Walters2009

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Walters2009
BibType ARTICLE
Key Walters2009
Author(s) F. Scott Walters
Title A Conversation Analysis: Informed Test of L2 Aural Pragmatic Comprehension
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, second language acquisition
Publisher
Year 2009
Language
City
Month
Journal TESOL Quarterly
Volume 43
Number 1
Pages 29–54
URL Link
DOI 10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00226.x
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
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Abstract

Speech act theory–based, second language pragmatics testing (SLPT) raises test-validation issues owing to a lack of correspondence with empirical conversational data. On the assumption that conversation analysis (CA) provides a more accurate account of language use, it is suggested that CA serve as a more empirically valid basis for SLPT development. The current study explores this notion by administering a pilot CA-informed test (CAIT) of listening comprehension to learners of English as second language (ESL) and to a control group of native speakers of English. The listening CAIT protocol involved participants' addressing multiple-choice items after listening to audiotaped conversational sequences derived from the CA literature. Statistical analyses of pilot-test responses, correlations of test score with participant demographic variables, and CA-informed, qualitative analyses of nonnative and native speaker responses with reference to operationalized pragmatic norms provided tentative evidence that the CAIT aural-comprehension measure possesses some utility in SLPT.

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