Promoting Pragmatic Competence in the Japanese EFL Classroom: The Speech Act of Advice

PromotingPragmaticCompetenceintheJapanese

EFLCIassroom:TheSpeechActofAdvice

MayumiFujioka

5

Introduction

Pragmaticcompetence,theabilitytouselanguageinculturallyandcontextually

appropriateways,hasbeenreceivingincreasingattentioninsecond/foreignlanguage

pedagogy.Themainreasonbehindtheinterestinpragmaticcompetenceisthateffectiveand

successfulcommunicationinthetargetlanguage,amaingoalforlanguagelearning,isnot

guaranteedbythemasteryofgrammarandtheimprovementofpronunciation.Letus

considerthefollowingsituationwherealearnerofEnglish,auniversitystudent,needsa

signaturefromhis/hernative-English-speakingteacherforadocumenttobesubmittedtothe

universityoffice.Ifthestudentsaystotheteacher"Iwantyoutosignhere,"theteacher

mightshowanannoyedexpressiononhis/herface,orinaworsecase,beoffended,which

wouldleavethestudentperplexed.Inthiscase,thestudent,whowantstomakearequest,

doesnotrealizetheeffecthis/herutteranceentails.Theform"Iwantyouto..."isused

whenthespeakertriestogetthehearertodosomething,butitisusuallyusedbysuperiorsto

subordinates(Rinnert,1995).Thus,totheteacher,thestudent'sutterancesoundslikea

"command"ratherthana"request."Toperformtherequestappropriateforthisparticular

context,thestudentshouldusesuchexpressionsas"Couldyousignhere,please?"or"MayI

haveyoursignaturehere?"

Astheexampleaboveshows,thespeakerperformsspecificactsthroughutterances,

whichareexpressedbytheterm"speechacts"(Yule,1996).Specificexamplesofspeechacts

includeadvice,apologies,complaints,requests,refusals,andsuggestions.Researchersinthe

fieldofinterlanguagepragmaticshavepublishedagreatnumberofstudiesregarding

nonnativespeakers'performanceofvariousspeechactsinthetargetlanguage(seeRose&

Kasper,200ユ,foracomprehensivereviewofinterlanguagepragmaticsstudies).Theresultsof

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近畿大学語学教育部紀要4巻1号(2004・6)

thosestudiesoftenindicatethatnonnativespeakers,evenadvancedlevellanguagelearners,

donotdemonstratetarget-likepragmaticcompetence(e.g.,Bardovi-Harlig,1992,1999).

The.mainreasonwhyitisdifficultforlearnerstodevelopappropriatepragmatic

competenceisthatpragmaticcompetenceinvolvesanunderstandingofsocioculturalrulesof

languageuse,theconceptofwhichisfrequentlyexpressedas"whosayswhattowhomand

when"(Wolfson,19$3,p.90).Comparedtogrammarrules,thosesocioculturalrulesaremuch

morecomplex,sincetheyinvolvesuchcomponentsassocialdistanceandpowerrelations

betweenthespeakerandthehearerandculturesvaryastowhatextentaparticular

componentinfluenceslanguageuse.Forexample,inthespeaker'schoiceofappropriate

linguisticformsforthehearer,agedifferencesmatteralotmoreinsomeAsianlanguagesthan

inEnglish.Moreover,learnerssometimeshavemisconceptionsaboutsocioculturalrulesof

languageuseinthetargetlanguage.SomeJapaneselearnersofEnglish,forexample,havea

falseunderstandingthatEnglishlanguageisanegalitarianlanguageandthusthereareno

styleshiftsinEnglishaccordingtothespeakerandhearerrelationships(Tanaka,1988).

Whileitisachallengingtaskforlearnerstoacquirethosesocioculturalrulesoflanguage

use,theirfailuretoperformpragmaticallyappropriatelyinthetargetlanguagecouldbe

detrimentaltothem.Nativespeakerstendtotoleratenonnativespeakers'grammaticalerrors

morethantheirpragmaticerrors(Ervin-Tripp,ユ972;Wolfson,ユ983,bothcitedinMatsuda,

1999).Thiscanbeeasilyunderstoodwhenwethinkaboutthesituationcitedearlierwherethe

studenttriestogetasignaturefromtheteacher.Ifthestudentsimplymadeagrammatical

errorbysaying,forexample,"Couldyousignaturehere?"insteadof"Couldyousignhere?,"

theteacherwouldprobablynotbesoannoyedascomparedtowhenthestudentsaid"Iwant

youtosignhere."Withthiskindofpragmaticerror,learnersriskpresentingthemselvesas

arrogantorrude,orevenlosingfriendshipsorimportantsocialrelationshipsthattheyhave

developedwithothersinthetargetlanguage.Inamoreseriouscase,theymightlose

importantacademicorprofessionalopportunities(Matsuda,1999).Thus,itisourjobas

languageteacherstohelplearnersdeveloppragmaticcompetenceinthetargetlanguageso

thattheycanavoidthedifficultsituationsmentionedabove..Inotherwords,weneedtoassist

learnerstodeveloppragmaticcompetencethroughinstruction.Furthermore,regardingthe

teachingofEnglish,instructioninpragmaticsisneededinbothESLandEFLsettings.1'

一2一

・.し1、岬・い

Promotingpragmaticcompetence:Thespeechactofadvice

Undertoday'sdominanceoftheEnglishlanguageasagloballanguageforcommunication,

futureopportunitiesforlearnerstobeengagedininteractioninEnglishforacademicand

businesspurposesarenotlimitedtoEnglish-speakingcountriesonly.

