Die sprechhandlung „beschwerden“ im fremdsprachenerwerb: einflussfaktoren auf die pragmatische kompetenz
THE SPEECH ACT OF COMPLAINTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: FACTORS INFLUENCING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the importance of developing pragmatic competence in the context of foreign language acquisition. Pragmatic competence enables learners to communicate appropriately in the target language. It is defined as “knowledge of the linguistic means available in a given language for realising specific illocutions, an understanding of the sequential aspects of speech acts, and knowledge of the appropriate contextual use of linguistic resources” (Barron 2003, 10). In this sense, pragmatic competence includes both the ability to fulfil linguistic functions and the knowledge of socio-culturally appropriate use of linguistic means in a given communicative context. Leech’s distinction between socio-pragmatic and pragma-linguistic knowledge proves particularly useful in defining pragmatic competence. Sociopragmatic knowledge refers to the “specific ‘local’ conditions of language use [...], since it is clear that the cooperative principle and the politeness principle operate variably across different cultures, speech communities, social situations and social classes” (Leech 1983, 10). This includes knowledge of context, recognition and production of illocutionary meaning, distribution of politeness strategies, speaker–hearer relationships, formality of the situation, social values and cultural beliefs. In contrast, pragma-linguistic knowledge refers to the specific linguistic means that a language provides for realising particular illocutions. Since both socio-pragmatic and pragma-linguistic rules are not always immediately apparent, learners often fail to fully comprehend native speakers’ utterances or misinterpret them. Even more challenging is learners’ ability to produce expressions that meet native speakers’ pragmatic expectations. The discussion above leads to the question of which specific skills students need to develop to achieve pragmatic competence. Most studies in this field focus on the investigation of speech acts (Roever 2005; Liu 2004; Beebe et al. 1990; Blum-Kulka 1982; Kasper 1989; Kasper & Blum-Kulka 1993; Olshtain & Weinbach 1993; Trosborg 1995). Other research explores routines, implicatures, the ability to realise politeness and discourse functions, and the application of cultural knowledge. This paper focuses on Macedonian- and Albanian-speaking German students and their performance of the speech act of complaining. Firstly, a precise definition of the speech act of complaining is provided, followed by an analysis of relevant research that forms the foundation of this study. Subsequently, the methodological research framework and the study’s findings are presented. Finally, selected linguistic behaviours of the students are discussed.

• Details
• Contents