This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language... more This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language, and especially learner metalanguage (student speak about their own language use), as a cognitive tool which students employ as they engage in language-learning ...
The current experiment employs a variational pragmatics perspective to explore how the contextual... more The current experiment employs a variational pragmatics perspective to explore how the contextual variables of power, distance, and imposition jointly affect social groups’ and individuals’ choice of verb forms in requests in Madrid, Spain. Using a mixed-method approach to explore the requests of 111 Spanish speakers from Madrid, quantitative analyses determined the level of significance and hierarchical order of the predictor variables of power, distance, and imposition on verb form and also the distribution of verb forms by gender, with male and female participants exhibiting significant differences. Additionally, certain participants demonstrated decreased sensitivity to contextual factors, adopting more categorically indirect or direct request strategies. The examination of both gendered request patterns and the stances that single participants adopt through their verb-form selections contributes to our understanding of the social moves that are made by all speakers, not just th...
This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in si... more This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in six situations involving contradictory monetary information. Twenty participants attempted to repair contradictory information in 120 responses that were classified based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) face-threatening act (FTA) strategies and analyzed quantitatively. Quantitative and qualitative analyses considered social power, distance and imposition. Significant differences between the two groups indicated that Mexicans were minimally affected while Spaniards were significantly affected by social power and distance. This research indicates less attention paid to social hierarchies by Mexicans and more attention given to negative politeness by Spaniards than previously indicated in the literature. Direct strategies were frequently used, suggesting that direct FTAs are appropriate in these situations for both groups
International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 2020
The current investigation examined the development of second language (L2) intensifier use in spo... more The current investigation examined the development of second language (L2) intensifier use in spoken Spanish over a 6-week immersion program in Madrid (n = 45). Native Spanish speakers from Madrid (n = 10) served as a comparison group to represent the local ambient input or sociopragmatic norm to which L2 learners were exposed. Data were extracted from semi-structured interviews. Results exposed different developmental trends over the program for intensifier frequency, intensifier lexical diversity, and intensifier collocations. While learners already had a strong sense of which intensifiers were most frequent in Spanish and how to use them in appropriate linguistic environments at the beginning of the program, the immersion program had positive impacts on the development of intensifier frequency and intensifier lexical diversity. The findings also highlighted different intensifier frequency developmental trends among learners, which collectively suggested that learners adjusted to ...
The current study examines English-speaking learners of Spanish and their pragmatic development o... more The current study examines English-speaking learners of Spanish and their pragmatic development of request forms during a six-week immersion program in Madrid, Spain. Elicited production and intuition data were analyzed, focusing on personal deictic orientation, directness evidenced by clause type, and the use of por favor 'please,' and comparing learners to native speakers of Peninsular Spanish. Results indicate pragmatic acquisition over the short-term program, suggested by a change in the learners' produced requests and intuitions regarding requests and also an increase in the pragmatic appropriateness of leaners' requests and intuitions over the program. Importantly, these results demonstrate that pragmatic acquisition can occur during a short-term immersion program, and during one without any pragmatic intervention. The discussion addresses potentially important programmatic variables, developmental patterns, and also an interlanguage perspective of requests, considering grammatical form, speech act, and illocutionary force in Spanish and English as challenges for learners.
Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 2018
This investigation examined intercultural knowledge development in a short-term study abroad prog... more This investigation examined intercultural knowledge development in a short-term study abroad program in a cultural and linguistic minority context (Basque Country, Spain). A pre- and post-program quantitative and qualitative design was used with 26 participants. The quantitative, survey-based results demonstrated an increase in intercultural knowledge over the five weeks. Qualitative analysis of interview data indicated that students’ intercultural knowledge aligned with Lussier’s (2007)description of knowledge about small c culture and included knowledge of social groups—a distinct finding from prior research. Students’ knowledge changed over the period abroad, indicating adjustment to City life and Time and Schedule norms. Additionally, knowledge growth was greatest with respect to subthemes strongly linked to the minority context (e.g. Basque ethnicity, culture, language). This study offers detailed information about intercultural knowledge development during short-term study abr...
