L2 Pragmatic Competence in Chinese EFL Routines

144 Pages·2022·2.59 MB·English

by  Yuqi Wang

SpringerBriefs in Education
Yuqi Wang
L2 Pragmatic
Competence in Chinese
EFL Routines
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Yuqi Wang
L2 Pragmatic Competence
in Chinese EFL Routines
Yuqi Wang
School of Foreign Languages
Beihang University
Beijing, China
ISSN 2211-1921 ISSN 2211-193X (electronic)
SpringerBriefs in Education
ISBN 978-981-19-6351-3 ISBN 978-981-19-6352-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6352-0
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Preface
Routine is a basic component of L2 pragmatic competence constructs, and pragmatic
competence of routines is one of the hot issues within L2 pragmatics. The interaction
of Prior Context (PC) and Actual Situational Context (ASC) knowledge from the
socio-cognitive approach is conceived as pragmatic competence of routines in this
study.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of proficiency and study-
abroad experience on various aspects of pragmatic competence of routines among
Chinese English learners, including both productive and receptive pragmatic compe-
tence of routines, as well as learners’ cognitive process. There are 143 participants
in total, separated into three groups: low proficiency without study abroad experi-
ence (n = 51), high proficiency without study abroad experience (n = 59), and high
proficiency with study abroad experience (n = 33). Computer-animated elicitation
tasks were used to collect oral data. A pilot study with 41 native American speakers
was first undertaken to establish the target responses as the benchmark, and multi-
dimensional evaluation criteria were then used to assess all participants’ pragmatic
performances throughout each routine task.
This book follows a similar structure, and the outline is briefly organized below.
The research background description and rationale for the present study are mostly
addressed in Chap. 1, followed by the establishment of research objectives and ques-
tions. In Chap. 2, the theoretical bases from various perspectives will be reviewed
and presented in order to guide this study, including L2 pragmatics, acquisitional
theories, and context knowledge theory from the socio-cognitive approach.
In Chap. 3, the relevant empirical literature is reviewed in chronological order,
starting from studies focusing on the illustration of definition, distinguishing features,
and categorization of routines both within SLA and L2 pragmatics, and then moving
on to research on the interaction between English proficiency and study-abroad
experience and L2 pragmatic competence of routines. The research methodology
is thus addressed in Chap. 4, including participants, instrumentation, data collection
methods and procedures, data analysis, as well as verification of inter-rater reliability
and ethical issues.
v
vi Preface
Chap. 5 documents the findings of the overall study, focusing on responses to
the research targets in four subsections: contextualized production (initiating and
responding) and recognition, alongside decontextualized comprehension and percep-
tion. The findings of the trichotomy pattern-based investigation into routine compe-
tence will be discussed in Chap. 6, which will begin with the general trend in each task
modality, followed by the effect of proficiency and study-abroad experience on each
aspect of routine competence, and learners’ specific performances. A retrospective
review of learners’ cognitive processes is also provided.
Chap. 7 ends with a recap of the preceding chapters’ findings and a generalization
of how the study addresses the research questions, and also discusses the implications
and limitations as well as potential directions for future research.
Beijing, China Yuqi Wang
Contents
1 Introduction ................................................... 1
1.1 Research Background ....................................... 1
1.2 Rationale of the Study ....................................... 2
1.3 Research Objectives and Questions ........................... 3
1.4 Significance of the Study .................................... 3
References ..................................................... 4
2 Literature Review .............................................. 7
2.1 A General Picture of Routines ................................ 7
2.1.1 Definitions and Shared Features of Routines ............. 7
2.1.2 Classification of Routines ............................. 9
2.2 Development of L2 Pragmatic Competence of Routines .......... 10
2.2.1 Proficiency and Pragmatic Competence of Routines ....... 10
2.2.2 Study-Abroad Experience and Pragmatic Competence
of Routines ......................................... 12
2.2.3 Interaction of Proficiency and Study-Abroad
Experience and Pragmatic Competence of Routines ....... 14
2.3 Summary .................................................. 16
References ..................................................... 17
3 Theoretical Foundation ......................................... 21
3.1 Second Language Pragmatics ................................ 21
3.1.1 L2 Pragmatics ....................................... 21
3.1.2 L2 Pragmatic Competence ............................ 22
3.1.3 Speech Act Theory ................................... 23
3.1.4 Indirectness ......................................... 25
