'May I do something for you?': The effects of audio-visual material (captioned and non-captioned) on EFL pragmatic learning.

Abstract

The present study deals with the effect of audio-visual material for second language (L2) pragmaticlearning in the foreign language classroom. More specifically, it analyzes whether being exposedto captioned and non-captioned input in an experimental condition entailing no instruction onpragmatics might have any influence on the learners’ pragmatic performance. To this aim, twointact classes (N = 31) of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at a B1 level wereexposed to videos with captions and without captions, respectively. Before and after watchingthe videos, all the students were asked to carry out a role-play task with situations like those inthe videos. A mixed-methods approach was used to analyze the learners’ performance in termsof types and number of strategies to perform speech acts (quantitative) and in terms of pragmaticappropriateness (qualitative). Findings show that both groups used more polite strategies afterwatching the videos, regardless of the captioned/non-captioned condition, which seems to confirmthe contribution of audio-visual material for the learning of the L2 pragmatics in an incidental way.Concerning pragmatic appropriateness, we found that learners in the captioned condition producedmore pragmalinguistically appropriate role-plays than learners in the non-captioned condition, thussuggesting a positive effect of captioned material on the learning of the L2 pragmatics. Such resultsare discussed in relation to the few previous similar studies in the field.