This study investigates the pragmatic transfer Chinese Latter-day Saint (LDS) missionaries speaking English display when responding to compliments in English conversations. Previous studies have shown that native American English speakers have a higher rate of compliment acceptance in their compliment response (CR) strategies. While, native Chinese speakers have a higher rate of denial in their CRs (. A common research question is whether or not CR strategies transfer from a Chinese English speaker's first language (L1) into their English conversations. To measure this, 40 missionaries from the LDS church participated in naturalized role plays. Half were native Chinese (10 male, 10 female), and the other half were native American (10 male and 10 female). Each missionary participated in two role play situations, once with a male researcher and once with a female researcher. These role plays were conducted in English. In each role play the researcher complimented the participant in four areas: 1) ability, 2) native culture/hometown, 3) the LDS church, 4) a small possession (e.g. watch, tie, skirt, etc). CRs were recorded then organized on a CR continuum. A series of univariate and related measures ANOVAs was used to measure significance. Results suggest that Chinese missionaries tend to downgrade and disagree with compliments more than American missionaries. Additionally, female Chinese missionaries tend to overgeneralize using the appreciation token when responding to compliments. Other significant findings include the effect of gender and compliment topic on the missionaries' CR strategies.

The present study investigates pragmatic transfer by Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at low and high proficiency levels in email requests. Data was elicited using an email production questionnaire consisting of four email situations, which vary along two social dimensions: relative power, either equal or higher, and size of imposition, either big or small. Four groups of participants, who were all university students, took part in the study. Thirty-seven Chinese native speakers of Mandarin and 35 Australian native speakers of English provided the baseline data. Thirty-five Chinese EFL learners at low proficiency level and 38 Chinese EFL learners at high proficiency level provided the target data. Altogether 580 emails were collected. Data was classified according to an adapted version of the coding scheme developed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). Email requests were analyzed at both the utterance and discourse levels. At the utterance level, directness level, strategy types and internal modifiers were examined. At the discourse level, external modifiers, including all the supportive moves in the opening, body, and closing of an email request were analyzed. Following Beebe et al. (1990), data was looked at in terms of the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were adopted. To determine evidence of pragmatic transfer, first, the Chinese baseline data and the English baseline data were compared. The EFL data was then compared with that of the two baseline groups. Pragmatic transfer was confirmed if the EFL data resembled the Chinese baseline data but differed from the English baseline data. In addition, the instances of pragmatic transfer displayed by the EFL groups at low and high proficiency levels were compared to examine the correlation between pragmatic transfer and language proficiency, that is, whether pragmatic transfer increases or decreases as learners’ language proficiency increases. Pragmatic transfer was investigated on both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic levels. Findings of the present study show that pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer occurred at the utterance and the discourse levels in all three areas: the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features, by both the low and high proficiency EFL learners. Moreover, a comparison of the performance of requests by the two learner groups indicates that the high proficiency learners had a greater amount of pragmatic transfer than the low proficiency learners. The findings of this study lend strong support to the positive correlation hypothesis proposed by T. Takahashi and Beebe (1987). The findings of the present study highlight the importance of the inclusion of pragmatic components in foreign language teaching. Pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed. Possible suggestions regarding how to improve the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence are provided.