This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in si... more This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in six situations involving contradictory monetary information. Twenty participants attempted to repair contradictory information in 120 responses that were classified based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) face-threatening act (FTA) strategies and analyzed quantitatively. Quantitative and qualitative analyses considered social power, distance and imposition. Significant differences between the two groups indicated that Mexicans were minimally affected while Spaniards were significantly affected by social power and distance. This research indicates less attention paid to social hierarchies by Mexicans and more attention given to negative politeness by Spaniards than previously indicated in the literature. Direct strategies were frequently used, suggesting that direct FTAs are appropriate in these situations for both groups
Abstract The present study, regarding the influence of imposition and uncertainty on mitigation, ... more Abstract The present study, regarding the influence of imposition and uncertainty on mitigation, explored speakers’ and listeners’ perspectives on mitigation in interaction. Participants assessed the video playbacks of their own role play interactions, relating to four contexts. The four contexts, which combined imposition and certitude to manipulate mitigation, provoked interactions about: a missing car (severe imposition/uncertain), a stolen car (severe imposition/certain), a missing glass pitcher (mild imposition/uncertain), and a broken glass pitcher (mild imposition/certain). Following creation of 56 dyadic role plays, participant perspective data was collected using playback comments. The comments about the interactions, categorized initially through a grounded approach to qualitative analysis, expressed emotion words, discourse purposes, and discourse evaluations. Some of the notable findings were that too much mitigation may be detrimental and that speakers and listeners differ in the emotion words used to characterize their interactions and also their tendency to address discourse purposes or evaluations. Recommendations for future mitigation research included using both role play and naturally occurring interactions, an increased consideration of emotion in mitigation research, and further examination of the role of speaker and listener in mitigated interactions.
This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language... more This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language, and especially learner metalanguage (student speak about their own language use), as a cognitive tool which students employ as they engage in language-learning ...
The current experiment employs a variational pragmatics perspective to explore how the contextual... more The current experiment employs a variational pragmatics perspective to explore how the contextual variables of power, distance, and imposition jointly affect social groups’ and individuals’ choice of verb forms in requests in Madrid, Spain. Using a mixed-method approach to explore the requests of 111 Spanish speakers from Madrid, quantitative analyses determined the level of significance and hierarchical order of the predictor variables of power, distance, and imposition on verb form and also the distribution of verb forms by gender, with male and female participants exhibiting significant differences. Additionally, certain participants demonstrated decreased sensitivity to contextual factors, adopting more categorically indirect or direct request strategies. The examination of both gendered request patterns and the stances that single participants adopt through their verb-form selections contributes to our understanding of the social moves that are made by all speakers, not just th...
This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in si... more This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in six situations involving contradictory monetary information. Twenty participants attempted to repair contradictory information in 120 responses that were classified based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) face-threatening act (FTA) strategies and analyzed quantitatively. Quantitative and qualitative analyses considered social power, distance and imposition. Significant differences between the two groups indicated that Mexicans were minimally affected while Spaniards were significantly affected by social power and distance. This research indicates less attention paid to social hierarchies by Mexicans and more attention given to negative politeness by Spaniards than previously indicated in the literature. Direct strategies were frequently used, suggesting that direct FTAs are appropriate in these situations for both groups
International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 2020
The current investigation examined the development of second language (L2) intensifier use in spo... more The current investigation examined the development of second language (L2) intensifier use in spoken Spanish over a 6-week immersion program in Madrid (n = 45). Native Spanish speakers from Madrid (n = 10) served as a comparison group to represent the local ambient input or sociopragmatic norm to which L2 learners were exposed. Data were extracted from semi-structured interviews. Results exposed different developmental trends over the program for intensifier frequency, intensifier lexical diversity, and intensifier collocations. While learners already had a strong sense of which intensifiers were most frequent in Spanish and how to use them in appropriate linguistic environments at the beginning of the program, the immersion program had positive impacts on the development of intensifier frequency and intensifier lexical diversity. The findings also highlighted different intensifier frequency developmental trends among learners, which collectively suggested that learners adjusted to ...
