Applied Pragmatics - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2021

The relationship between second language (L2) comprehensibility and pragmatics is explored in two experiments involving instruction of speech acts to learners enrolled in a Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program. The study was designed to determine whether improved pragmatic competence results in enhanced comprehensibility (how easy L2 speech is to understand). Two intact classes participated; one received 25 hours of pragmatics instruction, while the control group received the standard curriculum (no focus on pragmatics). Both classes were recorded in role-plays based on several scenarios at pre- and post-test. Transcriptions of the role-plays were coded according to a rubric; although the control group showed superior performance at the outset, the experimental group’s scores exceeded those of the Control group at post-test with a medium effect size. A subset of pre- and posttest role-plays (two refusals and two requests) were randomly assigned to 56 native English listeners who rated the speech samples for social appropriateness, comprehensibility, and fluency. The experimental group’s posttest productions on all scenarios were perceived as significantly more socially appropriate, with three scenarios showing significant improvement in comprehensibility. Although one scenario improved in fluency, another showed a decline. The results suggest that pragmatics instruction enhances L2 speech comprehensibility.

This study investigated the extent to which proficiency, length of residence, and intensity of interaction in a target language affect L2 learners’ pragmatic ability in comprehending conversational implicature and indirect speech acts. 68 participants, 38 L1 English and 30 L2 English users, completed two measures: a pragmatic listening test measuring implied meaning comprehension and a language contact profile survey identifying length of residence and intensity of L2 interaction. The standard multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between implied meaning comprehension and learners’ proficiency, length of residence, and intensity of interaction. Together, these factors explained a significant amount of the variance in learners’ overall comprehension ability, with proficiency being the strongest predictor, followed by intensity of interaction, then length of residence. Findings also showed that while it was more challenging for the less proficient learners to comprehend conversational implicature than indirect speech acts, there was no significant difference between the two types for the higher proficiency group. Further analysis of the L2 interaction types indicated a significant, moderate relationship between the time spent speaking and learners’ implied meaning comprehension. These findings offer pedagogical and methodological implications for L2 pragmatic development.

The aim of this paper is two-fold: firstly, to provide an overview of the methods used to elicit metapragmatic data in research with young language learners through a systematic review; and secondly, to present three data collection techniques designed and used in two research projects conducted by the authors, and examine their affordances for eliciting metapragmatic data. The systematic review revealed that data elicitation techniques employed in metapragmatics research with children closely reflected those widely employed in research with (young) adults (Culpeper, Mackey & Taguchi, 2018). Against this backdrop, the paper presents three elicitation techniques, developed based on the literature on the methodological considerations for conducting research with children (e.g. O’Kane, 2008; Pinter, 2014; Punch, 2002a, 2002b): the Emoticon task, the Ranking circle, and Readers Theatre. After describing the techniques and presenting the metapragmatic discussions elicited through them, the paper calls for the inclusion of innovative, participant-friendly methods in interlanguage pragmatics research focusing on children’s metapragmatic awareness.

Adopting a single case analysis, this article examines how the learning of the Japanese word burikko is occasioned in a bilingual lunch conversation through enactments that are employed for three interactional purposes: (a) renewal of laughter, (b) vocabulary explanation (VE), and (c) demonstration of understanding. The interactional analysis is enhanced by Praat to respecify the role of prosody in enactments. I first describe how burikko, the laughable of a humor sequence, becomes a learnable through a repair sequence. I then analyze a reinitiated joking sequence, where the VE recipient categorizes one of the co-participants as burikko and escalates the categorization through multimodal enactments. I argue that this jocular mockery, occasioning a demonstration of understanding, exhibits that the learning opportunity has been taken. Furthermore, I discuss how a repair work embedded within a larger humor-oriented activity may afford resources for language learning outside of the classroom, while sacrificing progressivity for intersubjectivity. The fact that the VE recipient, after intersubjectivity has been achieved, resumes the original activity of pursuing humor through the same means employed for the explanation of the target word offers interesting implications for CA-SLA and pragmatics.