Consideringtheimportanceofdevelopingpragmaticcompetenceaspartoflanguage

learning,thepresentstudyintroducedinstructioninpragmaticstoagroupofuniversityEFL

learnersinJapan.Forthefocusofinstruction,thespeechactofadvicewasselected.Inthe

followingsections,thedetailsofthepresentstudyarereported,includingthebackgroundto

selectingtheadvicespeechactandthedescriptionsofparticipantsandspecificactivitiesin

thestudy.Basedonthefindingsofthepresentstudy,suggestionsforfuturestudieson

interlanguagepragmaticsarediscussed.

丁heStudy

Background

RegardingpragmaticcompetenceinEnglishbyJapaneselearnersofEnglish,therehas

beenagrowingbodyofresearch,startingfromthelateユ980sthroughユ990s(e.g.,Takahashi

&Beebe,19$7;Maeshiba,Yoshinaga,Kasper&Ross,1996;Niki&Tajika,1994)tothepresent

(e.g.,Matsumura,2001,2003).ThosestudieshelpusunderstandareasofdifficultyinJapanese

ESL/EFLlearners'pragmaticdevelopmentinEnglishwithrespecttovariousspeechacts;

morespecifically,theyshowushowandtowhatextentJapaneseEnglishlearners'perceptions

andperformanceofsuchspeechactsasadvice,apologies,refusalsandrequestsaresimilarto

ordifferentfromthoseofnativeEnglishspeakers.However,incontrasttothegrowing

interestinresearchonpragmatics,therestillseemstobealackofdiscussionregardingthe

instructionofpragmatics.Basedonapedagogicalpointofview,thepurposeofthepresent

studyistoexploreeffectivewaystohelpJapaneseEFLlearnerspromotetheirpragmatic

competenceinEnglish.

Amongawiderangeofspeechacts,thisstudyfocusesonadvice,2'whichappearstobe

onewithwhichJapaneselearnersofEnglishhavemanyproblems.Forexample,severalnative-

English-speakingTESOL(TeachingEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages)professionals

withwhom工haveinteractedcommentedthatAsianstudentsincludingJapaneseoftenused

"

you'dbetter..."foradvice-givingsituations,whichisinmanycasesinappropriateinEnglish.

一3一

'近畿大学語学教育部紀要4巻1号(2004・6)

Inaddition,asanEnglishteacher,Ihaveoftennoticedmystudents'useofsuchphrasesas

"youmust...,""youhaveto...,"and"youshould..."inoralroleplayswheretheyaresupposed

toofferfriendlyadvice.ThesameobservationsmadebyEnglish-speakingteacherswhohad

taughtJapanesestudentswerereportedinMatsumura(2001).Althoughtherearedifferent

reasonsforJapaneseEnglishlearners'failuretouseappropriateadviceexpressions,whichwill

bediscussedinthelatersections,theanecdotalevidenceaboveshowsthatinstructionis

neededtoassistJapaneseEnglishlearnersinimprovingtheirperformanceinadvice-givingin

English.

SpecificactivitiesrelatedtoofferingadviceinEnglishwereconductedfortwogroupsof

universityEFLstudentsinJapanaspartoftheirsemester-longcoursework.Inthefollowing

sections,backgroundinformationabouttheparticipantsispresented,followedbydetailed

descriptionsoftheclassroomactivitieswithrelevantexamplesofparticipants'performancein

thoseactivities.

Participants/DescriptionoftheCourses

ThestudywasconductedatalargenationaluniversityinJapan,whereIwasteaching

requiredfreshmanEnglishcourses.Thetwogroupsofstudentswhoparticipatedinthestudy

werefromonesectionofthespeakingcoursewithmedicalmajors,andonesectionofthe

writingcoursewithpsychologymajors.Therewere33students(22malesandllfemales)in

thespeakingclass(Group1)and31students(13malesand1$females)inthewritingclass

(Group2)(seeTablelbelow).

Table1.Participantsineachgroup

Group1(Speakingclass)

N=33(Male22,Female11)

Group2(Writingclass)

N=31(Male13,Female18)

Note:Alltheparticipantswere

Chinesestudentinthewritingclass.

Japaneseexceptforone

Overthecourseofthesemester,avarietyoftopicswerecoveredineachofthecourses.

