Cover not available

Article published In: Second language pragmatic development in study abroad contexts
Edited by Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández
[Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 7:1] 2022
► pp. 116–151

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Effects of linguistic proficiency on speech act development in L2 Chinese during study abroad

 | Georgia State University
 | Carnegie Mellon University
 | Northern Arizona University
 | Pomona College
Published online: 19 April 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.21014.li
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of multiple speech acts during study abroad. Participants were 109 American learners of Chinese recruited from a study abroad program in China. They were divided into a higher proficiency (HP) group and a lower proficiency (LP) group based on their scores on a standardized Chinese proficiency test. The participants completed a computerized oral Discourse Completion Test (DCT) that assessed the production of compliment response, refusal, and request as pre- and posttests. The learners’ oral productions were analyzed according to measures of appropriateness rating and speech rate. Linguistic analysis was performed to examine changes in strategy preference and distribution across the three speech acts. Results revealed a complex relationship between proficiency, speech act type, pragmatic performance measure (e.g., appropriateness, speech rate), and ways that pragmatic changes are evaluated (e.g., developmental trajectory, amount of gain).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Speech acts in L2 pragmatics research and in Chinese
    • 2.2Speech act production during study abroad
    • 2.3Effects of proficiency on speech act production during study abroad
    • 2.4This study
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instrument
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion and future research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (53)
References
Al-Gahtani, S., & Roever, C. (2012). Proficiency and sequential organization of L2 requests. Applied Linguistics, 33(1), 42–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Clarendon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Do language learners recognize pragmatic violations? Pragmatic versus grammatical awareness in instructed L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly, 32(2), 233–263. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Hartford, B. (1993). Learning the rules of academic talk: A longitudinal study of pragmatic change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(3), 279–304. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bella, S. (2011). Mitigation and politeness in Greek invitation refusals: Effects of length of residence in the target community and intensity of interaction on non-native speakers’ performance. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1718–1740. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (1993). Symbolic representation and attentional control. In G. Kasper & S. Blum-Kulka (Ed.), Interlanguage pragmatics (pp. 43–57). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, R., & Yang, D. (2010). Responding to compliments in Chinese: Has it changed? Journal of Pragmatics, 42(7), 1951–1963. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Y., & Liu, J. (2016). Constructing a scale to assess L2 written speech act performance: WDCT and e-mail tasks. Language Assessment Quarterly, 13(3), 231–250. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Diao, W. (2016). Peer socialization into gendered Mandarin practices in a study abroad context: Talk in the dorm. Applied Linguistics, 37(5), 599–620. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Félix-Brasdefer, C. (2004). Interlanguage refusals: Linguistic politeness and length of residence in the target community. Language Learning, 54(4), 587–653. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hong, W. (2011). Refusals in Chinese: How do L1 and L2 differ? Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 122–136. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hudson, T., Detmer, E., & Brown, J. D. (1995). Developing prototypic measures of cross-cultural pragmatics. University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jin, L. (2012). When in China, do as the Chinese do? Learning compliment responding in a study abroad program. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 1(2), 211–240. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, H. (2013). The influence of social situations on fluency difficulty in Korean EFL learners’ oral refusals. Journal of Pragmatics, 50(1), 168–186. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee-Wong, S. M. (2000). Politeness and face in Chinese culture. Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, S. (2012). The effects of input-based practice on pragmatic development of requests in L2 Chinese. Language Learning, 62(2), 403–438. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Amount of practice and pragmatic development of request-making in L2 Chinese. In N. Taguchi & J. Sykes (Eds.), Technology in interlanguage pragmatics research and teaching (pp. 43–69). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). The effects of different levels of linguistic proficiency on the development of L2 Chinese request production during study abroad. System, 451, 103–116. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, S., & Taguchi, N. (2014). The effects of practice modality on the development of pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. The Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 794–812. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, S., Taguchi, N., & Xiao, F. (2019). Variations in rating scale functioning in assessing pragmatic performance in L2 Chinese. Language Assessment Quarterly, 16(3), 271–293. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, J. (2006). Measuring interlanguage pragmatic knowledge of Chinese EFL learners. Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matsumura, S. (2003). Modeling the relationship among interlanguage pragmatic development, L2 proficiency, and exposure to L2. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 465–491. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez Vidal, C., & Shively, R. (2019). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad settings. In N. Taguchi (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and pragmatics (pp. 355–371). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Phoocharoensil, S. (2012). L2 English compliment responses: An investigation of pragmatic transfer. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1(6), 276–287.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad contexts. Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Pragmatic development of Chinese during study abroad: A cross-sectional study of learner requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 1461, 137–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roever, C., Fraser, C., & Elder, C. (2014). Testing ESL sociopragmatics: Development and validation of a web-based test battery. Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sánchez-Hernández, A. (2018). Acculturation and pragmatic learning: International students in the United States. In C. Pérez Vidal, S. López-Serrano, J. Ament, & D. J. Thomas-Wilhelm (Eds.), Learning context effects: Study abroad, formal instruction and international immersion classrooms (pp. 283–309). Language Science Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schauer, G. (2009). Interlanguage pragmatic development: The study abroad context. Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shardakova, M. (2005). Intercultural pragmatics in the speech of American L2 learners of Russian: Apologies offered by Americans in Russian. Intercultural Pragmatics, 2(4), 423–451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shively, R. (2011). L2 pragmatic development in study abroad: A longitudinal study of Spanish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(6), 1818–1835. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Su, Y., & Ren, W. (2017). Developing L2 pragmatic competence in Mandarin Chinese: Sequential realization of requests. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 433–457. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Task difficulty in oral speech act production. Applied Linguistics, 28(1), 113–135. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). The role of learning environment in the development of pragmatic comprehension: A comparison of gains between EFL and ESL learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(4), 423–452. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Context, individual differences and pragmatic competence. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Collentine, J. (2018). Language learning in a study-abroad context: Research agenda. Language Teaching, 51(4), 553–566. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., Li, S., & Xiao, F. (2013). Production of formulaic expressions in L2 Chinese: A developmental investigation in a study-abroad context. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 2(1), 23–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taguchi, N., Xiao, F., & Li, S. (2016). Development of pragmatic knowledge in L2 Chinese: Effects of intercultural competence and social contact on speech act production in a study abroad context. The Modern Language Journal, 100(4), 775–796. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tang, X., Taguchi, N., & Li, S. (2021). Social contact and speech act strategies in a Chinese study abroad context. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 6(1), 3–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trosborg, A. (1995). Interlanguage pragmatics: Requests, complaints, and apologies. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wen, X. (2014). Pragmatic development: An exploratory study of requests by learners of Chinese. In Z. Han (Ed.), Studies in Second Language Acquisition of Chinese (pp. 30–56). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Winke, P., & Teng, C. (2010). Using task-based pragmatics tutorials while studying abroad in China. Intercultural Pragmatics, 7(2), 363–399. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xiao, F. (2015a). Adult second language learners’ pragmatic development in the study-abroad context: A review. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 251, 132–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015b). Proficiency effect on L2 pragmatic competence. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 5(4), 557–581. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xiao, F., Taguchi, N., & Li, S. (2019). Effects of proficiency sub-skills on pragmatic development in L2 Chinese study abroad. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(2), 469–483. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, L., & Ke, C. (2021). Proficiency and pragmatic production in L2 Chinese study abroad. System, 981. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, Y. (1995). Strategies in Chinese requesting. In G. Kasper (Ed.), Pragmatics of Chinese as native and target language (pp. 23–68). University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Cantilero, Kristine
2025. Syntactic Priming, Speech Acts, and Linguistic Competence of Senior High School Learners: Basis for the Development of Language Enhancement Exemplars. Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal 44:10 ► pp. 1388 ff. DOI logo
Chen, Mo, Shuai Li, Naoko Taguchi, Yunhuai Zhang, Hengchen Guo & Chunyin Li
2025. Prosody in Pragmatic Competence: Proficiency Impact on Pitch and Fluency Features in Request‐Making in Second Language Chinese. Language Learning 75:S1 ► pp. 55 ff. DOI logo
Gao, Xiaoping & Liming Deng
2025. Rating scales in L2 speech act research: A systematic review. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 4:2 ► pp. 100204 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Yiman
2025. The effect of task choice on refusal speech act performance among Chinese EFL learners: A tripartite analysis of pragmatic knowledge, processing, and interaction. Language Teaching Research DOI logo
Llanes, Àngels, Júlia Barón & Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández
2024. L2 pragmatic development by early teenagers in study abroad and foreign language settings: a focus on pragmatic markers. Language, Culture and Curriculum 37:3 ► pp. 419 ff. DOI logo
Sánchez-Hernández, Ariadna, Júlia Barón & Àngels Llanes
2024. The Development of Pragmatic Markers in English as a Second Language: Do Age and Learning Context Matter?. Languages 9:4 ► pp. 115 ff. DOI logo
Tajeddin, Zia & Neda Khanlarzadeh
2024. The Role of Learner Variables in Pragmatic Development during Study Abroad: A Systematic Review. Languages 9:3 ► pp. 96 ff. DOI logo
Kaderli, Aycan & Özge Razı
2023. English Preparatory School Learners’ Pragmatic Motivation in a StudyAbroad Setting. Sage Open 13:4 DOI logo
Shively, Rachel L.
2023. Pragmatic Development in Study‐Abroad Contexts. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue