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The purpose of this study was to investigate Chinese University students' ability to recognize irony. To this end, we developed a test that included literal and ironic items and focused on the students' ability to identify which of the items were ironic. 112 first- and second-year Chinese university students completed the test, a C-test as a measure of language proficiency, and a language experience questionnaire. 24 native speakers completed the irony test and C-test to provide a baseline for comparison. Results showed that the learners' scores were markedly lower than the NS's on the ironic items but not on literal items. Both learners and NSs had difficulty with the positive irony items. The learners' response times were also markedly slower than the NSs. There were significant but relatively weak correlations between the learners' irony scores and their proficiency and the amount of time they had spent in an English-speaking country. Overall, the results of the study confirm the findings of previous studies, namely that irony is a late acquired aspect of L2 pragmatic competence. We concluded that unlike NSs, even those learners with advanced language proficiency rely on explicit processing strategies to detect irony and propose explicit instruction is needed to help learners acquire the ability to recognize irony.

Employing a CA-inspired methodological approach, this study investigates L2 learners' interactional competence for dyadic interaction via text chat. Fiftythree dyads of Japanese learners of English at three proficiency levels (high, mid, and low) participated in this study, where they worked on three discussion tasks in L2 English. The data were 97 participant-generated task closings, which were analyzed in terms of linguistic repertoire and sequence organizations of terminal exchanges between participants in a dyad, and summonsanswer sequences between participants and the researcher. The data showed that the participants recurrently implemented a sequence of soliciting and providing an agreement on the idea for task accomplishment to signal a forthcoming closing of task talk. The findings indicated that more proficient learners produced more extended sequences in conducting closing rituals. Some highproficiency learners explicitly mentioned, or interacted with, the researcher, a third party, to initiate task closing or reformulate crossed messages in closing the talk. These findings provide insights into online L2 interactional competence in text-based CMC media.

In the assessment of speaking, a psycholinguistically based speaking construct has predominated. In this paper, we argue for the integration of the construct of interactional competence (IC) in speaking assessments to broaden the range of defensible inferences from speaking tests. IC emphasizes the co-constructed nature of interaction and enables the rating of L2 users’ ability to deploy interactional tools that lead to shared understandings. Recent work on IC shows that levels of development can be distinguished, for example, in the sequential organization of social actions such as requests and refusals. This can in turn inform interactionally specific ratings. Furthermore, an IC perspective allows a fine-grained analysis of interactions between examiners and test takers to detect effects of examiner talk. Apparent misunderstandings or disfluencies by test takers can be examiner-induced with the test taker’s response actually demonstrating interactional ability rather than lack of proficiency. We argue that inclusion of IC as a construct in testing speaking opens new perspectives on oral proficiency and enhances the validity of speaking assessments.

ESL learners can find it challenging to use English in a way that is pragmatically appropriate to the situation and interlocutor. In this article, we explore the impact of increased proficiency on learners’ pragmatic performance. ESL learners in Australia at four proficiency levels completed three role plays, and we analysed how the learners formulated their requests. We found that the expansion of learners’ linguistic repertoire with increased proficiency also led to a wider variety of request formats. Where beginner learners used imperatives and ‘want-statements’, lower-intermediate learners added the modal ‘can’, upper-intermediate learners introduced ‘could’, and advanced learners used more complex expressions. Despite their improvement, learners showed little sensitivity to the social situation. We suggest ways of facilitating learners’ pragmatic development through instruction.

L2 requests in developmental pragmatics research are commonly investigated using non-interactive data collection techniques or sidelining the larger discourse sequence in which the request proper is embedded. This study takes a different approach to the study of L2 requests. In a cross-sectional design, we collected role play data from learners at four proficiency levels, and focused on the sequential organization of the interactions and the impact of participants’ proficiency level. Findings indicate that lower level learners were less likely to project the upcoming request and lay the groundwork for it through ascertaining interlocutor availability and providing accounts. They used fewer first-pair parts and uttered the request early relying on the interlocutor to elicit further information. The interlocutor also adjusted to learners’ proficiency level in keeping complications to a minimum. Effects of the social context variable Power were very limited but discernible at high-proficiency levels. We argue for a more discursive approach to developmental data in interlanguage pragmatics that allows the identification of interactional correlates of proficiency.

