Measuring Interlanguage Pragmatic Knowledge of EFL Learners

Pragmatic competence is an integral and indispensable component of overall language competence. Omitting the pragmatic dimension from language assessment is, therefore, quite unfortunate. This book describes the development and validation of three test methods designed to test the interlanguage pragmatic knowledge of EFL learners. Altogether 413 subjects participated in the development of the tests. Results showed that all three methods investigated had measured learners’ interlanguage pragmatic knowledge. Quantitative analyses showed that the tests tapped the intended construct and the test methods measured a similar construct. Analyses of verbal reports yielded results which supported the quantitative analyses and revealed that the construct-relevant knowledge was involved in the test takers’ cognitive activities. This book ends with some pedagogical implications of this study and directions for further research.

The Author: Jianda Liu is an associate professor in the National Key Research Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou (China). He received his Ph.D. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from the City University of Hong Kong. The author has worked in designing, developing, and validating language tests in China. His research interests include language testing, pragmatics, and second language acquisition.