Reconsidering the development of the discourse completion test in interlanguage pragmatics

Afef Labben
Abstract

A survey of the field of Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) shows that the Discourse Completion Test (DCT)2, also referred to as a ‘discourse completion task’ or a ‘production questionnaire’, has been the most frequently used instrument to evaluate second/foreign language learners’ ability to perform speech acts in a target language, despite the harsh criticism leveled against its low construct validity and its failure to represent the features of authentic discourse. Interestingly, focusing on the statement of objectives of a number of ILP studies using DCTs, one can notice that such studies rarely refer to the DCT as a language test. In addition, an overview of the DCT design process as described in several ILP studies shows that ever since its adaptation for the study of pragmatic ability (Blum-Kulka, 1982), there has been a tendency to use or adapt one of the existing DCT versions used in previous studies based on the argument of comparability of results. While a number of ILP researchers tried to improve the design of the DCT by the inclusion of rejoinders or by enhancing the prompt material (e.g. Billmyer and Varghese, 2000), few attempts have been made to reconsider the DCT development process. McNamara and Roever (2006: 253) urge for the need for “more research on testing of sociopragmatic knowledge and design of discourse completion tests for testing purposes.”The present paper starts with an overview of the literature about DCTs with special reference to the cognitive validity of the instrument and to previous studies dealing with DCT structure and content. Then, with reference to research in the fields of language testing and psychometrics, it shows that, whether used for research or instructional purposes, the DCT shares several qualities with language tests. As such, it is argued that the DCT should be treated as a language test and not as a questionnaire and should, thus, undergo a rigorous developmental process. Based on recent models of language test construction, the paper concludes with an overview of the stages of DCT development.

