Accepting invitations and offers in second language Chinese: Effect of proficiency on pragmatic competence in interaction

The study investigates how second language Mandarin Chinese learners' competence in sequencing acceptances of invitations and offers changes with increasing proficiency. Seventy-six undergraduates, including 54 American English learners of Chinese as a foreign language at three proficiency levels and 22 native speakers (NSs) completed a four-item roleplay task. Quantitative results show a significant effect of proficiency on sequential positioning of acceptances and particularly use of ostensible refusals to delay acceptances in learner production. Qualitative analyses at the discursive level reveal limited interactional resources and a generic pattern of acceptances in lower-level learners' production. In contrast, Advanced learners’ production represents context-specific sequential organization of acceptances with a wide variety of interactional devices. The study suggests a developmental pathway for acceptances in L2 Chinese consisting of 1) turn-initial acceptances, 2) nonturn-initial acceptances, 3) variation between next-turn and distal acceptances, and 4) fine-tuned use of ostensible refusals and other interactional tools.