7. Sociopragmatic competence and second language acquisition: Learners of English in a study abroad context
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Giuditta Caliendo
Abstract
Reflecting today’s globalisation, student mobility has now become increasingly popular among university students. Such mobility programmes allow participants to expand their cultural and social knowledge of the target language community as well as to foster or learn another language during the study abroad (SA) experience. A number of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies situated within SA learning contexts have started to appear over the last three decades in order to analyse the linguistic development in the second language (L2) during a period of student mobility abroad. This Chapter will contribute to this research stream by focusing on the sociopragmatic competence in English as an L2 of five university students during their Erasmus programme in Ireland. In particular, their sociopragmatic competence will be analysed by focusing on their use over time of discourse markers (DMs) in the L2. The linguistic items under analysis were yeah, like, well, ehm, and were analysed longitudinally in order to investigate whether any differences were present over time in their frequency and use in learner language. Combining insights from the research domains of sociolinguistic variation in SLA and L2 Pragmatics, this contribution is an exploratory study aimed to investigate to what extent a temporary period of transnational mobility in Ireland affected learners’ use of DMs in L2 English upon completion of SA. Data were elicited with individual sociolinguistic interviews (Labov 984). The DMs under analysis were tracked over a period of about six months and were then compared to a baseline corpus of interviews elicited from Irish English native speakers.
Abstract
Reflecting today’s globalisation, student mobility has now become increasingly popular among university students. Such mobility programmes allow participants to expand their cultural and social knowledge of the target language community as well as to foster or learn another language during the study abroad (SA) experience. A number of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies situated within SA learning contexts have started to appear over the last three decades in order to analyse the linguistic development in the second language (L2) during a period of student mobility abroad. This Chapter will contribute to this research stream by focusing on the sociopragmatic competence in English as an L2 of five university students during their Erasmus programme in Ireland. In particular, their sociopragmatic competence will be analysed by focusing on their use over time of discourse markers (DMs) in the L2. The linguistic items under analysis were yeah, like, well, ehm, and were analysed longitudinally in order to investigate whether any differences were present over time in their frequency and use in learner language. Combining insights from the research domains of sociolinguistic variation in SLA and L2 Pragmatics, this contribution is an exploratory study aimed to investigate to what extent a temporary period of transnational mobility in Ireland affected learners’ use of DMs in L2 English upon completion of SA. Data were elicited with individual sociolinguistic interviews (Labov 984). The DMs under analysis were tracked over a period of about six months and were then compared to a baseline corpus of interviews elicited from Irish English native speakers.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1: Tensions between language policies and language practices
- 1. Language policies versus language practices: A new language conflict? 13
- 2. Multilingualism and immigration in the educational system: The case of Italian schools 37
-
Part 2: Responses to multilingual challenges in the field of societal practices
- 3. Rescaling the problem of language difference: Some observations for policy and practice of language support in an era of globalisation 71
- 4. “Only dirty things!” Functions of mother tongue use in collaborative group work 91
-
Part 3: Responses to multilingual challenges in the context of family policies and practices
- 5. Urban multilingualism and family language policy 121
- 6. Multilingual family practices: An interactional study 141
-
Part 4: New ways of mapping multilingual proficiency
- 7. Sociopragmatic competence and second language acquisition: Learners of English in a study abroad context 167
- 8. The building of textual cohesion in the narrations of bilingual children: Implications for bilingualism and multilingual societies 191
- Conclusion 217
- Index 227
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements VII
- Contents IX
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1: Tensions between language policies and language practices
- 1. Language policies versus language practices: A new language conflict? 13
- 2. Multilingualism and immigration in the educational system: The case of Italian schools 37
-
Part 2: Responses to multilingual challenges in the field of societal practices
- 3. Rescaling the problem of language difference: Some observations for policy and practice of language support in an era of globalisation 71
- 4. “Only dirty things!” Functions of mother tongue use in collaborative group work 91
-
Part 3: Responses to multilingual challenges in the context of family policies and practices
- 5. Urban multilingualism and family language policy 121
- 6. Multilingual family practices: An interactional study 141
-
Part 4: New ways of mapping multilingual proficiency
- 7. Sociopragmatic competence and second language acquisition: Learners of English in a study abroad context 167
- 8. The building of textual cohesion in the narrations of bilingual children: Implications for bilingualism and multilingual societies 191
- Conclusion 217
- Index 227
