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Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad...
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Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad Contexts

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 7595

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shuai Li

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of World Languages and Cultures, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Interests: second language pragmatics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to announce this call for papers for a Special Issue of Languages to focus on individual differences in second language (L2) pragmatics in study abroad contexts.

Over the past two decades, L2 learners’ pragmatic development during study abroad has attracted sustained research attention (Taguchi and Roever, 2017), leading to the publication of empirical studies in the form of monographs (e.g., Barron, 2002; Ren, 2015; Schauer, 2009), journal special issues (e.g., Sánchez Hernández, 2022), and many articles/chapters. The existing literature has indicated that L2 learners’ experiences in study abroad contexts can be highly dynamic and complex, a major reason for this being that contextual affordances usually interact with individual learner characteristics to shape the developmental trajectories of L2 pragmatic competence. Such context–individual interaction (Taguchi and Roever, 2017) merits empirical attention because research in this regard can help to uncover the effects of various learner-internal and learner-external factors on pragmatic developmental pathways. To date, however, research on context–individual interaction has not received focused treatment in the form of book-length publications, and this Special Issue of Languages represents an effort in this direction.

We welcome proposals of empirical studies that investigate individual differences in L2 pragmatics in study abroad contexts. The term “individual differences” refers to individual difference factors (e.g., proficiency, length of stay, intercultural competence, motivation, learning strategies, attitude) as well as learners’ individualized developmental trajectories. The goal of this Special Issue is to bring together a collection of high-quality studies featuring varied theoretical (e.g., cognitive and social) and methodological approaches (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), different pragmatic constructs (e.g., interactional ability, speech acts, implicature, pragmatic routines, sentence-final particles), and multiple target languages across different study abroad contexts.

In terms of procedures, we request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor ([email protected]) or to the Languages editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

For any questions on Article Processing Charge (APC), please feel free to contact the Editorial Office.

Tentative completion schedule:

  • Abstract submission deadline: 20 January 2023
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: 20 March 2023 
  • Full manuscript deadline: 20 December 2023 

References

Barron, A. (2003). Acquisition in interlanguage pragmatics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Ren, W. (2015).  L2 Pragmatic Development in Study Abroad Contexts. Peter Lang.

Schauer. G. (2009). Interlanguage pragmatic development: The study abroad context. Continuum.

Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

Sánchez Hernández, A. (2022) (Ed.). Second language pragmatic development in study abroad contexts. Special issue of Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 7(1).

Dr. Shuai Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • individual difference
  • second language pragmatics
  • study abroad

