THE USE OF DISCOURSE COMPLETION TASK (DCT) AS EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION ON INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS’ PRODUCTION OF SUGGESTION ACTS
Keywords:
Pragmatic strategies, speech acts, DCT, EFL students, peer communication
Abstract
This study aims to identify pragmatic strategies used by EFL students in peer communication, particularly in the speech acts of requesting, refusing, and apologizing. A descriptive quantitative method was applied using a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) instrument adapted from Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper (1989). Ten students were selected as respondents through purposive sampling. The results indicate that EFL students tend to use Conventionally Indirect strategies in requesting and refusing situations, while in apologizing situations, students lean toward Softened Indirect to Full Apologetic strategies. These findings suggest that students possess adequate pragmatic awareness in maintaining politeness during informal peer communication.
References
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Grossi, V. “Teaching Pragmatic Competence: Compliment and Compliment Responses in the ESL Classroom.” Prospect Journal 24.2 (2009): 53-62.
Hinkel, E. “Appropriateness of Advice: DCT and Multiple Choice Data.” Applied Linguistics
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Jalilifar, A., Hashemian, M., & Tabatabaee, M. “A Cross-sectional Study of Iranian EFL Learners‟ Request Strategies.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 2.4 (2011): 790-803.
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Kasper, G & Schmidt, R. “Developmental Issues in Interlanguage Pragmatics.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18.2 (1996): 149-169.
Martinez-Flor, A. “Non-native Speakers‟ Production of Advice Acts: The Effects of Proficiency.” Revista Electronica de Linguistica Applicada 16.2 (2003): 139-153.
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Bardovi-Harlig, K. “Exploring the Interlanguage of Interlanguage Pragmatics”. Language Learning 49.4 (1999): 677–713.
Brown, P. & Levinson, S. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
Bu, J. “A Study of Pragmatic Transfer in Suggestion Strategies by Chinese Learners of English”.
Studies in Literature and Language 3.2 (2011): 28-36.
Bu, J. “A Study of the Effects of Explicit and Implicit Teachings on Developing EFL Learners‟ Pragmatic Competence”. International Journal of Language Studies, 6.3 (2012): 57-80.
Chen, Y. “Learner Perceptions of Instruction in L2 Pragmatics.” English Language Teaching 2.4 (2009): 154-161.
Decapua, A. & Dunham, J.F. “The Pragmatics of Advice Giving: Cross-cultural Perspective.” Intercultural Pragmatics 4.3 (2007): 319-342.
Eslami-Rasekh, Z. “Raising the Pragmatic Awareness of Language Learners”. ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): 199-208. doi:10.1093/elt/cci039
Felix-Brasdefer, J.C. “Pragmatic development in the Spanish as a FL classroom: A cross-sectional study of learner requests.” Intercultural Pragmatics 4.2 (2007): 253-286.
Grossi, V. “Teaching Pragmatic Competence: Compliment and Compliment Responses in the ESL Classroom.” Prospect Journal 24.2 (2009): 53-62.
Hinkel, E. “Appropriateness of Advice: DCT and Multiple Choice Data.” Applied Linguistics
18.1 (1997): 1-26.
Jalilifar, A., Hashemian, M., & Tabatabaee, M. “A Cross-sectional Study of Iranian EFL Learners‟ Request Strategies.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 2.4 (2011): 790-803.
Jianda, L. “Assessing EFL Learners‟ Interlanguage Pragmatic Knowledge: Implications for Testers and Teachers.” Reflection on English Language Teaching 5.1 (2006): 1-22.
Jiang, X. “Suggestions: What Should ESL Students Know?” Elsevier 34.1 (2006): 36-54.
Kasper, G & Schmidt, R. “Developmental Issues in Interlanguage Pragmatics.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18.2 (1996): 149-169.
Martinez-Flor, A. “Non-native Speakers‟ Production of Advice Acts: The Effects of Proficiency.” Revista Electronica de Linguistica Applicada 16.2 (2003): 139-153.
Martinez-Flor, A. “The Effect of Instruction on the Development of Pragmatic Competence in the English as a Foreign Language Context: A study based on suggestions.” Doctoral dissertation. Universitat Jaume I, 2004.
Martinez-Flor, A. “A Theoretical Review of the Speech Act of Suggesting: Towards a Taxonomy
Published
2026-07-01
How to Cite
Salsabila, A., Saragih, B., Kifli, B., Novalia Srywina Sibuea, E., Putri Zulfran, K., Olivia Simorangkir, L., Ramayani, N., & Abita, S. (2026). THE USE OF DISCOURSE COMPLETION TASK (DCT) AS EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION ON INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS’ PRODUCTION OF SUGGESTION ACTS. Didaktik : Jurnal Ilmiah PGSD STKIP Subang, 12(02), 240 - 249. https://doi.org/10.36989/didaktik.v12i02.13902
Section
Articles
