Developing Chinese Complimenting in a Study Abroad Program
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Li Jin
Abstract
This article reports on an empirical study investigating what and how two college-level American learners of Mandarin Chinese developed their own understanding of the Chinese complimenting speech act while participating in a 7-week intensive language study abroad program. A case study approach was adopted with a focus on participants’ self-reflection data supplemented with the researcher’s observation data to unpack each participant’s pragmatic developmental process throughout the program. Guided by sociocultural theory, the study uncovered the dynamic, complex and highly individualized developmental process each participant experienced. The findings revealed that Chinese people’s special treatment of the two American students provided more constraints than opportunities for them to acquire Chinese complimenting. However, the learners’ own motivation and approaches to learning also significantly shaped their learning process and outcomes. Pedagogical suggestions for Chinese pragmatic development in study abroad contexts are provided.
©2015 Walter de Gruyter, Berlin Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Speech Recognition Technology in Language Testing: Does Taking the Test in an English-Speaking Environment Matter?
- Effects of Strategic Planning Time on L2 Paired Oral Test Performance
- Developing Chinese Complimenting in a Study Abroad Program
- The Development of Bilingual Children’s Narrative Skills: A Report of the “Looking Glass Neighborhood” Program
- The Effects of Written Corrective Feedback on Chinese EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English Collocations
- The Effects of Phonological Awareness Training on the Reading Performance by Child EFL Learners in China
- Metadiscourse Use in English Job Applications
- Chinese Abstracts
- miscellaneous
- Obituary: Christopher N. Candlin
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Speech Recognition Technology in Language Testing: Does Taking the Test in an English-Speaking Environment Matter?
- Effects of Strategic Planning Time on L2 Paired Oral Test Performance
- Developing Chinese Complimenting in a Study Abroad Program
- The Development of Bilingual Children’s Narrative Skills: A Report of the “Looking Glass Neighborhood” Program
- The Effects of Written Corrective Feedback on Chinese EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English Collocations
- The Effects of Phonological Awareness Training on the Reading Performance by Child EFL Learners in China
- Metadiscourse Use in English Job Applications
- Chinese Abstracts
- miscellaneous
- Obituary: Christopher N. Candlin
