The relationship between ease of comprehension and the syntactic form used to convey indirect requests was investigated among intermediate and advanced learners of English as a second language (ESL). The results were compared to those of native English speaking children and adults. Subjects were 82 college students enrolled in intensive ESL classes. They were required to respond to 20 requests presented in various forms on a tape recording. It was found that the ESL students were able to comprehend a wide variety of indirect requests. A developmental pattern was observed for acquisition of ability to comprehend indirect request types, with positively conveyed requests more easily comprehended than negatively conveyed requests. The relative ease of comprehension of each type of indirect request was consistent across ESL proficiency levels, as well as for native English speaking adults and children. This finding suggests that ease of comprehension of request forms is dependent on linguistic properties rather than on learner characteristics. (RW)