Web-Based Pragmatics Programs and Students’ Pragmatic Competence

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This article reports on a study of whether newly developed web-based programs with pragmatics focus could help study-abroad participants as well as non-participants increase their Chinese pragmatic competence and increase cultural awareness. Results from the effects of instructional practice on pragmatics with the study-abroad participants prior to departure show that the experimental group outperformed the controlled group in the post-test using discourse completion tasks. Findings revealed that gains in certain areas of Chinese speech acts, such as compliment and refusal, are higher than that in other areas, such as complaint and request. The results demonstrated that the web-based programs could be used as an alternative to help the students acquire certain Chinese pragmatic features.

Stream: Literacy, Language, Multiliteracies; Languages Education and Second Language Learning

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

I got my Ph.D in foreign language education and applied linguistics from the University of Kansas, USA. Ever since I graduated, I have been teaching Chinese to American students. I have been directing the Chinese language and culture study-abroad program of Michigan State University in China since 2002. My research interest are language teaching methodology, pragmatics and second language acquisition.

A graduate student pursuing Ph.D degree in second language studies.