1.6 Thesis Outline. 20

1.7 Definition of Key Terms. 21

Chapter 2: Transition of Female Characters. 24

2.1 Current of French Thought. 25

2.1.1 French Feminism.. 26

2.1.2 Psychology and French philosophers. 31

2.1.3 Interactions between French thought and German thought 33

2.1.4 The relation of Feminism and Marxism.. 37

2.1.5 Lacan’s and Foucault’s Structuralism.. 38

2.1.6 The role of Simone de Beauvoir in French Feminism.. 42

2.1.7 Manifestation of Postmodernism and Post-structuralism.. 44

2.2 Luce Irigaray. 45

2.2.1 Irigaray’s concepts about the “female character”. 47

2.2.1.1 “The Other Woman”. 48

2.2.1.2 “Sexual Difference”. 52

2.2.1.3 Psychological repressions of women identity in West culture. 55

2.2.1.3.1 Repression and Schizophrenia. 55

2.2.1.3.2 Deconstruction of Patriarchal philosophy. 57

2.2.1.3.3 Sexual organs. 58

2.3 Helene Cixous. 59

2.3.1 Cixous’s philosophy and concepts about the female character. 60

2.3.1.1 Poetic writings about woman’s character. 60

2.3.1.2 Re- Born Woman. 65

2.3.1.3 Feminine Writing. 66

2.4 American and French Feminist literary criticism and art criticism.. 67

2.4.1 First waves of feminism.. 69

2.4.2 Second waves of feminism and Cixous’s and Irigaray’s concepts. 70

2.5 Proposing the theory of transformation of woman’s personality from Irigaray’s and Cixous’s viewpoints 72

 

Chapter 3: Female Characters of the Buried Child. 77

3.1 “Buried Child”. 78

3.2 Discourse of Characters and Post-Modern Attitude of Shepard. 79

3.3 Construction of “Buried Child”. 81

3.4 Psychoanalysis of women characters. 81

3.4.1 The character of “Catholic Bride” or the notion of multi-phallus in Irigaray’s and Cixous’s concepts. 83

3.4.2 “Halie”: the hysteric and repressed character. 85

3.4.3 Orgasmic pleasure and the character of Shelly. 88

3.4.4 Rape or alienation to femininity. 89

3.4.5 “Woman’s body” speaks. 91

Chapter 4: Female Characters of A Lie of the Mind & States of Shock. 92

4.1 “A Lie of the Mind”. 93

in Shepard’s Viewpoint. 97

4.3 The personality of “beaten Beth”. 104

4.3.1 Beth’s anxiety-Freud’s and Irigaray’s “lack of orgasm”. 106

4.4 Irigaray’s dialectics in women characters. 109

4.4.1 The relation of mother-daughter (Meg and Beth) 110

4.5 Cixous’s literature therapy and dialogues of woman personality. 111

4.6 “Transition of Personality” in female characters of A Lie of the Mind. 112

4.6.1 “Sally”: Conservative and unrepressed personality. 112

4.6.2 Meg and Lorraine: Non-Reborn Mothers. 113

4.7 “States of Shock”. 115

4.7.1 “White Woman, lack of male’s sex organ”. 117

4.7.2 “War, the absence woman identity”. 119

Chapter 5: Conclusion. 121

5.1 Summing up. 122

5.2 Findings. 126

5.2.1 Research Questions. 127

5.3 Works Cited. 131

2.3.1.2. Keller’s (1983) Motivational-Design Model 20

2.3.2. The Cognitive-Situated Period (1990-2000) 21

2.3.2.1.Dörnyei’s (1994) Framework of L2 Motivation 22

2.3.2.2. Williams and Burden’s (1997) Model of L2 Motivation 25

2.3.2.3. Task Motivation 27

2.3.2.4. L2 Motivation Expectancy-Value Theories 28

2.3.2.4.1. The Concepts of Self-Confidence and Linguistic Self-Confidence 29

2.3.2.4.2. Language Anxiety 31

2.3.2.4.3. Attribution Theory of L2 Learning 32

2.3.2.5. Achievement Motivation Theory 33

2.3.2.6. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) 34

2.3.3. The Process-Oriented Period (2000 Onwards) 36

2.3.3.1.Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) Process Model of L2 Motivation 36

