A Study On L2 Learners' Acquisitiion Of The Speech Act Of Apology

As a branch of second language acquisition research, interlanguage pragmatics is the study of non-native speakers' use and acquisition of speech acts in a second language. Many empirical researches have been conducted to describe speech act performance by non-native speakers, aiming to examine similarities and differences in contrast to native speakers. However, little is known about the pragmatic competence of non-English-major graduates, especially in the form of written English which has been long neglected. Although many researches have been focused on pragmatic failure, pragmatic transfer, the relationship between pragmatic competence and linguistic competence, there are no definite conclusions. Moreover, less is known about effective ways to improve L2 learners' pragmatic competence. The present study is intended to fill the gap by investigating pragmatic competence demonstrated in the speech act of apology and ways to improve learners' pragmatic proficiency.This dissertation focuses on the following questions:(1) Are there any differences in apology strategies between non-English-major graduates and native speakers? If yes, what are the differences?(2) What is the level of non-English-major graduates' pragmatic competence? Is there a relationship between L2 learners' pragmatic competence, linguistic competence and length of study?(3) How can L2 learners' pragmatic competence be improved in classroom setting?(4) What is the effect of instruction on L2 learners' development of pragmatic competence?Background questionnaires, open discourse completion tests and evaluation of apology situations as well as interviews are used to elicit data. SPSS is applied to perform ANOVA and analyze the correlation. The results of the responses from the subjects of the experiment group and the control group indicate that there are not many significant differences in selection of apology strategies between native speakers and L2 learners of English. However, there are significant differences in the evaluation of apology situations shown by the four social parameters, namely social distance, social power, severity of offense and obligation of apology between them. There is also correlation between the evaluation of apology situations and apology strategy selection in both groups. However, such correlation has little to do with the significant differences in their selection of apology strategies. The main difference is the inappropriateness and incorrectness of apologies made by L2 learners. Negative transfers appear quite often. Non-English-major graduates' pragmatic competence is out of proportion to their linguistic competence and length of English study.The reasons for L2 learners' pragmatic incompetence are insufficient input of pragmatic knowledge and ineffective way of classroom instructions, which is shown by a detailed analysis of the instructions and the English textbooks of listening and speaking as well as reading and writing used by L2 learners in the university at the graduate, undergraduate and doctoral level. Subsequently, explicit instructions of making apologies in different situations combined with practices in class are offered to the experiment group. The results show that there is only a slight change of L2 learners' selection of apology strategies but there is significant improvement of the experiment group in making appropriate apologies without errors, which does not exist in the control group. Thus, instructions of pragmatic knowledge with practices can greatly improve L2 learners' pragmatic competence.The thesis is of much theoretical significance. On the basis of different definitions of apology and various classifications of apology strategies, a new definition and classification are put forward. The research has empirically confirmed or revised previous conclusions with regard to the acquisition of pragmatic competence and established data for performing apology strategies in written English. Since our foreign language teaching has long been attaching more importance to grammar and language forms, learners are often at a loss to know how to use the language to perform different functions. Therefore, the study will be of vital importance to the improvement of learners' communicative competence and provide implications for EFL teaching in China in the aspect of adjusting our syllabus and teaching methods to facilitate L2 teaching and learning.