Disarmer
Expander 25%
0%
Grounder &
Disarmer
5%
•The types of modification are the same in both NSs and NNSs
•NSs groups prefer mitigating the request by using more than one strategy (Grounders
+ expanders/disarmers), which leads to more mitigated requests than the NNSs.
RESULTS (6) - Apology
38
APOLOGIES
100
90
•NNSs do not produce
80
apologies as much as
% Participant that apologize
70
NSs do
60
50
40
•G3 seems to
30 apologize more than
20 G4
10
0
G1 G2 G3 G4
RESULTS (7) – Openings & Closings
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G1 G2
Hi / Hello XX,
Good morning XX, Dear XX,
XX, Dear Professor,
Dear XX, Dear Ms. XX,
Dear Ms XX, Good morning,
Ms. XX,
Thanks! /Thank you (very much) Thank you (very much in advance)
(for your attention) / Thanks in advance Yours sincerely
I’ll be waiting for your answer Looking forward to hearing from you
See you (in class next week) Best regards
Have a nice weekend
(Yours) sincerely / Yours faithfully
Kind regards
Your student, Best
G3 G4
Dear X,
Dear X, Dear Mrs X,
Dear Prof. X, Dear Dr. X,
Good morning Professor X, Dear Professor,
Prof. X,
Despite the age difference, G3 and G4 open and close their e-mails in a similar way
RESULTS (9) – Perceived Politeness
41
TYPE OF
Hi XX,
1 OPENING /
I’m XX, from your English class (Group5). CLOSING
Well. I’m writing you because I’ve a problem with the exam that
we will do the next day… My boss told me that I have to work ORAL LANGUAGE
all the week, and for this reason I wouldn’t come to the class. So,
INFORMAL
can I do the exam any other day?
Thank you!
XX G1
RESULTS (11) – Perceived Politeness
43
Dear XX, G2
This is to inform you that I missed the writing exam on last 15th of November due to
an important meeting that took place in my office and I was forced to attend.
I do not want to take this as a excuse, unfortunately I had no option but to go.
I am really worry about that because I do not want to miss the opportunity to pass MORE INDIRECT
the exam.
For this reason, I would like to ask you this special favor to give me the opportunity
to do it another day. NO APOLOGY
On the other hand, I don’t want to cause you a problem in the university, but I must
try to do it, if it is cause a problem, please feel free to tell me.
Having said that please kindly check the possibility and let me know. MORE FORMAL
Thank you very much for your understanding and help.
Regards, 4 TYPE OF
Dear Dr. XX, OPENING /
I am XX, one of you students from English I. Unfortunately, I could not attend the
exam which took place on the last 28th of October because of medical reasons. CLOSING
I would be extremely glad if I could do the exam another day.
Of course, you will be given the medical informe as soon as it is possible.
Thank you for considering my e-mail,
Yours faithfully, G1
RESULTS (12) – Perceived Politeness
44
G3 FORMAL
Dear XX,
First I would like to apologise for not attending the exam yesterday due to
unforeseen circumstances it was impossible for me to take the exam yesterday.
APOLOGY
However I would like to ask you if it would be possible to take the exam again on
another day. I know this may not usually be the case but due to my circumstances I
TYPE OF
was hoping that you would be able to review my case individually. OPENING /
Thanks for your time. CLOSING
Kinds Regards,
XX VOCABULARY
Dear XX, 5 USED
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m afraid I was unable to attend class the day of the last exam. I would like to
request an opportunity to take the exam another day as would be most appropriate for you. Although I understand the
inconveniences imposed both by missing the exam and by taking the test at a later date for which I would like to offer
my sincere apologies, I would also like to point out my regular class attendance and that my record of previous test
results reflect the seriousness with which I attend to my work. Likewise, I had prepared long and hard for this exam and
have been very unfortunate to have missed it, but I am hopeful that the matter can be resolved.
I am looking forward to your news and remain at your disposal for a time and place to meet so that we can make
proper arrangements.
Sincerely,
XX G4
RESULTS (13) – Perceived Politeness
45
Perceived Politeness
4.5
4 SAMPLE : 40 Participants
3.5
3
2.5
2 •Judges perceived G3 and G4
1.5 as the most polite groups
1 •Differences between G1 and G2
0.5
0
G1 G2 G3 G4
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION(1)
46
Do G1 apologize in Do G2 apologize in
Catalan/Spanish? Catalan/Spanish?
Yes
Yes
20%
10%
No
No 80%
90%
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION (3)
48
Instruction?
Celia Fullana
ILP research [email protected]