Browsing by Subject "Pragmatic competence"

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Open Access
Conceptual socialization in EFL contexts: a case study on Turkish EFL learners’ request speech acts realization
(Selçuk University, 2019) Şanal, Merve; Ortaçtepe, Deniz
Conceptual socialization refers to the process second/foreign language learners go through to transform their conceptual system so as “to fit the functional needs of the new language and culture” (Kecskes, 2002, p. 157). Therefore, the present study examined Turkish EFL learners’ conceptual socialization by analyzing the similarities and differences between native speakers of English and Turkish learners of English in their request speech acts realization. The data were collected from Turkish learners of English (focal group) and native speakers of English (baseline group) through role-plays and a written discourse completion task on requests both in Turkish and English. Participants’ responses were rated in terms of the level of formality, politeness, directness and appropriateness. The results indicated that although the Turkish EFL learners were higher level learners, they could not produce the required level of politeness, formality and appropriateness in their speech acts as much as the native speakers did. This study reveals that in EFL contexts, where there is lack of authentic social interaction and engagement with a community of practice, language learners’ conceptual socialization process is bound to their experiences of classroom instruction and L1 socialization.
Open Access
The effects of viewing pre-selected video clips on low-level Turkish EFL learners’ use of speech acts
(2017-05) Alver-Yücel, Öznur
This study aimed to investigate the effects of video clips on low-level Turkish EFL learners’ pragmatic competence in using speech acts. The pre-test in a DCT format was administered in low-intermediate level classes at the Department of Basic English (DBE) at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. After the analysis of it, the speech acts in which the participants had difficulty in using were determined to be explicitly taught. The treatment sessions included the tasks during which the participants watched the video clips and discussed the relationship between the characters. Then, some other appropriate structures were covered to improve the participants’ pragmatic competence in speech acts. The analysis of the DCT items in the mid-test revealed that participants formed more appropriate responses in the post-test. Four weeks later, a post-test which included DCT items was administered. The participants were able to write mostly appropriate responses in the post-test, which also revealed the effectiveness of the integration of the video clips while teaching English speech act to low level Turkish EFL learners. The semi-structured interviews with the teachers also indicated the importance of instruction while teaching speech acts. The findings related to the perception questionnaire revealed the importance of providing input via the use of video clips which offer conceptualized input and facilitate learning by having students get more motivated and pay attention during treatment sessions for a longer period. The analysis of the index cards showed that watching videos outside the class can contribute to learning speech acts to some extent because the participants who did not watch videos a lot outside the class performed well because of the treatment sessions.