The IAFOR Journal of Language Learning
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Language Learning
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Language Learning
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

The present study examined the effects of two types of input-based approaches
―combination of pragmalinguistics- and sociopragmatics-focused instruction (CI)
and sociopragmatics-focused instruction (SI) on learners' recognizing and producing
English request hedges. 45 Japanese learners of English participated in the study.
Treatment group performance was compared to that of a control group on the pretests,

post-tests, and delayed post-tests: an unplanned written-production test, an
unplanned written-judgment test. The results showed that the CI and SI groups
performed significantly better than the control group on an unplanned written-
judgment test. There were no statistically significant differences between the two
treatment groups on the unplanned written-judgment test, which indicated that the
sociopragmatics-focused instruction attracted the attention of the SI group to the
sociopragmatic features of English request hedges directly, and the group perhaps
then transferred their attention to the pragmalinguistic features of English request
hedges. As a result, the sociopragmatics-focused activities alone had some effects on
recognizing English request hedges. However, a comparison of those learners in the
two experimental groups in the unplanned written-production test demonstrated an
advantage for the CI group and implied that the input-based learning through not only
sociopragmatics-focused activities but also pragmalinguistics-sociopragmatics
connection activities contributed more to deep perceptual and mental processing of
English request hedges, thereby resulting in developing more firmly established
explicit knowledge.

Keywords: sociopragmatics, input-based, hedge, pragmatics

Ebru Melek Koç