The current study examines English-speaking learners of Spanish and their pragmatic development o... more The current study examines English-speaking learners of Spanish and their pragmatic development of request forms during a six-week immersion program in Madrid, Spain. Elicited production and intuition data were analyzed, focusing on personal deictic orientation, directness evidenced by clause type, and the use of por favor 'please,' and comparing learners to native speakers of Peninsular Spanish. Results indicate pragmatic acquisition over the short-term program, suggested by a change in the learners' produced requests and intuitions regarding requests and also an increase in the pragmatic appropriateness of leaners' requests and intuitions over the program. Importantly, these results demonstrate that pragmatic acquisition can occur during a short-term immersion program, and during one without any pragmatic intervention. The discussion addresses potentially important programmatic variables, developmental patterns, and also an interlanguage perspective of requests, considering grammatical form, speech act, and illocutionary force in Spanish and English as challenges for learners.
Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 2018
This investigation examined intercultural knowledge development in a short-term study abroad prog... more This investigation examined intercultural knowledge development in a short-term study abroad program in a cultural and linguistic minority context (Basque Country, Spain). A pre- and post-program quantitative and qualitative design was used with 26 participants. The quantitative, survey-based results demonstrated an increase in intercultural knowledge over the five weeks. Qualitative analysis of interview data indicated that students’ intercultural knowledge aligned with Lussier’s (2007)description of knowledge about small c culture and included knowledge of social groups—a distinct finding from prior research. Students’ knowledge changed over the period abroad, indicating adjustment to City life and Time and Schedule norms. Additionally, knowledge growth was greatest with respect to subthemes strongly linked to the minority context (e.g. Basque ethnicity, culture, language). This study offers detailed information about intercultural knowledge development during short-term study abr...
This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in si... more This research examines politeness strategies used by Spanish speakers from Spain and Mexico in six situations involving contradictory monetary information. Twenty participants attempted to repair contradictory information in 120 responses that were classified based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) face-threatening act (FTA) strategies and analyzed quantitatively. Quantitative and qualitative analyses considered social power, distance and imposition. Significant differences between the two groups indicated that Mexicans were minimally affected while Spaniards were significantly affected by social power and distance. This research indicates less attention paid to social hierarchies by Mexicans and more attention given to negative politeness by Spaniards than previously indicated in the literature. Direct strategies were frequently used, suggesting that direct FTAs are appropriate in these situations for both groups
Abstract The present study, regarding the influence of imposition and uncertainty on mitigation, ... more Abstract The present study, regarding the influence of imposition and uncertainty on mitigation, explored speakers’ and listeners’ perspectives on mitigation in interaction. Participants assessed the video playbacks of their own role play interactions, relating to four contexts. The four contexts, which combined imposition and certitude to manipulate mitigation, provoked interactions about: a missing car (severe imposition/uncertain), a stolen car (severe imposition/certain), a missing glass pitcher (mild imposition/uncertain), and a broken glass pitcher (mild imposition/certain). Following creation of 56 dyadic role plays, participant perspective data was collected using playback comments. The comments about the interactions, categorized initially through a grounded approach to qualitative analysis, expressed emotion words, discourse purposes, and discourse evaluations. Some of the notable findings were that too much mitigation may be detrimental and that speakers and listeners differ in the emotion words used to characterize their interactions and also their tendency to address discourse purposes or evaluations. Recommendations for future mitigation research included using both role play and naturally occurring interactions, an increased consideration of emotion in mitigation research, and further examination of the role of speaker and listener in mitigated interactions.
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