An Empirical Study On The Relationship Between Pragmatic Transfer And L2 Proficiency

Pragmatic transfer is one of the reasons for intercultural communication breakdowns.Therefore, it has received great attention from many researchers. Many researchers and scholars have studied several factors that influence the condition for pragmatic transfer, such as learning environment, teaching in class, second language proficiency and the length of time living abroad, all of which have made great achievements. However, there are three different opinions about the relationship between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency: a) Since higher proficiency learners have more knowledge of the target language at the pragmatic level, they are more likely to transfer their native language socio-cultural norms than lower proficiency learners. So the relationship between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency is positive. b) The higher the proficiency of the learner is, the less influence of the native language on the interlanguage will be, hence, there are less pragmatic transfer. The relationship between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency is negative. c) The difference of the transfer between learners of different proficiency levels was not apparent and there is not apparent correlation between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency.The thesis explored the relationship between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency by comparing refusals used by Chinese EFL learners in the first and third year in college. The study tried to answer the following three questions: a) Is there evidence of pragmatic transfer in the frequency and typical order of semantic formulas used in refusals of Chinese EFL learners at lower and higher levels? b) If the answer to the first question is positive, do the occurrence of pragmatic transfer differ in the frequency and order of semantic formulas according to their proficiency levels? c) If yes, how pragmatic transfer is related to learners'proficiency level?Data for analysis is obtained from these four groups: 30 Chinese native speakers, 20 native English speakers of America, and two groups of EFL learners of different proficiency levels with 30 members in each group. The research adopts the discourse completion test which was designed by Beebe et al. (1990). The discourse completion test consists of an English version and a Chinese one with the same content and includes 12 situations altogether (three suggestions, three offers, three requests and three invitations). All subjects are asked to answer the questionnaire in the written form, Chinese native speakers answering the Chinese version of the discourse completion test and the other three groups answering the English version.According to the refusal taxonomy of Takahashi and Beebe(1987:55-131), the four groups of data are compared to examine the extent of pragmatic transfer in Chinese EFL learners. After data statistics and analysis, evidence of pragmatic transfer is found in both the frequency and typical order of semantic formulas used by learners at both of the proficiency levels. In terms of the frequency of semantic formulas in refusals of the EFL learners, the result shows a generally positive correlation between the pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency, that is, pragmatic transfer increases as the learners'proficiency increases. However, as to the order of semantic formulas, there is not apparent difference of the degree of pragmatic transfer between the Chinese EFL learners of the two proficiency levels, therefore, there is no clear correlation between pragmatic transfer and L2 proficiency in the order of semantic formulas in refusals. The complex results do not provide support to Takahashi and Beebe's positive correlation hypothesis that"since higher proficiency learners have enough control over the target language to express sentiments of their native language at the pragmatic level, they are more likely to transfer their native language socio-cultural norms than lower proficiency learners who are hindered from transferring complex native language pragmatics due to their limited target language knowledge."(1987:55-131) In addition, the thesis discusses some factors that may have influence on the correlation between pragmatic transfer and second language proficiency.The study ends up with some theoretical and practical implications. Besides, based on the findings in the present research suggestions and solutions have been put forward for teaching and learning pragmatics in EFL classroom. It is suggested that natural data and other instruments, such as observations, role-plays or following-up interviews, be used in future studies.