Forexample,inthespeakingcourse,studentswereengagedinthepracticeoftalkingabout

themselves,describingpeopleandobjects,andstatingtheiropinionsongiventopics.Forthe

一4一


writingcourse,studentslearnedtododifferenttypesofwriting,suchasnarratives,

comparisonandcontrast,andargumentativeessays.Theactivitiesrelatedtoadvicewere

conductedinaseriesoflessonsaspartofthecoursework.

Activities

Thefirstactivityinvolvedtranslationbyusingcomicstrips.Thesecondactivitywasa

lectureonpragmaticrulesofadvicewithfollow-upexercises.Thenthethirdactivitywasa

roleplay,anoralroleplayforthespeakingclassandawrittenroleplayforthewritingclass.

Detailsofeachactivityarepresentedinthefollowingsections.

Activity1(trarrslationofdialoguesincomicst巾s)

Priortothelessonsonthespeechactofadvice,awarm-upactivitywasneeded.Among

possiblewarm-upactivities,theuseofcomicstripswasselected;participantstranslated

dialoguesfromJapaneseintoEnglishinthebubblesofcomicstrips.Thetwocomicstrips,

takenfromNakagawaandNishimura(1998),dealtwithgivingadvicetoafriendwhohad

troublesleepingorneededmoneytostudyabroad.Insituationユ(sleepingProblems),the

maincharacter(acollegestudent)advisedhisfriendtohavesomewinebeforegoingtobed

(the"Wine"topic)andinsituation2(financialproblemstostudyabroad)anotherstudent

advisedhisfriendtoapplyforascholarship(the"Scholarship"topic).Participantsproduced

oneadviceresponsetoeachofthetopicsbasedontheJapanesewordsprovidedinthebubbles

ofthecomicstrips.

Analysisoftheparticipants'responsesofadvicefollowedBanerjeeandCarrell(1988).3'

First,participants'responsesweredividedbydirectorindirectadvice;directadviceincluded

anindicationofsuggestedaction(i.e.,"totry/drinksomewine,""toapplyforascholarship"),

whereasindirectadvicedidnot."Amongtheparticipants'responsestothetwosituations,

onlyonewascategorizedasindirectadvice(°Winemaybeenable[s]youtogettosleep.").

Alltheotherresponsesweredirectadvice,containingthespecificactionmentionedabove.

Thenthedirectadviceresponseswerecategorizedbysentencestructure:statement,

interrogative,andimperative.Table2summarizesthetypesofstructuresthatparticipants

usedintheirresponses.

一5一

)


Table2.Thetypesofstructuresofadviceresponsesandtheirfrequencies

fromActivity1

Structure Statement Interrogative Imperative

Group1

(Totalnumber=33)

Group2

(Totalnumber=30)

9

(27.3%)

6

(20%)

Topic(Wine)

24

(72.7%)

22

(73,3%)

0

(o%)

2

(6.7%)

Group1

(Totalnumber=33)

Group2

(Totalnumber=31)

13

(39.4%)

8

(25.$%)

Topic (Scholarship)

20

(60.6%)

22

(71%)

0

(o%>

1

(3.2%)

Notes:

1.Amongthetermsforsentencestructures,Banerjee&Carrell(198$)use"question"insteadof"interrogative."Here,however,theterm"interrogative"

isusedbecauseofthemorecomprehensiveconnotationthatterm

contains.2.Thetotalnumbercorrespondstothenumberofdirectadviceresponses

thatparticipantsineachgroupproduced.

ForbothtopicsoftheWineandtheScholarship,theuseofimperatives(e.g.,"Trysome

wine.";"Applyforascholarship.")receivedaverylowpercentage.Regardingtheuseof

interrogativesandstatements,participants'responsesrevealedthefollowing.Amongallthe

interrogativeforms,about$0%wereeither"howabout...?"or"whydon'tyou...?"forms;

thesetwoformstakentogethercomprised82.6%and78.6%ofalltheinterrogativeformsin

GrouplandGroup2respectively.Otherformsofinterrogativesincludedrequestforms(e.g.,

"Wouldyoutrytodrinksomewine?";"Willyouapplyforscholarship?").Regarding

statements,participants-usedexpressionssuchas"youshouldapplyforscholarship,""I

recommendyoutodrinkwinebeforeyougotobed."and"Isuggestyouapplyfora

scholarship."

Participants'responseswerehelpfulingettinganideaaboutthepragmaticknowledge

theycurrentlyhadandalsodeterminingwhattoemphasizeinthefollowinglessons.First,

participantsneededtobeintroducedtoawiderangeofadviceexpressionsotherthan"how

一6一


about...?"and"whydon'tyou...?"Theirpreferenceforthesetwoformsmighthavebeen

partlyduetotheinfluenceoftheoriginalJapanesewordsinthecomicstripsorpartlydueto

theEnglishinstructionthattheyhadreceivedinhighschool.Recently,colloquialexpressions

inEnglishareintroducedinhighschoolEnglishinstructioninJapanandtheforms"how

about...?"and"whydon'tyou...?"areoftenintroducedastypicalexpressionsofadvice/

suggestions.

