A Study Of Chinese Greetings Made By Second Language Learners

As the beginning of social interaction, Greetings are the most frequently used speech act, and improper greetings will lead to the obstacle to communication. Under the cultural and social influences, Chinese greetings have the unique characteristics, causing second language (L2) learners to misinterpret or to be misinterpreted, thus cross-cultural communication breaks down.This thesis is aimed at getting a review of the Chinese greetings made by L2 learners at different levels after the investigation made by means of record, interview and questionnaire, as well as the comparison with the native speakers. Results show that distinction exists between L2 learners and the native speakers as far as the greeting strategies and the language features are concerned. L2 learners adopt fewer greeting patterns and strategies, yet they become more native-like with the development of their Chinese proficiency. In determining the appropriateness of the syntactic patterns and specific strategies, such variables as gender and Chinese background exert little influence. It is also discovered that the inauthentic materials in the textbooks add to L2 learners' difficulty in learning.According to the research, it is believed that much importance should be attached to both the authentic teaching materials and the improvement of L2 learners' pragmatic competence. And teachers should take into account both semantic rules and pragmatic principles while teaching. Such teaching techniques are suggested: providing chances of the classroom communication, interpreting the linguistic pragmatics in and after class, and introducing the culture of the target language. At the same time, the learners are encouraged to take the advantages of the environment and promote intercourses with the native speakers, so as to improve their communicative competence and pragmatic competence.