The Role of Individual Differences on Learning Pragmatic Routines in a Study Abroad Context

Resumen

The present study explores the role of three individual variables, namely proficiency, cultural background, and attitude towards the target-language (TL) culture, on learners’ recognition and production of pragmatic routines. Eighty-seven international students in their first semester of study in a US university completed a vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS) and a written discourse-completion task (DCT) that measured their knowledge of pragmatic routines. Additionally, they answered a series of open-ended questions to determine their attitude towards the TL culture. The participants were grouped according to their proficiency level into beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners, and according to their countries of origin, which included Brazil, China and Turkey. Research findings showed that the three individual differences exerted a positive influence on knowledge of pragmatic routines, although proficiency did not affect productive ability. The reported results contribute to our understanding of how pragmatic routines are acquired in the study abroad (SA) context.