Second,theresultsindicatedthatspecificinstructionwasneededregardingwhich

expressionswouldworkappropriatelyforadviceandwhichwouldnot.Asmentionedabove,

someparticipantsusedrequestforms"willyou...?"or"wouldyou...?,"whichdonotworkfor

advice-givingsituations(Banerjee&Carrell,1988).Inaddition,someparticipantsused"you

hadbetter..."(e.g.,"Youhadbetterapplyforscholarship."),whichcalledforspecialattention.

Asmentionedintheintroduction,itappearsthatJapaneseEnglishlearnersoccasionallyuse

the"you'dbetter"formforadvice,whichmightbearesultofhighschoolEnglishinstruction.

InhighschoolEnglishtextbooksinJapan,"you'dbetter..."isoftenintroducedwiththe

Japanesetranslationthatwouldbealmostequivalentto"itwouldbebetter,"butinEnglishin

manycases"you'dbetter"isusedasawarningorevenathreat(Rinnert,1995)."Inaddition

totheneedforinstructionontheappropriateuseofsomephrasestoofferadvice,participants

neededtobeintroducedtovariouslinguisticdevicestosoftentheirstatementsofadvice,that

is,theuseof"downgraders"(e.g.,theuseofpasttensemodals)andtheuseof"hedges"(e.g.,

suchphrasesas"maybe"and"Ithink")(seeBlum-Kulka,House&Kasper,1989;Banerjee&

Carrell,1988,formoredetailsondowngradersandhedges).Participantsneededtolearnthat

theimpactoftheadvicemaybelessenedbysaying"Ithinkyoushould...,""maybeyou

should...,""youcould..."or"Iwouldsuggest..."insteadofsimplysaying"youshould...,"

"youcan..."or"Isuggest...."

Activity2(explicitinstructiononpragmaticrulesandfollow-upexercises)

TheoverallfindingsfromActivityユ,thatis,participants'lackofknowledgeofvarious

adviceexpressionsandtheiruseledtoalectureonadviceexpressionsandtheirpragmatic

rules.Explanationsofexpressionsinthetargetspeechactandtheirfunctions,inotherwords,

"explicitinstruction,"wasfoundeffectiveonJapaneseEFLlearners'acquisitionof

一7一

)


syntacticallycomplexrequeststructuresinEnglish(Takahashi,2001),andthusitcouldbe

expectedtobeeffectiUefortheadvicespeechactaswell.

AtthebeginningofActivity2,participantsreceivedashortintroductiontothelesson;the

purposeofthelessonwastolearntobepoliteandatthesametimeeffectiveinlanguageuse.

ThentheyweretoldthattheyweregoingtolearnvariouswaystogiveadviceinEnglish.

ParticipantswerepresentedvariousexpressionsofadvicetakenfromNakagawaand

Nishimura(1998)(seeTable3)andreceivedashortlectureonpragmaticrulesforthose

expressions.

Table3. ExpressionsofadviceintroducedinActivity2

(TakenfromNakagawa&Nishimura,1998,p.48)

Keyexpressions

1.You'dbetter～

2。Howabout～?

3.Maybeyoushould～.

4.Ithinkyoushould～.

5.IfIwereyou,rd～.

6.Ifyouaskme,Iwould～.

7.IfIwereinyourposition,Iwould～.

8.Itmightbeagoodideato～。

9.Whydon'tyou～?

10。Myadvice/reaction/suggestionwouldbe～.

11.Iwouldrecommend/advise/suggest～.

12.Youmay/mightwanttoconsider～.

Whatwasemphasizedinthelecturewasasfollows:(1)theuseof"maybe"or"Ithink"

andpasttensemodalstosoftentheimpactoftheadvice;(2)theneedtocautionagainstthe

useof"you'dbetter";itisusedinacasewhereaseriousornegativeconsequencewouldbe

expectedwhenthehearerdidnottaketheactionthatthespeakermentioned(e.g,,"You'd

betterhurry.Yourplaneleavesinhalfanhour.'")oritcanbeusedasawarningorathreat

(e.g.,"You'dbetternottellanyonewhatIjusttoldyou.").Asrelatedinformation,participants

werealsoreintroducedtothephrases"youmust"and"youhaveto,"phrasestheyhadalready

learnedinhighschool.Theywereremindedthatthoseformswereusedtodescriberulesor

requirements(e.g.,"YoumusthaveastudentIDtocheckoutabookfromtheschoollibrary.";

"YouhavetoturninyourassignmentbyFriday.").Inadditiontothepragmaticrulesabove,

specificexplanationswereprovidedregardingtheuseof"IfIwereyou,1'd...,""lfyouaskme,

一g一


I'd..."and"lfIwereinyourposition,1'd...."Thosephrasesconstituteanotherwayof

softeningtheimpactofadvice,becausetheychangethefocusfromthehearertothespeaker

(Banerjee&Carrell,1988).Regardingthephrase"youmay/mightwantto...,"itwasexpected

thatparticipantswerenotfamiliarwiththisphrasesinceitwasusuallynotlistedinhigh

schoolEnglishtextbooks.Thus,participantswerepresentedaphotocopyofane-mailmessage

thatincludedthisphrase("youmaywanttosendanyinformationtome");theinstructorhad

receivedadvicefromanative-English-speakingcolleagueinthise-mailanduseditfortheclass

withthespecificinformation(thenameandthee-mailaddressofthecolleague)erased.

