Language Learning · 2006 · 227 citations · 33 references
Language StudiesEnglish As A Second LanguageLinguisticsPragmaticsSecond Language EducationSecond Language LearningEnglish Language LearningInterlanguage PragmaticsLanguage LearningPragmatic CompetencePragmatic DevelopmentSecond Language AcquisitionAwarenessPragmatic AcquisitionSecond Language Pragmatic DevelopmentSecond Language Pragmatics
The study aimed to replicate and extend Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei’s 1998 investigation by examining whether EFL and ESL learners differ in recognizing and rating pragmatic and grammatical errors, and whether ESL learners’ pragmatic awareness improves during an extended stay in the target environment. Using Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei’s video‑and‑questionnaire instrument with post‑hoc interviews, 53 participants—16 German ESL students at a British university, 17 German EFL students in Germany, and 20 British native controls—were surveyed. Results revealed that German EFL participants were less aware of pragmatic infelicities than ESL learners, and that ESL learners’ pragmatic awareness increased significantly during their stay in Great Britain.
The study reported on in this article set out to replicate and extend Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei's (1998) investigation of pragmatic awareness by addressing two research questions: (a) Do learners in English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) contexts display differences in their recognition and rating of pragmatic and grammatical errors? (b) Do ESL learners increase their pragmatic awareness during an extended stay in the target environment? The data were elicited using Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei's video-and-questionnaire instrument accompanied by post hoc interviews. The 53 participants in the study included 16 German students studying at a British university, 17 German students enrolled in a higher education institution in Germany, and 20 British English native-speaking controls. The data show that the German EFL participants were less aware of pragmatic infelicities than the ESL group and that the ESL learners increased their pragmatic awareness significantly during their stay in Great Britain.
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