2.4. Significance of Motivation/ L2 Motivation 39

2.5. Types of Motivation and their Role in SL/FL Acquisition 40

2.5.1. Integrative Motivation 40

2.5.2. Instrumental Motivation 42

2.5.3. Intrinsic Motivation 43

2.5.3.1. The Intrinsic Needs of Students 44

2.5.3.1.1. The Need for Autonomy and Self-Determination 45

2.5.3.1.2. The Need for Competence 45

2.5.3.1.3. The Need for Belonging and Relatedness 46

2.5.3.1.4. The Need for Self-Esteem 46

2.5.3.1.5. The Need for Involvement and Enjoyment 46

2.5.3.2. Achieving Intrinsic Motivation in L2 Learning 47

2.5.3.3. The Role of Intrinsic Motivation in L2 Learning 47

2.5.4. Extrinsic Motivation 48

2.6. The L2 Motivational Self System 51

2.7. Motivational Strategies 53

2.7.1. Creating Basic Motivational Conditions 59

2.7.1.1. Demonstrating Proper Teacher Behaviour 59

2.7.1.1.1. Teacher’s Enthusiasm 59

2.7.1.1.2. Teacher’s Commitment 62

2.7.1.1.3. Teacher’s Care and Acceptance 63

2.7.1.1.4. Teacher’s Immediacy 65

2.7.1.2. Creating a Pleasant Classroom Atmosphere 66

2.7.1.3. Promoting Group Cohesiveness and Setting Group Norms 67

2.7.2.Generating Initial Motivation 70

2.7.2.1. Familiarising Learners with L2 Culture and L2 Related Values 70

2.7.2.2. Increasing Learners’ Expectancy of Success 71

2.7.2.3. Promoting Learners’ Positive Goals (Goal-Orientedness) and Realistic Beliefs 74

2.7.2.4. Relating Language Learning to Learners’ Needs and Goals 77

2.7.3. Maintaining and Protecting Motivation 78

2.7.3.1. Making Learning Stimulating and Enjoyable 78

2.7.3.2. Diminishing Learners’ Anxiety and Building up Their Self-Confidence 79

2.7.3.3. Promoting Learners’ Autonomy 82

2.7.4. Encouraging Positive Self-Evaluation 83

2.7.4.1. Promoting Learners’ Motivational Attributions 83

2.7.4.2. Providing Learners with Motivational Feedback 85

2.7.4.3. Increasing Learners’ Satisfaction 86

2.8. Current Status of English in Iran 90

CHAPTER THREE- METHOD 92

3.1. Overview 93

3.2. Participants 93

3.3. Instruments 94

3.4. Design 95

3.5.Procedure 95

3.5.1.Piloting 95

3.5.2.Data collection 96

3.6. Data Analysis 97

CHAPTER FOUR- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 101

4.1. Overview 102

4.2. Research Question 1 102

4.2.1. Results 102

4.2.2. Discussions 109

4.3. Research Question 2 110

4.3.1. Results 110

4.3.2. Discussions 111

4.4. Research Question 3 112

4.4.1. Results 112

4.4.2. Discussions 114

4.5. Research Question 4 115

4.5.1. Results 115

4.5.2. Discussions 117

CHAPTER FIVE-CONCLUSION, PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 118

5.1. Overview 119

5.2. Conclusion 119

5.3.Pedagogical Implications 121

5.4.Suggestions for Further research 126

References 137

List of Appendixes

Appendix 1: English version of Frequency Questionnaires 127

Appendix 2: English version of Importance Questionnaires 130

Appendix 3: Farsi version of Frequency Questionnaires 133

Appendix 4: Farsi version of Importance Questionnaires 135

List of Tables

Table 3.1. Gender of Participants 93

Table 3.2. EFL Teaching Experience of Participants 93

Table 3.3. Importance and Frequency Survey Results: Descriptive Statistics and Rankings of Ten Macro-strategies and Related Strategies 99

Table 4.1. Importance Questionnaires Results: Descriptive Statistics and Rankings of Ten Macro-strategies and Related Strategies 103

Table 4.2. Comparison of the Final Rank Order of the Macro-strategies/scales Obtained in This Study and in Hungary (1998), Taiwan (2007) 110

Table 4.3. Frequency Questionnaires Results: Descriptive Statistics and Rankings of Ten Macro-strategies and Related Strategies 112

Table 4.4. Pearson Correlation Results between Overall Means of Motivational Strategies of the Importance and Frequency Questionnaires 115

