AN INTERLANGUAGE PRAGMATIC STUDY OF THAI EFL LEARNERS' APOLOGY: LINGUISTIC REALIZATION AND METAPRAGMATIC AWARENESS

Abstract

This study investigates the Thai EFL learners’ apologies and metapragmatic awareness in university contexts in interlanguage pragmatic perspectives. The research aims to investigate the effects of English language proficiency and experience on the Thai EFL learners’ pragmatic competence. The subjects consisted of six groups: native speakers of English (NE) and Thai (NT) and four groups of Thai EFL learners whose levels of English proficiency and experience differed. The results revealed that there were three apology strategies commonly found among the six groups of subjects: explicit display of an apology, expression of responsibility by admitting facts and offer of repair. The selection of apology strategies, however, differed depending on the situational variables, which suggests that different perceptions of such variables as well as different levels of English proficiency and experience can affect the selection of apology strategies among the subjects. It is also found that different levels of metapragmatic awareness could be observed among the four groups of Thai EFL learners. The Thai EFL learners with high English proficiency and experience demonstrated the highest level of metapragmatic awareness. Those with high English proficiency and low experience exhibited the higher level of metapragmatic awareness than those with low English proficiency and high Experience. The findings suggest that (1) the high level of English proficiency or the high level of English experience alone is not sufficient for enhancing metapragmatic awareness; and (2) English proficiency and experience are important factors in developing metapragmatic awareness among the English language learners.