The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of manipulating the cognitive complexity of three different types of oral tasks on interaction. The study first considers the concepts of task complexity and interaction and then examines the specific studies that have looked at the effects of increasing task complexity on conversational interaction. In the experiment, learners of English as a foreign language organized into 27 dyads carry out three different types of tasks: a narrative reconstruction task, an instruction-giving map task, and a decision-making task. Two different versions of each task (Robinson 2001a(Robinson , 2003(Robinson , 2005(Robinson , 2007bSkehan and Foster 2001), and how different task types may variously affect the way interaction proceeds during task performance.

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Studies on pragmatic development, especially on the development of pragmatic fluency, are still scarce in the area of Interlanguage Pragmatics. The present study analyses whether EFL learners (N = 144), from Primary to University levels, who have not been instructed in pragmatics nevertheless show development in pragmatic fluency. A wide variety of measures were used to analyse the learners’ production in open role-play. The results in the present study show that pragmatic fluency indeed develops as proficiency increases (the learners develop their use of gambits and routines, they are capable of changing topics by themselves and they produce appropriate time responses) but also that, in contrast, the development in the use of patterns stops at Grade 11 and there is no development in the opening and the closing phases. These results are discussed in the light of cognitive models of second language acquisition.

The increasing mobility of speakers of different languages to different countries, together with the globalized world we live in, have led to multilingual societies in which linguistic exchanges between both native and non-native speakers have become a very common practice. This reality emphasizes the need to help learners of foreign and second languages become not only linguistically competent but also pragmatically competent, in order not to sound impolite or inappropriate in the target language. Addressing this need, studies in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) have explored which methodology is most effective for teaching pragmatics. Earlier ILP studies compared explicit versus implicit instruction, highlighting the key role of explicit metapragmatic explanations. More recently, scholars have investigated how to create opportunities to for authentic pragmatic practice inside the classroom. To do so, some studies have implemented task-based language teaching to provide students with goal-oriented meaningful activities that address their real-world needs. Other studies have incorporated technology-enhanced materials such as simulated immersive environments and computer-mediated communication to promote students’ engagement in authentic use of the language beyond the classroom. Another current concern in L2 pragmatic instruction is how to account for the emergence of English as an International Language (EIL), and the consequent need to guide learners into acquiring language as a tool to mediate across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Different studies have adopted an EIL perspective, proposing the enhancement of students’ metapragmatic awareness and strategies to deal with the hybrid nature of English and its associated varieties and cultures. The special issue ‘Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization’ aims to illustrate such current trends, with six contributions by distinguished scholars in the field of L2 pragmatics from all over the globe.

The aim of the present study is to analyze how learners of English as a foreign language with no instruction on pragmatics develop their grammatical and pragmatic competence from beginner to more advanced levels. The participants (N = 144) carried out an open role-play where requests and responses to such requests were required. A seven-point scale was used to assess grammatical competence in a different way to previous studies, which generally equate grammar with proficiency levels. The study describes the interface between the acquisition of grammar items and the development of pragmatic competence. The results show that as the learners become more grammatically competent, they tend to use more elaborate requests and responses and more pragmatically appropriate utterances. Further evidence is, therefore, provided to the parallel development of grammar and pragmatics in a context that has received little attention so far. The findings will also be discussed in relation to the EFL classroom.La relación entre gramática y pragmática en la medición y el desarrollo del inglés como lengua extranjera Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio es el análisis de cómo los aprendices de inglés como lengua extranjera sin instrucción en pragmática desarrollan su competencia gramatical y pragmática desde los niveles iniciales a niveles más avanzados. Los participantes (N = 144) llevaron a cabo un juego de rol abierto (open role-play) en el que se requerían preguntas y respuestas a esas mismas preguntas. Se usó una escala de 7 medidas para valorar la competencia gramatical de una forma diferente a estudios previos, los cuales suelen equiparar competencia gramatical a niveles de proficiencia. Este estudio describe la interEuJAL 2015; aop MOUTON Brought to you by | New York University Bobst Library Technical Services Authenticated Download Date | 6/23/15 2:31 PMface entre la adquisición de ciertos aspectos gramaticales y el desarrollo de la competencia pragmática. Los resultados muestran que los aprendices utilizan preguntas y respuestas más elaboradas y unidades pragmáticamente más apropiadas a medida que van adquiriendo mayor competencia gramatical. Aportamos pues otra evidencia más del desarrollo en paralelo de la gramática y la pragmática en un contexto que hasta ahora ha recibido poca atención. Este resultado será comentado en relación a la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera.Palabras clave: Pragmática de la interlingua, desarrollo, Inglés como lengua extranjera, preguntas, respuestas Die Interface zwischen Grammatik und Pragmatik in der Abmessung und der Entwicklung des EAF (Englisch als Fremdsprache).Zusammenfassung: Das Ziel dieser Studie ist die Analyse wieso die Anfänger von EAF ohne Ausbildung in Pragmatik, ihre grammatische und pragmatische Kompetenz von anfängliche bis zu höheren Ebenen entwickeln. Die Teilnehmer (N = 144) führten ein offenes "role-play" wo die Fragen und die Antworten auf diese gleichen Fragen erfordert waren. Eine Skala von sieben Massnahmen wurde verwendet, um die grammatikale Kompetenz in einer an...

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