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 553 KiB  
Article
Thrivers and Survivors during Study Abroad: The Individual Cases of Japanese Learners of English
by Nicola Halenko and Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis
Languages 2024, 9(5), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9050180 - 15 May 2024
Viewed by 1646
Abstract
Whilst study abroad (SA) periods hold much promise for foreign language development, increasing research suggests sojourners’ experiences are unique, and language development does not always follow a linear trajectory. For some learners, SA has little impact on their language performance despite the affordances [...] Read more.
Whilst study abroad (SA) periods hold much promise for foreign language development, increasing research suggests sojourners’ experiences are unique, and language development does not always follow a linear trajectory. For some learners, SA has little impact on their language performance despite the affordances of L2 immersion (the Survivors). Other learners maximise the potential of SA, and this has a positive impact on their language development (the Thrivers). This paper examines the selected cases of four Japanese learners of English and their request language performance during a 10-month SA in the UK. Changes in pragmatic knowledge (based on appropriateness ratings) were documented at three equidistant time points. Language contact profile data also provided quantitative insights into the learners’ extracurricular language use and qualitative personal reflections. The selected cases illustrate two learners surviving the SA experience, showing minimal change in their request performance. The other two learners thrived during SA, showing accelerated performance in terms of lexical variation at the production level. This paper reports on the case histories of these learners to better understand these unique experiences and pragmatic discrepancies. Suggestions for how learners might be more pragmatically successful during SA are also offered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad Contexts)
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21 pages, 361 KiB  
Article
An Ecological Perspective on Agency: L2 Learners’ Sociopragmatic Interpretations and Strategies in a Study Abroad Context
by Hae Ree Jun and Bing Mu
Languages 2024, 9(5), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9050174 - 10 May 2024
Viewed by 1141
Abstract
In applied linguistics, there has been a growing body of L2 pragmatics studies that investigate the intricate relationship between language learners’ subjective pragmatic choices and various contextual factors. The current study contributes to the understanding of language learner agency by illustrating the complex [...] Read more.
In applied linguistics, there has been a growing body of L2 pragmatics studies that investigate the intricate relationship between language learners’ subjective pragmatic choices and various contextual factors. The current study contributes to the understanding of language learner agency by illustrating the complex processes through which language learners enact their agency in response to varying contextual factors when making their sociopragmatic interpretations and strategies. To capture the ecological nature of agency, this study conceptualizes agency as contextually, interpersonally, intrapersonally, spatially, and temporally embedded. Through the in-depth examination of the accounts of three L2 learners of Japanese regarding their interactions with religious group members during their study abroad in Japan, this study demonstrates language learners’ divergent ways of enacting their agency, stemming from their orientations to the unique configurations of various contextual attributes in the L2 interactions. Such differences were rooted in and guided by their past experiences, present environments, and future aspirations that impacted their sociopragmatic perceptions, expectations, and choices. This study provides a complicated picture of language learner agency as a dialogic and reflexive process in which learners interact with contextual factors and adapt their sociopragmatic choices. Thus, it calls for an ecological, processual, and holistic approach to language learner agency through the close examination of the ways in which various contextual factors come together in L2 interactions, the process of how language learners orient to dynamic configurations of contextual factors, and what guides such orientations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad Contexts)
15 pages, 401 KiB  
Article
The Development of Pragmatic Markers in English as a Second Language: Do Age and Learning Context Matter?
by Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández, Júlia Barón and Àngels Llanes
Languages 2024, 9(4), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9040115 - 22 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1614
Abstract
The present study explores the development of pragmatic marker (PM) use by children and adult L2 English learners in two learning contexts: study abroad (SA) and at home (AH). The study involved a group of 35 Catalan/Spanish girls (aged 11 to 13) learning [...] Read more.
The present study explores the development of pragmatic marker (PM) use by children and adult L2 English learners in two learning contexts: study abroad (SA) and at home (AH). The study involved a group of 35 Catalan/Spanish girls (aged 11 to 13) learning English AH (n = 16) and abroad in Ireland (n = 19), and a group of 16 adult students aged 19–31 learning English in the UK and Ireland (n = 10) and at their home university in Barcelona (n = 6). To test their pragmatic development, the use of PMs was prompted through pre-test and post-test semi-structured interviews. The results indicated an effect of both age and context on PM development. Children in the SA context increased their use of some PMs, whereas their peers who remained at home did not show any development. Regarding the adults, both SA and AH participants increased their use of specific PMs. These findings shed some light on a topic that has not received scholarly attention in the field of L2 pragmatics: the development of PM use by children. Additionally, they contribute to the very small body of longitudinal studies on the development of PM use during SA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad Contexts)

Other

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23 pages, 974 KiB  
Systematic Review
The Role of Learner Variables in Pragmatic Development during Study Abroad: A Systematic Review
by Zia Tajeddin and Neda Khanlarzadeh
Languages 2024, 9(3), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9030096 - 13 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1907
Abstract
As one of the productive approaches to L2 pragmatic development, study abroad (SA) has drawn the attention of numerous researchers during the past few decades. Different factors, specifically those related to L2 learners, implicate the impact of SA on pragmatic development. The present [...] Read more.
As one of the productive approaches to L2 pragmatic development, study abroad (SA) has drawn the attention of numerous researchers during the past few decades. Different factors, specifically those related to L2 learners, implicate the impact of SA on pragmatic development. The present systematic review aims to identify the roles of individual differences, including personal as well as social and cognitive variables, on the pragmatic development of L2 learners who were involved in SA programs. To this end, 39 studies from peer-reviewed journals and books published from 2000 to 2022 were scrutinized. The results revealed that a substantial amount of research has been conducted on the intersection of L2 pragmatic competence and SA. However, more studies are required to investigate the impact of learner variables on different aspects of L2 pragmatics in the SA context. The results also indicated the extent to which learner variables were analyzed in these studies and how each variable impacted the effectiveness of SA programs. In addition to the effects of learner variables, the methodological features of the studies, including the context of the studies, designs of the studies, data sources, and characteristics of the involved participants, were explored and reported. The findings contribute to the fields of L2 pragmatic acquisition and study abroad by highlighting the gaps in the literature and identifying key learner variables that can have drastic influences on learners’ outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Individual Differences in Second Language (L2) Pragmatics in Study Abroad Contexts)
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