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Preliminaries
17
alsonoticedbyKasperandSchmidt(1996:153),whopointoutthatstudiesof
PCdevelopmentinaforeignlanguageareHneededinordertoteaseoutstable
developmentalpatterns2andvariation3duetocontextsofL2learninganduse
andtoindividualdifferences”.
ApartfromaconsiderableshortageofILPstudies,thereisasecondary,
morepracticalandpedagogic,reasonbehindthepresentstudy.Ithasalmost
becomeaclichétosaythatinterlocutorswhodonotsharethesamepoliteness
systems,becausethey,forexample,comefromculturesorsocietiesadhering
todifferentculturalvalues,mayencounterinterculturalmisunderstandings.
Therefore,thisbookmayoffersomeinsightintothereasonsforthisandun-
derscoretheimportanceofteachingPC,especiallyinclassroomsorincon-
textswheretwodivergingpolitenesssystemscomeintoplay.Mygoalisalso
todrawlanguageteachers’andteachertrainees’attentiontotheimportance
ofstudyingandinterpretinglearnertransitionalcompetenceinsteadofcon-
centratingsolelyonmethodsandtechniquesofclassroominstruction.
Onemorethingrequiresfurtherexplanation.Beingawareofthetermino-
logicaldifferencebetweenEnglishasaforeignlanguage,Englishasasecond
language(henceforthESL)andEnglishasalinguafranca(henceforthELF;Se-
idlhofer2011:17-19),IchoosetocallmyresearchparticipantslearnersofEng-
lishasaforeignlanguage(afterBardovi-Harlig1980:339-340).Thisisbecause
theylearntheTLinacountrywhereEnglishisnotamediumofeveryday
communicationbutratheritsuseislimitedpredominantlytotheclassroom.
Unitofanalysis:PCoperationalizationinthepresentstudy
Asaresponsetotheabove-mentionedpaucityofresearchonPCdevel-
opmentamongPolishEFLlearners,thepresentbookconstitutesthefrstef-
fortatprobingtheissueofILPcharacteristicofEFLspeakersinPolandas
capturedinalongitudinalstudyconductedamongadvancedstudentsatthe
universitylevel.Themainaimofthisworkistoobtainacoherentpictureof
howPCisacquiredbyidentifyingpatternsandrelationshipsinacquisition
ofrequestsinEFL.Hence,ananalyticandexploratoryperspectiveisadopted
inthisstudy.
Theunitofanalysis,i.e.,thepragmaticfeaturewhichservesthepurpose
ofoperationalizationofpragmaticcompetence,isthespeechactofrequest-
ing.AccordingtoSearle(1969:66),arequestisanexampleofHadirective
2DevelopmentalpatternsareHpacesorratesofchangesofpragmaticfeatures”(Li2016:
593).
3VariationsaretreatedinthisstudyasHunevendevelopmentalpacesorratesacrossprag-
maticfeatures”,e.g.,fasterornon-/slowerdevelopment(Li2016:593).