Routine formulae are highly frequent, situationally bound chunks that are beneficial to L2 learners? pragmatic performance. These formulae are usually more easily acquired in the target language setting but they are to some extent also learnable in foreign language classrooms. This study investigates the effect of different lengths of residence abroad on the recognition of situational routine formulae. A total of 262 ESL and EFL learners completed a test battery which included assessment of receptive knowledge of routines. Learners with even short-term residence of two months had increased knowledge of routines, and further residence led to further improvement in knowledge in this area. Even EFL learners without residence knew some routine formulae but knowledge of routines was independent of general proficiency. Learners in the L2 setting get routines �for free� through exposure to contextualized L2 discourse, but which specific routines are acquired depends on the interactional settings in which learners communicate.

Testing of second language pragmatic competence is an underexplored but growing area of second language assessment. Tests have focused on assessing learners’ sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic abilities but the speech act framework informing most current productive testing instruments in interlanguage pragmatics has been criticized for under-representing the construct. In particular, the assessment of learners’ ability to produce extended monologic and dialogic discourse is a missing component in existing assessments. This paper reviews existing tests and argues for a discursive re-orientation of pragmatics tests. Suggestions for tasks and scoring approaches to assess discursive abilities while maintaining practicality are provided, and the problematicity of native speaker benchmarking is discussed.

Despite increasing interest in interlanguage pragmatics research, research on assessment of this crucial area of second language competence still lags behind assessment of other aspects of learners’ developing second language (L2) competence. This study describes the development and validation of a 36-item web-based test of ESL pragmalinguistics, measuring learners’ offline knowledge of implicatures and routines with multiple-choice questions, and their knowledge of speech acts with discourse completion tests. The test was delivered online to 267 ESL and EFL learners, ranging in proficiency from beginner to advanced. Evidence for construct validity was collected through correlational analyses and comparisons between groups. The effect of browser familiarity was found to be negligible, and learners generally performed as previous research would suggest: their knowledge of speech acts increased with proficiency, as did their knowledge of implicature. Their knowledge of routines, however, was strongly dependent on L2 exposure. Correlations between the sections and factor analysis confirmed that the routines, implicatures, and speech act sections are related but that each has some unique variance. The test was sufficiently reliable and practical, taking an hour to administer and little time to score. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Research in second language pragmatics is increasingly investigating the sequential organization of interaction and how it might be affected by second language learners’ developing proficiency. In this paper, we are focusing on a specific aspect of request organization, namely multiple requests. Through data from natural interaction and role plays, we found that multiple requests occurred in a single turn, either as an original request and its same-format reiteration bracketing accounts and explanations or as repetitions with a more complex and polite format. Multiple requests across turns served a repair function. We argue that same-turn multiple requests are recipient designed to increase the likelihood of acceptance. Higher-level learners of Arabic were more likely to produce multiple requests in the same turn than low-level learners whereas the latter exhibited more multiple requests across turns. The data collection method did not have a discernible effect on findings.

This study investigates the social impact of a policy requiring university graduates to pass an English proficiency test by examining the consequences of test use in the workplace in Taiwan. Interviews were conducted with 19 business people in charge of recruiting potential employees in 17 industries across Taiwan. All these 19 employers hired the gratudes from a technological university in southern Taiwan. These interviews sought to discover the importance of English certification as an element of job hunting,the opinions of businesses regarding various certification tests, and their attitudes towards the exit requirement. Findings indicate that although these employers were favorably disposed towards this policy, only 13 % of them required English certificates as a hiring criterion. Another finding was that 53 % of employers regarded the certificates as evidence that applicants who possessed them were diligent and likely to be hard-working employees. These informants interpreted tests differently from testers, focusing on cultural notions of what personal qualities tests highlight rather than on language ability. Due to this and other factors, the impact of the test remained weak.