Table 4.5. Pearson Correlation Results between Macro and Micro-strategies of the Importance and Frequency Questionnaires 116

List of Figures

Figure 2.1. Gardner’s (1985) Socio-Educational Model of Second Language Acquisition (Gardner, 1985, p.199) 15

Figure 2.2. Components of Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) (Gardner, 1985, 144) 17

Figure 2.3. Tremblay and Gardner’s (1995) Model of L2 Motivation (cited in Dörnyei& Ushioda, 2011, p.48 19

Figure 2.4. Dörnyei’s (1994) Model of L2 Motivation (Dörnyei, 1994a, p.280) 24

Figure 2.5. Williams and Burden’s (1997) Framework of L2 Motivation (cited in Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p.54) 26

Figure 2.6. Schematic Representation of the Three Mechanisms Making up the Motivational Task- Processing System (cited in Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p.96) 28

Figure 2.7. Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) Process Model of L2 Motivation (Dörnyei and Ottó, 1998, p.48) 38

Figure 2.8. Gardner’s Conceptualisation of the Integrative Motivation (Gardner, 1986, p.87) 41

Figure 2.9. Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (cited in Dörnyei & Usioda, 2011, p. 52) 52

Figure 2.10. The Components of Motivational L2 Teaching Practice (cited in Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p.108) 58

Figure 2.11. Knight’s (2006) Model of Teacher’s Credibility (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011, p.108) 61

 

 

