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Article published In: Applied Pragmatics
Vol. 1:1 (2019) ► pp.68–91

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Pragmatic outcomes in the English-medium instruction context

The influence of intensity of instruction

 | Universitat Jaume I
 | Universitat Jaume I
Published online: 20 May 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.00004.her
Abstract
This study investigates pragmatic development in the English-medium instruction (EMI) setting of the Valencian Community in Spain. More specifically, the study examines whether the intensity of EMI influences functional adequacy (FA) in second language (L2) writing. Participants were 102 EMI learners, each of whom wrote three motivation letters over one academic year in English. The rating scales designed by Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (2017). Functional adequacy in L2 writing: Towards a new rating scale. Language Testing, 34(3), 321–336. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar were used to examine the FA of the written texts in terms of cohesion, coherence, task requirements, content, and comprehensibility. Quantitative results revealed significant differences among the EMI groups under analysis, suggesting that the intensity of instruction may exert an influence on FA in L2 writing. Results from this study show the importance of intensity of exposure to EMI for L2 writing.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background research
    • 2.1Written pragmatic production in EMI settings
    • 2.2The role of intensity of exposure in English-medium instruction
    • 2.3Functional adequacy and pragmatics
      • 2.3.1Studies assessing the functional dimension of the language
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Data collection instruments
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion, limitations and pedagogical implications
  • References
References (42)
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Guzmán-Alcón, Irene
2025. Languages in the curriculum and at home: the impact on written appropriateness. Language, Culture and Curriculum ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Kuiken, Folkert & Ineke Vedder
2022. Measurement of functional adequacy in different learning contexts. TASK. Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning 2:1 ► pp. 8 ff. DOI logo
Kuiken, Folkert & Ineke Vedder
2022. Speaking. In Research methods in instructed second language acquisition [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 3], ► pp. 329 ff. DOI logo
Kuiken, Folkert & Ineke Vedder
2025. From CAF to CAFFA. In Broadening the Horizon of TBLT [Task-Based Language Teaching, 17], ► pp. 147 ff. DOI logo

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