Speech Act Strategy Use: The Case of Iranian L۲ and L۳ Learners of English

While the strategies utilized by bilingual or multilingual learners during the process of acquiring and employing an additional language have been a focal point of extensive research among SLA scholars, interlanguage pragmatics—specifically the application of speech act strategies—has remained underexamined. To address this gap, this study leveraged Cohen and Ishihara’s (۲۰۰۵) Speech Act Strategy Inventory (SASI) to analyze variations in the usage frequency and perceived effectiveness of speech act strategies among ۲۰۰ Iranian learners of English. The participants included L۲ and L۳ (Azeri/Persian and Arab/Persian) learners of English of both genders. The results demonstrated that L۳ learners exhibited greater proficiency in employing speech act strategies compared to L۲ learners. However, no statistically significant distinctions emerged between the two L۳ groups in terms of strategy usage frequency or their perceived success in utilizing these strategies. The findings indicate multilinguals often enjoy more effective communication strategies in L۲ contexts; however, the findings suggest that the influence of L۱ on L۲ proficiency might not be as straightforward as previously thought. This highlights the intricate nature of bilingual language acquisition and the importance of considering sociolinguistic factors in bilingualism research.

کلیدواژه ها:

bilingualism ، Language learning strategies ، Multilingualism ، speech act ، speech act strategy use