Aftertheyreceivedthelectureonthevariousadviceexpressionsandtheirfunctions,

participantswereengagedinfollow-upexercisesaboutadvice-givingtopicstakenfrom

NakagawaandNishimura(ユ998).Thoseexercises,whichconcernedvariousadviceex-

pressionslistedearlier,includedputtingscrambledwordsintherightorderandtranslating

JapanesewordsintoEnglish,bothindialoguesaboutadvice-givingsituationsbetweenfriends

onsuchtopicsaswhattocookfordinnerandhowtowriteabetterreportforaclass

assignment.

Activity3(oralandwrittenroleplays)

Activity3involvedanoralroleplayforGroupユ(thespeakingclass)andawrittenrole

playforGroup2(thewritingclass).Participantswereaskedtogivespecificadvicetoan

incomingfreshmanaboutuniversitylife.Thistopicwasappropriatebecauseatthetimeofthe

study,manyhighschoolgraduatesweregettingreadytoenteruniversityandthus

participantshadaneasytimeidentifyingwiththecharactertheyweregoingtoplay.Inthe

oralroleplay,participantsinteractedwiththeinstructorwhoplayedtheroleoftheincoming

student;theirresponseswereaudiotapedwiththeirpermission.Inthewrittenroleplay,

participantswrotealetterorane-mailmessagetotheimaginaryincomingstudent,and

submittedtheirwritingtotheinstructor.Byobtainingbothoralandwrittenroleplay

responses,anattemptwasmadetodetermineiftherewereanydifferencesinthetwotypesof

responses.

Forbothtypesofroleplays,participantswereencouragedtogiveatleastthreepiecesof

advice;inaddition,theywereinstructedtokeeptheiradvicespecificandgivereasonswhy

一g一


theywereofferingtheadvice.Thentheirresponseswerecategorizedintodifferenttypesof

forms.DifferentfromtheanalysisforActivitylinwhichparticipants'responsesweredivided

intothethreemainstructuresofstatements,interrogatives,andimperatives,here

participants'responseswerecategorizedinmoredetailtoseeiftheyusedtheformsthatwere

introducedinActivity2.Table4showsthetypesandfrequencyofadviceexpressions

participantsineachgroupused.

Table4,Adviceexpressionsusedintheroleplaysandtheirfrequenciesofoccurrence

Typesofexpressions Frequencyofoccurrence

GrouplGroup2(Oral)(Written)

youmust/youhaveto/

youdbetternot/youhadbetternot 8 13

youshould(not)

1thinkyoushould/工don'tthznkyoushould/

n2aybeyoushould

youneedto

Ithinkyouwillneedto

ユ5

28

0

0

26

21

ユ

9自

youcould/youmight/youwould

youmay/mightwantto

0

4

rO

4

Irecommend/Iwillrecommend/Irecommendyouto/

Isuggest/mysuggestionis

Iwouldrecommend

Iwouldadviseyouto/Iwouldsuggestyoushould

13

3

0

6

ユ0

5

itisimportantthat

itwillbegoodto

itmightbeagoodideato/

itwouldbeagoodideathat/

Iwouldsaythatitisagoodideaforyouto

AU

O

10

-↓

9自

11

IfIwereyou,Itivould/

IfIWereinyourposition,Iwould 3 4

howabout/whydon'tyou/let's 6 8

Others 4 3

Note:"Downgraders"and"hedges"areitalicized.

Total 94 122

10

/


Betweenthetwogroups,itturnedoutthatGroup2(thewritingclass)providedalarger

numberofadviceresponsescomparedtoGroup1(thespeakingclass).Thiswasduetothe

typeofroleplay;inthewrittenroleplay,someparticipantsgavemorethanthreepiecesof

adviceandsomeoftheirresponsesincludedextendedstatementsthatproducedmultiple

adviceexpressionsforonetopic.Intheoralroleplay,ontheotherhand,someparticipants

offeredonlytwopiecesofadviceandsomeoftheadvicestatementswereshort.Onepossible

reasonforthisdifferenceisthatparticipantswereabletobemoreactivelyinvolvedinadvice-

givingwhentheyformulatedtheirideasinwritingthanspeaking,becausetheyprobablyhad

moreexperiencewithwritingthroughtheEnglishinstructionthattheyhadreceivedinhigh

school.Inaddition,duetotheirlackofexperiencewithspeakinginEnglish,someparticipants

mighthavefeltanxietyintheoralroleplay,andasaresult,theyproducedonlyshort

responses.

