Evaluating the pragmatic competence of Croatian business English students
Evaluating the pragmatic competence of Croatian business English students

Summary/Abstract: The study investigated the pragmatic competence of Croatian Business English students and it focused on participants’ ability to utilise appropriate, polite, and clear language in business communication. Thirty-seven participants completed a mixed-methods questionnaire comprised of self-assessment, discourse completion task, an email completion task, role-play scenario, and multiple-choice questions. The responses were evaluated using a fifty-point scale based on three criteria: appropriateness, politeness and tone, and grammar and clarity. Findings indicated that participants generally demonstrated a solid understanding of pragmatic strategies, especially in requests and refusals. Some challenges were detected in expressing disagreement and directness softening. Participants demonstrated a high level of self-awareness, particularly in apologies and recognising differences between formal and informal language. Findings show differences between perceived and actual performance in more subtle tasks. There is also an indication that exposing students to communicative teaching approaches such as direct method, communicative language teaching and task-based language teaching may encourage pragmatic awareness. This study emphasises the importance of integrating explicit teaching of pragmatics in Business English and suggests further research on the use of pragmatic strategies and changes in development over a longer period.

• Details
• Contents