Comparing Instructional Methods for Address Pronouns in Second Language German
Date
2021-01-11
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Abstract
The German language utilizes three address pronouns to express the second-person pronoun ‘you’; du is the singular informal pronoun, Sie is the singular and plural formal pronoun, and ihr is the plural informal pronoun. As a result of social movements, the German address system has changed and developed over time, and there are now multiple perspectives about what the default singular address form should be (i.e., du or Sie) in new interactions. These competing systems can pose problems even for German native speakers (NSs), as they navigate social situations. Previous research investigating address among second language (L2) learners has shown consistently that without direct instruction, learners have poor control over their address choice. Within classroom instruction, time is already limited, and textbooks examples can be oversimplified or lack contextualization; thus, a new approach is needed to instruct learners. The present study compares implicit and explicit instruction in a computer-assisted language learning environment (CALL) on the effect of address choice among second language (L2) German learners. To accomplish this, address behaviour data were gathered from NSs in Hamburg, Germany and from L2 learners in Calgary. The NS data served a baseline from which to measure pragmatic development of L2 learners, and they also informed the instruction of the implicit and explicit training modules delivered to the learners. A pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test were used to measure improvements towards native-like address behaviour. Results show that L2 learners exposed to explicit instruction had immediate and sustained pragmatic development, and little pragmatic development was observed for participants instructed implicitly.
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second language, German, sociopragmatics, pragmatics, address pronouns, implicit instruction, explicit instruction, computer-assisted language learning
Citation
Ryan, C. (2021). Comparing Instructional Methods for Address Pronouns in Second Language German (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.