خلاصة:
The present study examines the impact of focused tasks on the development of Iranian EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. To this end, we compared the
effectiveness of the dictogloss (DIG) as an output-based task and the consciousness
raising (CR) as an input-based task in teaching English requestive downgraders.
Prior to the experiment, 147 Iranian EFL learners participated in the study to
develop the instruments. Also, 43 American native English speakers provided thebaseline data for the construction of the recognition test and the instructional
treatment. We matched 60 Iranian EFL learners in two groups based on their
scores on the Oxford Placement Test (2004). The groups were then randomly
assigned to instructional conditions; namely, the DIG and CR tasks. The
instructional treatment continued for 8 sessions. The results revealed that neither
the effects of instructional treatment nor the effects of time were significant
between the groups on pragmatic measures. The findings also demonstrated that
participants in both tasks preformed significantly better in the immediate and
delayed posttests than in the pretest. Similarly, participants in both groups
maintained the positive effects of the treatment in the delayed posttest on the
production and perception measures. For the recognition measure, however, the
participants in the DIG condition significantly fell to a lower level in the delayed
posttest.
ملخص الجهاز:
"Therefore, in compliance with EFL learners’ need for more formal instructions on the internal requestive downgraders, this study investigated the effects of focused tasks on this pragmatic feature.
Are the effects of CR as an input-based task and DIG as an output-based task significant on Iranian EFL learners’ language perception, recognition and production of requestive downgraders?
2. Are the effects of time significant on Iranian EFL learners’ language perception, recognition and production of requestive downgraders from the immediate to delayed posttest?
Following Farhadi, Jafarpour and Birjandi (1994), a test including 20 scenarios was constructed to investigate the impact of input-based and output-based tasks on the development of Iranian EFL learners’ recognition of the requestive downgraders.
Data Analysis The researchers utilized ‘Independent Samples T-Test’ to examine both the homogeneity of the participants in different groups and the effects of instructional treatment and time respectively in the immediate and delayed posttests on pragmatic measures.
In line with previous studies (Rose & Ng Kwai-fun, 2001; Takahashi, 2001; Takimoto, 2006, 2009; Tateyama, 2001) showing the merits of the explicit teaching of pragmatic features, findings revealed that both the DIG as an output- based task and the CR as an input-based task were effective in the enhancement of EFL learners’ pragmatic ability.
The fact that learners in the output-based task maintained the positive effects of the treatment on the production measure, but not the recognition, in the delayed posttests may be justified in the light of the learners’ language proficiency level."