Abstract
This cross-sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study-abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension in second-language English. Participants were 25 native English speakers and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n= 22) had lower proficiency and no study-abroad experience. Group 2 (n= 20) and Group 3 (n= 22) had higher proficiency than Group 1 but differed in their study-abroad experience. Group 2 had no study-abroad experience, but Group 3 had a minimum of 1 year of study-abroad experience in an English-speaking country. They completed a pragmatic listening test measuring their ability to comprehend conventional and nonconventional implicatures. Group performance was compared for the comprehension accuracy scores and response times. There was a significant effect of proficiency on response times but no effect of study-abroad experience. Comprehension accuracy scores revealed mixed findings. It was advantageous for students to have study-abroad experience in the comprehension of nonconventional implicatures and routine expressions but not in indirect refusals.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 904-939 |
| Number of pages | 36 |
| Journal | Language Learning |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Conventional and nonconventional implicatures
- Interlanguage pragmatics
- Pragmatic comprehension
- Routines
- Study-abroad
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language