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Volume 10 Number 4, Winter 2013, Pages 1-239   


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Exploring the Effects of Intention-oriented Input-based Instruction in Second Language Pragmatics: A Case of English Request Hedges

    Masahiro Takimoto


The present study investigates the effects of two types of intention-oriented input-based approaches ―intentional learning-induced instruction (INT+) and incidental learning-induced instruction (INT-) on learners' recognition and production of English request hedges. The results demonstrated that the INT+and INT-groups performed significantly better than the control group on an acceptability judgment test (an unplanned written judgment test). There were no statistically significant differences between the two experimental groups on the acceptability judgment test, which suggested that the incidental input-based learning took place and had some effects on recognizing English request hedges. In other words, it showed that incidental learning became possible in recognizing English hedges when learners were able to attend to and became aware of both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic resources of English request hedges. However, a comparison of those learners in the two treatment groups in a discourse completion test (an unplanned written-production test) indicated an advantage for the INT+group and implied that the intentional input-based learning involving processing of English polite requests through pragmalinguistic-sociopragmatic connection contributed more to producing English requests hedges.

Keywords: intentional, incidental, input-based, hedge, pragmatics