Keywords:
Quick links
A browser-friendly version of this article is not yet available. View PDF
Bachman, L.F., and A.S. Palmer
(1996) Language testing in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bachman, L.F
(2004) Statistical analyses for language assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K., and B.S. Hartford
(1993) Learning the rules of academic talk: A longitudinal study of pragmatic change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 15.3: 279-304. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bardovi‐Harlig, K
(2013) Developing L2 pragmatics. Language Learning 63.1: 68-86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bax, S
(2013) Readers’ cognitive processes during IELTS reading tests: Evidence from eye tracking. ELT Research Papers 13-06.Google Scholar
Beebe, L.M., and M.C. Cummings
(1985) Speech act performance: A function of the data collection procedure? Paper presented at the TESOL convention , New York.
Bella, S
(2014) A contrastive study of apologies performed by Greek native speakers and English learners of Greek as a foreign language. Pragmatics 24.1: 679-713. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bergman, M.L., and G. Kasper
(1993) Perception and performance in native and non-native apology. In G. Kasper, and S. Blum-Kulka (eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 82-107.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E
(1993) Symbolic representation and attentional control. In G. Kaspe,r and S. Blum-Kulka (eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 43-57.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Billmyer, K., and M. Varghese
(2000) Investigating instrument-based pragmatic variability: Effects of enhancing discourse completion tests. Applied Linguistics 21.4: 517-552. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S
(1982) Learning to say what you mean in a second language: A study of the speech act performance of learners of Hebrew as a second language. Applied Linguistics 3.1: 29-59. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S., J. House, and G. Kasper
(eds.) (1989) Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ: Albex.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Boxer, D
(2002) Discourse issues in cross-cultural pragmatics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 22: 150-167. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Brown, J.D
(2008) Raters, functions, item types and the dependability of L2 pragmatics tests. In E.A. Soler, and A.M. Flor (eds.), Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing (Vol. 30). Multilingual Matters. 224-48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Callies, M
(2013) Advancing the research agenda of Interlanguage Pragmatics: The role of learner corpora. In Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics 2013. New York: Springer, pp. 9-36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A.D
(1996) Developing the ability to perform speech acts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18.2: 253-269. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1996) Speech acts. In N. Hornberger, and S. McKay (eds.), Sociolinguistics and language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 382-419.  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2004) Assessing speech acts in a second language. In D. Boxer, and A.D. Cohen (eds.), Studying speaking to inform second language learning (Vol. 8). Multilingual Matters 302-327.Google Scholar
(2008) Teaching and assessing L2 pragmatics: What can we expect from learners? Language Teaching 41.2: 213-235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A.D., and E. Olshtain
(1994) Researching the production of second-language speech acts. Research methodology in second-language acquisition 143-156.Google Scholar
Dornyei, Z
(2003) Questionnaires in second Language Research: Construction, administration, and processing. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbraum.Google Scholar
Douglas, D
(2000) Assessing languages for specific purposes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R
(2004) The definition and measurement of L2 explicit knowledge. Language Learning 54 : 227–275. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Faerch. C., and G. Kasper
(1984) Pragmatic knowledge: Rules and procedures. Applied Linguistics 5.3: 214-225. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Foster, P., and P. Skehan
(1996) The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second language acquisition 18.3: 299-323. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Golato, A
(2003) Studying compliment responses: A comparison of DCTs and recordings of naturally occurring talk. Applied linguistics 24.1: 90-121. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Grabowski, K.C
(2007) Reconsidering the measurement of pragmatic knowledge using a reciprocal written task format. Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics 7.1: 1-48.Google Scholar
(2008) Investigating the construct validity of a performance test designed to measure grammatical and pragmatic knowledge. Spaan Fellow Working Papers in Foreign Language Assessment 6: 131-179.Google Scholar
Hinkel, E
(1997) Appropriateness of advice: DCT and multiple choice data. Applied linguistics 18.1: 1-26. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, B
(2008) Dutch English requests: A study of request performance by Dutch learners of English. In M. Pütz, and J. Neff-van Aertselaer (eds.), Developing contrastive pragmatics: Interlanguage and cross-cultural perspectives (Vol. 31). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 335-354.Google Scholar
Hudson, T., E. Detmer, and J.D. Brown
(1995) Developing prototypic measures of crosscultural pragmatics (Tech. Rep. No 7). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.Google Scholar
Hymes, D
(1972) On communicative competence. Sociolinguistics 269-293.Google Scholar
Johnston, B., G. Kasper,and S. Ross
(1998) Effect of rejoinders in production questionnaires. Applied Linguistics 19.2: 157-182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G
(1997) The role of pragmatics in language teacher education. In K. Bardovi-Harlig, and B. Hartford (eds.), Beyond methods. Components of second language teacher education. New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 113-141.Google Scholar
(2010) Interlanguage pragmatics. In M. Fried, J.O. Östman, and J. Verschueren (eds.), Variation and change: Pragmatic perspectives (Vol. 6). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 141-154. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G., and M. Dahl
(1991) Research methods in interlanguage pragmatics. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 13: 215-247. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G., and S. Blum-Kulka
(eds.) (1993) Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G., and S. Ross
(2013) Assessing second language pragmatics: An overview and introductions. In S. Ross, and G. Kasper (eds.), Assessing Second Language Pragmatics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Korsko, P
(2004) The narrative shape of two-party complaints in Portuguese: A discourse analytic study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City.Google Scholar
Leech, G
(1983) Principles of pragmatics. London: Longman.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Lin, M.F
(2014) An interlanguage pragmatic study on Chinese EFL learners’ refusal: Perception and performance. Journal of Language Teaching and Research 5.3: 642-653. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Flor, A., and E. Usó-Juan
(2006) Learners’ use of request modifiers across two University ESP disciplines. Ibérica 12: 23-41.Google Scholar
McNamara, T.F., and C. Roever
(2006) Language testing: The social dimension. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Olshtain, E., and L. Weinbach
(1993) Interlanguage features of the speech act of complaining. In G. Kasper, and S. Blum-Kulka (eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Rintell, E., and C.L. Mitchell
(1989) Studying requests and apologies: An inquiry into methods. In S. Blum-Kulka., J. House, and G. Kasper (eds.), Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ: Albex, pp. 248-72.Google Scholar
Roever, C
(2004) Difficulty and practicality in tests of interlanguage pragmatics. In D. Boxer, and A.D. Cohen. (eds.), Studying speaking to inform second language learning (Vol. 8). Multilingual Matters 283-301.Google Scholar
(2006) Validation of a web-based test of ESL pragmalinguistics. Language Testing 23.2: 229-256. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) DIF in the assessment of second language pragmatics. Language Assessment Quarterly 4.2: 165-189. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Rater, item and candidate effects in discourse completion tests: A FACETS approach. In E.A. Soler, and A.M. Flor (eds.), Investigating pragmatics in foreign language learning, teaching and testing (Vol. 30). Multilingual Matters 249-266. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Effects of cultural background in a test of ESL pragmalinguistics: A DIF approach. Pragmatics and language learning 12.Google Scholar
(2011) Testing of second language pragmatics: Past and future. Language Testing 28.4: 463-481. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rose, K.R
(1992) Speech acts and questionnaires: The effect of hearer response. Journal of pragmatics 17.1: 49-62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1994) On the validity of discourse completion tests in non-Western contexts. Applied Linguistics 15.1: 1-14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rose, K.R., and R. Ono
(1995) Eliciting speech act data in Japanese: The effect of questionnaire type. Language learning 45.2: 191-223. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ross, S., and G. Kasper
(eds.) (2013) Assessing Second Language Pragmatics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rylander, J., P. Clark, and R. Derrah
(2013) A video-based method of assessing pragmatic awareness. In S. Ross, and G. Kasper (eds.), Assessing Second Language Pragmatics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 65-97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Salehi, R
(2014) A comparative analysis of apology strategy: Iranian EFL learners and native English speakers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 98: 1658-1665. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Samavarchi, L., and H. Allami
(2012) Giving condolences by Persian EFL learners: A contrastive sociopragmatic study. International Journal of English Linguistics 2.1: 71-78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sasaki, M
(1998) Investigating EFL students’ production of speech acts: A comparison of production questionnaires and role plays. Journal of Pragmatics 30.4: 457-484. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, R
(1993) Consciousness, learning, and interlanguage pragmatics. In G. Kasper, and S. Blum-Kulka (eds.), Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 21-42.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Thomas, J
(1983) Cross-cultural pragmatic failure. Applied Linguistics 4: 91-112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Walters, F.S
(2013) Interfaces between a discourse completion test and a conversation analysis-informed test of L2 pragmatic competence. In S. Ross, and G. Kasper (eds.), Assessing Second Language Pragmatics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wolfson, N
(1989) Perspectives: Sociolinguistics and TESOL. New York: Newsbury House.  BoPGoogle Scholar