Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the strategies used to apologize by Spanish-speaking students who engaged in a telecollaboration project with their English-speaking counterparts. The data were collected from synchronous Zoom sessions where students carried out open role-playing tasks to elicit their use of apologies, which were analyzed through quantitative content analysis. The results showed that apart from the strategies classified according to the proposed taxonomy, some learners also used other strategies which did not fit in any of the categories proposed. It is believed that those strategies were transferred from the students' L1. The findings showed that the most frequent L1 strategy was “I hope that you understand,” which is not usually employed by L1 speakers of English after an apology. Nevertheless, a general pattern to apologize was not found in the data collected, but rather three different sub-patterns were identified.
TopIntroduction
During the past decades, second language (L2) pragmatics has played a role in virtual contexts, as they are often the place where culturally distant people meet. This is the case of telecollaboration projects, which are especially used in foreign language education. The inclusion of pragmatic competence in the CEFRL (Council of Europe, 2001, 2020) is another step towards its teaching in the foreign language class. However, even though L2 pragmatic learning through digital technologies is an increasing field of study (Gónzalez-Lloret, 2022), there is still the need for further research within the area. In particular, little to no attention has been paid to pragmatic transfer in virtual contexts. Nevertheless, it is fundamental that both academics and teachers address this issue as pragmatic mistakes can cause communication breakdowns and cultural misunderstandings (Godwin-Jones, 2019; Gónzalez-Lloret, 2021), which can take place despite the learners’ linguistic proficiency (Blum-Kulka & Olshtain, 1984).
For this reason, the aim of this chapter is to analyze the strategies used to apologize by Spanish-speaking students in role-playing tasks carried out in a telecollaboration project with English-speaking learners. A taxonomy for this project was collated from Blum-Kulka and Olsthain (1984), Leech (2014) and Martinez-Flor (2016); however, it was found that some strategies used by the participants in the present study did not fit into any of the categories proposed by these authors, so these were selected as focus for analysis. The hypothesis is that Spanish-speaking participants transferred to a certain extent apology strategies from their first language (L1) to English. Given this presumption, patterns to perform apologies were also sought.
The research questions are as follows:
The background section will provide a general overview on the main theoretical concepts related to the subject of the chapter. In particular, the last subsection will review some previous studies on L1 transfer in apologies. The methodology section will describe the methods followed to conduct the study, including the materials used and the data analysis procedure. The findings from the analysis will be discussed in the results and discussion section, and extracts from the transcriptions will be included to illustrate the L1 transfer in performing these apologies. Conclusions will be drawn regarding the use of apologies by Spanish-speaking students in telecollaborative encounters and a number of pedagogical recommendations will be outlined.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Face: It refers to the way we perceive ourselves publicly, and the way others perceive us. It can be positive when we want to be part of a group, or negative when we do not want to.
Pragmalinguistic Transfer: It refers to the transfer of the speaker’s L1 strategies into their L2.
Telecollaboration: It is the process by which language learners from two (or more) different institutions collaborate online to improve their linguistic, social, communicative, and intercultural skills. Communication between learners can be either synchronous (i.e., in real time) or asynchronous (i.e., at different times). Usually, it involves the co-creation of a final artifact as a result of the activities carried out in the exchange.
Apology: It is the speech employed to remedy a transgression and reestablish harmony after a social norm has been violated. It is a face-threating act for the speaker and a face-saving act for the hearer. Cultural and social norms affect its use.
Second Language (L2) Pragmatics: It refers to the pragmatic ability a speaker possesses in their L2. It should be taught in the L2 classroom, since a proficient use of the language in linguistic terms does not guarantee an adequate application of L2 pragmatic rules, which are affected by the L2 culture and context.
Intercultural Communicative Competence: It is the set of abilities and skills needed to be successful users of a second/foreign language (L2). Therefore, it is an indispensable competence to be successful in intercultural encounters.