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EFFECTS OF PROFICIENCY SUBSKILLS ON PRAGMATIC DEVELOPMENT IN L2 CHINESE STUDY ABROAD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2018

Feng Xiao ,
Naoko Taguchi  and
Shuai Li
Feng Xiao*
Affiliation:
Pomona College
Naoko Taguchi
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University
Shuai Li
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Feng Xiao, Pomona College, Mason 203, 550 Harvard Ave N, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This study is the first to examine contributions of proficiency subskills to pragmatic development. We used the latent growth curve modeling to reveal the causal relationships between proficiency subskills and pragmatic competence in 109 American learners of Chinese across two data points over three months abroad in China. Proficiency was measured by a standardized Chinese proficiency test with separate scores for listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Pragmatic competence was measured by a computerized oral discourse completion task assessing speech acts. Findings showed that pragmatic competence accrued along with increased proficiency. Changes of proficiency explained 54.1% of the variance in changes of pragmatic competence. Listening and speaking contributed more to pragmatic development than reading and writing did, indicating that when pragmatic competence is measured by an online spoken task, speaking and listening have stronger impacts.

Type
Research Report
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 469 - 483
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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