3.2 Acquisitional Theories in L2 Pragmatics ....................... 25
3.2.1 The Two-Dimensional Model .......................... 25
3.2.2 Skill-Acquisition Theories ............................. 26
3.2.3 Language Socialization ............................... 28
vii
viii Contents
3.3 The Socio-Cognitive Approach ............................... 29
3.3.1 Prior Context Knowledge vs. Actual Situational
Context Knowledge .................................. 30
3.3.2 Conceptual Socialization .............................. 31
3.4 Summary .................................................. 32
References ..................................................... 32
4 Research Methodology .......................................... 35
4.1 Participants ................................................ 35
4.2 Instrumentation ............................................ 36
4.2.1 Computer-Animated Production Task ................... 37
4.2.2 Computer Animated Recognition Task .................. 38
4.2.3 Computer Animated Comprehension Task ............... 39
4.2.4 Computer Animation Perception Task ................... 39
4.2.5 Computer Animated Retrospective Review .............. 41
4.3 Data Collection Procedure ................................... 41
4.4 Data Analysis .............................................. 42
4.4.1 Coding for Routine Production ......................... 42
4.4.2 Coding for Routine Comprehension .................... 43
4.4.3 Coding for Routine Recognition and Perception .......... 44
4.4.4 Statistical Methods in Data Analysis .................... 45
4.5 Verification for Inter-Rater Reliability ......................... 45
4.6 Ethical Considerations ...................................... 45
4.7 Summary .................................................. 46
References ..................................................... 46
5 Results ........................................................ 49
5.1 Results for Routine Production ............................... 49
5.1.1 Results for Initiating Utterances ........................ 50
5.1.2 Results for Responding to Utterances ................... 51
5.2 Results for Routine Recognition .............................. 53
5.3 Results for Routine Comprehension ........................... 55
5.4 Results for Routine Perception ............................... 57
5.5 Summary .................................................. 58
6 Analysis and Discussion ......................................... 59
6.1 Production Competence of Routines ........................... 59
6.1.1 The General Trend of Routine Production ............... 59
6.1.2 Impacts of Proficiency and Study-Abroad Experience
on Routine Production ................................ 61
6.1.3 Learners’ Specific Performances in Routine
Production .......................................... 63
6.2 Recognition Competence of Routines ......................... 89
6.2.1 The General Trend of Routine Recognition .............. 89
6.2.2 Impacts of Proficiency and Study-Abroad Experience
on Routine Recognition ............................... 91
Contents ix
6.2.3 Learners’ Specific Performance in Routine
Recognition ......................................... 94
6.3 Comprehension Competence of Routines ...................... 96
6.3.1 The General Trend of Routine Comprehension ........... 97
6.3.2 Impacts of Proficiency and Study-Abroad Experience
on Routine Comprehension ............................ 98
6.3.3 Learners’ Specific Performance in Routine
Comprehension ...................................... 101
6.4 Perception of Routines ...................................... 104
6.4.1 The General Trend of Routine Perception ................ 105
6.4.2 Impacts of Proficiency and Study-Abroad Experience
on Routine Perception ................................ 106
6.4.3 Learners’ Specific Performances in Routine Perception .... 111
6.5 Retrospective Review for Cognitive Process .................... 113
6.5.1 Learners’ Cognitive Processes ......................... 114
6.5.2 Self-reported Factors Affecting Learners’ Routine
Performance ........................................ 115
6.5.3 Self-reported Methods for Improving Learners’
Routine Performance ................................. 116
6.5.4 Summary ........................................... 117
References ..................................................... 119
7 Conclusion .................................................... 121
7.1 Summary of the Findings .................................... 121
7.2 Implications of the Present Study ............................. 122
7.3 Limitations of the Present Study .............................. 123
7.4 Suggestions for Future Research .............................. 124
References ..................................................... 125
Appendix 1: Survey for Personal Background Information ............ 127
Appendix 2: Scenarios and Target Response Set for Initiating
Utterances ............................................ 129
Appendix 3: Scenarios and Target Response Set for Responding
to Utterances .......................................... 131
Appendix 4: Scenarios and Target Selection for Routine
Recognition ........................................... 135
Appendix 5: Target Responses for Routine Comprehension ............ 137
Appendix 6: Target Responses for Routine Perception ................ 139