Exploring the role of strategy instruction on learners? ability to write authentic email requests to faculty

This study used a pre-test post-test research design to investigate the role of explicit strategy instruction on Spanish English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ ability to write authentic email requests to faculty. Drawing on Taguchi’s (2018) classification of pragmatics learning strategies, the instructional intervention followed a strategy-based approach to help learners understand the form–function–context mapping of email requests in the academic context. A total of 110 naturally occurring email requests for action addressed to three faculty members were collected at two different times: as a pre-test (i.e. before engaging learners in the instructional period), and as a post-test (i.e. after learners’ participation in the treatment sessions). Learners’ email messages were analysed considering both their appropriateness of use as well the frequency of utilization of different structural (i.e. subject line, openings and closings) and content components (i.e. request strategies and internal request modifiers). Results showed that strategy instruction helped learners write more appropriate email requests after the instructional period. The findings suggest that arming learners with a variety of strategic tools may lead to pragmatic development in actual language use

Learning how to mitigate requests throught an explicit pragmatics-based method

It is widely agreed that the goal of language teaching is to develop learners’ communicative competence (Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor, 2006). Consequently, instructional practices should focus not just on the knowledge of the grammatical and lexical system of that target language, but also on the “secret rules” underlying it (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001). These “secret rules” are related to one of the essential components of the construct of communicative competence, that is the pragmatic competence. Scholars in the research field of interlanguage pragmatics have reported the benefits of adopting an explicit teaching approach on developing pragmatics (Kasper and Roever, 2005) and, therefore, have highlighted the necessity to design new instructional approaches to explicitly teach learners a variety of pragmatic features (Rose, 2005). Thus, the objective of this paper is to contribute to this line of research by presenting a pragmatics-based explicit method designed to develop learners’ pragmatic ability in the appropriate use of request mitigating devicesEs comúnmente aceptado que el objetivo de enseñanza de lenguas es el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa (Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor, 2006). Por lo tanto, la práctica docente debe centrarse no sólo en la enseñanza del sistema lingüístico y gramatical de la lengua objeto de estudio, sino también en sus “reglas secretas” (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001). Estas reglas están relacionas con uno de los componentes esenciales del constructo de competencia comunicativa, es decir, el componente pragmático. Investigadores en el campo de la pragmática del interlenguaje han mostrado los beneficios de adoptar métodos de enseñanza explícitos en el desarrollo de la pragmática (Kasper and Roever, 2005) y por lo tanto, han enfatizado la necesidad de diseñar nuevas formas de instrucción explícitas en la enseñanza de diferentes aspectos de la pragmática (Rose, 2005). Así pues, el objetivo del presente trabajo es contribuir a esta línea de investigación mediante la elaboración de un método de enseñanza explícito que permita desarrollar la habilidad pragmática de los aprendices en el uso apropiado de elementos de mitigación en peticione

Teaching learners to appropriately mitigate requests

It is commonly recognized that, for lecturers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in a university setting, the goal of their teaching is to develop learners' ability to communicate appropriately in this language. This means that teaching practices should pay attention not only to the key features of the linguistic system of English, but also to its pragmatic norms since lack of this knowledge may impede communication. Consequently, language learners need to be exposed to appropriate input in the classroom. In order to help lecturers in this task, it is the aim of this paper to present a learner-based instructional method designed to develop learners' pragmatic ability when using request mitigating devices in EFL. The rationale behind the selection of this pragmatic feature is discussed in the paper together with an explanation of the proposed teaching method

El uso de material audiovisual en la enseñanza de los rechazos desde una perspectiva discursiva: una propuesta basada en la investigación

Refusals are complex face-threatening speech acts whose appropriate performance requires not only lengthy sequences of negotiation and cooperative achievements, but also face-saving strategies to accommodate the disruptive nature of the act (Gass & Houck 1999). Also, since they have a face threatening nature, they are subject to cultural variations. Consequently, care must be taken in the choice of refusal strategies. On that account, this paper first describes the speech act of refusal and reviews findings of empirical interventional studies on this speech act, with particular interest in understanding their methodological choices. Then, it presents the benefits of using audiovisual material for teaching pragmatics in a foreign or a second language instructional context. Finally, relying on excerpts from TV series, an instructional method for teaching refusals at the discourse level is presented. All the designed activities are built upon research-based recommendations for teaching refusals in hopes to provide teachers with resources and ideas for including pragmatics into their language courses.Los rechazos son actos de habla amenazadores cuyo uso apropiado requiere no sólo largas secuencias de negociación y logros de cooperación sino también estrategias para preservar la cara con el fn de acomodar la naturaleza disruptiva del acto (Gass & Houck 1999). Además, dado que tienen una naturaleza amenazadora, están sujetos a variaciones culturales. Consecuentemente, se debe tener cuidado en la elección de las estrategias del rechazo. En este sentido, este artículo describe en primer lugar el acto de habla del rechazo y revisa los resultados de estudios intervencionistas sobre este acto, con particular interés en comprender las opciones metodológicas que se siguen. A continuación, presenta los benefcios del uso de material audiovisual para la enseñanza de la pragmática en un contexto de enseñanza-aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera o segunda lengua. Finalmente, basándose en extractos de series de televisión, se presenta un método de instrucción para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de los rechazos a nivel discursivo. Las actividades diseñadas han seguido las recomendaciones de los estudios revisados con el fn de proporcionar al profesorado recursos e ideas didácticas para incorporar la pragmática en sus cursos de lengua

Research methodologies in pragmatics : eliciting refusals to requests

The speech act of refusing, as a dispreferred response, is complex to perform and it usually involves indirect strategies as well as mitigating devices to avoid risking the initiator’s positive face. The appropriate choice of refusal strategies may depend on sociopragmatic issues such as the social status of the requester relative to the refuser (low, equal, high), social distance between the interactants (stranger, acquaintance, intimate) and the setting. Therefore, learners may require a certain level of pragmatic competence to perform this speech act in an appropriate way. On that account, the aim of the present paper is the elaboration of three different types of instruments (i.e. oral role-plays, written discourse completion tasks and awareness tests) on learners’ production and comprehension of refusals to requestive situations in a foreign language context. These three instruments may serve as both data collection instruments for researchers as well as pedagogical teaching materials for instructors. The paper is organised as follows. First, it reviews the data collection instruments employed in interlanguage pragmatics by particularly specifying the characteristics of oral and written production data, as well as awareness collection data. Then, it explains how the three particular instruments were elaborated. Finally, concluding remarks and pedagogical implications are suggested concerning the use of the proposed instruments in the English as a foreign language learning setting.El acto de habla de los rechazos es un tipo de respuesta no deseada, cuya complejidad implica el uso de estrategias indirectas así como de mitigación para evitar que se ofenda la persona que ha iniciado la interacción. La elección apropiada de estas estrategias puede depender de aspectos sociopragmáticos como el estatus social del que realiza la petición en relación con la persona que realiza el rechazo (bajo, igual, alto), la distancia social entre los que interactúan (desconocidos, conocidos, íntimos) y el contexto comunicativo. Así pues, para que los aprendices de una lengua puedan realizar este acto de habla de manera apropiada, es fundamental que dispongan de un determinado nivel de competencia pragmática en dicha lengua. Teniendo en cuenta este aspecto, la finalidad de este artículo es la elaboración de tres tipos diferentes de instrumentos (i.e. actividades de role-play, tareas escritas de completar conversaciones y tests de activación de la consciencia pragmática) para la producción y comprensión del acto de habla de los rechazos a las peticiones formuladas. El valor de dichos instrumentos reside en su doble aplicación, bien sea para investigadores que desean recoger datos de aprendices o para profesores que los puedan utilizar como materiales pedagógicos. El artículo presenta las siguientes secciones. En primer lugar, se ofrece una revisión teórica de los instrumentos de recogida de datos más utilizados en el campo de la pragmática del interlanguaje especificando las características de aquellos que recogen producción oral y escrita, así como los que activan la consciencia pragmática. En segundo lugar, se explica cómo se han elaborado los tres instrumentos de recogida de datos sobre el acto de habla de los rechazos y finalmente,se sugieren implicaciones pedagógicas relacionadas con el uso de estos instrumentos en contextos de aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera

The Role of Instruction on EFL Learners’ use of Complaining- apologising Semantic Formulas

AbstractResearch in the field of interlanguage pragmatics has highlighted the benefits of implementing instructional treatments in formal learning contexts. On this account, and in an attempt to meet Kasper and Roever's (2005) claims regarding the need to investigate the teachability of different pragmatic aspects, this study focuses on the role of instruction on learners’ use of complaining-apologising formulas in the foreign language setting. Results show the positive effects of engaging learners in the instructional process and an increase in the variety of both complaint and apology strategies in different contrasting scenarios. Finally, ideas for further research are provided

Developing pragmatic competence in the EFL setting: the case of request in tourism texts

In this paper we present an analysis of how the speech act of requesting is offered in several EFL (English as a Foreign Language) materials from the discipline of tourism. Our objective is to examine which is the most common request structure presented in the recorded material in order to see the range of requests presented to students. The request strategies are analysed according to the taxonomy proposed by Trosborg (1995), who divided them into four main categories: indirect requests, conventionally indirect (heareroriented conditions), conventionally indirect (speaker-oriented conditions), and direct requests. In a previous study (Salazar and Usó, in press) we analysed the request strategies presented in the written materials and the exercises students had to perform in order to practise this speech act. We found that the second category, conventionally indirect requests (heareroriented conditions), is the most common category used by all textbooks under study. Results from the present study corroborate the finding that the second category is the most frequent strategy used in the tapescripts students have to listen to. There seems to be a connection between the request structures students are presented with in the written texts and the recorded materials. We propose several tasks in order to widen the scope of the requests taught to students so as to incorporate pragmatic aspects.Comunidad Valenciana GV-00-147-0

