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Second language pragmatic development in study abroad contexts
Edited by Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández
[Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education 7:1] 2022
► pp. 152–175

The impact of predeparture instruction on pragmatic development during study abroad

A learning strategies perspective

ORCID logo | Ryukoku University

This study investigates the impact of a predeparture intervention on developing pragmatic knowledge in a study abroad context. The study included 66 university-level Japanese learners of English who participated in a four-month study abroad program in Canada. The intervention consisted of the implicit-inductive, explicit-deductive, and explicit-inductive methods of instruction on speech acts. Pragmatic development was measured by gain scores on a written a discourse completion test requiring realization of apologies. Results of the analysis of covariance, controlling for levels of English proficiency, revealed that the explicitly taught groups had significantly larger gains in pragmatic knowledge than the implicitly taught group, and that when comparing the deductive and inductive approaches in the explicit instruction, the two groups did not differ significantly. Follow-up interviews using extreme-case sampling revealed that the metacognitive strategies they had acquired at the predeparture stage contributed to the gains. Implications for maximizing pragmatic development during study abroad are discussed.

Keywords: L2 pragmatics, instructional pragmatics, predeparture instruction, pragmatics learning strategies
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Predeparture instruction on L2 pragmatics
    • 2.2Methods of pragmatics instruction
    • 2.3Research questions
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Settings of the predeparture orientation course
    • 3.3Treatment procedure
    • 3.4Quantitative phase
      • 3.4.1Data collection
      • 3.4.2Instrument
      • 3.4.3Data analysis
    • 3.5Qualitative phase
      • 3.5.1Data collection
      • 3.5.2Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Descriptive statistics
    • 4.2Analysis of covariance
    • 4.3Analysis of the interview data
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 19 April 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.21006.mat
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