Longitudinal benefits of pre-departure pragmatics instruction for study abroad
Chinese as a second/foreign language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.38216Keywords:
pre-departure study abroad, longitudinal, Chinese as a second/foreign language, pragmatics instructionAbstract
Whilst the study of second language pragmatic development in study abroad (SA) contexts has gained momentum in recent years, research on L2 Chinese pragmatics, in general, remains in its infancy and is therefore limited. Longitudinal studies on the effects of instruction before, during and after SA remain scant. Following a short pre-SA pragmatics intervention on formulaic expressions with a group of UK undergraduate learners of Chinese, qualitative data in three phases (before, during, and after a year abroad in China) were collected and analysed to shed light on the perceived benefits of the treatment. The findings show that in all three phases, learners highly valued the instruction provided, but they seemed to benefit from the sociopragmatic input the most, particularly in the pre-departure stage and after completion of the SA period. The findings will be discussed in relation to the learners' accounts of their SA experiences and the implications for pre-SA instruction.
References
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Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Su, Y. (2018). The acquisition of conventional expressions as a pragmalinguistic resource in Chinese as a foreign language. Modern Language Journal, 102(4), 732–757. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12517
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Cohen, A. D. (2011). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Abingdon: Routledge/Pearson Education.
Cohen, A., & Ishihara, N. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Cohen, A. D., & Shively, R. L. (2007). Acquisition of requests and apologies in Spanish and French: Impact of study abroad and strategy-building intervention. The Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00540.x
Coulmas, F. (1981). Conversational routine: Explorations in standardized communication situations and prepatterned speech. The Hague: Mouton.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. (2010). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gong, Z. & Jiang, H. (2017). Situation-bound utterances and formulaic competence: The case of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 40(3), 281–297.
Halenko, N. (2008). How sorry can a person be? Teaching the speech act of apology in the ESL classroom (Unpublished MA thesis). Lancaster University.
Halenko, N. (2016). Evaluating the explicit instruction of requests and apologies in the study abroad context: the case of Chinese ESL learners at a UK Higher Education Institution (Unpublished PhD thesis). Lancaster University.
Halenko, N., & Jones, C. (2011). Teaching pragmatic awareness of spoken requests to Chinese EAP learners in the UK: Is explicit instruction effective? System, 39(2), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.05.003
Halenko, N., & Jones, C. (2017). Explicit instruction of spoken requests: An examination of pre-departure instruction and the study abroad environment. System, 68, 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.06.011
Hernández, T. A., & Boero, P. (2018). Explicit instruction for request strategy development during short-term study abroad. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 5(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23247797.2018.1459278
House, J. (2018). Authentic vs elicited data and qualitative vs quantitative research methods in pragmatics: Overcoming two non-fruitful dichotomies. System, 75, 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.014
Kasper, G., & Rose, K. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kecskes, I. (2000a). Conceptual fluency and the use of situation-bound utterances in L2. Links & Letters, 7, 145–161.
Kecskes, I. (2000b). A cognitive-pragmatic approach to situation-bound utterances. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(5), 605–625. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00063-6
Kecskes, I. (2003). Situation-bound utterances in L1 and L2. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29098
Kecskes, I. (2014). Intercultural pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kecskes, I. (2016). Situation-bound utterances in Chinese. East Asian Pragmatics, 1(1), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29098
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Li, S. (2013). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System, 45, 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.05.001
Li, S. & Taguchi, N. (2014). The effects of practice modality on the development of pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 794–812. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12123
Malamed, L. H. (2010). Disagreement. How to disagree agreeably. In A. Martínez-Flor & E. Usó-Juan (Eds.), Speech act performance: Theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp. 199–216). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.26.12mal
Pan, Y. (2000). Politeness in Chinese face-to-face interaction. Westport. CT: Greenwood Publishing.
Pan, Y., & Kádár, D. Z. (2011). Politeness in historical and contemporary Chinese. London: Continuum
Pawley, A. & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Nativelike selection and nativelike fluency. In J. C. Richards & R. W. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and communication (pp. 191–225). London: Longman.
Schmidt, R. (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 206–226. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500002476
Schmitt, N., & Carter, R. (2004). Formulaic sequences in action. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic sequences: Acquisition, processing and use (pp. 1–22). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.9
Shively, R. L. (2011). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad: A longitudinal study of Spanish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1818–1835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.10.030
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2002). Managing rapport in talk: Using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(5), 529–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(01)00039-X
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kádár, D. Z. (2016). The bases of (im)politeness evaluations: Culture, the moral order and the East–West debate. East Asian Pragmatics, 1(1), 73–106. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29084
Swain, M. (1996). Discovering successful second language teaching strategies and practices: From programme evaluation to classroom experimentation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural development, 17(2–4), 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434639608666261
Taguchi, N. (2015). Pragmatics in Chinese as a second/foreign language. Studies in Chinese Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 3–17.
Taguchi, N., Li, Q., & Tang, X. (2017). Learning Chinese formulaic expressions in a scenario-based interactive environment. Foreign Language Annals, 50(4), 641–660. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12292
Taguchi, N., & Li, S. (2017). Introduction to a thematic review: Pragmatics research in Chinese as a second language. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 6(1), 1–6.
Taguchi, N., Li, S., & Xiao, F. (2013). Production of formulaic expressions in L2 Chinese: A developmental investigation in a study abroad context. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 2(1), 23–58. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2013-0021
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tatsuki, D. H., & Houck, N. R. (Eds.) (2010). Pragmatics: Teaching speech acts. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Inc.
Thomas, J. (1983). Cross-cultural pragmatic failure. Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/4.2.91
Trosborg, A. (2010). Pragmatics across languages and cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214444
Tsung, L., & Cruickshank, K. (Eds.) (2010). Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts: CFL worldwide. London: Continuum.
Wang, V. X. (2011). Making requests by Chinese EFL learners. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.207
Wen, X. (2014). Pragmatic development: An exploratory study of requests by learners of Chinese. In Z. Han (Ed.), Studies in second language acquisition of Chinese (pp. 30–56). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092093-004
Winke, P., & Teng, C. (2010). Using task-based pragmatics tutorials while studying abroad in China. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7(2), 363–399. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2010.016
Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511519772
Yang, J. (2016). CFL learners’ recognition and production of pragmatic routine formulae. Chinese as a Second Language 51(1), 29–61. https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.51.1.02yan
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Su, Y. (2018). The acquisition of conventional expressions as a pragmalinguistic resource in Chinese as a foreign language. Modern Language Journal, 102(4), 732–757. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12517
Cohen, A. (2008). Teaching and assessing L2 pragmatics: What can we expect from learners? Language Teaching, 41(2), 213–235. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444807004880
Cohen, A. D. (2011). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Abingdon: Routledge/Pearson Education.
Cohen, A., & Ishihara, N. (2010). Teaching and learning pragmatics. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Cohen, A. D., & Shively, R. L. (2007). Acquisition of requests and apologies in Spanish and French: Impact of study abroad and strategy-building intervention. The Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 189–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00540.x
Coulmas, F. (1981). Conversational routine: Explorations in standardized communication situations and prepatterned speech. The Hague: Mouton.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. (2010). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gong, Z. & Jiang, H. (2017). Situation-bound utterances and formulaic competence: The case of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 40(3), 281–297.
Halenko, N. (2008). How sorry can a person be? Teaching the speech act of apology in the ESL classroom (Unpublished MA thesis). Lancaster University.
Halenko, N. (2016). Evaluating the explicit instruction of requests and apologies in the study abroad context: the case of Chinese ESL learners at a UK Higher Education Institution (Unpublished PhD thesis). Lancaster University.
Halenko, N., & Jones, C. (2011). Teaching pragmatic awareness of spoken requests to Chinese EAP learners in the UK: Is explicit instruction effective? System, 39(2), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.05.003
Halenko, N., & Jones, C. (2017). Explicit instruction of spoken requests: An examination of pre-departure instruction and the study abroad environment. System, 68, 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.06.011
Hernández, T. A., & Boero, P. (2018). Explicit instruction for request strategy development during short-term study abroad. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 5(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23247797.2018.1459278
House, J. (2018). Authentic vs elicited data and qualitative vs quantitative research methods in pragmatics: Overcoming two non-fruitful dichotomies. System, 75, 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.03.014
Kasper, G., & Rose, K. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kecskes, I. (2000a). Conceptual fluency and the use of situation-bound utterances in L2. Links & Letters, 7, 145–161.
