Article published in:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 11:4 (2020) ► pp. 570–590

The impact of pragmatic consciousness-raising tasks on EFL learners’ speech act strategy use

| University of Qom
| University of Qom

Although there are growing attempts to equip learners with strategies in the ESL/EFL classroom, there has not been much effort to implement strategies to assist learners in the learning of speech acts (e.g., Cohen & Ishihara, 2005). This study investigated the impact and effectiveness of instruction on EFL learners’ use of speech act strategies. A group of 131 Iranian undergraduate students were instructed through deductive consciousness-raising (C-R), inductive C-R, and L1-based C-R tasks for seven weeks. The results obtained through Cohen and Ishihara’s (2005) speech act strategy inventory indicated that instruction had a significant impact on participants’ utilization of speech act strategies. It also came to light that the learners were generally receptive to deductive and L1-based pragmatic C-R tasks. The findings suggest that pragmatic C-R tasks and especially L1-based tasks are effective means for applying strategies to supporting learners in the acquisition of speech acts.

Keywords: speech act, strategy use, deductive consciousness-raising tasks, inductive consciousness raising tasks, L1-based consciousness-raising tasks, pragmatics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Consciousness-raising tasks
    • 2.2L1-based consciousness-raising tasks
    • 2.3Speech act strategies
    • 2.4Requesting
    • 2.5The present study
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments
    • 3.3Treatment materials
    • 3.4Data collection procedures
    • 3.5Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Research question #1
    • 4.2Research question #2
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Suggestions for further research
    • 5.2Pedagogical implications
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
Published online: 20 November 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.16066.hos
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