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Article published In:
Applied Pragmatics
Vol. 1:2 (2019) ► pp.154–183

L2 Chinese learners’ pragmatic developmental patterns in data-driven instruction and computer-mediated communication (CMC)

A case of Chinese sentence final particle ne

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This study examined second language (L2) Chinese learners’ developmental patterns of pragmatic competence in two computer-mediated communication (CMC) conditions: (1) CMC with data-driven instruction embedded in the course of CMC and (2) CMC without data-driven instruction. Learners’ pragmatic competence was operationalized as their ability to use a Chinese sentence final particle (SFP) ne during CMC with a native speaker partner. The study investigated: (1) whether learners (as a group) developed their use of ne over time in the two CMC conditions, and (2) how individual learners changed their use of ne (if any) in the two conditions. The quantitative analysis (token and type frequency of ne) revealed that CMC itself did not promote learners’ use of ne. However, it promoted learners’ production of ne when data-driven instruction was incorporated into CMC. Supporting the quantitative findings, the qualitative analysis showed that one learner in the CMC with data-driven instruction outperformed his counterpart in the CMC without data-driven instruction group in the diverse use of ne.

Keywords: Computer-mediated communication (CMC), pragmatic development, L2 Chinese
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1CMC without data-driven instruction
    • 2.2CMC with data-driven instruction
  • 3.Chinese sentence final particles (SFPs)
  • 4.Research questions
  • 5.Methods
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Data collection
    • 5.3Instructional materials
    • 5.4Knowledge test of SFPs
    • 5.5Data analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Quantitative findings
    • 6.2Qualitative findings
      • 6.2.1The case of Mike from the control group
      • 6.2.2The case of Evan from the experimental group
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 November 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.19006.li
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