AsshowninTable4,participantsusedavarietyofadviceexpressionsandtheyused

softenedexpressions(e.g.,"Ithinkyoushould,""Iwouldsuggest"),whichwereemphasizedin

thelectureinActivity2.Someofthesuccessfulexamplesareshownbelow.Intheexamples,

thespecificnames(e.g.,thenameofaparticularneighborhood)thatparticipantsmentioned

intheiroriginalresponsesareabbreviatedtotheirinitialletters.Inaddition,alternativeword

choiceshavebeenprovidedinbracketsbytheinstructorforclarity.

Inregardtopart-time-job,Iwouldsaythatitisagoodideaforyoutoexperiencea

lotofkindsofjobsbecauseyougetconnectionwithmuchrelationships[get

acquaintedwithlotsofpeople.(Written)

First,ifyouwanttoliveneartheuniversityandvariousstoreslikesupermarketsand

restaurants,IwouldrecommendthatyouliveinSarea.However,studentstendto

collect[gettogether],andbenoisyinSarea.Inaddition,therentishighbecauseS

areaisthemostpopularwithstudents.So,ifyouwanttoliveneartheuniversity,and

inasilent[quiet]and工ow-pricedplace,IthinkyoushouldliveinBareawhereIlive.

However,Ithinkyouwillneedamotorbiketogotobuynecessariesoflife,anddoa

part-timejobbecausethereisnostorenearBarea.(Written)

YoumaywanttoconsiderlivinginCarea.Careaisfarfromtheuniversitybutit

一11一


takesonly15minutestogoto[gettoytheuniversitybybicycleandtherearemany

supermarketsandrestaurantsinCarea.(Oral)

Itmightbeagoodideatojoinaclub.You'llmakealotoffriendsandyou'llbeableto

consultwith[getadvicefrom]yoursenior[theolderstudents]aboutamatterof

study.(Oral)

AsshowninTable4,thereweresomeoccasionswhereparticipantsusedphrasessuchas

"youmust"or"you'dbetter,"theuseofwhichwascautionedagainstearlierinActivity2.For

thepurposeofdiscussion,however,aqualitativeanalysisoftheuseofthosephraseswas

needed,becauseitdependedonthetopicofadvicetodeterminewhethertheuseofthose

phraseswasappropriateornot.Thus,theexamplesoftheuseof"youmust,""youhaveto,"

and"you'dbetter"wascheckedwithsomenativeEnglishspeakers,andtheresultsrevealed

thatparticipantsusedthosephrasesbothappropriatelyandinappropriately.Forexample,in

someresponses,participantssaid"YoumustliveinAarea.Aareaisverynearfromthe

university."or"You'dbetterbelongtoclub.EspeciallyIrecommendswimmingclubtowhich

Ibelong."Thestatementsofadviceinthosecasesareinappropriatebecausethespeakerdoes

notgiveanychoicetothehearer.Thehearer(theincomingstudent)haschoicesaboutwhere

tolive,whatclubtojoin,orevenwhethertheywanttojoinaclub,andthusitwouldbealmost

rudeifthespeakergavenootherchoicesthantheonethats/hehadin'mindbysaying"you

must"or"youhaveto."Thus,inthesecases,thespeakershouldsay"Iwouldrecommendyou

liveinAarea"or"Itmightbeagoodideatojoinaclub."assomeofthesuccessfulexamples

aboveshow.

Ontheotherhand,therewerecasesinwhichtheuseof"youhaveto"or"you'dbetter"

wouldprobablybeacceptable.Forexample,someparticipantsmentionedtheneedforcaution

againststraydogsneartheuniversitycampus,andoneofthemsaid"...hereinSarea,though

youmaynotbelievethis,therearemanystraydogs.Theysometimesaskforfoodinan

aggressiveway.Ifyoumeetthem[seethem],youhadbettergobackandgoinanotherway."

Sincethiswasconsideredakindofwarning,theuseof"youhadbetter"inthiscontextwould

beappropriate.Foranothercase,notforwarning,though,thespeakercoulduse"youhaveto"

/

一12一


inasituationwherethehearermightbeintroubleifs/hedidnotthinkaboutthespeaker's

advicecarefully;anexamplefromparticipants'responsesis"ifyouhavemotorbike,youcan

livethehouse[apartment]whichisfarfromcampus.Butyouareusing[aregoingtouse]

bicycle.SoyouhavetoconsiderthedistancebetweenyourhouseCapartment]andthe

university."Similarly,astatementusing"youshould"withoutahedgewouldbeacceptableas

inthecaseof"Youshouldcheckyourapartmentbyyourself.Therearemanythingsyou

can'tcheckfromyourcatalog."Thus,itisnecessarytoconsiderthekindofadvicethespeaker

isofferingtodetermineappropriateformsofadvice.