The present study investigates pragmatic transfer by Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at low and high proficiency levels in email requests. Data was elicited using an email production questionnaire consisting of four email situations, which vary along two social dimensions: relative power, either equal or higher, and size of imposition, either big or small. Four groups of participants, who were all university students, took part in the study. Thirty-seven Chinese native speakers of Mandarin and 35 Australian native speakers of English provided the baseline data. Thirty-five Chinese EFL learners at low proficiency level and 38 Chinese EFL learners at high proficiency level provided the target data. Altogether 580 emails were collected. Data was classified according to an adapted version of the coding scheme developed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). Email requests were analyzed at both the utterance and discourse levels. At the utterance level, directness level, strategy types and internal modifiers were examined. At the discourse level, external modifiers, including all the supportive moves in the opening, body, and closing of an email request were analyzed. Following Beebe et al. (1990), data was looked at in terms of the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were adopted. To determine evidence of pragmatic transfer, first, the Chinese baseline data and the English baseline data were compared. The EFL data was then compared with that of the two baseline groups. Pragmatic transfer was confirmed if the EFL data resembled the Chinese baseline data but differed from the English baseline data. In addition, the instances of pragmatic transfer displayed by the EFL groups at low and high proficiency levels were compared to examine the correlation between pragmatic transfer and language proficiency, that is, whether pragmatic transfer increases or decreases as learners’ language proficiency increases. Pragmatic transfer was investigated on both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic levels. Findings of the present study show that pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer occurred at the utterance and the discourse levels in all three areas: the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features, by both the low and high proficiency EFL learners. Moreover, a comparison of the performance of requests by the two learner groups indicates that the high proficiency learners had a greater amount of pragmatic transfer than the low proficiency learners. The findings of this study lend strong support to the positive correlation hypothesis proposed by T. Takahashi and Beebe (1987). The findings of the present study highlight the importance of the inclusion of pragmatic components in foreign language teaching. Pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed. Possible suggestions regarding how to improve the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence are provided.

The present study investigates pragmatic transfer by Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at low and high proficiency levels in email requests. Data was elicited using an email production questionnaire consisting of four email situations, which vary along two social dimensions: relative power, either equal or higher, and size of imposition, either big or small. Four groups of participants, who were all university students, took part in the study. Thirty-seven Chinese native speakers of Mandarin and 35 Australian native speakers of English provided the baseline data. Thirty-five Chinese EFL learners at low proficiency level and 38 Chinese EFL learners at high proficiency level provided the target data. Altogether 580 emails were collected. Data was classified according to an adapted version of the coding scheme developed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). Email requests were analyzed at both the utterance and discourse levels. At the utterance level, directness level, strategy types and internal modifiers were examined. At the discourse level, external modifiers, including all the supportive moves in the opening, body, and closing of an email request were analyzed. Following Beebe et al. (1990), data was looked at in terms of the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were adopted. To determine evidence of pragmatic transfer, first, the Chinese baseline data and the English baseline data were compared. The EFL data was then compared with that of the two baseline groups. Pragmatic transfer was confirmed if the EFL data resembled the Chinese baseline data but differed from the English baseline data. In addition, the instances of pragmatic transfer displayed by the EFL groups at low and high proficiency levels were compared to examine the correlation between pragmatic transfer and language proficiency, that is, whether pragmatic transfer increases or decreases as learners’ language proficiency increases. Pragmatic transfer was investigated on both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic levels. Findings of the present study show that pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer occurred at the utterance and the discourse levels in all three areas: the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features, by both the low and high proficiency EFL learners. Moreover, a comparison of the performance of requests by the two learner groups indicates that the high proficiency learners had a greater amount of pragmatic transfer than the low proficiency learners. The findings of this study lend strong support to the positive correlation hypothesis proposed by T. Takahashi and Beebe (1987). The findings of the present study highlight the importance of the inclusion of pragmatic components in foreign language teaching. Pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed. Possible suggestions regarding how to improve the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence are provided.

