Lexical-Grammatical Pragmatic Indicators

Blum‐Kulka, Shoshana; Levenston, E. A.

doi:10.1017/s0272263100000450

Cited by 39 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This finding was not unexpected and seems patently obvious in the scholarly literature suggesting that extended, meaningful exposure to cultural and linguistic life of the target language will have a positive effect on the learning of a L2 (e.g., Brown, 2000). Empirically, in order to account for learner-specific speech act behavior, attempts have been made from both intralingual perspectives, such as overgeneralization and simplification of L2 pragmatic knowledge (e.g., Blum-Kulka & Levenston, 1987), and interlingual perspectives, such as pragmatic transfer from the learners' L1 (e.g., Kasper & Blum-Kulka, 1993). As is the case with all language-learning tasks, intralingual phases are indeed likely to occur in the process of speech act acquisition; in contrast, given that there is much speech act research 108…”

Section: Qualitative Analysis and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interlinguistic Variation and Similarity in Second Language Speech Act Behavior

2004

The Modern Language Journal

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This study investigates the compliment response behavior of 2 groups of Chinese learners of English, one living in the United States and the other in Taiwan. The present study compared the behavior of these learner groups with that of native Chinese and English speakers in order to determine how they respond to compliments in different situations when two contextual variables, addressees' status and gender, vary.Compliment responses by the Chinese using Chinese and the learners in Taiwan were more likely to be rejections than acceptances, whereas responses to compliments by the Americans and the learners in the United States were more likely to be acceptances than rejections. Furthermore, although there were substantial differences between the 2 learner groups, the performance of both reflected native language (L1) communicative styles and transfer of L1 sociocultural strategies in their second language behavior. SPEECH ACT BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN A CENtral concern for researchers in the field of interlanguage pragmatics in which a major focus of study is the pragmatic difficulties that distinguish the behavior of second language (L2) learners from that of target language speakers. Although successfully learning a new language does not mean that learners, when employing the L2, have to forego their native language (L1) norms completely and adopt the culture of that new language, the differences in the behaviors of L1 and L2 speakers has engaged researchers in interlanguage pragmatics. Lack of mastery of grammar, combined with sociolinguistic confusion, can make learners appear improper or incompetent. It can also cause misunderstandings or create offense when learners can understand only the literal meaning of words and do not know the rules of use for interpreting those words (Rintell & Mitchell, 1989). Such differences often contribute to unexpected pragmatic failure and possibly to serious trouble for L2 learners.The present study focused on the interlanguage behavior of adult Chinese learners of American English and how they respond to the speech act of "compliments" in their L2, English. 1 Two groups of learners, one living in the United States and the other in Taiwan, participated. 2 The study focused on linguistic contexts for which Chinese (the speakers' L1) and English (their L2) had different pragmatic constraints. It therefore compared how learners responded to compliments in different situations with interlocutors from various backgrounds. The study thereby detected the learners' L2 pragmatic difficulties that might relate to features of their L1. 3 Research concerning L2 pragmatic competence often has as its focus the speech act performance of nonnative and native speakers. The present study dealt with "compliment responses," a much used, yet intricate act. Research has shown not only that responding to compliments involves a complex relationship among linguistic forms, meanings, and pragmatic prerequisites, but also that high social stakes shape speakers' be-

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Section: Qualitative Analysis and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interlinguistic Variation and Similarity in Second Language Speech Act Behavior

2004

The Modern Language Journal

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“…Effects of development in the lexicon were noted by Blum-Kulka and Levenston (1987) where learners of Hebrew use the equivalent of have in requests such as "Can I have your notes?" rather than the more specific terms such as borrow or lend which according to Blum-Kulka and Levenston are less scary to the addressee.…”

Section: The Relation Of Pragmatic and Grammatical Competencementioning

confidence: 98%

Exploring the Interlanguage of Interlanguage Pragmatics: A Research Agenda for Acquisitional Pragmatics

1999

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G. Kasper and R. Schmidt (1996) have argued that the field of investigation known as interlanguage pragmatics has been essentially modelled on cross‐cultural pragmatics. Taking Kasper and Schmidt's argument one step further, this article shows how interlanguage itself has been ignored in research on interlanguage pragmatics. Research has not established that pragmatic competence is independent of grammatical competence. Although grammatical competence may not be a sufficient condition for pragmatic development, it may be a necessary condition. I outline a research agenda in which the study of interlanguage becomes more central to the study of interlanguage pragmatics.

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“…But colloquial vocabulary would be the least likely of lexical items to have cognates in the L1, particularly with the languages that formed the linguistic backgrounds of these NESB students. Indeed, knowing colloquial terms may mean knowing a word not only in its semantic sense but also in its pragmatic and sociolinguistic sense (Blum-Kulka & Levenston, 1987;Carter, 1987: 161, after Martin, 1984, the word spider to refer to a fizzy drink with ice cream, being a case in point. Indeed, the colloquial vocabulary tested here conforms more to the notion of incidental vocabulary, that is, those words which are acquired outside formal learning situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Acquisition of Colloquial Terms by Western Australian Primary School Children from Non-English-speaking Backgrounds

Oliver¹,

McKay²,

Rochecouste³

2003

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

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This paper reports on language variation research carried out in Western Australian primary schools. It addresses differences in the acquisition of vocabulary, in particular the acquisition of colloquial Australian English vocabulary by students from English-speaking backgrounds (ESB) and from a range of non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB). The data show differences which are attributable to a lack of familiarity with terms and the objects that they represent, which promoted strategies such as generic terms of circumlocution and which may have resulted from partial word knowledge. Other differences were attributable to cultural influences and were evident in varied patterns of word usage among the different non-English-speaking background groups. The findings of this paper suggest the importance of knowing a word not only in its semantic sense but also in its pragmatic and sociolinguistic sense.

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Lexical-Grammatical Pragmatic Indicators

Cited by 39 publications

References 5 publications

Interlinguistic Variation and Similarity in Second Language Speech Act Behavior

Interlinguistic Variation and Similarity in Second Language Speech Act Behavior

Exploring the Interlanguage of Interlanguage Pragmatics: A Research Agenda for Acquisitional Pragmatics

The Acquisition of Colloquial Terms by Western Australian Primary School Children from Non-English-speaking Backgrounds

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