The Effect of Content Instruction in L2 on L1 Pragmatics

Mehmet Kanik

doi:10.2478/v10015-011-0017-x

Authors

Mehmet Kanik The University of Houston

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2478/v10015-011-0017-x

Keywords:

Language transfer, cross-linguistic influence, pragmatic transfer, L2 effect

Abstract

This study investigates whether content instruction in English has an impact on L1 pragmatics. In this study a discourse completion test with eight request situations in Turkish was given to three groups of Turkish students enrolled in undergraduate programs in a faculty of education in Turkey. One group of students received most of their education in English. The other two groups received their education in Turkish. An interesting finding is that the differences in the make-up of the situations were only observed in situations with high imposition. This shows that instruction in the foreign language has an impact on sociopragmatic interpretation in L1. Overall, the results reveal that instruction in foreign language has an impact on first language pragmatic use.

Author Biography

Mehmet Kanik, The University of Houston

Mehmet Kanik received his BA in Foreign Language Education from Middle East Technical University in 2000 and his MS in TESOL from the University of Southern California in 2003. Next, he took graduate courses at the University of Arizona between 2003 and 2005. In 2010, he finished his PhD in English Language Teaching at Istanbul University. He is currently working at the University of Houston as a visiting assistant professor as well as visiting Texas A&M University as a visiting scholar. Some of his research interests are cross-cultural pragmatics, speech acts, cross-linguistic influence and English as a lingua franca.

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