Follow-upontheActivities

Thefindingsfromtheroleplaysrevealedthat,overall,participantsusedawidevarietyof

adviceexpressionsincludingtheuseofdowngradersandhedges.However,thefindingsalso

showedthatinsomecases,participantsusedexpressionsthatwereinappropriateforadvice.

Forthepurposeofclarifyingwhythoseparticipantswhochoseinappropriateadvice

expressionsdidso,Icheckedwiththemaboutthereasonsfortheirchoices.Someofthemdid

notgivespecificreasons,whereasotherscommentedthattheydidnotfullyunderstandwhere

todrawthelinebetweenawarningandnecessaryadvice.

Inadditiontothefollow-upontheroleplayresponses,attheendofthecourse,

participantsinGroup2(thewritingclass)weregivenachancetoreflectuponallthe

activitiestheyhaddoneduringthesemester.s'Althoughnotallofthemcommentedonthe

seriesofthelessonsonadvice,overalltheircommentsabouttheadvicelessonswerepositive.

Thosecommentsincludedreportsthattheyhadlearnedforthefirsttimethattherewere

waystosoftenastatementofadviceinEnglishorthattheyhadneverrealizedthephrase

"youhadbetter"couldbeusedasawarning.Inaddition,therewerecommentsthatsaidthe

examplesofdialogueexercisesandthee-mailmessagethattheinstructorhadshownwere

veryhelpfultolearnhowvariousadviceexpressionswereusedincontext.Othercomments,

ontheotherhand,indicatedthatsomeparticipantshadtroubleunderstandingthedifferences

insubtlenuanceofmeaningamongthevariousadviceexpressionsthatwereintroduced.

Therewerealsocommentsthatparticipantsneededmoreexamplesregardinghowthe

variousadviceexpressionsareactuallyusedinrealconversationsorinwriting.

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ConcludingRemarks/SuggestionsforFutureStudies

ThisstudyreportedonaseriesofactivitiestohelpJapaneseuniversityEFLlearners

developtheirpragmaticcompetencewithafocusontheadvicespeechact.Comparedtothe

limitedrangeofadviceexpressionsthatparticipantsdemonstratedinthefirststageof

activities,afterexplicitinstructiononvariousadviceexpressionsandtheirpragmaticrules,

theydemonstratedanincreaseduseofthewiderangeofexpressionsintheroleplays;it

appearedthattheyhadunderstoodtheuseofhedgesanddowngraders(e.g.,"Ithinkyou

should,""Iwoaddrecommend")tosoftenthestatementofadviceandyvereabletoincorporate

themintheirroleplayresponses.Participants'responsesintheroleplays,however,also

indicatedthattheyusedsomephrasesinappropriatelyforgivingadvice.Examplesofthe

inappropriateuseofsuchphrasesas"youmust"or"youhadbetter"andparticipants'

reflectionsontheiruseofthoseexpressionsindicatedthattherewasaneedforadditionalor

extendedinstructiononhowvariousadviceexpressionsareusedincontextandinwhatcases

theyareusedappropriatelyandinappropriately.Furthermore,participants'commentsonthe

seriesoflessonsonadvicerevealedthattheyfoundtheexamplesoftheuseofvariousadvice

expressionsusefulbuttheyneededmoreexamples.Thissuggeststhatinstructorsshould

prepareexamplesfromvarioussourcessuchasvideoclipsandrecordingsofnaturally

occurringconversations,inadditiontothemodeldialoguesintextbooksande-mailmessages

(seeTanaka,ユ997,fortheuseofrecordedauthenticlanguagemodelstointroducepragmatics

inanEFLsetting).

Anothersuggestionforfutureinstructioninadvice-givingwouldbethatstudentsshould

begivenachancetointeractinEnglishwithahigherstatuspersoninroleplaysorother

activities.Inthedialogueexercisesandtheroleplaysinthisstudy,participantsactedasif

theywereinteractingwithanequalorlowerstatusperson(e.g.,friend,ayoungerstudent).

Asdiscussedintheintroductionsection,statusdifferencesbetweenthespeakerandthe

hearerinfluencethespeaker'sspeechbehavior.Thus,infuturestudies,thoseactivitiesin

whichlearnersinteractwithpeopleofhigherstatus(e.g.,theirteacher,anolderstudent)

shouldbeintroduced.Inaddition,discussionsaboutwhatconstitutesstatusdifferencesamong

differentculturesmayfurthercontributetolearners'pragmaticdevelopment.Forexample,

amongJapaneseuniversitystudents,thosewhoaremembersofclubs,inparticular,age

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differencescanmatteralotandstudentsmayneedtodemonstrateappropriatelinguistic

behaviortotheirseniors(or"senpai"),whereasagedifferencesarenotsoevidentinspeech

behavioramongstudentsinEnglish-speakingcountries.Thiskindofculturaldiscussionmay

helpstudentsdevelopcross-culturalunderstandingsthatcouldcontributetothedevelopment

oftheirpragmaticcompetence.

