L2 Pragmatics: Exploring linguistic, stylistic and pragmatic features of apologies and requests in CMC

Vol.2,No.1(2009)

Abstract
This paper uses discourse analysis to investigate the diverse pragmatic strategies that arise in English language learners’ e-mail exchanges. Specifi cally, politeness, requests and apologies are analyzed. The data are taken from a series of six e-mail exchanges between native Quebecois speakers enrolled in an English language course as well as e-mails to their instructor. E-mail interaction is considered to lie somewhere between written and spoken discourse and therefore is a particularly interesting resource for understanding how language learners negotiate between levels of linguistic, stylistic and pragmatic appropriateness in producing their messages. The analyses show that language learners use a number of techniques to express politeness, make requests and apologize which demonstrate a range of perspectives regarding what is considered appropriate in time and (cyber) space.

Keywords:
pragmatics; speech acts; politeness; computer-mediated communication; E-mail; language learning
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