Following a cross-sectional design, the present study investigated the acquisition of English requests by Chinese learners at three proficiency levels with open production questionnaires. It was found that L2 linguist...Following a cross-sectional design, the present study investigated the acquisition of English requests by Chinese learners at three proficiency levels with open production questionnaires. It was found that L2 linguistic proficiency, L1 pragmatic transfer and classroom instruction have interactive effect on learners' L2 pragmatic development. A range of acquisitional features were found-learners' employment of direct request strategies decreased, the employment of conventionally indirect strategies increased and the number and variety of internal modifiers increased with the increase of proficiency. It was also found that L1 pragmatic transfer worked on various aspects of learners' requestive behavior and that inadequate or inappropriate input from the teaching materials and the EFL classroom arrangements might constrain their pragmatic development.展开更多
This article reports on an empirical study investigating what and how two college-level American learners of Mandarin Chinese developed their own understanding of the Chinese complimenting speech act while participati...This article reports on an empirical study investigating what and how two college-level American learners of Mandarin Chinese developed their own understanding of the Chinese complimenting speech act while participating in a 7-week intensive language study abroad program. A case study approach was adopted with a focus on participants＇ self-reflection data supplemented with the researcher＇s observation data to unpack each participant＇s pragmatic developmental process throughout the program. Guided by sociocultural theory, the study uncovered the dynamic, complex and highly individualized developmental process each participant experienced. The findings revealed that Chinese people＇s special treatment of the two American students provided more constraints than opportunities for them to acquire Chinese complimenting. However, the learners＇ own motivation and approaches to learning also significantly shaped their learning process and outcomes. Pedagogical suggestions for Chinese pragmatic development in study abroad contexts are provided.展开更多
文摘Following a cross-sectional design, the present study investigated the acquisition of English requests by Chinese learners at three proficiency levels with open production questionnaires. It was found that L2 linguistic proficiency, L1 pragmatic transfer and classroom instruction have interactive effect on learners' L2 pragmatic development. A range of acquisitional features were found-learners' employment of direct request strategies decreased, the employment of conventionally indirect strategies increased and the number and variety of internal modifiers increased with the increase of proficiency. It was also found that L1 pragmatic transfer worked on various aspects of learners' requestive behavior and that inadequate or inappropriate input from the teaching materials and the EFL classroom arrangements might constrain their pragmatic development.
文摘This article reports on an empirical study investigating what and how two college-level American learners of Mandarin Chinese developed their own understanding of the Chinese complimenting speech act while participating in a 7-week intensive language study abroad program. A case study approach was adopted with a focus on participants＇ self-reflection data supplemented with the researcher＇s observation data to unpack each participant＇s pragmatic developmental process throughout the program. Guided by sociocultural theory, the study uncovered the dynamic, complex and highly individualized developmental process each participant experienced. The findings revealed that Chinese people＇s special treatment of the two American students provided more constraints than opportunities for them to acquire Chinese complimenting. However, the learners＇ own motivation and approaches to learning also significantly shaped their learning process and outcomes. Pedagogical suggestions for Chinese pragmatic development in study abroad contexts are provided.
