This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into...This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country(CM A)and those who had not(CM NA),and 97 Hong Kong students,divided into those from an English-medium secondary school(Hong Kong EMI)and those from a Chinese-medium school(Hong Kong CMI).Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test,and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test,an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play.Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency.The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence—EMI>CMI>CM A>CM NA—reflecting the groups’access to English in real-life contexts.The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity(i.e.,Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play).CM A,but not CM NA,performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness.The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok’s(1993)distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing.展开更多
Naipaul's novel A bend in the river illustrates the social confusion and people's destitution and wasting time in African countries after their national independence. An important reason is the president's self-pub...Naipaul's novel A bend in the river illustrates the social confusion and people's destitution and wasting time in African countries after their national independence. An important reason is the president's self-publicity, tyrannical hess and destructiveness. Whereas the author's subjective suspicion is visible in democratic development of African countries. Indeed, in a country development, it is quite necessary to depend on its citizen, observing public feelings; controlling a state with science; benefiting citizen; utilizing resources; constructing homestead, intending creation with a harmonious and stable way.展开更多
文摘This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students.Participants included 19 native speakers of English,115 Chinese mainland students,divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country(CM A)and those who had not(CM NA),and 97 Hong Kong students,divided into those from an English-medium secondary school(Hong Kong EMI)and those from a Chinese-medium school(Hong Kong CMI).Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test,and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test,an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play.Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency.The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence—EMI>CMI>CM A>CM NA—reflecting the groups’access to English in real-life contexts.The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity(i.e.,Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play).CM A,but not CM NA,performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness.The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok’s(1993)distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing.
文摘Naipaul's novel A bend in the river illustrates the social confusion and people's destitution and wasting time in African countries after their national independence. An important reason is the president's self-publicity, tyrannical hess and destructiveness. Whereas the author's subjective suspicion is visible in democratic development of African countries. Indeed, in a country development, it is quite necessary to depend on its citizen, observing public feelings; controlling a state with science; benefiting citizen; utilizing resources; constructing homestead, intending creation with a harmonious and stable way.