List of Abbreviations

TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

SL: Second Language

FL: Foreign Language

L2: Second Language

SDT: Self-Determination Theory

AMTB: Attitude/Motivation Test Battery

ARCS: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction

CET: Cognitive Evaluation Theory

ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages

MOLT: Motivation Orientation of Language Teaching

COLT: Communication Orientation of Language Teaching

LSP: Language for Specific Purposes

NO: Number

M: Mean

SD: Standard Deviation

Diff: Difference

Corr.: Correlation

Sig.: Significance

1.4. Statement of the Research Hypothesis…………………………………….6

1.5. Definition of Key Terms……………………………………………………7

1.6. Significance of the Study……………………………………………………8

1.7. Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions………………………………….9

1.7.1. Limitations…………………………………………………………….9

1.7.2. Delimitations………………………………………………………….10

1.7.3. Assumption……………………………………………………………10

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE…………………..11

2.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………….12

2.2. Autonomy…………………………………………………………………12

2.2.1. Definitions of Autonomy……………………………………………….13

2.2.2. Learner Autonomy………………………………………………………14

2.2.3. What Does Autonomy Mean? …………………………………………………….18

2.2.4. Autonomous Learner’s Features……………………………………….20

2.2.5. Elements of Autonomous Learning……………………………………..20

2.2.6. Models for Autonomy……………………………………………………21

2.2.7. Kinds of Autonomy………………………………………………………22

2.2.8. Autonomy in the Classroom……………………………………………..23

2.2.9. Dimensions of Autonomy………………………………………………..25

2.3. Critical Thinking……………………………………………………………26

2.3.1. What is Critical Thinking? ..……………………………………………..29

2.3.2. What Does Critical Thinking Mean? ……………………………………30

2.3.3. A Five Step Model to Improve CT Skills…………………………………31

2.3.4. The Importance of Teaching CT in L2 Classrooms………………………35

2.3.5. Content-based Instructions for Improving CT Skills………………………35

2.3.6. Critical Thinker’s Features…………………………………………………35

2.3.7. Relationship Between CT and Learning……………………………………36

2.3.8. Strategies of Critical Thinking……………………………………………..38

2.4. Writing………………………………………………………………………..39

2.4.1. Writing Strategies…………………………………………………………..41

2.4.2. Writing Modes……………………………………………………………..42

2.4.3. Writing Process Approach and Product Approach…………………………43

2.4.4. General and Specific Components of Writing Tasks………………………44

CHAPTER III: METHOD………………………………………………………..48

3.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….49

3.2. Participants………………………………………………………………….49

3.3. Instrumentation……………………………………………………………50

3.3.1. PET for Homogenization…………………………………………….50

3.3.2. Writing Posttest………………………………………………………51

3.3.3. Writing Scale/Rubric…………………………………………………52

3.3.4. Textbook……………………………………………………………..52

3.3.5.Materialsfor Practicing Autonomy and Critical Thinking…………52

3.4. Procedure………………………………………………………………….53

3.4.1. Practicing CT Techniques……………………………………………54

3.4.2. Practicing AUT Techniques…………………………………………56

3.5. Design……………………………………………………………………..58

3.6. Statistical Analysis……………………………………………………….58

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION…………………………………60

4.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………..61

4.2. Descriptive Statistics of the Pre-treatment Writing Scores………………67

4.3. Descriptive Statistics of the Raters’ Scores to the CT Posttest Writing…69

4.4. Descriptive Statistics of the Posttest Writing Scores…………………….73

4.5. Testing the Null Hypothesis………………………………………………74

4.6. Discussion………………………………………………………………….75

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS………78

5.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………79

5.2. Restatement of the Hypothesis…………………………………………..79

5.3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………79

5.4. Pedagogical Implications……………………………………………………80

5.5. Implications for EFL Teachers, Learners, and Syllabus Designers………81

5.5.1. Implications for EFL Teachers…………………………………………81

5.5.2. Implications for EFL Learners……………………………………….82

5.5.3. Implications for EFL Syllabus Designers…………………………….83

5.6. Suggestions for Further Studies……………………………………………83

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………85

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………123

Appendix A: PTE 1 (used for homogenization)………………………………124

Appendix B: PET 2 (used as post-treatment test)………………………….144

 

CHAPTER I

 

BACKGROUD AND PURPOSE

 

 

 

1.1. Introduction

Education and learning need some special techniques to indulge learners more deeply and efficiently- techniques that involve learners to become more independent and at the same time more thoughtful. It is a rather recent issue that educators are focusing their attention to critical thinking and autonomy on different skills, although “ critical thinking is as integral part of education and training in schools of foreign and second language instruction” ( Shangarffam & Mamipour, 2011, p.1 ), and so is autonomy.

Writing is one of the most effective ways of conveying ideas and thoughts to others, so learning to write is important because without it education, and more important, communications will be defective and will face problems.

According to Pemberton and Nix (2012), writing, autonomy, and critical thinking seem to be linked to each other, and proficiency in writing can be a sign of students’ autonomy, critical thinking ,and reasoning skills on the other hand. Critical thinking and autonomy are both considered desirable educational goals. Raya, Lamb, and Vieira (2007), mention that “The competence to think critically is coextensive with the notion of autonomy and self-sufficiency” (p.43). And in the same way, Little (1991) explains autonomy as an ability “for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action”(p.4). Therefore, it is important that teachers help students develop exploring ways for autonomy and critical thinking (Pemberton & Nix, 2012). Consequently, it seems that teaching learners to become autonomous and at the same time critical thinkers is probably a vital factor in their progress.

In line with the ongoing development in communication and definitely writing, the methods that teachers use to help foster learners’ autonomy, and make a “paradigm shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered instruction” (Jacobs & Farrell, 2002, 12) are considered very important ,and as Wu Li-li (2008) mentions with the growing need of language teaching in communication-oriented way nowadays, language teaching is facing a challenge and is being substituted by the learner-centered one. As a result, the learner-centered approach made the concept of learners’ autonomy emerge (Bagheri & Aeen, 2011).

Nowadays, learner autonomy is considered as “an unquestionable goal and integral part of language learning methodologies throughout the world. Large amounts of time, energy, and money are spent on its promotion and implementation” (Reinders, 2000, p.2). In fact learner autonomy seems to become important because of the motive that it creates in learners. Learning autonomy emphasizes language learners’ role as an active participant in his/her learning who has “a choice as what and how of the curriculum can be used in learning”, and also, “has a responsible feeling for his/her own learning” (Jacobs & Farrell, 2001, p.7).

