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New technology such as fully-automated interactive spoken dialogue systems (SDS), which allow learners to engage in multi-turn conversations with an automated agent, could provide a means for second and foreign language learners (L2) to practice form-function-context mappings in oral interaction. In this study, we investigated how learners interacted with an automated agent as they engaged in an SDS task that required them to make two requests. We examined the requests employed by 107 L2 learners, exploring in particular the request strategies and modifications used. We first transcribed verbatim all audio-recorded dialogues. Then, all turns were coded as to whether they contained a request or not. All turns that were identified as including requests were then coded for four categories adopted from Cross-cultural Speech Act Realization Patterns project: (1) Level of directness, (2) Request strategy, (3) External modifiers, and (4) Internal modifiers. Direct requests were most frequently used and learners’ preferred request strategies were want-statements and query preparatories. Additionally, they employed more internal than external modifications – a finding that seems contrary to most interlanguage studies on request realization. Moreover, we found distinct request realizations when comparing L1 Hungarian and L1 Japanese learners of English. We discuss the findings with regard to previous interlanguage studies on request realization, the potential impact of an automated agent, and ways automated spoken dialog systems might be used to implement individualized feedback to raise learners’ pragmatic awareness.

This paper describes an approach to designing interactive, automated dialogues for L2 pragmatics learning. It first outlines advantages and challenges of using automated multi-turn conversations to help learners practice pragmatic moves. In order to deal with a particular challenge-excessive variability in users' pragmatic performances-an interactive dialogue aimed at eliciting requests was deployed via a crowdsourcing platform. A total of 328 completed conversations, with both L1 and L2 English speakers, were collected and analyzed with regard to number of turns and requests as well as request strategies elicited in the conversations. Requests were coded based on head acts as direct (D), conventionally indirect (CI), and hint (H). The results revealed interesting patterns in both L1 and L2 speaker responses. For example, even though they were speaking to the same interlocutor, L1 speakers tended to use different request strategies for two distinct requests, dependent on the interaction sequence and prompts within the dialogue. Moreover, further culture-specific variability was identified. Finally, the implications of the findings for the design and use of systematic feedback on pragmatics in computer-assisted language learning applications is discussed.

Email messages have become the prevalent medium in academic communication between students and faculty at Hungarian universities. Over the past decade communication with international students of diverse language and cultural backgrounds has made the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) typical in a previously culturally homogeneous setting. This paper analyzes email requests written by international students of various first language (L1) backgrounds (N = 37). The aim is to characterize requests in terms of directness, strategy use, request modification, address forms and closings. Findings shed light on three salient features of ELF requests: an overall preference for direct strategies, a limited range of internal modifiers, and uses of mostly formal, though not always academic address forms. Given the goal-driven nature of ELF interactions, the paper argues that these characteristics may serve as pragmatic strategies to preempt misunderstanding and to enhance intelligibility. Furthermore, interactants’ wish to express identity and their engagement in constructing new norms specific to their unique ELF contexts may also underlie their pragmalinguistic choices.