Learners' use of request modifiers across two University ESP disciplines

The field of interlanguage pragmatics has recently received a lot of attention. Among the features examined within this field, learners' awareness and production of a variety of speech acts has been widely investigated in both second and foreign language contexts. Focusing on the latter, there has been increasing interest in analysing learners' use of requests, suggestions and advice acts across different ESP disciplines (Martínez-Flor & Alcón, 2004). However, results from this research provided a partial report of learners' requesting behaviour, since it only dealt with the request head act realisations without considering those devices that accompany such a speech act in order to modify its pragmatic effect (Trosborg, 1995; Sifianou, 1999). Bearing this fact in mind, the present study examines learners' requesting performance from two different ESP disciplines, namely those of English Philology and Computer Science Engineering, with a focus on both the amount and type of modifiers they employ when requesting in two different situations. Findings show on the one hand that learners from the English Philology discipline employed a higher amount of modifiers than the Computer Science Engineering learners; and on the other hand, the analysis of the type of internal and external modifiers employed by both groups revealed a similar trend, which indicates the lack of variety in using these modification devices. On the basis of these findings, some pedagogical implications, as well as suggestions for further research are presented

DEVELOPING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE IN THE EFL SETTING. THE CASE OF REQUESTS IN TOURISM TEXTS

AbstractIn this paper we present an analysis of how the speech act of requesting is offered in several EFL (English as a Foreign Language) materials from the discipline of tourism. Our objective is to examine which is the most common request structure presented in the recorded material in order to see the range of requests presented to students. The request strategies are analysed according to the taxonomy proposed by Trosborg (1995), who divided them into four main categories: indirect requests, conventionally indirect (heareroriented conditions), conventionally indirect (speaker-oriented conditions), and direct requests. In a previous study (Salazar and Usó, in press) we analysed the request strategies presented in the written materials and the exercises students had to perform in order to practise this speech act. We found that the second category, conventionally indirect requests (heareroriented conditions), is the most common category used by all textbooks under study. Results from the present study corroborate the finding that the second category is the most frequent strategy used in the tapescripts students have to listen to. There seems to be a connection between the request structures students are presented with in the written texts and the recorded materials. We propose several tasks in order to widen the scope of the requests taught to students so as to incorporate pragmatic aspects

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES IN PRAGMATICS: ELICITING REFUSALS TO REQUESTS

AbstractThe speech act of refusing, as a dispreferred response, is complex to perform and it usually involves indirect strategies as well as mitigating devices to avoid risking the initiator’s positive face. The appropriate choice of refusal strategies may depend on sociopragmatic issues such as the social status of the requester relative to the refuser (low, equal, high), social distance between the interactants (stranger, acquaintance, intimate) and the setting. Therefore, learners may require a certain level of pragmatic competence to perform this speech act in an appropriate way. On that account, the aim of the present paper is the elaboration of three different types of instruments (i.e. oral role-plays, written discourse completion tasks and awareness tests) on learners’ production and comprehension of refusals to requestive situations in a foreign languagecontext. These three instruments may serve as both data collection instruments for researchers as well as pedagogical teaching materials for instructors. The paper is organised as follows. First, it reviews the data collection instruments employed in interlanguage pragmatics by particularly specifying the characteristics of oral and written production data, as well as awareness collection data. Then, it explains how the three particular instruments were elaborated. Finally, concluding remarks and pedagogical implications are suggested concerning the use of the proposed instruments in the English as a foreign language learning setting.ResumenEl acto de habla de los rechazos es un tipo de respuesta no deseada, cuya complejidad implica el uso de estrategias indirectas así como de mitigación para evitar que se ofenda la persona que ha iniciado la interacción. La elección apropiada de estas estrategias puede depender de aspectos sociopragmáticos como el estatus social del que realiza la petición en relación con la persona que realiza el rechazo (bajo, igual, alto), la distancia social entre los que interactúan (desconocidos, conocidos, íntimos) y el contexto comunicativo. Así pues, para que los aprendices de una lengua puedan realizar este acto de habla de maneraapropiada, es fundamental que dispongan de un determinado nivel de competencia pragmática en dicha lengua. Teniendo en cuenta este aspecto,la finalidad de este artículo es la elaboración de tres tipos diferentes deinstrumentos (i.e. actividades de role-play, tareas escritas de completarconversaciones y tests de activación de la consciencia pragmática) para la producción y comprensión del acto de habla de los rechazos a las peticiones formuladas. El valor de dichos instrumentos reside en su doble aplicación, bien sea para investigadores que desean recoger datos de aprendices o para profesores que los puedan utilizar como materiales pedagógicos. El artículo presenta las siguientes secciones. En primer lugar, se ofrece una revisión teórica de los instrumentos de recogida de datos más utilizados en el campo de la pragmática del interlanguaje especificando las características de aquellos que recogen producción oral y escrita, así como los que activan la consciencia pragmática. En segundo lugar, se explica cómo se han elaborado los tres instrumentos de recogida de datos sobre el acto de habla de los rechazos y finalmente, se sugieren implicaciones pedagógicas relacionadas con el uso de estos instrumentos en contextos de aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera