Development of discourse-pragmatic markers in a multilingual classroom: A mixed method research approach

Abstract

Research has shown that being multilingual is a valuable asset for learning pragmatics.By adopting a multilingual turn perspective, this study investigates patterns of pragmatic development in the multilingual classroom setting of the Valencian Community in Spain, where English, Catalan and Spanish coexist. Participants were 313 learners of English and 15 teachers. Each learner wrote three argumentative essays over one academic year in three languages: English, Catalan and Spanish. A mixed method approach was followed to examine learning trajectories of two types of discourse-pragmatic markers: textual and interpersonal markers. Quantitative results revealed significant gains in the production of textual discourse-pragmatic markers in English, while interpersonal discourse-pragmatic markers followed an irregular pattern.Findings also revealed variations in discourse-pragmatic marker learning trajectories in English, Catalan and Spanish: learning trajectories in the minority language (Catalan) and the L3 (English) were more fluctuating and the patterns interacted with each other, which contrasted with the linear development found in the majority language (Spanish).Qualitative findings are discussed to illustrate how factors such as learners' pragmatic awareness, teachers' practices and the sociolinguistic context of the study may interact in the process of pragmatic learning in the multilingual classroom.2

The multilingual turn in pragmatics

“…Analyzing multilingual transfer of pragmatics in writing is crucial because both multilingual writers, both experienced and inexperienced, have an audience in mind when performing their writing activity (Hyland, 2005;Kobayashi & Rinnert, 2012, 2013bRinnert et al, 2015). The present study addresses this concern by re-analyzing data from multilingual writers in Martín-Laguna and Alcón-Soler's (2018) and Martín-Laguna's (2020) studies. Specifically, this study investigates how different types of interpersonal pragmatic markers transfer across different languages (i.e., Spanish, Catalan, and English) and how the nature of transfer changes over time.…”

“…Moreover, a positive effect of bilingualism on awareness and use of pragmatic strategies has been reported (Portolés, 2015). Studies have also revealed a dynamic relationship among languages in multilinguals; Multiple languages influence one another at the pragmatic level, both in elicited data taken from formal contexts of instruction (Martín-Laguna & Alcón-Soler, 2018) and in authentic data from multilingual families' interactions (Safont-Jordà, 2011.…”

“…Another study showed that, when starting an essay, learners often used a hedge, such as I think followed by the logical connective indicating a clause (e.g. because) (Martín-Laguna & Alcón-Soler, 2018).…”

Learning and Teaching Pragmatics in the Globalized World: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…While heritage language speakers present a category of bilinguals whose L1 is the heritage (home) language and whose L2 is the societal language, in a broader sense, any individuals who use two or more languages (or dialects) on a daily basis belong to the general category of bilinguals or multilinguals (Grosjean & Li, 2013). While several studies in applied linguistics have examined multilingualism in pragmatics (e.g., Alcón–Soler, 2012; Martin–Laguna, 2022; Martin–Laguna & Alcón–Soler, 2018; Portolés, 2015; Safont–Jordà, 2013), a more systematic and profound investigation into the impact of multilingualism in pragmatic performance has been pursued in the field of psycholinguistics. Studies in this area have strived to test the ‘bilingual advantage’ in pragmatic–cognitive development (for a review, see Barac et al., 2014).…”

Teaching the pragmatics of English as an international language: A focus on pragmatic markers

“…A main property of PMs is their multifunctionality; that is, one PM may have different functions depending on the context in which it is produced (Martín-Laguna, 2020;Martín-Laguna & Alcón-Soler, 2018). Because of this, different approaches to classifying PMs according to their function have been proposed.…”