Introduction to Linguistics

Language Teaching Media

Interlanguage Pragmatics

   Interlanguage pragmatics in action: Use of expressions of gratitude

by. Merie Agustiani, S. Pd.

  

Abstract

This study examined the Indonesian learners of English production of speech acts of gratitude in an EFL context, specifically how they use strategy use of gratitude. The subjects of this study were 14 students of Baturaja University which were chosen randomly. They were asked to take a Discousre Completion Task (DCT) with 8 situations proposed by cheng (2005, as cited in Özdemir and Rezvan, 2010, p. 194). The results of this study showed that most of the learners used thanking strategy.

Key words: Interlanguage pragmatics; gratitude; strategy

To have a successful communication, it is important to produce the suitable language in different situation.  In order to achieve this goal, beside having a good grammatical competence, learners should also have a good competence on pragmatics. According to Neddar (2012, p. 5690), “Raising learners’ awareness of the pragmatic choices they can make has become recently a key issue in pedagogical circles”. It is also supported by Liu (2002) who stated that the study of the learner language has been a growing source of concern also in pragmatics in recent years. The pragmatic perspective toward the learner language led to the birth of a new interdisciplinary, interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). Kasper and Dahl (cited in Maryam and Suleiman, 2009, p. 112) state, “Interlanguage pragmatics refers to the “non-native speakers’ comprehension and production of speech acts, and how their L2   (second language)-related speech act knowledge is acquired”.

The different productions of speech act done by non-native speakers are mostly caused by cross-cultural variation. Students from different cultures alter the sociolinguistic rules of speaking

 a foreign language in different ways. One explanation for this variation is frequently that these students normally use such speech acts in their native languages in similar situations (Mizne, 1997).

Expressing gratitude is one of the speech acts frequently used in interpersonal relationships between language users. Successful performance of this language function may result in positive feelings, whereas failure of expressing gratitude may have negative consequences (Özdemir and Rezvan, 2010, p. 194).

We can say our gratitude through words of thanks, praise or appreciation. Since thanking has a societal function, learners should acquire rules for expressing gratitude in the target language. Blum-Kulka (1984, as cited in Zarei and Pishghadam, 2001) stated that as thanking is implemented by means of standardized routines, learners not only should know the semantic formulas needed in thanking situations but also have to understand the appropriate time to use these formulas.

In many South Asian languages such as Marathi and Hindi, gratitude is not expressed to a person unless the person being thanked has actually done an action they were not under any obligation to perform. When speakers of these languages interact in the Western world where saying "thank you" is a formulaic utterance in nearly all service encounters, their lack of participation in these thanking sequences makes them appear rude and ungrateful. This phenomenon is called pragmatic transfer, and can be defined as the application of the sociolinguistic rules of one's native language to a second or foreign language resulting in non-nativelike speech (Mizne, 1997).

Saying ‘thank you’ is a problem not only for native speakers, but also for second language learners who need to know when and how to thank in the target culture (Bodman & Eisenstein, 1988; Eisenstein & Bodman, 1986, 1993). The problem is typically considered in terms of when and how thanking is an appropriate response to the social situation (Cheng, as cited in Özdemir and Rezvan, 2010, p. 195). So that’s why, this study concerned on an analysis of the Indonesian learners of English production of speech acts of gratitude in an EFL context, specifically how they use strategy use of gratitude.

Methodology

            This study involved 14 students of Baturaja university. They were randomly chosen to take the Discourse Coompletion Task (DCT) proposed by Cheng (2005, as cited in Özdemir and Rezvan, 2010, p. 196) based on 8 strategies for expression of gratitude as follows.

a. Thanking

Participants say “thank you” in three ways:

a. thanking only by using the word “thank you” (e.g. Thanks a lot! Thank you very much!)

b. thanking by stating the favour (e.g. Thank you for your help!)

c. thanking and mentioning the imposition caused by the favour (e.g. Thank you for helping me collect the papers.)

b. Appreciation

a. using the word appreciate (e.g. I appreciate it!)

b. using the word “appreciate” and mentioning the imposition caused by the favour (e.g. I appreciate the time you spent for me.)

c. Positive feelings

a. by expressing a positive reaction to the favour giver (hearer) (e.g. You are a life saver!)

b. by expressing a positive reaction to the object of the favour (e.g. This book was really helpful!)

d. Apology

a. using only apologizing words (e.g. I’m sorry)

b. using apologizing words and stating the favour or the fact (e.g. I’m sorry for the problem I made! )

c. criticizing or blaming oneself (e.g. I’m such a fool!)

d. expressing embarrassment (e.g. It’s so embarrassing!)

e. Recognition of imposition

a. acknowledging the imposition (e.g. I know that you were not allowed to give me extra time!)

