Effect of Form-focused Pragmatic Instruction on Production of Conventional Expressions

Abstract

Knowledge of target language conventional expressions is of crucial importance for language learners not only because they contribute to nativelike speech fluency but also because speakers from the same speech community share knowledge and use of the same inventory of conventional expressions. To assess the effect of form-focused pragmatic instruction in general and the effect of type of form-focused pragmatic instruction including Focus on Form and Focus on Forms methods in particular on improving the ability to produce target language conventional expressions appropriately, an experimental study was conducted over 45 senior undergraduate learners of English as a Foreign Language at a university in Iran. The experiment comprised random assignment of participants into three groups consisting of two experimental groups (Focus on Form group and Focus on Forms group) and one control group, conducting eight intervention sessions, and administration of a discourse completion task. The findings revealed that generally form-focused pragmatic instruction was effective in improving the ability to produce target language conventional expressions appropriately and there was no significant difference between the effect of Focus on Form and Focus on Forms pragmatic instruction. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested furnishing foreign language classrooms with form-focused pragmatic instruction.