Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/28866
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- Title
- A pragmatic study of developmental patterns in Mexican students making English requests and apologies
- Related
- Australasian Digital Theses Program
- Publisher
- Australia : Macquarie University
- Date
- 2009
- Author/Creator
- Flores-Salgado, Elizabeth
- Description
- "September 2008".
- Description
- Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Dept. of Linguistics, 2009.
- Description
- Bibliography: p. 189-196.
- Description
- The purpose of this research was to analyse the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic development of language groups at different proficiency levels and investigate the relationship between interlanguage pragmatics and grammatical competence. For this study, 36 native Spanish speaking EFL learners at different proficiency levels were asked to respond in English to 24 different situations which called for the speech acts of request and apology. Their English performances were compared to those of 12 American English native speakers in order to provide base-line cultural data. Thirty six Mexican Spanish native speakers also participated as a control group in order to analyse the role of the mother tongue in the performances of the EFL learners. The data, collected using a carton oral production task (COPT), were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results showed three important findings that illuminate the relationship between pragmatic development and grammatical competence and lent support to Kasper and Rose's (2003) claim of a universal pragmatic principle. The first finding suggested that basic adult learners possess a previous pragmatic knowledge in their L1 that allows them to focus on the intended meaning and, in most cases, and to assemble (from the linguistic structures available to them) an utterance that conveys a pragmatic intention and satisfies the communicative demands of a social situation. The second finding revealed that there are two essential conditions to communicate a linguistic action: the knowledge of the relevant linguistic rules and the knowledge of how to use them appropriately and effectively in a specific context. Without an elementary knowledge of the linguistic rules, it is impossible to select the forms to realize a speech act in a target-like manner. The findings further suggested that advanced learners possess the grammatical knowledge to produce an illocutionary act, but they need to learn the specific L2 pragmatic conventions that enable them to know when to use these grammatical forms and under what circumstances.
- Description
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- Description
- xi, 238 p. ill
- Subject Keyword
- Pragmatics
- Subject Keyword
- Interlanguage (Language learning)
- Subject Keyword
- Competence and performance (Linguistics)
- Subject Keyword
- Communicative competence
- Subject Keyword
- Speech acts (Linguistics)
- Subject Keyword
- Second language acquisition
- Subject Keyword
- English language -- Social aspects
- Subject Keyword
- English language -- Acquisition
- Subject Keyword
- English language -- Study and teaching -- Spanish speakers
- Subject Keyword
- interlanguage pragmatics
- Subject Keyword
- socipragmatics
- Subject Keyword
- pragmalinguistics
- Subject Keyword
- grammatical competence
- Subject Keyword
- pragmatics competence
- Subject Keyword
- developmental patterns
- Resource Type
- Thesis professional doctorate
- Organisation
- Macquarie University. Dept. of Linguistics
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/28866
- Identifier
- 1289577
- Language
- eng
- Rights
- Copyright disclaimer: http://www.copyright.mq.edu.au
- Rights
- Copyright Elizabeth Flores-Salgado 2009.
- Rights
- Complete version suppressed for copyright reasons. However, on receipt of a Document Supply Request, placed with Macquarie University Library by another library, we will consider supplying a copy of this thesis. For more information on Macquarie University’s Document Supply, please contact ill@library.mq.edu.au
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