Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Allameh Tabataba’i University
2 Allameh Tabataba'i University
Abstract
The necessity and importance of teaching pragmatics has come to light by many researchers (e.g. Rose & Kasper, 2001). Due to the consensus over the need to teach pragmatic competence, the main issue now centers on the question of how we should teach this competence in the most effective way. Consistent with this line of research, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of deductive, inductive, and L1-based consciousness-raising instructional tasks on EFL learners' acquisition of the request speech act during a seven-week instruction period. The results obtained through a written DCT administered to 140 EFL learners indicated that instruction had a significantly positive effect on learners' acquisition of the request speech act. The comparison of the task types demonstrated that, all in all, the deductive task was the most effective one. Furthermore, the results showed that the learners were generally receptive to L1-based awareness-raising tasks and that these tasks were more effective than inductive tasks. This study suggests that consciousness-raising instructional tasks could be utilized in raising students’ sociopragmatic awareness and be applied in helping them develop their interlanguage pragmatics.
Keywords
Ahmadi, A., Ghafar Samar, R., & Yazdanimoghaddam, M. (2011). Teaching requestive downgraders in L2: How effective are input-based and output-based tasks? IJAL, 14(2), 1-30.
Alcon Soler, E. (2005). Does instruction work for learning pragmatics in the EFL context? System, 33(3), 417-435.
Alcon Soler, E. (2007). Fostering EFL learners’ awareness of requesting through explicit and implicit consciousness-raising tasks. In M. P. García Mayo (Ed.). Investigating tasks in formal language learning (pp. 221-241). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Alcon Soler, E., & Guzman, J. (2010). The effect of instruction on learners’ pragmatic awareness: a focus on refusals. IJES, 10(1), 65-80.
Alcon Soler, E., & Martinez-Flor, A. (2008). Pragmatics in foreign language contexts. In E. Alcon Soler & A. Martinez-Flor (Eds.). Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 3-21). Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.
Barekat, B., & Mehri, M. (2013). Investigating the effect of metalinguistic feedback in L2 pragmatic instruction. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(2), 197-208.
Decoo, W. (1996). The induction deduction opposition: Ambiguities and complexities of the didactic reality. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 34(1), 95-118.
De Graaff, R. & Housen, A. (2009). Investigating the effects and effectiveness of L2 instruction. In M. Long & C. Doughty (Eds.). The handbook of language teaching (pp. 726-755). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Doughty, C. (2003). Instructed SLA: constraints, compensation and enhancement. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.). Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 256-310).Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.
Ellis, R. (2002). Grammar teaching: Practice or consciousness-raising? In J. C. Richards & W.A. Renandya (Eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 167-174). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eslami-Rasekh, Z. (2005). Raising the pragmatic awareness of language learners. ELT Journal, 59(3), 199-208.
Eslami-Rasekh, Z., & Eslami-Rasekh, A. (2008). Enhancing the pragmatic competence of non-native English-speaking teacher candidates (NNESTCs) in an EFL context. In E. Alcon Soler & A. Martinez-Flor (Eds.). Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 178-197). Clevedon: Cromwell Press Ltd.
Eslami-Rasekh, Z., Eslami-Rasekh, A., & Fatahi, A. (2004). Using metapragmatic instruction to improve advanced EFL learners' pragmatic awareness. TESL EJ, 8(2), 1-12.
Fotos, S. (1994). Integrating grammar instruction and communicative language use through grammar consciousness-raising tasks. TESOL Quarterly, 28(2), 323-351.
Fotos, S., & Ellis, R. (1991). Communicating about grammar: A task-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 25(4), 605-628.
Fukuya, Y. J. & Hill, Y. Z. (2006). The effects of recasting on the production of pragmalinguistic conventions of request by Chinese learners of English. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 59-91.
Fukuya, Y. J., & Zhang, Y. (2002). The effects of recasts on EFL learners’ acquisition of pragmalinguistic conventions of request. Second Language Studies, 21(1), 1-47.
Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course (3rd Ed.). New York: Taylor and Francis.
Ishihara, N. (2010). Instructional pragmatics: Bridging teaching, research, and teacher education. Language and Linguistics Compass, 4(10), 938-953.
