Request strategies and modification devices as performed by Czech EFL learners: A focus on borrowing objects

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Authors

SLÁDKOVÁ Věra LAHODOVÁ VALIŠOVÁ Marie

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Discourse and Interaction
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Education

Citation
Web https://journals.muni.cz/discourse-and-interaction/article/view/21339/28427
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/DI2022-2-128
Keywords request strategies; politeness; head acts; internal modification; external modification; pragmatic competence
Description This study presents an analysis of informal written requests from the national school-leaving exam and simulated spoken requests collected via Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) to describe pragmalinguistic features used by Czech EFL learners in requests for borrowing objects. In both types of data, the findings reveal strong preference for conventionally indirect strategies and external modification, but considerable underuse of softeners within head acts. The written requests show significant reiteration with a great deal of modification devices outside head acts and a higher proportion of face-threatening features, such as expectations and direct strategies realized by want statements and imperatives. The WDCT requests tend to employ more face-saving strategies but show less variability in request realization. Consequently, awareness raising activities, helping Czech EFL learners fully understand the face-threatening nature of requests, as well as explicit metapragmatic treatment, focusing on strategic use of requests constituents, are recommended.
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