Kecskes, I. (2000b). A cognitive-pragmatic approach to situation-bound utterances. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(5), 605–625. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00063-6
Kecskes, I. (2003). Situation-bound utterances in L1 and L2. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29098
Kecskes, I. (2014). Intercultural pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kecskes, I. (2016). Situation-bound utterances in Chinese. East Asian Pragmatics, 1(1), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29098
Lextutor. (2013). Compleat lexical tutor 2013. [Retrieved 18 January 2018]. http://www.lextutor.ca/
Li, S. (2012). The effects of input-based practice on pragmatic development of requests in L2 Chinese. Language Learning 62(2), 403–438. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00629.x
Li, S. (2013). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System, 45, 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.05.001
Li, S. & Taguchi, N. (2014). The effects of practice modality on the development of pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 794–812. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12123
Malamed, L. H. (2010). Disagreement. How to disagree agreeably. In A. Martínez-Flor & E. Usó-Juan (Eds.), Speech act performance: Theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp. 199–216). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.26.12mal
Pan, Y. (2000). Politeness in Chinese face-to-face interaction. Westport. CT: Greenwood Publishing.
Pan, Y., & Kádár, D. Z. (2011). Politeness in historical and contemporary Chinese. London: Continuum
Pawley, A. & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Nativelike selection and nativelike fluency. In J. C. Richards & R. W. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and communication (pp. 191–225). London: Longman.
Schmidt, R. (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 206–226. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500002476
Schmitt, N., & Carter, R. (2004). Formulaic sequences in action. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic sequences: Acquisition, processing and use (pp. 1–22). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.9
Shively, R. L. (2011). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad: A longitudinal study of Spanish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1818–1835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.10.030
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2002). Managing rapport in talk: Using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(5), 529–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(01)00039-X
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kádár, D. Z. (2016). The bases of (im)politeness evaluations: Culture, the moral order and the East–West debate. East Asian Pragmatics, 1(1), 73–106. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29084
Swain, M. (1996). Discovering successful second language teaching strategies and practices: From programme evaluation to classroom experimentation. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural development, 17(2–4), 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434639608666261
Taguchi, N. (2015). Pragmatics in Chinese as a second/foreign language. Studies in Chinese Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 3–17.
Taguchi, N., Li, Q., & Tang, X. (2017). Learning Chinese formulaic expressions in a scenario-based interactive environment. Foreign Language Annals, 50(4), 641–660. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12292
Taguchi, N., & Li, S. (2017). Introduction to a thematic review: Pragmatics research in Chinese as a second language. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 6(1), 1–6.
Taguchi, N., Li, S., & Xiao, F. (2013). Production of formulaic expressions in L2 Chinese: A developmental investigation in a study abroad context. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 2(1), 23–58. https://doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2013-0021
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tatsuki, D. H., & Houck, N. R. (Eds.) (2010). Pragmatics: Teaching speech acts. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Inc.
Thomas, J. (1983). Cross-cultural pragmatic failure. Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/4.2.91
Trosborg, A. (2010). Pragmatics across languages and cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214444
Tsung, L., & Cruickshank, K. (Eds.) (2010). Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts: CFL worldwide. London: Continuum.
Wang, V. X. (2011). Making requests by Chinese EFL learners. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.207
Wen, X. (2014). Pragmatic development: An exploratory study of requests by learners of Chinese. In Z. Han (Ed.), Studies in second language acquisition of Chinese (pp. 30–56). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092093-004
Winke, P., & Teng, C. (2010). Using task-based pragmatics tutorials while studying abroad in China. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7(2), 363–399. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2010.016
Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511519772
Yang, J. (2016). CFL learners’ recognition and production of pragmatic routine formulae. Chinese as a Second Language 51(1), 29–61. https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.51.1.02yan
Published
2019-04-30
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How to Cite
Wang, J., & Halenko, N. (2019). Longitudinal benefits of pre-departure pragmatics instruction for study abroad: Chinese as a second/foreign language. East Asian Pragmatics, 4(1), 87-111. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.38216
