ERIC Number: ED396551
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1993
Pages: 37
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Transferability of L1 Indirect Request Strategies to L2 Contexts.
Takahashi, Satomi
A study investigated the extent to which five Japanese indirectness strategies, used to make indirect requests, transfer to situations in which Japanese learners of English make indirect requests in English. The effects of language proficiency on this transferability were also examined. Subjects were 37 Japanese learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), divided into two groups (high and low) based on English proficiency. They were administered a questionnaire presenting four situations designed to elicit requests. After each situation, five different requests were presented, to be rated by the subjects according to their acceptability. The situations were offered first in Japanese, then in English. Subjects' responses were analyzed for evidence of transfer of strategy from Japanese to English. Results show that contextual factors played a major role in determining transferability at the pragmatic level, and some proficiency effects on transferability of those request strategies were also identified. Contains 44 references. (Author/MSE)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A