Instruction of foreign language pragmatics: the teaching and acquisition of multiple speech acts using an explicit focus on forms approach, audiovisual input and conversation analysis tools
This thesis describes the teaching and learning of multiple speech acts from an interlanguage pragmatics perspective since the already existing materials for that purpose have been considered as impoverished in terms of reflecting the use of language in its context. The first chapter "Pragmatics and Speech Act theory" includes the description of Pragmatics as the main area of study which this thesis is based on. It also includes the description of concepts related to pragmatics, such as speech acts, politeness and context. There is also a description of communicative competence paradigms in which pragmatics is included. Interlanguage Pragmatics field of research is introduced as the main research area including pragmatics studies related to the learning and acquisition of different pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects by non native speakers. These studies have been classified as cross sectional, longitudinal and those of pragmatic transfer and development. The last part of this first chapter includes a revision of speech act theories and concepts related as well as the taxonomies of the different speech acts studied in this thesis (complaints, apologies, requests, suggestions and refusals) The second chapter "Pragmatics Learnability, Acquisition and Teachability" includes the description of the conditions stablished for language learning, those of input, output and feedback. A revision of the approaches for developing pragmatics is also presented focusing on three different models, The Noticing Hypothesis, the Two Dimensional model for L2 proficiency development, and the Interaction Hypothesis. We also comment on language instruction in pragmatics by describing the implicit/explicit, deductive/inductive learning conditions. The last part of this chapter is devoted to the revision of the present paradigms in pragmatics instruction (Focus on Meaning, Focus on Forms, and Focus on Form) The third chapter "Audiovisual Input and Conversation Analysis" is focused on the description of audiovisual materials as a rich and appropriate pragmatic source of input, and Conversation Analysis as one of the main source for the analysis of conversations derived from audiovisual input sources, in our case. Thus, we first provide a description of audiovisual genres followed by research already carried out with positive outcomes as regards pragmatics acquisition which includes films, sitcoms and drama, and captions audiovisual aids used. Last, we introduce Conversation Analysis in general terms for a posterior focus on learners as conversational analysts with the aim of making them aware of how language is used in its context. The fourth chapter "Classroom research in Pragmatics" is devoted to the description and explanation of the different written and oral research methods in Pragmatics' studies. This chapter also includes the motivations for the development of this thesis and the research questions and hypotheses which will be confirmed or not. The fifth chapter "Method" is aimed at the description of the study and includes a description of the participants, the instruments of data collection (rank ordering tasks, written assessment tests, oral production tests, after treatment questionnaire, and native speakers questionnaire. Furthermore, a description of the instructional treatment and materials used are also present in this chapter as well as the data collection procedures, instructional sessions and coding and analysis of data. The sixth chapter "Results and Discussion" includes the presentation of five research questions and 17 hypotheses derived from them. The first research question and related hypotheses are focused on the effects of our instruction on awareness; the second research questions is aimed at the description of the effects in written production; the third research question tries to determine the effects of our instructional model on our participants' oral production of speech acts pairs; the fourth research question and subsequent hypotheses are devoted to ascertaining the effects of using audiovisual materials on participants' awareness and production; the sixth and last research question tried to shed light on the effects of the different practices on participants' awareness and production. The last part of this thesis includes a conclusion in which a summary of the research questions and results from the hypotheses is pointed out. Some pedagogical implications and the limitations derived from our study are described in order to be taken into account for further research. This volume also includes a references section in which all the studies cited throughout the main text are present as well as an appendix section which includes all the materials developed for the instructional period (pre and post tests, students' handout, tasks, power point presentation in class)