The present study investigates pragmatic transfer by Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at low and high proficiency levels in email requests. Data was elicited using an email production questionnaire consisting of four email situations, which vary along two social dimensions: relative power, either equal or higher, and size of imposition, either big or small. Four groups of participants, who were all university students, took part in the study. Thirty-seven Chinese native speakers of Mandarin and 35 Australian native speakers of English provided the baseline data. Thirty-five Chinese EFL learners at low proficiency level and 38 Chinese EFL learners at high proficiency level provided the target data. Altogether 580 emails were collected. Data was classified according to an adapted version of the coding scheme developed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989). Email requests were analyzed at both the utterance and discourse levels. At the utterance level, directness level, strategy types and internal modifiers were examined. At the discourse level, external modifiers, including all the supportive moves in the opening, body, and closing of an email request were analyzed. Following Beebe et al. (1990), data was looked at in terms of the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods were adopted. To determine evidence of pragmatic transfer, first, the Chinese baseline data and the English baseline data were compared. The EFL data was then compared with that of the two baseline groups. Pragmatic transfer was confirmed if the EFL data resembled the Chinese baseline data but differed from the English baseline data. In addition, the instances of pragmatic transfer displayed by the EFL groups at low and high proficiency levels were compared to examine the correlation between pragmatic transfer and language proficiency, that is, whether pragmatic transfer increases or decreases as learners’ language proficiency increases. Pragmatic transfer was investigated on both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic levels. Findings of the present study show that pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfer occurred at the utterance and the discourse levels in all three areas: the frequency, content and average number of pragmatic features, by both the low and high proficiency EFL learners. Moreover, a comparison of the performance of requests by the two learner groups indicates that the high proficiency learners had a greater amount of pragmatic transfer than the low proficiency learners. The findings of this study lend strong support to the positive correlation hypothesis proposed by T. Takahashi and Beebe (1987). The findings of the present study highlight the importance of the inclusion of pragmatic components in foreign language teaching. Pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed. Possible suggestions regarding how to improve the EFL learners’ pragmatic competence are provided.

Dans une communication exolingue, les échecs pragmatiques ne sont pas aussi aisément reconnaissables que les erreurs grammaticales ou phonétiques et de ce fait, ils risquent de mener à des malentendus sans qu’il y ait de tentative de réparation. Comment identifier et expliquer ces difficultés pragmatiques aux apprenants ? Quels sont les moyens possibles pour la transmission du savoir pragmatique ? Cette étude vise à répondre à ces questions en coordonnant, d’une part, les problèmes rencontrés dans les interactions réelles entre Français et Japonais et, d’autre part, ceux qui apparaissent dans les situations d’enseignement du français langue étrangère au Japon. Autour de deux actes de parole (l’excuse et de la réfutation), les différences entre Français et Japonais sont examinées à l’appui de corpus variés : témoignages écrits (livres et blogs) des personnes ayant connu les deux cultures, ouvrages de savoir-vivre ou encore, extraits de films. L’étude se tourne ensuite vers les trois composantes de l’enseignement : le manuel, l’enseignant et l’apprenant. Après une analyse des manuels de français langue étrangère édités au Japon, le travail a été enrichi par des entretiens avec des enseignantes, ainsi que par des questionnaires menés auprès d’apprenants japonais. Cette étude a permis de mettre à jour les possibilités et les difficultés de l’enseignement de la pragmatique, telles que le maniement des stéréotypes, les différences entre enseignant natif et non-natif ou encore la capacité d’observation chez les apprenants même débutants. / In communication between native and non-native speakers, pragmatic failures are not as easily recognizable as grammatical or phonetic errors, and therefore, they risk to lead to misunderstandings; generally speakers have no chance to repair ommunication problems. How do foreign language teachers identify and explain these pragmatic difficulties to the learners ? What are the possible means to teach pragmatics ? This study aims at answering these questions by associating the problems in the real interactions between French and Japanese speakers and those in the situations of teaching French as a foreign language in Japan. Concerning two speech acts (apology and refutation), the differences between French and Japanese are examined using various corpuses: books and blogs written by those who experienced both cultures, French and Japanese literature on manners and etiquette, and some sequences from movies. The study then deals with the three components of education : the textbook, the teacher and the learner. After an analysis of French textbooks published in Japan, interviews were conducted with teachers of French, and questionnaires were administered to Japanese learners. This study made clear the possibilities and the difficulties of teaching pragmatics, such as the way of incorporating stereotypes, the differences between native and non-native teachers, and the learners’ ability to be aware of pragmatic features even at beginner level.