2.4. Language and Culture. 29

2.5. Translation and Culture. 33

2.6. Translation Problems 36

2.6.1. Linguistics Differences. 37

2.6.2. Social Differences. 41

2.6.3. Cultural Differences. 42

2.7. Presuppositions 47

2.7.1. Philosophical Presupposition. 48

2.7.2. Semantic Presupposition. 48

2.7.3. Pragmatic Presupposition. 49

2.7.4. Cultural Presupposition. 50

2.8. Cultural Presuppositions 50

2.9. Different Classifications of Cultural Presuppositions 52

2.9.1. Newmark’s Classification. 53

2.9.2. Thriveni’s Classification. 58

2.9.3. Pavlovic’s Classification. 60

2.10. Translation Strategies 63

2.11. Translation Strategies for Cultural Presuppositions 66

2.11.1. House’s Strategies. 67

2.11.2. Newmark’s Strategies. 68

2.11.3. Baker’s Strategies. 72

2.11.4. Hervey and Higgins’ Strategies. 74

2.11.5. Aixela’s Strategies. 77

2.11.6. Vinay and Darblenet’s Strategies. 81

2.11.7. Wiersema’s Strategies. 82

2.12. Concluding Points 83

Chapter III: Methodology.. 84

3.1. Introduction. 85

3.2. Corpus 86

3.3. Theoretical Framework. 88

3.4. Design. 97

3.5. Procedure. 97

3.6. Data Collection. 98

3.7. Data Analysis 98

Chapter IV: Results and Discussions. 100

4.1. Introduction. 101

4.2. Description of the Data. 101

4.2.1. Cultural Presuppositions. 102

4.2.1.1. Ecology. 102

4.2.1.2. Material Culture (Artifacts) 102

4.2.1.3. Social Culture. 104

4.2.1.4. Organizations, Customs, Ideas. 105

4.2.1.5. Gestures and Habits. 107

4.2.2. Translation Strategies. 108

4.2.2.1. Transference. 108

4.2.2.2. Naturalization. 109

4.2.2.3. Cultural Equivalent 110

4.2.2.4. Functional Equivalent 110

4.2.2.5. Descriptive Equivalent 111

4.2.2.6. Synonymy. 112

4.2.2.7. Through-translation. 113

4.2.2.8. Shifts or Transposition. 114

4.2.2.9. Reduction and Expansion. 115

4.2.2.10. Couplets, Triplets, and Quadruplets. 116

4.2.2.11. Notes, Additions, and Glosses. 117

4.3. Analysis of the Data. 121

Chapter V: Conclusion, Implications, and Suggestions for Further Research.. 126

5.1. Introduction. 127

5.2. Conclusion. 128

5.3. Pedagogical Implications 130

5.4. Suggestions for Further Research. 132

References 134

Appendixes 139

 

List of Tables

Table 1: Food. 18

Table 2: Clothes. 18

Table 3: Housing. 18

Table 4: Transport 18

Table 5: Work. 18

Table 6: Leisure. 18

Table 7: Political and Administrative. 18

Table 8: Religious. 18

Table 9: Artistic. 18

Table 10: Historical Terms. 18

Table 11: Gestures and Habits. 18

Table 12: Transference. 18

Table 13: Naturalization. 18

Table 14: Cultural Equivalent 18

Table 15: Functional Equivalent 18

Table 16: Descriptive Equivalent 18

Table 17: Synonymy. 18

Table 18: Through-translation. 18

Table 19: Shifts. 18

Table 20: Reduction. 18

Table 21: Couplets. 18

Table 22: Triplets. 18

Table 23: Additions. 18

Table 24: Notes. 18

Table 25: Overall frequencies of cultural presuppositions. 18

Table 26: Overall frequencies of translation strategies. 18

Table 27: All cultural presuppositions separately for each short story. 18

Table 28: All cultural presuppositions and their translation strategies. 18

List of Graphs

Graph 1: Percentages of Cultural Presuppositions. 18

Graph 2: Percentages of Translation Strategies. 18

Conditions………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

2.7. The Locutionary, Illocutionary and Perlocutionary Acts………………………………………………. 28

2.7.1. Locutionary Acts………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 29

2.7.2. Illocutionary Acts…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 31

2.7.3. Perlocutionary Acts………………………………………………………………………………………………. 33

2.8. Cooperative Learning………………………………………………………………………………………………. 34

2.8.1. Social Interdependence Perspective………………………………………………………………………… 37

2.8.2. Cognitive Development Perspectives………………………………………………………………………. 38

2.8.3. Behavioral Social Perspectives……………………………………………………………………………….. 38

2.8.3.1. Positive Interdependence……………………………………………………………………………………. 39

2.8.3.2. Individual Accountability/Personal Responsibility…………………………………………………. 40

2.8.3.3. Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction……………………………………………………………………… 41

