The Effect of L1 Linguistic and Cultural Background on L2 Pragmatic Competence

Bibliographic Data

ID5900521
AuthorsSviatlana Karpava (0000-0001-8416-1431)
Year2025
Volume10
Issue5
Pages112
Publication date2025-05-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages10050112
OpenAlexW4410320269
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited57

This study examined the pragmatic competence and awareness of L2 learners of English, with a focus on their request strategies in L2 English, levels of (in)directness, request perspective, internal and external modifications, and the impact of tasks. The participants comprised 80 Cypriot Greek (CG) undergraduate students. The pragmatic tests were designed based on Speech Act Theory and included discourse completion tasks (DCTs) and multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQs). Additionally, a role-play and an interview task were employed to assess L2 learners' pragmatic competence in oral discourse. The tasks featured four conditions related to power and social distance: [+social distance, status equals], [−social distance, status equals], [+social distance, hearer dominance], and [−social distance, hearer dominance]. Overall, the results indicated that L2 learners of English tended to prefer conventionally indirect requests, suggesting that L1 linguistic and cultural backgrounds influence expressions of politeness. Face-threatening situations with a high degree of imposition elicited more conventionally indirect requests. Data analysis revealed contextual variation but not a clear task effect. Factors such as social distance, hearer dominance, power, familiarity, and imposition impacted the degree of (in)directness, request perspective, and both internal and external modifications

Competence (human resources · Cultural competence · Linguistic competence · Linguistics · Pedagogy · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Psychology · Philosophy · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access