The Effect Of ‘Focus On Form’ Versus ‘Focus On Forms’ Pragmatic Instruction On The Development Of Pragmatic Comprehension
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Date
2014-08
Authors
Rafieyan, Vahid
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The common assumption is that target language pragmatic features need to be brought to language learners’ direct attention through form-focused pragmatic instruction for them to be learned. To assess language learners’ level of pragmatic comprehension and the effectiveness and sustainability of Focus on Form and Focus on Forms pragmatic instruction on pragmatic comprehension, an explanatory experimental study was conducted on 45 undergraduates studying English language at Universiti Sains Malaysia by random assignment of participants to three equal groups of Focus on Forms, Focus on Form, and Control and conducting a 6-session intervention based on listening tasks. Focus on Forms group received metapragmatic explanations of target language conversational implicatures, Focus on Form group received input enhancement by highlighting target language conversational implicatures of listening transcripts, and control group practiced some listening activities. Quantitative data were collected through the administration of multiple choice pragmatic listening comprehension tests, assessing comprehension of target language conversational implicatures, three times: immediately before intervention, immediately following intervention, and one month following intervention. Qualitative data were collected through participation of 10 participants in a semi-structured focus group interview. The level of pragmatic comprehension was determined through the categorization of language learners into four categories: poor, weak, strong, and optimal pragmatic comprehension performers based on their performance on a pragmatic listening test and the calculation of the cut score obtained through piloting the pragmatic listening test on 80 other undergraduates studying English language at Universiti Sains Malaysia. The effectiveness and sustainability of Focus on Form and Focus on Forms pragmatic instruction were assessed through “between-within subjects” ANOVA. Interview data were also analyzed through content analysis to support the data derived through ANOVA. The findings revealed that language learners were categorized mainly into two groups: weak pragmatic comprehension performers and strong pragmatic comprehension performers, form-focused pragmatic instruction was effective in developing pragmatic comprehension to a great extent, both Focus on Form and Focus on Forms methods of pragmatic instruction were equally effective in developing pragmatic comprehension, and only Focus on Form pragmatic instruction led to sustaining obtained pragmatic knowledge. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested the incorporation of Focus on Form pragmatic instruction techniques into every English language course.
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Keywords
Pragmatic instruction on , the development of pragmatic comprehension