b. stating the need for the favour (e.g. I try not to ask for extra time, but this time I need it!)

c. diminishing the need for the favour (e.g. You didn’t have to do that!)

f. Repayment

a. offering or promising service, money, food or goods (e.g. Next time it's my turn to pay!)

b. indicating indebtedness (e.g. I owe you one! )

c. promising future self-restraint or self-improvement (e.g. It won't happen again!)

g. Others

Expressions that do not belong to the above strategies are categorized as other strategies. There are four subcategories under the other strategy:

a. here statement (e.g. Here you are!)

b. small talk (e.g. Your face is very familiar to me but I can’t remember where I saw you. What do you study?)

c. leave-taking (e.g. Have a nice day!)

d. joking (e.g. Don’t forget to pay again next time)

h. Attention getter

In the thanking situations, attention getter and address term are likely to occur in the same utterance. The alerters

include:

a. attention getter (e.g. Hey, Hi, Well)

b. title (e.g. Dr., Professor! Sir!)

c. name (e.g. John, Mary)

Results and Discussion

In this study, the data analysis of the overall strategy use in expressing gratitude done by the Indonesian of English learners showed that most of the participant used thanking (63.4 %), apology (16.1%), positive feeling (12.5%), recognation of imposition (3.6%), others (2.6%), and appreciation (1.7%).                (see table.1)

Furthermore, the analysis of the Indonesian of English learners Discourse Completion Task (DCT) responses showed that, on each situation given to the learners, the most frequent gratitude strategies used by them was thanking              (see table 1). Most of the participants said thank you in three ways; thanking only by using the word “ thank you”, thanking by stating the favour (e.g. Thanks a lot! Thank you very much!), and thanking and also mentioning the imposition caused by the favour (e.g. Thank you for helping me collect the paper.). (see table.2)

Table 1. The distribution of overall strategy use for Indonesian English learners

No	Strategy	Distribution (n)	Percent
1.	Thanking	71	63.4 %
2.	Appreciation	2	1.8 %
3.	Positive Feeling	14	12.5 %
4.	Apology	18	16.1 %
5.	Recognition of Imposition	4	3.6 %
6.	Repayment	0	0 %
7.	Others	3	2.6 %
8.	Attention getter	0	0 %
Total		112	100%

Table 2. Indonesian of English Learners’ strategy use in each situation given in Discouse Completon Task (DCT)

	Number	Situation
Strategy	of Participant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
		N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)
Thanking	14	12  (85.7 %)	8 (57.2%)	9 (64.4%)	7  (50%)	5 (35.7%)	10 (71.5%)	7 (50%)	13 (92.8%)
Appreciation	14	0	0	0	2 (14.3%)	0	0	0	0
Positive Feeling	14	2 (14.3%)	2 (14.3%)	1 (7.2%)	3 (21.3%)	0	0	6 (42.8%)	0
Apology	14	0	3 (21.3%)	3 (21.3%)	0	8 (57.1%)	3 (21.3%)	1 (7.2%)	0
Recognition of Imposition	14	0	0	0	1  (7.2%)	1  (7.2%)	1  (7.2%)	0	1 (7.2%)
Repayment	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Others	14	0	1  (7.2%)	1 (7.2%)	1 (7.2%)	0	0	0	0
Attention getter	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Note:

N : Distribution/ Number of participants

%: Percentage

            The result of this study is in line with the research finding done by Zarei & Pishghadam (2001) and Maryam & Suleiman (2009) which investigate an Interlanguage Pragmatic Study of Expressions of Gratitude by Iranian EFL Learners. The data on their findings displayed that thanking and positive feeling strategies were the most frequently used strategy.

References

Farnia, Maryam and Raja Rozina R.S. (2009). An Interlanguage Pragmatic Study of Expressions of Gratitude by Iranian EFL Learners – A Pilot Study. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, Vol. 5,   p. 108-140.

Liu, Shaozhong. (2002). Studies on negative pragmatic transfer in interlanguage pragmatics. Guangxi Normal University Journal, Vol.3, p. 1-19.

Mizne, Claire Ann. (1997). Teaching Sociolinguistic Competence in the ESL Classroom. Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange University of Tennessee, p. 1-69.

Neddar, Bel Abbes. (2012). Short notes on discourse, interlanguage pragmatics and EFL teaching: where do we stand?. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol 46, p. 5687 – 5692. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.498

Özdemir, Çiğdem and Rezvan, Seyed Ali. (2010). Interlanguage pragmatics in action: use of expressions of gratitude. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol 3, p. 194–202. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.032

Pishghadam, Reza and Zarei, Sima. (2001). Expressions of Gratitude: A Case of EFL Learners. Canadian Center of Science and Education, 3(2), p. 140-149.