investigating the negative pragmatic tranfer of the algerian EFL learners in thers in the realization of the speech act of invitation

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the pragmatic transfer in the realization of the speech act of invitation by the Algerian university learners of English into English at the Department of Languages at Jijel University. The study aimed to find out the different strategies used by university learners of English in order to be compared to the strategies of English native speakers. Therefore, it is hypothesized that learners of different proficiency levels may exhibit pragmatic transfer in the realization of the speech act of invitation. Data are collected from 126 Algerian university learners of English and eight native speakers of English. The data in this study were collected through an open-ended discourse completion questionnaire designed to elicit the participants’ invitation strategies in ten different situations. Data are divided following Wolfson’s et al. (1983) taxonomy of how to give, interpret, and respond to invitations, and are analyzed in terms of the frequency and content of semantic formulas used by the participants. The results have shown that pragmatic transfer occurred in the learners' responses when making invitations. The results have also shown the reliance of all the participants on their native language and culture norms in most of their responses. However, the choice and frequency of the invitation strategies used by EFL learners has also been observed to converge to the target norms