外語語用表現與習得之研究：以「建設性回饋意見」與「建設性回饋意見反應」行為為例

Abstract

本計畫大方向的目的有三:一是以跨文化語用學（cross-cultural pragmatics）為主， 研究在台灣之母語為中文人士（即native Chinese speakers）與在美國之母語為美語人士 （即native American English speakers）之「建設性回饋意見」（constructive feedback）與 「建設性回饋意見反應」（responses to constructive feedback）行為的差異。二是以外語 語用學（interlanguage pragmatics）為主，研究台灣在美留學生（即ESL learners）學習 美語的外語表現行為(interlanguage behavior)是否已接近（approach or approximate）母語 為美語人士，第三個目的是研究Chinese ESL learners 學習使用「建設性回饋意見」與「建 設性回饋意見反應」行為時的可能發展歷程。本計畫主要將以自然觀察法（natural observation）來收集語料，希冀能藉此收集到最能反映出真實語言使用之語料，而找出 台灣在美留學生美語語用上的困難，並進而探討其此類困難的原因何在，尤其著重於探 討（a）外語語用困難是否或如何地受到學習者自身母語的干擾、（b）語用行為中語言 普遍性（universality）對比文化特定性（culture-specificity）之議題及（c）外語語用能 力習得時可能之發展歷程。 由於跨文化與外語語用學研究目前甚少或似乎尚未以「建設性回饋意見」與「建設 性回饋意見反應」行為為研究標的，也甚少以長期觀察（longitudinal observation）的方 式來進行外語語用發展歷程之研究，本計畫的設計乃是試圖擴大cross-cultural 與 interlanguage pragmatics 的研究範圍，或許可對此領域研究略為貢獻一二。

The proposed study aims to investigate ‘constructive feedback’ and ‘responses to constructive feedback’ in naturally occurring context because this adjacency pair is a much used, yet intricate speech act that often poses great difficulty for second language (L2) learners. Research has shown not only that the speech act of ‘constructive feedback’ involves a complex relationship between linguistic forms, meanings, and pragmatic prerequisites, but also that high social stakes shape speakers’ behavior, thus permitting a variety of linguistic forms and strategies (e.g., Nelson & Carson, 1998; Nguyen & Basturkmen, 2010). The aim of this project is three-fold. Through natural observation, one is to compare the ‘constructive feedback’ and ‘responses to constructive feedback’ of native Chinese speakers with those of American English speakers; another is to examine the interlanguage behavior of adult Chinese learners of American English, focusing both on the ways in which they perform this speech act in an L2, and on how their L1 may influence their performance of this adjacency pair; the other is to investigate the interlanguage pragmatic development of Chinese ESL learners. Through the above aims, the focus of the present study is not only on the hotly debated L1 issue of universality versus culture-specificity and of the Universal Pragmatics Principle (Kasper & Rose, 2002) in speech act studies, but also on the sociocultural and psychological factors that may contribute to Chinese ESL learners’ difficulty in their ‘constructive feedback’ behavior and ‘responses to constructive feedback’ as well as their L2 pragmatic development. It is hoped that the findings of this study can shed some light on these issues. Most of the research foci of this proposed project are rarely or even have never been explored in the existing literature of cross-cultural and interlanguage pragmatics. Accordingly, this study is designed to extend the scope of pragmatics studies and may therefore contribute significantly to this field. References Kasper, G., & Rose, K. R. (2002). Pragmatic development in a second language. Language Learning Research Club, Ann Arbor, MI: Blackwell Publishing. Nelson, G., & Carson, J. (1998). ESL students’ perceptions of effectiveness in peer response groups. Journal of Second Language Writing, 113-131. Nguyen, M., & Basturkmen, H. (2010). Teaching constructive critical feedback. In D. H. Tatsuki & N. R. Houck (Eds.), Pragmatics: Teaching speech acts (pp. 125-140). Alexandria, Virginia: TESOL, Inc.