Jalilifar, A. (2009). Request strategies: Cross-sectional study of Iranian EFL learners and Australian native speakers. English Language Teaching, 2(1), 46-61.
Keshavarz, M. H., Eslami-Rasekh, Z., & Ghahraman, V. (2006). Pragmatic transfer and Iranian EFL refusals: A cross-cultural perspective of Persian and English. In K. Bardovi- Harlig, J. C. Felix-Brasdefer, & A. S. Omar (Eds.). Pragmatics and language learning (vol. 11, pp. 359-402). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
Levine, G. S. (2003). Student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language use, first language use, and anxiety: Report of a questionnaire study. Modern Language Journal, 87(3), 343-364.
Martinez-Flor, A. (2008). The effect of an Inductive-deductive teaching approach to develop learners' use of request modifiers in the EFL. In E. Alcon Soler (Ed.). Learning how to request in an instructed language learning context (pp. 191-225). Bern: Peter Lang.
Martinez-Flor, A. & Uso-Juan, E. (2010). The teaching of speech acts in second and foreign language instructional contexts. In A. Trosborg (Ed.), Pragmatics across languages and cultures (pp. 423-442). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Niezgoda, K. & Röver, C. (2001). Pragmatic and grammatical awareness. In K. R. Rose & G. Kasper (Eds.). Pragmatics in language teaching (pp. 63-79). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Norris, J., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta analysis. Language Learning, 50 (3), 417-528.
Rose, K. R. & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (2001). Pragmatics in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Safont Jordą, M. P. (2003). Instructional effects on the use of request acts modification devices by EFL learners. In A. Martinez-Flor, E. Uso Juan & A. Fernandez Guerra (Eds.). Pragmatic competence and foreign language teaching (pp. 211-232). Castello de la Plana: Universitat Jaume I.
Safont Jordą, M. P. (2004). An analysis on EAP learners’ pragmatic production: A focus on request forms. Iberica, 8, 23-39.
Salazar, P. (2007). Examining mitigation in requests: A focus on transcripts in ELT coursebooks. In E. Alcon Soler & M. P. Safont Jordą (Eds.). Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 207-222). Amsterdam: Springer
Schauer, G. A. (2009). Interlanguage pragmatic development: The study abroad context. London: Continuum.
Schmidt, R. (1995). Consciousness and foreign language learning: A tutorial on the role of attention and awareness in learning. In R. Schmidt (Ed.). Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (pp. 1-63). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.
Scutt, V. M. & Fueute, M. J. (2008). What’s the problem? L2 learners’ use of the L1 during consciousness-raising, form-focused tasks. The Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 100-113.
Taguchi, N. (2006). Analysis of appropriateness in a speech act of request in L2 English. Pragmatics, 16(4), 513-533.
Takahashi, S. (2001). The role of input enhancement in developing pragmatic competence. In K. R. Rose & G. Kasper (Eds.). Pragmatics in language teaching (pp. 171-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Takahashi, S. (2005). Pragmalinguistic awareness: Is it related to motivation and proficiency? Applied Linguistics, 26(1), 90-120.
Takahashi, S. (2010). Assessing learnability in second language pragmatics. In A. Trosborg (Ed.). Pragmatics across languages and cultures (pp. 391-423). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Takimoto, M. (2006). The effects of explicit feedback and form–meaning processing on the development of pragmatic proficiency in consciousness-raising tasks. System, 34(4), 601-614.
Takimoto, M. (2007). The effects of referential oriented activity in the structured input task on the development of learners' pragmatic proficiency. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 13(2) 46-60.
Takimoto, M. (2008). The effects of deductive and inductive instruction on the development of language learners’ pragmatic competence. The Modern Language Journal, 92(3), 369-386.
Takimoto, M. (2009). The effect of input-based tasks on the development of learners’ pragmatic proficiency. Applied Linguistics, 30(1), 1-25.
Uso-Juan, E. (2010). Requests: A sociopragmatic approach. In A. Martinez-Flor & E. Uso-Juan (Eds.). Speech act performance: Theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp. 237-256). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Yu, M. (2008). Teaching and learning sociolinguistic skills in university EFL classes in Taiwan. TESOL Quarterly, 42(1), 31-52.
', './data/jtls/coversheet/cover_en.jpg'))