Assomeoftheparticipants'commentsshowed,itmaybedifficultforlearnersto

understandsubtledifferencesofnuanceinthemeaningamongvariousadviceexpressions,but

thesamethingholdstrueforlearningotherspeechactssuchasrequestsorcomplaints.Even

iflearnerscannotunderstandallthecomplexitiesofspecificspeechactsimmediately,an

importantsteptowardtheirpragmaticdevelopmenthasstartedwhentheyrealizethereare

waystosoftentheiradviceorrequestsorthattheirstatementmaybetakendifferentlyby

usingdifferentexpressions(e.g.,warningvs.advice).Onceinstructionhashelpedlearners

promotethiskindofpragmaticsensitivity,inotherwords,raisinglearners'pragmatic

consciousness(Rose,ユ994),thenextstepforinstructionistohelpindividuallearnersapply

whattheyhavelearnedtotheirownlearningoutsidetheclassroom.Forthatpurpose,future

studiesoninterlanguagepragmaticsmightneedtoexploresuchissuesasinfluencesof

learners'preferencesforlearningstylesandstrategiesontheirpragmaticdevelopment

(Cohen,2003).Thisisahighlychallengingtopictoexplore,butatthesametime,itwill

providemanyinsightsonthefuturedevelopmentofpedagogyoninterlanguagepragmatics.

Notes

1)Asdefinedinsecondlanguageacquisitionresearch,thedefinitionsofESLandEFLareas

follows:ESL(EnglishasaSecondLanguage)referstolearningEnglishinanenvironment

whereEnglishisusedfordailycommunicationandthemediumofeducation(e.g.,learning

EnglishinsuchcountriesasAustralia,theU.K.,andtheU.S.).EFL(EnglishasaForeign

Language),ontheotherhand,referstolearningEnglishinanenvironmentwhereEnglishis

neitheramediumforeverydaycommunicationnoreducation.Thus,Japaniscategorizedasan

EFLsetting.

2)Asarelatedspeechacttoadvice,thereis"suggesting."Bothspeechactsareperformedtoget

thehearertotakesomekindofaction,usuallyforthebenefitofthehearer.However,theaction

thatismentionedisdirectedtotheheareronlyinthecaseofadvice,whereasinsuggestions,it

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canincludethespeakeraswell(e.g.,"Let'strythatrestaurant.";"Shallwegonow?").This

studyfocusesonadvice,onlyinvolvinglinguisticbehaviorthroughwhichthespeaker

recommendsthehearertotaketheactionthatthespeakermentions.

3)ThestudybyBanerjeeandCarrell(1988)infactconcernedthespeechactofsuggesting.

However,theirstudywasusedforanalysisinthisstudybecauseoftheirexhaustivelistsof

examplesthatwerecountedasadviceaswell.Inregardtoadvice,recentstudiesbyMatsumura

(2001,2003)offernumerousinsightsonJapaneseEnglishlearners'perceptionsofadvice

strategies.Hisanalysis,however,dealtwithpre-determinedadviceresponsesfromwhich

learnerschose.SincethemainfocusoftheanalysisinActivityユinthisstudywastoseethe

typesofadviceexpressionsthatparticipantsproduced,itwasdecidedtofollowtheanalysisby

BanerjeeandCarrell.

4)Thereareotherwaystodistinguishdirectandindirectadvice.Onewaywouldbetodefine

directandindirectadvicestatementsbasedonthemeaningandperceivedstrengthofthe

forms.Forexample,suchformsas"youmust,""youshould,""you'dbetter"andimperatives

wouldbecategorizedas"directadvice."Otherformssuchas"youcan/could,""youmightwant

to"and"itmay/wouldbeagoodideato"couldbecategorizedas"indirectadvice."Inthe

aforementionedstudiesbyMatsurnura,thepre-determinedchoicesofadviceresponseswere

categorizedasfollows:"direct"(e.g.,"youshould"),"hedgedadvice"(e.g.,"maybeit'sbetter"),

and"indirectcommentswithnoadvice"(e.g.,"Iusuallydon'ttakemycartothatshop.Ithasa

reallybadreputation."Matsumura,200ユ.P.677).

5)Itshouldbenoted,however,thatsomehighschoolEnglishgrammartextbooksaddinanote

that°youhadbetter"couldsoundforcefulandthusitshouldbeusedwithcautionsuchas

whenspeakingtoasuperior(e.g.,Shiozawa&Tokioka,1993).Inhisnote,Wada(1999)

mentionsthatsuchformsas"Ithinkyou'dbetter...,""itwouldbebetterforyouto...,"and

"maybeyoushould..."arepreferredsince"youhadbetter"couldsoundlikeacommand.

6)Duetothetimeconstraintsattheendofthesemester,participantsinGroup1(thespeaking

class)-werenotgivenachancetocommentontheclassactivities.

i

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Promoting Pragmatic Competence in the Japanese EFL Classroom: The Speech Act of Advice

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