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Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 28:4 (2018) ► pp.517–546

The effects of English-medium instruction on the use of textual and interpersonal pragmatic markers

| Universitat Internacional de Catalunya | Universitat de Barcelona
| Universitat Pompeu Fabra
| Universitat Internacional de Catalunya | Universitat de Barcelona

This study examines a semi and a full English-medium instruction (EMI) undergraduate program offered at a Catalan university in order to measure its effect on the students’ oral output. Specifically, it tackles the acquisition of pragmatic markers (PMs) by measuring four variables, the overall frequency of use, the variety of types, the use of textual PMs, and the use of interpersonal PMs. Oral data were collected via a monologue and an interaction task. The study is cross-sectional with 39 full-EMI and 33 semi-EMI participants in 2nd and 3rd year of study plus 10 native speakers. PM use was chosen for analysis due to the important role they play in communicative competence. Results show a significant increase in the overall frequency and variety of types of PMs used from year 2 to year 3. The full-EMI group used PMs at a significantly higher frequency and wider variety when compared to the semi-EMI group, neither group reached baseline levels for use of interpersonal PMs, and both groups displayed a higher use of textual PMs compared to the NSs.

Keywords: pragmatic markers, second language acquisition, English-medium instruction, immersion, communicative competence
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Pragmatic marker functions and role in communicative competence
    • 2.1The acquisition of pragmatic markers in instructed second language acquisition
  • 3.English-medium instruction in higher education
    • 3.1The impact of English-medium instruction on second language acquisition
  • 4.Objectives of the study
  • 5.Methodology
    • 5.1Design and participants
    • 5.2Instruments
    • 5.3Procedure
    • 5.4Analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Total frequency and variety of PMs used
    • 6.2Frequency of textual and interpersonal markers
  • 7.Discussion
    • 7.1Frequency and variety of use of PMs
    • 7.2Frequency of textual and interpersonal PMs
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 23 October 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.17042.ame
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