Yong Lang; Lian Wang; Caihong Xie; Wencui Chen
Volume 3, Issue 1 , Winter and Spring 2015, , Pages 28-46
Abstract
This study explores the use of the English locution I love you in the American context. The data were collected through a focus discussion group and a survey questionnaire. 120 college undergraduate students from a large public American university participated in the study with 28 attending the focus ...
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This study explores the use of the English locution I love you in the American context. The data were collected through a focus discussion group and a survey questionnaire. 120 college undergraduate students from a large public American university participated in the study with 28 attending the focus discussion group and 92 completing the survey questionnaire. The findings indicated that the use of I love you is a daily phenomenon. It can be used across a variety of different relationships, in a variety of different modes, during a variety of different occasions, and with a variety of different meanings. The theoretical justification and explanation for Americans’ high frequent and varied use of I love you were tentatively probed. The results from this study delineated a preliminary ethnography of how I love you is used in the American context, which can help EFL teachers and learners understand it more thoroughly, translate it more accurately, and use it more appropriately.
Azizullah Mirzaee; Maryam Esmaeili
Volume 1, Issue 1 , Winter and Spring 2013, , Pages 89-100
Abstract
L2 research has shown that instruction in L2 pragmatics is necessary. The current study evaluated the impact of explicit instruction on EFL learner's awareness and production of three speech acts of request, apology, and complaint. It also probed whether learners’ language proficiency plays any ...
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L2 research has shown that instruction in L2 pragmatics is necessary. The current study evaluated the impact of explicit instruction on EFL learner's awareness and production of three speech acts of request, apology, and complaint. It also probed whether learners’ language proficiency plays any role in incorporating pragmatic instruction into the L2 classroom. Iranian undergraduate students majoring in English with low and high levels of proficiency participated in the study. The instruction lasted for about 12 weeks. Achievement in L2 pragmatics was assessed based on a pretest-posttest plan using Multiple-Choice Discourse Comprehension Test (MDCT) and Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT). The significant gains made by the experimental groups receiving instruction support the claim recently made by instructional pragmatics that explicit instruction does facilitate the development of pragmatically appropriate use of language. Yet, learners’ level of language proficiency had no significant role in the incorporation of the instruction. Further theoretical issues are also discussed.