Pragmatic Transfer and Development

What is it about?

Email has become a ubiquitous medium of communication. It is used amongst people from the same speech community, but also between people from different language and cultural backgrounds. When people communicate, they tend to follow rules of speaking in their native language, which may cause misunderstandings and lead to cross-cultural communication breakdown. This book examines pragmatic transfer by Chinese learners of English at different proficiency levels when writing email requests and refusals. To meet the need for developmental research in L2 pragmatics, it also explores whether pragmatic transfer increases or decreases as language proficiency improves.

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Why is it important?

This book will contribute to the current understanding of interlanguage pragmatics and second language acquisition. It will have pedagogical implications for the learning and teaching of English as a second or foreign language. Moreover, it will shed light on research in cross-cultural pragmatics and intercultural communication.