Investigating the effects of pragmatic instruction: a comparison of L2 Spanish compliments and apologies during short term study-abroad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-4301.2019.4.33989Keywords:
Study abroad, speech acts, interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatic instruction.Abstract
Study abroad has been proposed as a crucial aspect to acquire pragmatics in a second language, under the assumption that learners receive more access to authentic input than is available in the classroom. Recent trends indicate a rise in the frequency of short-term study abroad programs (less than 3 months, Allen, 2010), although research has shown that learners may need closer to 9 months to approximate native-like norms without instruction (FÉLIX-BRASDEFER, 2004). This raises the question of how much pragmatic development can be seen in short-term programs, and how to maximize this development. The current study analyzed the development of two expressive speech acts, compliments and apologies, in students who completed a five-week study abroad program in Mérida, Mexico. During the program, learners received instruction on compliments, but not apologies. Speech act data was collected via a 24-item oral discourse completion task administered at both the beginning and end of the program and was further analyzed in SPSS. Results indicate that only some learners developed their production of apologies, while almost all learners showed development in their production of compliments, operationalized by an increased repertoire of strategies available. These results suggest the need for pragmatic instruction during short-term study abroad, and question the utility of native-speaker norms to measure pragmatic development during short-term programs.
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