Over the past decades, research on L2 learners’ pragmatic competence, or the ability to use language appropriately in context, has been well documented. Much attention has been paid to native-nonnative differences... [ view full abstract ]
Over the past decades, research on L2 learners’ pragmatic competence, or the ability to use language appropriately in context, has been well documented. Much attention has been paid to native-nonnative differences and the approaches to enhance L2 learners’ pragmatic competence of the target language.
Most research concerning pragmatic competence take a cognitive stance and focus on the mind of the learner, and very few studies have examined L2 learners’ pragmatic development from a sociocultural perspective. In fact, according to Vygotsky (1978), all individuals are socially situated and learning occurs through social interactions. He argues that cognitive development, or language development is most likely to occur when an individual interacts with a more knowledgeable person, who provides guided support, or scaffolding. Donato (1994) extends Vygotsky’s theory to L2 learning and maintains that learner-learner interactions provide the same kind of guided support since learners are “at the same time individually novices and collectively experts” (p. 46).
This study aims to investigate the effect of pair work on L2 learners’ email requests to faculty. Three research questions were posed. First, does pair work lead to better email performance than individual work? Second, what do pair dialogues focus on during the completion of an email? Finally, what are the learners’ perceptions of pair work in the completion of an email? This study used a within-subject design, in which all the learners performed both the individual and pair work. Thirty intermediate Chinese learners of English were recruited in this study. Two isomorphic versions of email tasks were the major instruments. The procedures consisted of three distinct sessions: individual work (Version 1), pair work (Version 2), and interviews. Two trained native speakers of English were asked to score the emails produced individually and by pairs. A paired samples t-test showed that pair work outperformed individual work. The pair dialogues showed that the learners focused on grammar, vocabulary, politeness, clarity, tone of voice to construct an appropriate email request. The interview protocols also revealed that the learners held a positive attitude towards pair work. This study closes by providing pedagogical implications and future research directions.
