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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 aim of this paper is to analyse the development of the written production of six groups of learners (N=520) in a formal instruction setting and to investigate the effects of onset and age on the levels of attainment in writing performance. The written production was measured after 200, 416 and 726 hours of instruction. Both intragroup and intergroup analyses were carried out (a) to analyse the long-term effects of an earlier start in second language writing in a school setting, (b) to analyse the patterns of development between the four writing component measures depending on learners’ age, and (c) to test whether the relationships found between the measures in the four areas of writing differ depending on learners’ age group. This study concludes that (a) at the end of the instructional period Early Starters still have not surpassed Late Starters, (b) there seem to be two patterns of writing performance depending on learners’ age, and (c) the correlations found between the writing component indicators change depending on learners’ age group.

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Most studies concerning the issue of age have focused on the language outcomes of subjects who started acquiring a second language during childhood, or later on during adolescence or adulthood in naturalistic contexts. However, relatively few studies have been concerned with school contexts where a foreign language is a compulsory subject in the early stages of the curriculum. The aim of the present study is to address the question of the effects of starting age (8 versus 11) on the acquisition of English as a foreign language in a school context, with specific reference to written production. Data are analysed after 200 and 416 hours of instruction, that is, when learners are 10 and 12, and 12 and 14 respectively. Results suggest that an earlier start does not have clear benefits in the acquisition of EFL as reflected in written language.

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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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