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ERIC Number: EJ871884
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: N/A
Transfer of Pragmatic Competences: A Bi-Directional Perspective
Su, I-Ru
Modern Language Journal, v94 n1 p87-102 Spr 2010
This study investigated the bi-directionality of language transfer (first language [L1] to second language [L2] and L2 to L1) at the pragmatic level with a focus on the speech act of request. The L2 participants were Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at the intermediate and advanced levels. Data were collected via discourse completion tests and coded according to the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project coding scheme. The results indicated that EFL learners at both levels used conventionally indirect strategies significantly less often than English native speakers in making English requests but more often than Chinese native speakers did when requesting in Chinese. Moreover, within-group comparisons indicated that both groups of EFL learners, especially the advanced learners, exhibited a differentiated pattern of requesting behavior in their 2 languages; they adopted conventionally indirect strategies significantly more often in English than in Chinese, and the advanced learners also used more supportive moves in English than in Chinese. Taken together, this study showed that bi-directional transfer can occur at the pragmatic level in foreign language learners.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A