Based on a cross-cultural comparison of requesting behavior between Koreans
and Americans, the study tried to determine the extent of pragmatic transfer and the
impact of individual subjective motives that may influence pragmatic language choice.
Two different groups of subjects participated in this study: 30 Korean
participants for Korean (KK) and also for interlanguage (KE) data who were studying
English as a Second Language (ESL) in a U.S. university, and 30 American college
students (AE). Data were collected by using a questionnaire with a Discourse
Completion Task (DCT). Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 13
Korean ESL learners who showed the highest and the least amount of pragmatic
transfer.
Findings showed evidence of pragmatic transfer in the request responses given
by Korean ESL learners in the level of directness, perspectives of head acts, and the
frequency of supportive moves and internal modifiers. The requesting behaviors of KE
group were realized through more direct strategies than those of AE group. KE speakers had a tendency to use hearer-oriented requests more frequently than AE speakers, but
slightly less than KK speakers, indicating that L1 transfer is operative. Pragmatic
transfer occurred in three supportive moves such as Promise of Reward, Appreciation,
and Apology and in three internal modifiers such as play-down, consultative device, and
downtoner.
The interviewees in this study were conscious of differing rules for requesting.
Learners’ judgment of L2 pragmatic norms, the learners’ perception of their own
language and their attitudes of the learned language have a determining influence on
language use. Furthermore, findings showed that purpose of learning the L2, learners’
different types of motivation, and the length of residence intention contribute to the
extent of pragmatic transfer. Finally, impossibility to acquire native-like proficiency,
fear of disloyalty to their own culture, and preference of L1 styles as a marker of cultural
identity seemed to be factors that influence learners’ pragmatic choices.
Findings of this study offer implications that language educators need to
recognize and plan for the different target goals language learners may have and that
second/foreign language speakers also possess a desire to express their own identity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1286 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Kim, Heekyoung |
| Contributors | Burlbaw, Lynn M., Eslami, Zohreh |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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