2.8.3.4. Teamwork Skills………………………………………………………………………………………………… 42

2.8.3.5. Group Processing ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 42

2.8.4. Structuring Cooperative Learning…………………………………………………………………………… 45

2.8.5. Interactions in Groups…………………………………………………………………………………………… 47

2.8.6. Students Perceptions of Cooperative Learning…………………………………………………………. 50

2.9. Competitive Learning………………………………………………………………………………………………. 52

CHAPTER III: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………. 57

3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 58

3.2. Participants…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 58

3.3. Instrumentation………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 59

3.3.1 Preliminary English Test (PET)……………………………………………………………………………….. 59

3.3.2 Discourse Completion Test……………………………………………………………………………………… 60

3.3.2.1 Reliability and validity of the instrument……………………………………………………………….. 63

3.4.Materials………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 63

3.5. Procedure……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 63

3.5.1. Pretest ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 63

3.5.2. Treatment…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 64

3.5.3. Posttest……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 66

3.6. Design……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 67

3.7. Statistical Analyses………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 67

CHAPTER IV: Results and Discussions………………………………………………………………………….. 68

4.1 Pilot study of Preliminary English Test (PET)……………………………………………………………… 69

4.2. Subject-Selection Statistics………………………………………………………………………………………. 70

4.3 Pilot study of MCDCT …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 70

4.4. Proficiency Test (PET)…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 71

4.5. Pretest of Speech acts………………………………………………………………………………………………. 73

4.6 Post test of speech acts……………………………………………………………………………………………… 73

4.7 Testing Assumptions………………………………………………………………………………………………… 74

4.8. Empirical Validity…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 76

4.9. Reliability Indices……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 77

4.10 Reliability of the Writing Tasks in the PET test………………………………………………………….. 77

4.11. Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 79

CHAPTER V: Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications…………………………………………………… 83

5.1 Restatement of the Problem………………………………………………………………………………………. 84

5.2 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 86

5.3 Pedagogical Implications…………………………………………………………………………………………… 87

5.4. Suggestions for Further Research………………………………………………………………………………. 88

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 91

APPENDIX A……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 105

APPENDIXI B…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 128

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics of PET pilot study…………………………………………………………….. 89

Table 4.2 Descriptive Statistics of subject selection……………………………………………………………. 70

Table 4.3 descriptive statistics of pilot study of MCDCT pre/post test ………………………………… 70

Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of PET by groups………………………………………………………………. 71

Table 4.5 Independent samples t-test of PET scores…………………………………………………………… 72

Table 4.6 Descriptive statistics of speech acts posttest by groups………………………………………… 73

Table 4.7 normality tests…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 74

Table 4.8 Independent samples t-test of Posttest scores……………………………………………………… 75

Table 4.9 Pearson Correlation PET with Pretest and Posttest of Speech Acts……………………….. 76

Table 4.10 K-R21 Reliability…………………………………………………………………………………………… 77

Table 4.11Inter-Rater Reliability of the Writing Pretest …………………………………………………….. 78

Table 4.12 Intra-Rater Reliability of the Writing Pretest…………………………………………………….. 78

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

• Introduction

It is generally recognized that the goal of language teaching is to develop learner’s ability to communicate appropriately in a given target language and culture. This means that it is not enough for teaching practices to exclusively focus on the features of the target language linguistic system. Otherwise, inappropriate use of language can lead to pragmatic failure and those speakers who do not use pragmatically appropriate language run the risk of appearing uncooperative at very least or more seriously, rude or uncultured (Bardovi-Harlig, Hartford, Mahan-Taylor, Morgam, & Reynols, 1991).

Pragmatic ability in a second or foreign language is part of a nonnative speaker’s (NNS) communicative competence and therefore has to be located in a model of communicative ability (Savignon, 1991). In Bachman’s model (1990, p. 87ff), ‘language competence’ is subdivided into two components, ‘organizational competence’ and ‘pragmatic competence’. Organizational competence comprises knowledge of linguistic units and the rules of joining them together at the levels of sentence (‘grammatical competence’) and discourse (‘textual competence’). Pragmatic competence subdivides into ‘illocutionary competence’ and ‘sociolinguistic competence’. ‘Illocutionary competence’ can be glossed as ‘knowledge of communicative action and how to carry it out’. The term ‘communicative action’ is often more accurate than the more familiar term ‘speech act’ because communicative action is neutral between the spoken and written mode, and the term acknowledges the fact that communicative action can also be implemented by silence or non-verbally. ‘Sociolinguistic competence’ comprises the ability to use language appropriately according to context. It thus includes the ability to select communicative acts and appropriate strategies to implement them depending on the current status of the ‘conversational contract’ (Fraser, 1990).