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Article published In:
Applied Pragmatics
Vol. 4:1 (2022) ► pp.1–32

The roles of language proficiency and study abroad in Japanese students’ receptive pragmatic competence

ORCID logo | Kansai University
ORCID logo | Curtin University

This study investigated the pragmatic competence of 50 Japanese English major students, divided into two groups, one of which participated in a study abroad (SA) program and the other stayed at home (AH) taking regular university classes. Two tests were used to measure two aspects of the students’ pragmatic competence. The Irony Test measured their ability to identify negative and positive irony. The Metapragmatic Test measured their ability to identify inappropriate speech acts and their understanding of why they were inappropriate. Results showed that, compared with a group of native speakers, the students had difficulty in identifying both irony – especially positive irony – and speech act inappropriateness. The students’ language proficiency was related to their metapragmatic ability but not to their ability to detect irony. A comparison of the SA and AH students revealed a small advantage for the former in the Metapragmatic Test but not in the Irony Test.

Keywords: Japanese university students, pragmatic competence, irony, metapragmatic knowledge, study abroad
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Irony
    • 2.2Metapragmatic knowledge
    • 2.3Proficiency and pragmatic comprehension
    • 2.4Study abroad and pragmatic comprehension
    • 2.5Summary and research questions
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments
      • 3.2.1Irony test
      • 3.2.2Metapragmatic test
      • 3.2.3TOEFL ITP level 1
      • 3.2.4Study abroad questionnaire
    • 3.3Procedures
    • 3.4Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Irony test
    • 4.2Metapragmatic test
    • 4.3Correlations between pragmatic knowledge and proficiency
    • 4.4Influence of studying abroad experience
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 February 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.20011.shi
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