A Socio-Pragmatic Analysis of Appropriateness in a Speech Act of Apology in English

Studies in interlanguage pragmatics have shown that L2 learners’ proficiency has an influence on the occurrences of L1 pragmatic transfer. This paper is designed to study the issues related to the pragmatic aspects of the use of apology strategies in English and the pragmatic transfer. To carry out this research, the qualitative research design is employed. Focus Group Discussion questionnaire is used to elicit data (recorded) from the EFL university students in Pakistan. The results of the study reveal that all the participants reported that they do not translate apology strategies from their L1 cultural norms, except one respondent who replied that he/she use apology strategies having in mind L1 social norms. Anyhow, they all agree that they use apology strategies while keeping in mind the interlocutor’s social status. The study further indicates that Urdu-speaking learners of English in universities use apology strategies according to the severity of the offence. If the situation is severe they use intensifiers and indirect apology strategy and if situation is not severe, they use explicit apology strategy. The results of this study might be of pedagogical help and important for teachers, policy makers, curriculum developers, material designers, students, and researchers. Keywords: interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic transfer, cultural norms, pedagogical help, Pakista

The Use of Sociocultural Approach for Teaching ESL Reading Skills to ‘O’ Level Students in Pakistan

Reading comprehension skills are very important for ESL Pakistani O, level learners. Paying attention to the troubles they and the instructors face in Pakistan, the present study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of sociocultural approach in reading comprehension skills. This is a novel approach for Pakistani teachers as it has not yet been tried in teaching especially in reading comprehension skills. To carry out this research, semi-experimental research design was employed including pre and post tests. Keeping in mind the nature of the data, it was analyzed quantitatively and interpreted qualitatively i.e. summary method. The findings of the study clearly exhibited that sociocultural approach is quite effective for teaching reading comprehension skills. The independent sample t-tests were conducted both for pre and post tests which strikingly show the difference of collaborative language learning approach. The results of this research suggest the use of more social and supportive methods in the perspective of language learning and teaching. It is more in support of a collaborative learning atmosphere which requires the presences of a professional or expert-peer that provides students with possibilities to correct themselves and simultaneously to understand the ideal procedures required for the learning of new and challenging abilities

Caught between Two Cultures: Pragmatic Transfer in English-using Pakistanis Apology Responses

In Pragmatics, scholars have given special attention to study the influence of leaners culture and social rules in understanding and using target language pragmatics. For this purpose, speech acts have been studied quite widely. This study investigates the speech act of responding to apology in Pakistani English, British English and Pakistani Urdu, and tries to highlight whether respondents transfer their cultural and social rules in the target language or not. The present study followed quantitative approach for data collection and analysis. A discourse completion test (DCT), consists of 12 apology response scenarios is used for data collection. The findings illustrate that English-using Pakistanis pragmatic choices are clearly influenced by their perceptions of various sociocultural and contextual variables. The English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers are found using two main strategies (Acceptance, and Acknowledgment). In contrast, British English speakers tend to use Acceptance and Evasion strategies more often. Further, the findings have indicated that English-using Pakistanis and Pakistani Urdu speakers have used more Rejection strategies than their British English counterparts, though such communicative features are not salient in their ARs, and Pakistanis are surprisingly found quite clear and direct. The findings of the study may be helpful to English teachers who should be made aware that L2 learners’ pragmatic transfer is influenced by learners’ culture and social rules, and, as a result, should not be treated simply as a pragmatic ‘error’ or ‘failure’ to be corrected and criticized